Page 34 of His Virgin Woman
He allowed her to laugh, and he waited.Holding onto the remote, he watched as she placed a hand to her stomach, and with her other hand, she wiped at her eyes.
“That is just so funny.”She turned to look at him.
“There’s a problem,” he said.
“What is it?”
“She and this piece of shit who did it with her have hurt the people of Fort, and I cannot allow that to go unpunished.”What he was about to tell her was going to take their relationship to the next level.“I have killed people for a lot less than what they did.Not only did they put other buildings and the lives of people in Fort in jeopardy, they took from you, Peyton, and I cannot allow them to get away with it.”It was taking every ounce of his control not to hunt them down and kill them right now.
“Okay.”
“Now, you tell me, do I let your sister live, or do I let her die?”he asked.
****
Peyton sat in the truck, staring across the yard, toward the barn.Shae had been up-front with her.He told her if he allowed them to get away with it, then more people might come to Fort and risk hurting the locals, and he could not let that happen.
She had known there was more to Shae.She heard the rumors, knew the whispers of bad people no longer making it out of Fort.Her parents would share some of those rumors around the dinner table.
Nibbling her lip, she saw several of the ranchers were on guard.They were more than just working the cattle and the land.They were guarding the whole town.She saw it now.
Climbing out of the truck, she had already heard one of the guns go off, and she had no doubt he had taken care of the guy with Lily-May.
Shae appeared at the entrance to the barn.
Peyton had thought about this moment in the last few hours, what felt like a thousand times.She didn’t know what to think or feel.She was numb.With the bakery burned down and completely out of commission, she felt a mix of relief and dread.What could she do to earn a living?Her parents’ legacy was gone, but with Shae owning the building, it was already gone.She had changed so much to keep them out of debt, that it was no longer the same place.She had turned it into her place—a trap, a prison—one she had thought about running from so many times.Her sister had taken it from her.
Now, as she moved toward him, Shae grabbed her arm.“What happens on this ranch stays on this ranch.You talk to me and no one else.You understand?”
“Yeah, I understand,” she said.
And every other woman might be running to the hills in fear.Not her.This was so clear to her.Clearer than she had ever been in her whole life.
And so, she made her way into the barn and saw her sister with her arms tied above her head, and she still had on her clothes.Only, there was no sweatshirt and nothing to hide the tracks that had been made in her arms.Her sister had never stopped using.
“Peyton, thank God, your boyfriend is a psycho.You got to get me out of here,” she said.
She walked up to her sister, aware of Shae stepping into the barn.Peyton hadn’t given Shae her answer, as she was afraid to make it until she saw her sister.Now, as she looked at Lily-May, she was shocked to feel absolutely nothing.She had expected to feel something—a tinge of love or regret.That sisterly bond people liked to keep talking about, and assuming everyone felt that way.
Lily-May was her sister by blood, but that was all.There was no love, no feeling, no nothing.She looked at her sister and felt nothing but hatred.
“My boyfriend.”She took a step closer.“You mean the same man you bargained me for to get you out of your shit.”
Peyton never swore.She didn’t like to.It served no good.But, as she looked at her sister, she saw the shock on Lily-May’s face.
“You have not helped me from the start.You didn’t help our parents, and you know, I wondered how they got into the mess they did.I have a feeling you did this.You and your addictive ways, always trying to blame them for the crap you got into.It was always someone else’s fault.You never took the blame, and even now you want to blame everyone else.Your boyfriend.Shae.Me.You burned down the bakery.Did you think there is money in that?Shae owns the entire building.Our parents sold it to him, and he has been helping us since the start.You think I don’t know what you wanted?Your share.Your cut.I bet you were hoping they would blame me, saying I had left something on, that I caused the fire.We’ve got evidence to prove it was you.”
Lily-May looked terrified and she was staring at her in desperation.
“I bargained with Shae to get rid of you.I was a virgin, Lily-May.It was what I had to offer to rid myself of you.You should have stayed gone.”
“Peyton, please, I needed the money.You don’t know what it is like to be this way.I need it.Please, I need it.Help me.Please help me.”
“I’ve helped you for the last time, and I don’t care.”
“Mom and Dad will hate you!”
“Mom and Dad are dead.You chose this.Not me.”
