Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 160192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
To finally let go of all that fucking guilt.
He also wondered what he’d just agreed to. He could tell himself that he was just saying yes to get Jared to make his move on her.
However, he knew that was a lie.
Because Jared was right. There was a part of him that was interested in her.
And he fucking hated that.
“Let’s get this—” A scream interrupted Jared and he stood at the same time as North.
“That’s Angie,” Jared said before they raced toward the door.
What the fuck? Had someone gotten in here? Were they hurting her?
If so, he was going to make sure that they never breathed the same air as her again.
Angie yelled as pain wracked her body.
“That’s it, scream, you slut. No one can hear you. Is that why you were trying to leave? Because you wanted someone else to fuck? Am I not enough for you?”
“No, no, no!” she cried.
“I can’t hear you, slut. Now, I’m going to have to teach you a lesson for disobeying me. And it’s going to hurt.”
He smiled.
And she screamed again.
“Angie! Angie, wake up.”
Angie let out a startled cry and sat up suddenly, banging her forehead into something hard.
She could hear someone swearing, but she was in too much of a panic to focus on who it was. The book she’d been reading when she’d fallen asleep went flying as she got up and dove behind the sofa where she’d been reading.
There she crouched, trembling and breathing heavily.
God, she was going to vomit.
Don’t.
You cannot vomit.
“Sweetheart, it’s all right. It’s just me.” A large figure moved around the couch, looming over her.
Another scream escaped her.
Fergus.
It was Fergus. He was going to hurt her again. He was going to tie her down, make her scream.
“No, no, please, please,” she cried. “I can’t. Not again. I can’t.”
“Baby, it’s me. It’s Jared.”
“F-Fergus, no!” she cried, too far gone to pay any attention to the words coming from the man’s mouth.
All she knew was that he was bigger than her and that he might hurt her.
So she did what she knew Fergus loved. She got on her knees and laid her chest on the floor, her head to the side, her arms splayed out.
Completely at his mercy.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t stop the shaking or the tears dripping down her face. But that didn’t matter.
Fergus loved making her cry.
“Fuck. Fuck.”
“She’s stuck in a nightmare,” another voice said.
A whimper escaped her. Oh God. There was someone else with him. Sometimes he did that.
Brought someone else with him to punish her.
She couldn’t . . . she couldn’t.
“She was having a nightmare and I came in to wake her. Only I fucking scared the shit out of her and she ran and hid. And now . . . now this.”
There was a broken note in his voice which made no sense. Actually, his voice wasn’t really making any sense. Why did he sound so upset?
Shouldn’t he be happy that she was breaking? That she was so upset?
That she was submitting to punishment even though she didn’t know what she had done?
Maybe it was because she’d fallen asleep. Perhaps she’d slept through dinner. He hated when she did that.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Baby, please, you have to stop,” someone begged her.
Someone who wasn’t Fergus.
Because Fergus didn’t call her baby. And he would certainly never beg.
“Angie, you’re not there. You’re here with Jared. And with me. North,” the other man said coolly.
Strangely, it was his voice that cleared the fog of terror from her mind. Maybe because it was so matter-of-fact.
He didn’t sound worried or concerned or upset.
He sounded like nothing. And God, she wanted that right now. To have no reaction. No fear. No terror.
“You need to sit up now. You’re upsetting Jared,” North said. “This is unacceptable.”
“North,” the other voice warned.
“No. She needs to sit up. Right now. This isn’t who she is anymore. She’s not someone who just gives in to the fear. She fights it. Fight it, Angie. Show us all how strong you are.”
But she wasn’t. It was all an act. A stupid act.
“I’m not strong,” she said as she realized what had happened.
She’d fallen asleep and gotten caught in a nightmare.
And now she’d thoroughly embarrassed herself.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” North replied.
Ridiculous? How dare he call her ridiculous? She sat up and scowled at him.
“It is not ridiculous!”
“Are you sure about that?”
“I am not strong. Look at me! I’m a mess.” She glanced over at Jared guiltily.
Shit.
Had she really just mistaken him for his father? That wasn’t good.
Sure, he could be arrogant.
And he definitely liked his own way.
He was always in charge.
But he wasn’t violent or mean or sadistic. All things Fergus had been.
And more . . .
“I’m sorry,” she said.
Jared’s eyebrows rose. Then, to her shock, he crouched in front of her. North was standing to her right, leaning against a book shelf with his arms crossed over his chest.