Page 100 of Distortion
‘Stop it, Jack,’ she says.
The color has drained from her face. Her eyes dart to Blake. He shakes his head.
‘That’s not true. No one’s seen them but us three.’
‘Maybe I’m lying. Maybe I’m not.’
She stares at me, and when I think she’s about to burst into tears, she says the one thing that she knows I can’t bear to hear.
‘You sound like your father,’ she whispers.
I’m in front of her before I even realize I’ve moved, a snarl on my face that she doesn’t even have the sense to cower from. I rip the towel away from her and take her by her wet hair. She lets out a squeal as I bend her forward over her empty desk and slap her hard on her ass with my palm.
‘Shade, stop!’ Mav says, trying to pull me off her, but I push him away.
‘Fuck you!’ I snarl at her, giving her another smack that propels her forward. ‘I’m nothing like him! Did he ever punish you like this? Did he?’
‘No,’ she says, her voice breaking.
‘Apologize for costing the house thousands of dollars!’
‘I’m sorry!’ she squeals as my palm connects with her ass cheek again, but her head swivels and she looks back at me. ‘But I’m not!’ she spits with tears on her cheeks.
I slap her again and this time she bites her lip, no sound escaping at all past a small gasp.
She’s shuddering under my arm that’s across her back to keep her over the desk. I notice large bruises yellowing on her back and I realize they must be from when she jumped into the river.
‘What about the river?’ I snarl. ‘Are you sorry for that? Jumping in? You could have capsized us, you selfish little bitch!’
‘I didn’t jump, you asshole!’ she hisses through her clenched teeth. ‘I fell out because you didn’t even tell me what we were doing. I wasn’t wearing the right clothing, and I wasn’t prepared at all. I’ve never even been in a fucking boat before! But you knew all that. You did it on purpose because you’re trying to get rid of me!’
She heaves a breath.
‘I know you hate me,’ she says, the fight seeming to leave her as her head falls gently to the desk. ‘I deserve it, and I was ...amsorry for all of it. But it was a debt I actually paid properly. It’s done. I’m not going back there.’
‘You don’t get to decide that,’ I grind out. ‘You don’t belong out here.’
I don’t know why I do it, but I swipe a finger up her slit. She gasps loudly. For a second I’m frozen in surprise.
‘You’re wet, Daisy,’ I say loudly enough for the others to hear. ‘Are you sorry for that? I’m your fuckingbrother.’
She snorts. ‘You’re the one who kissed me, remember,brother?’
My hands leave her and she scrambles to her feet, whirling on me, not bothering to hide her body.
‘What the fuck?’ I hear Blake mutter behind me.
I turn around and follow his eyes to her knees. Both of them are grazed badly and one of her shins is as well. There’s a dark bruise on her chest over her heart.
I grab her hands almost without thinking and find them cut up as well.
‘Those weren’t there before,’ Blake mutters.
I cast a look at my friend, silently promising him that hewillbe telling me what he did with Daisy.
‘What happened?’
‘My stepbrother went psycho!’ she snarls.
