Page 38 of Accidentally Mine

Roselynn

A nthony was here.

He’d come for me.

I’d imagined this day a million times. And from the cold, calculating expression on his face, so had he.

Heart in my throat, I raced for the door. As I got to it and twisted the two double-locks, I heard the men’s low, assured voices outside. I threw my back against the door, the walls closing in on me. I couldn’t breathe. My face was hot, and my pulse thudded in my ears.

Claudia watched me, concerned. “Roselynn? What’s going on? Who’s out there?”

I was scared silent, the door holding me up as I stared at her, eyes wide. There was the metal on metal sound of a key being pushed into the lock. Steve’s key.

I pushed all my weight against the door as whoever was on the other side tried to open it. They shoved but I managed to keep it closed. “My ex,” I breathed, my voice as fragile as a child’s.

“What?” Claudia asked. “You mean… that ex? I thought he was in prison!”

So had I. He must have gotten out early. I nodded frantically and croaked, “He’s out.”

She finally got the picture and came around the counter to help when a massive jolt sent me sprawling into her. She fell in a heap, and I slid across the floor on my hands and knees as Malcolm Markin’s stout silhouette appeared in the doorway.

He barreled through as if he owned the place, and when I jumped to my feet, he was staring at me, his eyes full of menace. “Well, get a load of this, son.”

He moved aside, and the man from my nightmares strode through the doorway, his thick frame taking up all the available space there.

His eyes swept over me, that same superior glare on his face that used to make my skin crawl.

Memories flooded back, honing in on that last night, when he’d pummeled my body with his fists, again and again, as I’d screamed for him to stop.

My only crime then had been trying to break up with him. Now, I knew he’d marked down what I’d done as unforgiveable.

His cold blue eyes landed on me, and his mouth spread into a smile. “Hello, Rebecca.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but words wouldn’t come. I should have had something to say, since I’d been waiting for this day to happen for so long. But I didn’t. Every time I’d considered the possibility of this moment, I’d been too scared to even think about what could happen.

Claudia spoke first, her voice authoritative and clear. “Excuse me, but what are you men doing here?”

“Shut up,” Malcolm boomed, holding a finger up to her, but not looking her way. “I don’t care who you are. Our business is with Ms. Reece, and not you. So you’ll kindly shut the fuck up.”

Claudia opened her mouth, outraged, and gave me an Are you going to let them talk to us like that look. I shook my head frantically at her, begging her to be quiet. She had no idea who we were dealing with.

Malcolm stalked toward me. I backed toward the other end of the trailer, until I was pressed against the wall.

“Now, Rebecca. Or whatever you’re going by these days.

Let’s talk. I think the least you can do is pay us a little respect, after shipping your boyfriend, the man you owed everything to, down the creek like that.

Don’t you think you at least owe him an apology after the stunt you pulled? ”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for all that to happen.”

He reached out and grabbed my chin, squeezing it between his beefy thumb and forefinger.

He jarred my head up and down, making me nod.

“You did, Rebecca. The accident that got the police on my son was your fault. If you hadn’t caused it, or at the very least had come to his aid, he never would’ve been found and spent the last two years and six months in prison. ”

His thumb pressed hard into my chin, the pressure pushing me more tightly against the wall. His black eyes bored into me, and his breath smelled like cigarette smoke. Abruptly, he let go, and I slumped against the wall as he walked away, and Anthony replaced him.

He looked sharp, as he always did, in his black suit. The look had been the thing that had attracted me in the beginning. He always wore a professional, well-put-together suit that made him look like a million bucks. Now, he just made me ill.

Scowling, he rested his forearm on the wall above me, caging me in, and leaned forward almost close enough to touch his forehead against mine.

A hair’s breadth away, he just stood there, his gaze dragging over my face.

“You fucked me, ran from me, and then you fucked me again.” He reached out and pushed a lock of hair behind my ear, and I squeezed my eyes closed.

“And you changed your hair without my expressed permission.”

“ You fucked me, Anthony,” I murmured, meeting his gaze. “ You hit me, and I had no choice but to run away from you.”

He let out a long, bitter laugh. “I treated you like a princess, Rebecca. I gave you everything. Yes, there were times when I needed to keep you in line, but it was for your own good. And you repaid me by shitting all over…stop!”

My eyes flew open. Without breaking his gaze on me he pointed to where Claudia was standing, quietly holding her cell phone.

Eyes still on mine, he smoothly walked toward her, and took it from her hand.

His eyes dropped to the screen for a second before he pulled his arm back and launched it against the wall.

It shattered with a loud crash, making Claudia and I both flinch.

“All right,” I said, trying my best to summon the bravery that seemed to be failing me. “What do you want, Anthony?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” he said with a grin. “Restitution.”

“I don’t understand.” My eyes volleyed between the father and son. Both of them wore matching smug smiles that made my stomach turn. “What restitution?”

“Well, luckily,” Anthony said, turning to Steve, “I’ve worked out some very favorable terms with your father’s business partner.”

I turned to Steve, who was now doing his best to shrink into the paneled wall, refusing to meet my eyes. He pulled on the lapels of his suit and cleared his throat meekly.

This was very bad.

I couldn’t breathe. It felt like there was a large lead weight on my chest, pushing me down, suffocating me.

Malcolm studied him, a silent glare that urged him to speak.

Finally, Steve said, “Well. I seem to have gotten myself into a bit of gambling debt, and I took out a loan to cover those expenses without your father’s knowledge.

I never meant for any of this to happen, but these men agreed to help me if… I helped them.”

I stared at Steve. Was he serious? Didn’t he know that you couldn’t make a fair deal with the devil? The Markin family didn’t help anyone. They would always demand more, and never let you get away.

Anthony strolled back over to me, his tongue pushing out the side of his mouth.

He touched my collarbone, and again got close enough to kiss me.

My stomach lurched, and I was afraid I might vomit on his pristine suit.

I pressed my back against the wall as he whispered, his voice gruff, “We’re covering his debts.

But you, sweetheart, belong to us.” He smiled.

“So the outcome is favorable. But not necessarily for you.”

I closed my eyes. Clenched my teeth to keep them from chattering. This couldn’t be happening.

Steve stuck his chin out. “All right, so I got her to come back like you wanted. I handed her to you. Where’s my money?”

Anthony turned and shot him a get-real look. “You don’t think we couldn’t have found her without your help, Stevie? Really?”

Steve’s eyes spit sparks. “That was the deal. I arranged the accident. I got in touch with her. I did everything you said. I want my money.”

I tried to process those words, every pore in my body revolting.

Steve arranged the accident?

For a second, my mind focused on the car accident that terrible night.

How could that have been contrived? But no, they weren’t discussing that accident.

My mind didn’t want to go there, but I made myself face it.

My father’s own business partner, his confidante, the man he trusted had turned on him, had killed him in order to pay off his gambling debts.

I really was going to be sick. My poor, poor father had been murdered. I gagged, swallowing back the nausea in my throat.

Anthony pushed off the wall and sauntered over to Steve, licking his lips. Steve, sensing the danger, backed up and flattened the lapels on his suit. His eyes fell to the floor as Anthony stepped close to him and sneered, “Watch your mouth, asshole. We’ll tell you when you get your money.”

Steve’s gaze shifted uneasily between the two men. “But you said you would wipe the slate clean upon delivery.”

Malcolm laughed. “So I did,” he said, smiling brightly at him. Too brightly.

I tensed as his face turned to stone.

“But no slate is ever wiped clean. Right, Rebecca?” His cold eyes zeroed in on me, and he motioned to Anthony.

Anthony, my ex-boyfriend, as easily as he breathed, ripped a sleek black gun from the inside pocket of his jacket and pointed it at my father’s business partner.

It let out a small popping sound that was little more than a breath, and then a perfect circle appeared in the center of Steve’s forehead.

Claudia and I let out a chorus of identical, short shrieks as blood started to trickle from that circle. A stunned look appeared on his face, and I didn’t think he knew what hit him as he watched our reactions and slumped slowly to the floor.

Anthony was busy watching me. Grinning.

Anthony. The gorgeous man who’d knocked my freshman-year socks off. Who’d taken my virginity and told me he loved me.

Had he always been such a ruthless, cold-blooded killer?

Tears threatened to pour down my cheeks, but I held them back. “What do you want?” I bit out, my entire body quaking.

He walked over to me, still holding the gun. He held it up to me, and touched my shoulder with the barrel, blazing a hot, lazy line down to my breasts. He leaned into my ear, his breath warm but making a cold chill race through my body. “Just what I’ve always wanted. What is mine. You. Always you.”

I breathed in sharply, avoiding meeting his cold eyes as Malcolm spoke his son’s name. “Let’s get this done. Remember, no witnesses.”

“Right. Just a minute, and we’ll be on our way, okay, sweetheart?” he said to me, sounding almost like the old Anthony, the sweet one from our first year together as he kissed my forehead. Like he just had a little more work to do, and then we could go out for pizza.

Then he turned, lifting the gun again.

This time, he pointed it at Claudia.