“Go stand in the corner, facing the wall.”
My hackles rose, and my whole ambition of being good disintegrated. “What? Why are you mad at me? You should be mad at him.”
“I am pissed off at him, but I’m disappointed in you,” he said. “No more lies. That’s what I told you. How can I trust you if you keep lying to me, Ari? What else have you been doing while I am at work?”
“Nothing.”
“And you expect me to believe that after the lie you just told me?”
“I swear I did nothing. I stayed put like you asked me to.”
“Then go face the wall and don’t move until I tell you to.”
Eyes blurring, I did what he said. Angry tears slipped down my cheeks, and with every streak, I swore again that I would kill him. I’d kill Judd, and there wasn’t a damn thing Daddy could do to stop me. He was the reason Daddy was mad at me. He had to pay.
The next day, Daddy and I were on speaking terms again. I got up early to make him breakfast, but he barely ate it. He was worried about me staying at home while he was at work.
“I’ll be fine. Promise.” I went up on the tips of my toes and kissed his cheek. He grabbed me by the butt, pressed me against his car, and devoured my lips, then set me back on shaky feet. I touched my lips with my fingertips, a smile on my face when he drove off.
I gave it two hours, and just as I expected, Daddy called me on the house phone. No doubt checking I stayed put like I said I would. I waited until it was near noon, then hopped into my car and drove to Judd’s house. He always ate his lunch at home, for which his coworkers called him a stingy bastard
It gave me great pleasure to see the fear on his face when he walked into the kitchen and saw me sitting at the table waiting for him.
“Fucking hell, how did you get in here?”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I’m here to see you.”
“Yeah?” He grinned. “Knew you’d come around once you saw how much better you could do than that—”
“Be very careful what you say about Shaw,” I said softly. “I’m approaching you nicely because of him, so you should be grateful.”
Instead of looking threatened, his grin widened. “Well, fuck me, you’re a spirited little thing, aren’t you?” He walked over to me. “Pretty stupid of you to aim a gun at me the other day. I don’t take too kindly to that. How did you get into my house? What am I supposed to think except that you’re really begging for it?”
“Well, you’re wrong. I’m not begging for anything. I’m warning you to stay away from Shaw.”
“Or else what?”
“All your dirty secrets get revealed in the local paper.”
His grin faded a bit. “I’ve got no dirt.”
“No?” I got to my feet. “Then you have nothing to worry about, but if you’ve got secrets, Judd, I’d tread lightly if I were you.”
I moved past him, but he grasped my shoulder. The knife sliced his arm a second later. He howled and let me go.
“Son of a bitch!” He swiped at me with his forearm, knocking me in the face, but before he could grab me, I brandished my knife again. He backed up, holding his injured arm to his chest, blood dripping onto the kitchen floor.
“Consider this your last warning, Judd.” I turned the knife over and sniffed the metallic scent. “It’s not nearly enough blood until it’s all drained out of your body.”
While he tried to figure out what I meant, I walked out of his house, making sure not to leave any sign of me behind. His day of reckoning was coming, and when it did, there shouldn’t be anything to link back to me.