Page 35

When Castle noticed I was here, he smiled, and I loved how his eyes would crinkle in the corners. I had butterflies taking flight in my stomach.
Before I had time to say anything to him, he walked over to me, grasped my hand in his and pulled me towards him. I had no choice but to follow him.
And then...
He handed me another brush and showed me how to brush the horse.
I stood there like an idiot, thinking he wanted me here for something else.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Montgomery, sir. How nice of you to grace peasants like us with your presence. What can I do for you?” Ollie said, standing just outside the stables. I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or real. Dirt clung to his clothes, and I wondered if he’d been gardening nearby.
Castle didn’t respond to him; he acted like he hadn’t heard Ollie at all.
Ollie turned his grin towards me. “An excellent conversationalist, isn’t he?”
I couldn’t believe how rude Ollie was being, and the fact that he was talking shit like this when Castle was standing right next to me.
I turned to Castle, “why don’t you go outside and wait for me?”
He first glared at Ollie, then looked at me and his expressions softened. He placed the brush on the floor and left us alone.
Ollie watched Castle leave and smiled at me. “I would like to extend all kinds of services to you, ma’am, free of charge. I don’t need anything in return from beautiful women such as yourself.”
“I will pretend I didn’t hear that.” I turned away from him to leave when he caught my hand in a tight grip.
“Maybe you’ll change your mind after you see this.”
He showed me his phone where he’d captured a picture of Castle and me in the stables yesterday. He zoomed in on theshot, revealing my hands buried in Castle’s hair while his hands held me to him, and our lips locked in a scandalous kiss.
“You disgusting son of a...” I screeched.
“What? You’re going to act too good for me now?” His hold on me only tightened as he laughed. “You think cozying up with the retard is going to make you his wife and give you some authority? Let me tell you something. Women like you came to this house and left before you, and the younger ones tried doing what you’re doing. That is seducing that idiot. Do you know what happened to them?”
Before I could answer, he went on, his face twisted in a sneer, “They all died strangely. Some of them jumped off the roof, others disappeared without a trace, fed to hungry dogs, drowned and the list of atrocities does not end there. Devin Montgomery has a hobby for killing with creativity.”
He brought his lips close to my ear, and I could feel his breath fanning over my shoulder. “If you do what I say, I’ll delete this photo from my phone.”
I tried to push him away. “Let go of my hand!”
It was broad daylight and there was no one around. I was having all these horrible thoughts about how Ollie was going to do something bad when suddenly, by some miracle, his grip loosened over me, and I looked up to see what had caused it.
Castle stood there, his fingers clenched around a gardening spade, the back of which was now matted with fresh blood.
Ollie was on the ground; a gash had opened up in his head and bright red liquid spilled from the wound.
“Oh no. Oh my god!” I chanted as I looked at the man who had crumbled and was laying there.
Castle breathed heavily; his eyes were shining with vengeance.
Ollie coughed and tried to move when a loud splat echoed in the silence of the stables, followed by the sound of bone-crunching. Castle had smashed him again.
A splatter of warm blood sprayed over my dress.
Ollie’s face looked like jam.
The anklet in his leg blinked a blue signal and clicked open.
I was too stunned to move as I stared at the gory mess in front of me. My thoughts were all jumbled up, and I looked over at Castle, who was now shaking and staring at Ollie’s smashed face. The menacing look in his expressions had dissolved—he appeared to be absolutely terrified and shocked about what he’d done.