Chapter 10
“ANXIETY” PALAYE ROYALE
T he old grandfather clock ticks away the silent seconds as I sit in Jerry’s office, wishing to be anywhere but here. This suffocating home always brings back the harsh memories of my stolen childhood.
Jerry used to beat me in this office. If I didn’t get to the dinner table on time, he would bring me in here and land a few blows to my gut. If I left a crumb on the counter after sneaking a snack, he’d bring me in here to teach me a lesson.
“ Hitting isn’t okay, no matter the situation !” he would scream as he beat me for fighting at school.
This man’s hypocrisy is ironic.
It also seriously fucked me up. I got hit as a kid, and it’s knocked a few screws loose, so now I enjoy spanking women and calling them filthy names while I fuck them into the mattress.
Some of those women leave crying after I finish because it’s too much.
I’m too much. All because of this bastard who sits at his desk, drinking whiskey like it’s water and staring at his computer screen, pretending I’m not in the room with him.
I settle further into the leather sofa and drape an arm over the backside.
My gaze drifts to the cracked door for the tenth time since walking in here.
If I listen hard enough, I can make out Madison’s voice.
After not seeing her for weeks, I’ve turned into this desperate simp who needs to hear her voice and stare at her when she’s not looking.
My sister is the only reason I still come around. It’s fucked up because I want to emphasize that she’s my sister, but sometimes it doesn’t stick. We aren’t related by blood, but we still grew up together.
Madison is my wet dream. She has been for a long time.
I’ve imagined all the different ways I could taint her with my darkness.
I want to hate-fuck her out of my system, but my stepsister wouldn’t be able to handle me.
I’d extinguish her bright flame. I’m a greedy man and I’m often tempted to give in to my desires.
The only thing that’s stopped me so far is the constant reminder of our familial ties.
If Jerry ever found out about my attraction toward his daughter, he’d finish what he started all those years ago and bury my body in an unmarked grave.
“How did Hellfire Night go?”
I blink out of my thoughts and shift my attention back to Jerry. He’s still staring at his computer screen, whiskey in hand. The muscle tics in his jaw, and his meaty fingers squeeze the crystal glass—the only signs that show he’s focused on me.
“Hellfire Night was fine,” I say.
Jerry breaks his staring contest with the computer and glares at me. “That’s it?”
I don’t allow any emotion to show on my face.
The less I show, the better. Any time I express myself, it only angers him.
Jerry doesn’t scare me anymore, though. Those fears turned to ash and smoke when I turned seventeen and hit my breaking point.
I school my face to save him from me, not the other way around.
When I don’t say anything, Jerry turns back to his computer with a huff and sips his drink. A moment passes before he sets his half-empty glass on the desk. “I heard through the grapevine you killed Stan Richards’ son.”
My eye twitches.
Word seems to get around in this town. It hasn’t been twelve hours since my friends and I burned his body. I wonder who’s been watching us. No one ever ventures into the abandoned neighborhood, and no one watched us as we chopped up Mickey’s body before throwing him into the fire.
Who in the fuck is snooping where they don’t belong?
Jerry eyes me with a curled lip. “That’s a problem. You know that, right?”
I frown. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought there were no laws during Hellfire Night.”
“It doesn’t mean you won’t be held accountable for those actions.
You killed a King’s son. A Lord. That’s a big problem to the Exiled society.
” Jerry bares his teeth when I remain quiet.
“I should do the world a favor and slit your useless fucking throat right here. Instead, you’ll live here until I can figure out what I’m going to do with you. Do you understand?”
I’d like to see you try to kill me, old man. If anyone is going to take my life, it’ll be me .
That’s what I want to say. Instead, I say, “And what do you want me to do here? You can barely stand my presence.”
Jerry’s nostrils flare, and he downs the rest of his whiskey. He shoots to his feet and stalks to the wet bar across the room. With his back to me, it would be easy to sneak behind him and snap his neck. It’s amusing how he trusts I won’t do anything when his defenses are down.
My fingers dig into the plush leather sofa as I imagine how relieved I’ll feel when I end Jerry’s life.
Keyword: when. I was too busy torturing Kyle during Hellfire Night—another piece-of-shit high-school bully on Jaxon’s list. Time slipped away from me, and by the time morning came, it was too late to find Jerry.
Killing him now will put me in hot water that I really don’t want to be in.
He’s a King, and if I take him out any time between now and the next Hellfire Night in five years, people will come for my head.
“You’ll stay out of my way,” Jerry says as he pours two knuckles of whiskey into the crystal glass. “Anything I tell you to do, you will do without argument.”
“And if I say no?”
Jerry places the crystal finial back on the decanter and twists around with a snarl.
“I know you’re saying that to get a rise out of me, boy, but I’ll bite.
If you don’t do as I say, then I’ll destroy everything you love while making you watch.
When you’re done crying like a little bitch after losing everything, I’ll bury a bullet in your brain. ”
Well, that was disappointing. I expected something more detailed, drawn out, and even a little creative, but it seems my stepfather is fresh out of ideas on how to scare me. Maybe I’m too numb to fear anything or anyone anymore.
Jerry cocks his head and sips his drink as he yearns for a reaction from me. My expression remains blank. I refuse to give Jerry what he wants when he’ll use it against me.
As much as I hate my stepdad, he’s still a smart man, and he’s good at reading people. He’s like a rabid dog. When he catches the hint of blood, he won’t stop until he rips apart his victim. That’s why he’s so good at being a King.
“Those friends of yours?” Jerry slowly smiles, like he won the battle before it even began. “I can take them from you, one by one. Don’t think for a second I’m unable to do so when I have the connections.”
I rise from my seat and adjust my jacket. “You must want something from me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be threatening me so heavily.”
Jerry’s smug smile falls. “You have nothing I want.”
I nod with a slight curl of my lips. “Sure. Is that all you need from me?”
“So you’re making the rules now, hm? You’re the one in charge?”
A heavy sigh slips out of me as my gaze rises to the ceiling. I search for patience that’s hard to grasp whenever I’m near this vile bastard. “If that’s all, I’ll be on my way.”
“I saw your little friend Jaxon at the party.”
I take three steps, then stop and glare at the door, hating that I can’t leave when freedom is within my reach.
Jerry’s heavy footsteps thud closer behind me. “He brought his sister with him as a gift.” He emphasizes this ghastly information with a pause. “Her virginity was the sacrifice.”
I slowly blink.
I’m sure my stepfather is hoping for a startled reaction to this news. Maybe he’s expecting me to spin around and yell about how it isn’t true. Or perhaps he wants me to act disgusted. Whatever his reasons, I’m sure he plans to use this new information against me.
When I don’t say anything, he says, “You’d do well to remember the friends you keep.”
I leave the office with my stepfather’s warning chasing me through the halls like a phantom.
If I’ll believe one thing Jerry says, it’s his promise to take everyone I care about away from me. It’s another reason I shouldn’t ever give in to my desires for my stepsister—hate-crush be damned. He isn’t above killing his own flesh and blood to spite me.