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“Ask yourself the same question. You’re trying to keep a father from his child! You know how the care system fucks you up?” He tosses me on the desk and holds me down with one large hand. The gentleness is gone. “No child deserves that.”
I open my mouth to refute the claim, but stop just in time. I’m not going to tell him that Petra is with a loving family. A family, who agreed to relocate, go into hiding just to protect her.
“We came real close last month, Clay and I. That shit farm in Idaho where she was stashed? We missed her. But you know why I love working for Clayton Getty? ’Cuz he’s fucking relentless. He was only my CO for a year, but he’s the leader I dreamed of serving.”
Clay served for a spell in the Army before his father’s death brought him back to Getty Falls. The bond between the two men finally makes sense. My fear triples.
“You don’t know anything about her! Why would you want to bring her here, to this place?” I scream.
“You want her mucking out horse shit, rather than be treated like a fucking queen?”
He’s delusional.
“We’re whores. I’d die before I let you or Clay lay a finger on her!”
“It’s not really up to you, princess. I’ve seen pictures of her. You’re fucking stunning. But your sister…she’s something else. She could own this place.” The light in his eyes sickens me to my soul.
I struggle against the hand pressing me down. But he restrains me easily. Slowly, he bends down. My legs flail as I try to find purchase. His mouth lands on mine and he moans. Against my belly, I feel the thick ridge of his erection.
I fight harder, but he raises his head and laughs. “I’m going to have you tonight, little girl. Tonight and every night until your sister gets here. Then I’m going to have her too.”
The thick roar that erupts from my throat blinds me for a second. But it’s not just the roar. Smoke drifts into the air and enters my lungs. The cigar. It’s set alight papers on Clay’s desk.
I search blindly for something, anything to defend myself with. My fingers find the thick ashtray made of solid glass. I grab and swing.
Ridge staggers off me. Rage fills his eyes. I scramble off the desk and race away from him. He lurches toward me, retribution and lust burning in his face.
Fear threatens to paralyze me, but I can’t afford to let it. I search the room and my gaze lands on the open safe.
Inside it is a black, gleaming piece. Clay’s gun.
I grab hold of it. Point it at him. “Stop. Please.”
He laughs. “The only way you’re going to stop me, little girl, is to shoot me.”
My mind blanks.
Then it refocuses on one thing.
Petra.
I lift the gun.
I shoot.
***
I stare down at the money.
I remind myself again why I’m doing this.
My beautiful, innocent sister. The only one who matters in all this.
I’m doing it so Clayton doesn’t turn another daughter into a whore.
Yes, Clayton Getty is my biological father. Finding out I was his and not Earl’s is partly why he spared Earl’s life.
But he’s also the man who took bids from strangers as to who would be the first man to defile his seventeen-year-old daughter.
I shot Ridge Mathews to keep him from going after my sister. I’m going to offer Clayton Getty one million dollars to forget Petra exists.
If he doesn’t accept, I will shoot him too. Because there’s no way I’m allowing him to do to Petra what he’s done to me.