“It was your brother, Jodie. My father tasked him to kill my sister on his behalf.”
“No.” A sob erupts from my throat as red-hot tears burn my eyes. “You killed him?”
“Me? No.” He shakes his head. “Not personally. I left that to others while I went after the main man.”
I can barely suck in the air I need as I wait for him to speak. But he never does. He just holds my eyes, waiting for me to ask the question he knows is on the tip of my tongue.
“Who is he?”
“Ah,” he says, a sadistic smirk curling at his lips. “The man who did all of this, the man I thought had no heart, who cared about no one other than himself? It turned out he very much did.
“He went to as many lengths as possible to hide them, but he screwed up when he involved his son in my sister’s attempted murder.”
I whimper, unable to stop the tremors wracking my body or the tears that finally spill over.
“For a long time, I thought he was the only one, just like the paper trail, the lies, led us to believe. But then I found another. A living, breathing person I could use to do exactly what I’ve been dreaming about all these years.”
“Toby, p-please don’t do this. Please don’t tell me it was you who killed him?” I beg.
“Oh no, Demon. He’s not dead.”
I rear back at the amusement in his tone, my entire body shaking more violently with each new revelation.
“That would have been entirely too easy for him after the years of abuse and torture my mum and I suffered at his hands. Don’t you think?”
He picks up the tablet beside him as I swallow harshly, fighting the need to puke all over his bed.
The screen illuminates a beat before he increases the volume and a voice flows through the speakers.
“Jodie, baby. You need to get out of there.” His tone is strong, his warning more than clear, but the only direction I run is toward the bathroom as I bring up the dinner from only a few hours ago.
“Jodie,” Dad calls from the screen, his voice cracking with emotion.
“Surprise, Demon,” another voice says, one that only minutes ago sent a wave of contentment through my body. But now, all it ignites is hate. “I promised you that I’d break you, old man. I promised you that I would find that one thing you loved more than life itself and I would bring it to its knees just so you could experience exactly how it feels.”
“Jojo, I’m so sorry. He’s insane. You need to get away from him.”
Toby’s only reaction is to throw his head back and laugh.
“Insane? Really? Is that really the line you're going for here? I’m pretty sure I’ve got enough evidence on you to prove that the only one who is mentally unstable between the three of us is you, you twisted fuck.”
The level of disgust and pure hatred in Toby’s voice drags my eyes up from the floor, but I don’t find him. My gaze locks on the screen he’s turned my way so I can get a look at the state of the man I’ve thought of as my dad all my life.
“Dad,” I breathe, the little girl inside me begging to forget everything Toby has told me about this man, about his abuse and just wanting to be swept up in his arms and told that everything will be okay.
“You spent all your life trying to protect them,” Toby starts. “But as it stands, they’ve got nothing. All your money is gone. The house is about to vanish. Poor Jodie even lost her job and is about to start working as a stripper.”
Disbelief washes through me. “That was you?” I ask, desperate not to accept it.
Toby shrugs, but I see deeper. I see the pain etched onto his face that most others would miss.
“I really didn’t want to hurt you, baby,” he says so sincerely, I want to believe him. But I can’t. He did all this. “But I promised myself years ago that I would do whatever it took to ruin this man here. And look at him. Really look at him.” I do as I’m told, watching as tears cascade down his cheeks. Injuries from obvious beatings mar his face and exhaustion darkens his eyes. “This is exactly the vengeance I’ve craved almost all my life.
“You’re lucky really, Jonas. I could have done a hell of a lot worse than just fuck your little princess. She could be locked in the cell next to you right now, after all. Her and your bit on the side. The one you loved like you should have loved my mum.
“I just have one more question, Jonas,” Toby sneers, the sweet guy I’ve come to care about more than I should is completely gone as he stares into the eyes of the man he hates through the screen. “And I think you know exactly what it is. And I think I already know the answer.” Toby looks up, his gaze burning through me before he asks whatever this final question is. “Tell us once and for all why she was always more important to you than me. As far as we can tell, neither of us actually shares blood with you.” I know it’s fucked up, but hearing Toby say that this man isn’t actually his father sends a rush of relief through me. “But that’s not true, is it? Joker wasn’t your only illegitimate child, was he, Jonas? Jodie is yours too, isn’t she? That’s why spending the night literally watching her get fucked up hurts you so much. It’s why she was the perfect pawn in my ruthless games.”
My head spins to the point that I wonder if I’m about to pass out. Before I get the chance to, I retch once more, but there’s nothing left to bring up.