Page 68 of Corrupted Union

Fear licked up my spine and sent waves of unease tingling down to my fingertips.

“You would have made a perfect wife,” Stetson mused. “No questions. No opinions. Pretty enough and intelligent but undemanding. And the best part? You were utterly devoid of emotion. I didn’t have to deal with you getting your feelings hurt over the slightest fucking thing like so many women do.” He smirked and chuckled to himself. “It was a shame things didn’t work, but I could have found someone else. There’s always someone willing to play the desired role when enough money is on the line.”

I kept my lips firmly sealed, afraid to say a word. This was insanity. I’d been locking away my emotions to protect myself, but Stetson’s cool demeanor was sheer depravity. An inability to understand emotion at all. That sort of disconnect was unpredictable. Terrifying.

He tsked, continuing with his monologue. “But then, you had to grow a fucking conscience,” he said slowly, prowling closer. “I hear someone crying, Stetson,” he mimicked my statement weeks earlier, mocking me in a whiny, hapless voice.

Shock tore through me.

He knew that I’d found her, which meant … he knew about the girl. He’d known all along.

Sticky nausea curdled in my belly, clotting into a heavy mass as true fear set in. I had mistaken a frozen pond for an open field, and now I was stranded out on thin ice, the air filled with the creaking sound of my impending death.

“How could you?” It was all I could say, and in a whisper at that. Horror had scrambled my thoughts.

“You should have let it go, Rowan.” The words were soft with a touch of remorse, not preparing me for his sudden attack. His hand whipped out and clamped around my throat, yanking me to my feet. “You should have let it go!” he screamed in my face, his features contorted in rage.

He was a psychopath. He knew about the girl, and he didn’t care. How could I have been so blind?

You weren’t in the right headspace, Ro. Don’t blame yourself. Not again.

Ivy’s words together with the stinging in my lungs brought tears to my eyes.

“I’m sorry,” I rasped, clutching his hand at my throat, my stubby nails scraping for purchase. I wasn’t even sure what I was sorry for, but I had to try to calm him.

“Sorry changes nothing, Rowan. When Dad told me you’d uncovered my little secret, I swore you wouldn’t be stupid enough to make a fuss. Not my Rowan. She knows how to stay in her lane. Then you started to pull away. Not ideal, but whatever. I could have dealt with that. But no, you had to go and do something monumentallystupid. Everyone in the goddamn city saw the photos of you whoring it up with that thug. How do you think that made me look?”

I tried to shake my head. “Not you, me.” I wanted to tell him they’d only think I’d gone crazy, not him, but I didn’t have the air. Black dots danced in my peripheral vision. Dizziness clouded my thoughts.

I was about to pass out, but when I heard my mother’s steps approaching, a renewed surge of adrenaline gave me the boost I needed to stay alert.

“Stetson! What’s going on! Let go of her,” she cried from across the room.

I used the distraction to plunge my knee up into his groin, then shove him away. I coughed in a lungful of air and stumbled to the other side of the coffee table, but before I could make it to my mother, I heard the terrifying click of a gun cocking.

“Take another step,” he rasped, still hunched with an arm hugging his middle. “I dare you.”

I’d never heard more chilling words spoken. He meant it. He’d kill me where I stood.

I didn’t want to die. Keir had helped me with that realization, and now, I felt the truth down to my bones. In the past, dying meant being with my sister again. Reunited and whole. How could I have feared that? But now … I wasn’t ready to go down that road yet.

Ever since meeting Keir, my world had changed, and for once, I’d started to feel true happiness again. I didn’t want to lose it. I didn’t want to lose Keir.

A month ago, I might have challenged him. Walked right up to the gun and dared him to do his worst. Now that things were different, I kept every muscle perfectly still.

“What’s happened?” Mom asked in a thin, terrified voice. “Why are you doing this, Stetson?” She didn’t know about his family’s proclivities. I wasn’t surprised. Dad would have wanted to protect her from worrying.

“It’s okay, Mom,” I assured her. “Just stay there. We’ll work this out.”

Stetson grimaced. “I’m afraid there’s nothing to work out, Rowan. What’s done is done. All that’s left is punishment. You can’t be allowed to walk away without any repercussions for your actions. Not when you’re so damn unpredictable at this point.” He lifted the gun, then swiveled his aim to my mother. The gunshot exploded in my ears the second the barrel pointed her direction.

I screamed, surging toward her as if I could somehow beat the bullet.

Mom’s body jolted, sending her stumbling to the ground. He’d shot her in the side. Crimson blossomed across her blouse, her face scrunched in pain.

I dropped down to my knees beside her and pressed my hand to the wound. “Stay still, Mama. Don’t move. I’ll get you help.” My heart practically vibrated in my chest it beat so frantically.

This can’t be happening. Not again. I can’t lose Mom, too.

---