Page 84 of Rival

He sputters, shaking his head violently. “Y-You…You!”

“Me,” I sneer, then wrap my hands around his head, digging my nails into his sweat-slicked face and slam his head against the floor. The crack and grunt before he passes out doesn’t bring me enough pleasure, so when I stand, I drive the toe of my steel-toed boot into his side for good measure.

Lifting my head, I turn toward Edith. I need to make sure she’s okay and we have to get her shit out of here. I’ve got my place she can stay at until we figure things out.

And Christ,a baby.

My eyes fly over the room, narrowing when I don’t see her. I hurry to the other side of her bed, thinking she might be hiding, but she’s not there. A haphazard pile of clothing lies in the center of her bed, but no Edith.

Ignoring the pained wheezing coming from the floor, I move around her room, even checking under her bed, only to come up empty.She’s probably downstairs.

The only reason I even came over today was because Corbin called me with news that Clayborn couldn’t find his daughter.She never came home last night, which was unexpected. Edith wasalwayshome whenever we hung around here. I needed to ease my worry she was alright and maybe check over at Mason’s place to see if she’d snuck over there.

Guilt hits me when I think back over all the signs that something wasn’t right in this house. The way she cowered and flinched from quick movements, that fuckingblack eye, worry over upsetting her dad. The man doesn’t deserve that title if it were up to me.

I feel like a goddamn idiot. Iaman idiot.

She’s been fighting off her drunk daddy for God knows how long while I was over here, sneaking into her room, playing around and fucking her, then slipping out with some piss poor reasoning.

My feet freeze as if I’ve been cemented in place. Horror fills me when I replay that morning I left over again. My dick was almost inside of her when Corbin and her dad showed up. She shoved me away, terrified and panicked that we were about to be caught.

She shoved me away, and I thought…

Smacking myself in the head twice, I kick Clayborn again on my way out the door and race down the stairs.

“Edith?” The kitchen is empty, so I barrel through the door into the living room. “Darlin’, you hidin’ in here?” I call out, but it’s silent aside from the creak of floorboards above my head where Clayborn is most likely rolling over.

Fuck him. I hope he drinks himself to death.

I want to keep searching for her inside, but my gut tells me she’s not here. It’s as if my heart knows she’s too far away. Pushing aside my growing concern that she’s injured, I focus on finding her.ThenI can give her the help she needs.

Rushing outside, I cup my hands around my mouth and start yelling.

“Edith!Where are you?” I turn in the yard but see nothing aside from a few weeds swaying in the breeze.

Running toward the front, I shout again, but she’s totally gone. Thinking quickly of where she could have gone on foot, I hop in my truck, slamming the door shut on Clayborn as he stumbles out the door.

“Don’t you fuckin’ come back here! You’re a motherfu—”

Nothing he can say will matter to me. I back up to turn around, then peel out of the drive, most certainly kicking stones at the bastard as I head straight over to Mason’s ranch.

She’s gotta be here, right? Where else could she have gone?

I explode from my seat as soon as I shove the gear into park and leave my truck idling as I take the porch steps two at a time.

Pounding my fist on the door, I keep at it until the door opens and I realize I must be a fucking mess when the tiny woman stares at me with huge eyes. She starts to close it almost immediately, but I stop her.

“Wait!Please. Is Edith over here?”

She looks behind her and who I assume to be her husband comes into view. “Edith isn’t here. What’s goin’ on?”

Hanging my head, I brace myself on the frame of their door. “Shit happened over at her place, and she took off. She’s hurt and I don’t know where she went.” Pleading with them, I ask, “Ya’ll have any idea where she could have gone?”

“No, honey. We don’t know her well enough to have any idea. But we’ll let our son know to go lookin’. What happened to her?” Mrs. Cooper has now opened the door all the way and worry over my state long forgotten. It’s clear these people have some care for Edith, but I don’t want to send Mason out for her.Ineed to find her.

Driving my point home with an unwavering stare, I bite out, “Her daddy happened to her. Ya’ll know about him and his fists?”

Both of them jerk their heads back in shock. Mrs. Cooper presses a hand to her chest. Turning to her husband, she shoos him. “Bill, go call Mason right now!” Then to me, she asks, “You call the police?”