Page 74 of Liars and Liaisons

I don’t mind being the one to help her. Maybe that’ll be the way I get her out of my system once and for all. After that, I can go back to being useless with my instruments because of my demons and nothing more.

Perhaps her ruin can be my redemption.

Fear makes her muscles taut. Her shoulders stiffen when no one steps out of the shadows, and she crosses her arms, rubbing one hand up and down her bicep. She turns in a slow circle, like a witch drawing a barrier between herself and the rest of the world.

Unfortunately for her, no spells could keep me out.

Lights flicker in the house, gently reflecting off one edge of the lake. They flicker over her, highlighting the curves of her silhouette. My dick throbs, straining against the zipper of my pants. Craving her even though it’s wrong.

Maybe because it’s wrong. She’s his, and I don’t give a shit.

I’ll make her mine whether she wants to be or not.

Temporarily at least. Just long enough to make the horrid melody cease so I can make something worthwhile again.

Though I would prefer she want it. Taking feels so much better when it’s met with enthusiasm.

A soft buzzing sound fills the air, and it seems to jolt her out of the vigil. She reaches down, scooping up her cell, and presses it to her ear.

I inch closer, reveling in her flinch when another branch snaps.

“Hi,” she says in an almost whisper. “I can’t really talk right now.”

She pauses, listening to whoever is on the other line. A short howl echoes in the distance, followed by a chorus of yipping, and she turns toward it. As if the coyotes are the cause of the other sounds and not another predator entirely.

“No, I know. I miss you too.” She grips the phone tight.

My blood rages at the thought of her speaking to my brother right now. Of giving pieces of herself to him that I would likely have to offer my neck for.

Not that I’d ask in the first place. Violet Artinos would only wreck me, sever my head at the base.

Problem is, she’d be justified in doing it. Would probably even apologize for hurting me while she sawed me apart.

“Well, I’ve been sort of busy.” A pause. “No, I’m not… I’m not being irresponsible. I’m not doinganything. I just haven’t been able to get you a new check.”

Interesting. I stop moving toward her, cocking my head to the side.

I haven’t given her a new check yet. Was planning on setting up a checking account in her name and just having the funds wired since a hundred grand is a lot for paper. Especially now finding out she intends to just stick the damn thing in the mail and pay whoever sits on the other line.

“Daddy,” she pleads, and I realize I don’t like the way desperation sounds on her tongue. Not like this anyway—in the kind of helplessness reserved for children being taken advantage of by their parents.

I recognize the tone, the word, the sentiment. It’s a cry for help, a last-ditch attempt at reason.

Daddy. Her father’s the one draining her cash flow? What sort of grown man has to ask his youngest child for assistance?

Questions float in my mind, and then I think of her story from the other night. How she said she was attacked and had been anticipating it.

“Why do you think I needed money?”

Something vile swims in my vision, and I grit my teeth to keep from revealing myself prematurely. Instead, I reach into my pocket and pull out my own phone, sending Aiden’s girlfriend a quick command via text.

I can practically hear the pink-haired girl’s eyes roll with the request.

“All of it? You’re sure?”

The simple question fills my mind with perversion. The way I’ll soon have her bent in half, asking me the same thing—no,beggingfor it.

“Yeah, yeah, I know what they’ll do. I get it. I’ll” Violet exhales, and her shoulders deflate. “I’ll send you something soon. No. I won’t tell Mom… or him. I’ll… we’ll fix it. I lov—”

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