Page 83 of Tainted Love
“You left me for dead after taking my virginity.”
“It wasn’t like that.” His frustration bleeds into his voice, and he tries again to struggle out of Benny’s hold. “Bea did nothing to you. Let her go. You have me.”
“No.” I shake my head, wincing when the movement causes the tip of the knife to cut my skin. I’m not leaving him. He might blame himself for what happened six years ago, but it wasn’t his fault.
“Aww. It’s so cute how you’re willing to put your life on the line for him, even after hearing him say how much he loved me.”
“It’s been six years,” Elias grits out through clenched teeth. “You clearly moved on with Benny, so why the hell are you coming for me after six years?”
“We waited to see if you’d reach out, if you’d message Benny. You never did.” Jas fixes him with a scathing glare. “You lied, Genie. You left us, and you never looked back.”
“I was destroyed by what happened. I needed to bury it in the past.”
“Like you thought Benny buried me?”
Elias presses his lips together, realising there is no reasoning with her.
“After I had Tamlin, I couldn’t believe a mother would ever leave her child. I needed answers. We searched for my birth mother, and that’s when I found Bea.” Jas rubs her nose against my cheek, and I shrink back from her touch. “I watched you from afar, living in your mansion with your loving father. It must have been nice growing up without acare in the world. It has got to have been better than being abandoned.
“I couldn’t imagine being away from my precious angel for more than a night, let alone her entire life. It made me sick to think of putting my child up for adoption where she could be molested, or worse, stabbed and left for dead.”
I can’t help the gasp that escapes me.
“Oh, so Elias didn’t tell you about my adopted brother? About how I lay in bed terrified at night, waiting for the sound of him coming into my bedroom. How my adoptive mother refused to believe that her darling son was anything but a saint. There was no way he’d sneak into his younger sister’s room in the middle of the night and whisper in her ear all the filthy ways he’d degrade her body while feeling her up. Her precious Kingston Arblaster couldn’t do anything wrong in her eyes. He was the perfect son.”
“What did you say?” Elias growls, his gaze finding mine.
I feel sick as the pieces click together and I remember all the times Maya and I flirted with him when we were younger.
“That’s right. To rub more salt in the wound, my adoptive brother works for your dad. The same one who would come into my bed, rubbing his dirty cock against my arse while playing with my tits until he blew. He was careful. He knew exactly what he could get away with and left no evidence. Small world, huh?”
Fresh tears roll down my cheeks. “I’m sorry you went through that, but none of it was my fault.”
“No, you just lived in your perfect little bubble while I was sexually assaulted and then played like a fool in the foster care system. Then, to rub salt into the wound, you started hooking up with the guy that nearly got me killed. Andthat, little sister, is why we ended up here. Did you really think I was going to let him hurt you like he did me? Elias and Madeline deserve to die for what they did to me.Unfortunately, you managed to get caught up in his little web.”
She shoves me to the ground. A searing pain shoots up through my left shoulder as I land, unable to use my hands to stop my fall. My sister may be right about Madeline hurting her that night, but there’s no way I can sit by and watch someone be murdered right in front of me. I sweep my leg out, tripping Jas and causing her to fall and hit her head. She doesn’t move, and the knife spills to the ground.
At the same time, I hear a crunch and a masculine groan of pain. Terrified something has happened to Elias, my eyes find him, only to see he used the back of his head to connect with Benny’s face. Blood has sprayed everywhere. My stepbrother winces in pain as he turns, before bringing his knee up to Benny’s groin, then follows up with a kick to the face when the arsehole drops to his knees.
It's important I don’t lose focus, and so I crawl along the ground on my stomach, desperate to reach the knife. I fumble with it, crying out as the blade pierces my skin, but it’s superficial. I continue to rub against the blade until I finally manage to cut through the rope that’s binding my wrist together. Then I scramble to my feet and rush over to where Elias is crouched next to Benny’s body, his fingers press to his throat as he checks his pulse.
“Are you okay?” I ask, my fingers brushing over the cut on his head. It’s no longer bleeding, but he grimaces and flinches away from my touch.
“I’ll be fine. Can you get this?” He twists, offering me his bound wrists.
I saw through the rope before dropping the knife. As soon as his hands are free, Elias cups my cheeks, his concerned eyes washing over me. “Did she hurt you?”
“My shoulder’s a little sore, and so are my wrists, but otherwise I’m okay,” I reassure him.
He presses his lips to mine. “I’m so sorry you got dragged into this, Duchess. So sorry. I didn’t know you and Jas were sisters, I promise. That’s not why …” his voice cuts off with a guttural sound as he stumbles into me. I try to catch him, but my shoulder screams in pain, and he drops to his knees.
My eyes widen as Jas pulls the knife out of his side. “Eli! No!” I cry out.
Without a second thought, I rush her, barrelling the both of us to the ground with a force that knocks the air out of her. Again, the knife scatters to the ground, but this time I don’t give her a chance to gain the upper hand. This time, I’m fighting for our survival. Making a fist—I remember my instructors tips—I punch her in the side of the head, connecting with her temple. She drops back against the hard ground, out cold.
With a groan, Elias tries to sit up, gripping his side. Blood soaks his t-shirt, and he falls back onto his elbows. I drop beside him and press my hands against the wound as I try to stem the bleeding.
“We need to get you to a hospital,” I say, tears running down my cheeks.
