Page 46 of Endure the Pain

We ended up in the lounge. Jamie and Louie set Dylan on the couch and stepped away to stand by me. Angela sat next to Dylan and began fussing over him.

“If you’re bleeding, try not to get it on the couch. Brody all but ripped me a new asshole for doing that last week,” I advised.

Dylan rubbed the back of his head where I'd hit him. “You allow the help to yell at you?”

I relaxed my face and gave him a blank mask. “Brody is my family. I’d mind what you say,” I warned.

“Or what? You’ll hit him again?” Angela sneered.

I ignored her, staring only at Dylan. “You’re pathetic,” I said, shaking my head in disappointment.

The muscle in Dylan’s jaw ticked. “Where’s my sister?”

“There’s no need for you to concern yourself with Brenna anymore. I’ll make sure she is properly taken care of,” I informed him. My lips stretched into a cruel smile at the rage that flared in his eyes.

“You can’t just take my sister away,” he seethed.

Poor baby was mad that I'd taken away his personal punching bag. That wasn’t all I was going to take away if he pushed me. “Yes, I can.”

His nostrils flared. “You took her away because I punished her, which I had every right to do. She snuck out of the house. Ever since our father died, she’s been acting out—”

“I’m taking her because your home is no longer a suitable environment for Brenna. Your mother has a terrible addiction and you are not fit to take care of a teenage girl,” I interrupted, choosing my words carefully. “I’m going to give you two days to get your mother checked into a center that will help her get clean and then I want you to take some time to self-reflect.”

“I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but you can’t order him around like that,” Angela said, and her eyes slid to Jamie. A slow venomous grin tugged the corners of her mouth before she returned her gaze to me. “Just because your life is stale, doesn’t mean you can stick your nose in others’ business.”

“You’re waiting for him?” I chuckled. She thought Jamie was going to come running to her once he was done with me. “My, my, someone clearly thinks highly of themselves.”

She sneered. “I’m a patient woman. He’ll eventually see that you’re nothing more than a psychotic bitch with a pussy too stretched out to please him.” She lowered hervoice and mumbled what sounded like, “I would never allow myself to be raped.”

Her words stung and it took a lot of effort not to wince outwardly.

Jamie disappeared from my side in a blur. He moved so fast, his rage consuming him, that we were all stunned as we watched him rip Angela from the couch and shove her up against the wall, holding her by her throat. “What the fuck did you just say to her?” he snarled. “I don’t know what your obsession is with me, but I could end you right now and forget you ever existed by morning. You mean nothing to me!”

Tears poured from Angela’s eyes and she glanced at Dylan, pleadingly. Dylan made no move to help her.

Jamie’s hand squeezed around Angela’s neck, forcing her attention back to him. “You think I don’t know that she’s crazy?” He released an evil chuckle. “If she asked me to gut you so she could wear your insides like a fucking necklace, I wouldn’t hesitate. Becauseshemeans everything to me!”

Angela stared at him in shock and Jamie regarded her as if she were the most pathetic human being he’d ever laid eyes on. “Why are you surprised? Just because I was nice to you doesn’t take away who I am. Who all of us are.”

I looked over at Dylan. He’d been really quiet until then. I held my hand out to Louie and without me having to ask, he handed over the gun I knew he had on him. I cocked it and aimed at Dylan’s head. “Did you tell her that I was raped?”

He shook his head frantically. “No. I have no idea how she knows.”

I should just do it. End the burden and the headache.But for the first time, I found it hard to pull the trigger. Regardless of his sins, he was still my cousin—my family. Every memory I had of him growing up flooded my mind. Had Stefan faced this moral dilemma before he had killed Samuel?

“Please, Maura. I’ll do as you say,” he pleaded, shaking like a leaf. “I know I’ve been acting out and I’m sorry. I just…I feel like my life is falling apart. My father is dead, my mother can’t go a moment without being high, and you’re right, I’m not fit to raise Brenna.”

I lowered the gun. “I want you to take your whore and enjoy the party for at least another hour. Do not leave a minute before. I also think it would be best that you stay away from Brenna for the time being.”

Dylan nodded and slowly stood. He glanced over to where Jamie had yet to release Angela.

“Are you sure?” Jamie asked me. “I’ll kill her, baby. I’d fucking kill anyone who talked to you like she did.”

Angela’s mascara had run down her cheeks and her skin had turned ghostly pale. “I think she’s suffered enough tonight,” I said.

Jamie released her before Dylan grabbed her by the arm and practically dragged her out of the room.

CHAPTER 15