Page 25 of He Had It Coming

Maeve’s mouth dropped open. “I’m not going to screw you.”

Compelling stuff. Just the right mix of surprise and indignation. She forgot that I didn’t believe in anyone anymore.

“You’re going to try. I’d almost be disappointed if you didn’t.” Because, come on. Maeve played the confused sister well for a while, but she was this big, powerful businesswoman. She had to know dancing with me put her at risk. I’d be a loophole she needed to close. She must wonder if I was willing to shift my focus and settle for taking out any Hayes family member . . . or demand blood from all of them.

The fear was misplaced. My sole focus was Jerek. On ending him. But I was smart enough to be ready if Maeve’s priorities proved to be different from mine.

Jerek laughed. Really laughed. Not the gravelly sound tinged with anger. This sound thrilled and amused. “You sick bitches deserve each other.”

“Tough talk from the loser tied to the chair.” I’d pointed that out before but it seemed like he needed a reminder.

He pretended to be such a big man when all I saw was a pathetic wreck. A spoiled boy turned into a waste of a man.

“Score one for you in getting the upper hand in a battle. I plan on winning the war,” he said.

The adrenaline pumping through him kept him upright, but his shoulders slumped. Those lifeless eyes drooped the longer he sat there.

I was running out the clock and he was too clueless to know it. “Maybe I should let Maeve take that knife out of your leg. Or I could do it.”

“But you won’t. You know why?” The slight slur was back in his voice.

That struck me as convenient, but he really did like hearing himself talk. “Enlighten me.”

“I doubt you’re any stronger than your bony little sister was.” His sinister smile promised he was only getting started. “Do you have any idea how easy it was to choke the life out of her.”

Maeve gasped but didn’t say anything. Didn’t move even as the boat continued its gentle rocking as it rode the tide.

“Is this you trying to convince me you’re a good guy?” He wanted me to jump. For some reason, he thought pushing me would buy him something. Time? Space to get away? No idea.

I glanced at his hands and the bindings. Fought the urge to reach over and tug on them to secure them just in case. Doing so would excite him. Make him think he’d scared me.

“Ruby made this delicious sound when I tightened that scarf around her neck. I’d describe it as squeal.” He had this faraway expression, like he was reliving the minutes leading up to the murder. Enjoying every disgusting moment. “She fought like hell. Kicked and punched. It was actually pretty sexy. Hot. Feral.”

“You’re demented.” Maeve sounded appalled.

None of what he said should be a surprise. From her own admission, Maeve knew him as empty and vile. But his choice of words and the exhilaration running through his voice as he recounted the horror as if savoring it, seemed to tip her over an invisible edge.

I refused to go over with her. If Jerek’s idea was to taunt me into action, he could forget it. The game would end when I said so, not him.

“It was almost as if she welcomed it. Like losing control turned Ruby on.” He made a humming sound. “Not a surprise if you think about the crap she wrote. All those men holding women down. Tying them up. She got off on it.”

I made a point of glancing at the knife stuck in his leg to keep my mind off the dark energy racing through me. “How’s being confined working out for you?”

He jumped right back into his tale. “Then her punches got softer. The look in her eyes morphed as the heat drained away. Her pupils grew big and fear set in. The type that locks you down. Paralyzes you. I remember every mesmerizing second of watching her fade away.”

I started a countdown in my head. Concentrated on the numbers instead of his sick recitation.

“The best part? Those heady few minutes where Ruby seemed to realize I wasn’t going to stop. That no amount of fighting or begging would work.”

Anxiety thrummed off Maeve. She looked sick as she fidgeted while standing on the other side of the chair. “That’s enough.”

I didn’t even ball my hands into fists at my sides. I stood there, frozen, and took it. Acted like the words rolled over me even as they sliced through me, ripping out the last of my defenses.

The worst part was that Ruby’s last minutes were filled with his vicious snarl. Him pinning her, cutting off her air, and reveling in her pain.

“It sounds like you enjoyed killing her, which confirms that you’d do it again, to another woman, if you thought you could get away with it.” Which was why he needed to be put down like the rabid animal he was.

“They don’t tell you this next part because if people knew, it would be a problem. Everyone would want a turn.” He whispered as if he wanted to draw us in closer. “Honestly, her terror was intoxicating. Biggest turn-on you can imagine.”