Page 120 of Voracious

When I get away from Chris – because I will – I’ll give him the puppy-dog eyes as an apology. Theyalwayswork. Then he’ll hug me and talk to me about a book he read the night before, before commenting on how I need better sleep and food in my system.

The father I always wanted, needed and will keep forever, regardless of my position with his son.

However, I’ll never hear the end of missing a visit. I’ll probably have it carved into my tombstone.

“Your hair smells nice. I meant to mention it earlier. You know, before you hit me.”

I grit my teeth, clenching my fists as Chris taps his fingers on the steering wheel, waiting for the red light to change. There’s no point in me trying to run; I already did. The doors are locked, and only he can unlock them. And even if I did get out, my ankles are also bound together. I’m sure the skin is raw there too.

He really is a prick.

I glare at Chris. “I hate you.”

The corner of his mouth curls. “You said that already.”

He sighs and slouches in the seat, the red lights still glowing on his demonic, ugly, fucking annoying face. “You’ve been quite busy spending dirty money, haven’t you? If you needed cash, I would have given you endless amounts. You didn’t need to go fuck Kade Mitchell for it.”

“Don’t say his name,” I snap, turning my head to stare out the window. “You took everything from me, so you donotsay his name.”

“You didn’t have anything to take,” he replies and pulls into the traffic as the lights turn green. “You were –are– mine, not his. So, technically, he tried to take everything from me and failed miserably. Was the baby his? I never got round to asking.”

“She was a girl and I was sixteen weeks pregnant. And you killed her.”

He laughs. “I saved you the hassle of raising a child so young. Really, Stacey, what were you thinking? Mum wouldn’t have ever stood for it. She would have told you to get an abortion. I just made it easier for you.”

“I hope Kade crushes your skull when he finds you.”

“So it was his.” Chris chuckles. “Would you still want him if he’s fucking everything with a pulse into next Sunday?”

I roll my eyes, even though a hint of hurt hits me. “Stop talking to me.”

“I wonder if he has any living children,” he says thoughtfully. “I should look into that.”

When I don’t grace him with a response, he keeps talking, zooming in and out of speeding traffic.

“I hacked their system and found Bernadette Sawyer’s plan. She’s been hunting you for months; that’s how I knew where you were and what you were doing.” His head turns to me. “Oh, yeah, while I remember. Please tell me you aren’t fucking the dad?”

“No,” I retort.

“Are you sure? Did he manipulate you into bed like he did Dr Aria Miller? Does he know about us?”

I huff and ignore him. There is nous, the psycho.

“That little girl you were living with – I thought she was his; that he managed to knock you up again. I was going to smother her in her sleep… Until I saw her with her real mother. Lucky, I was minutes from eliminating her from the equation with a quick snap of the neck.”

I feel myself pale. He’s not a monster – he’sthemonster.

“I think I’d feel more comfortable with Bernadette.”

“Don’t be idiotic. Bernadette Sawyer was going to kill you,” he continues, tutting when someone cuts him off on the road. “I couldn’t have that. She was hunting for me and was going to use you as a bargaining chip, so now that I have you, we’re going to be the most-wanted pair in her books. How exciting?”

He’s insane. “And why would I be a bargaining chip to get to you?”

He smiles like he’s just been presented with The Biggest Asshole of the Year award. “I have a lot of incriminating evidence against her and her husband, and she wanted to trade it all for the video she found in my files when I first tried to hack them. I said no obviously.”

“What video?”

He gives me a look. “Over two hours of wank-bank material.” Then he frowns. “But I’m not too fond of watching others fuck you anymore. Especially that fucking brother. I shouldn’t have done any of it. That entire night was a blur, in my defence.”

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