Page 33 of Stone Cold Bad (Stone Brothers #1)

TWENTY-EIGHT

JADE

I came to just as Ray was pulling into the driveway.

For a second, the facade of the house looked so familiar, I’d forgotten what had happened.

For a split second of time, I was back with Ray still trying to figure out how to eventually free myself from the man I hated.

Then Colt’s battered face flashed through my mind, and I broke into sobs.

Ray walked around to the passenger side and gripped my arm like a vise as he pulled me roughly from the car. “You’ll have to get over this drama scene fast, sweetheart, because it’s getting on my nerves.”

“You were supposed to let him go,” I cried.

“That was part of the deal.” I wrenched my arm free and ran.

He grabbed my hair. I reached back to keep him from ripping it out of my head.

I fell back hard on my ass, but he kept his grip on my hair.

He yanked on it, and I reached up to the roots to stop the pain.

“Get up or I’ll drag you back to the house by your hair.”

I got to my feet. My tailbone ached from the fall. I sighed with relief when he released my hair. His hand wrapped around my wrist. There were several men standing in front of the house like guards.

“See, you’re so fucking hated, you have to pay people to protect you from your enemies.”

“That’s what happens when you make a lot of money.

” We got to the front door. “Seems you can buy anything when you have big bucks.” He opened the door and pushed me inside.

“By now, that scumbag you were living with is dead. If you leave, there’ll be no one to run to.

Besides, I’ll just track you down again. ”

I swayed on my feet. I’d caused Colt’s death. The man I loved. I thought about that for a second. I loved him. It wasn’t just passion and an infatuation, I had fallen in love with Colt.

I spun around. “Then just kill me. Living here with you is far worse than a long, slow death.”

“That can be arranged too. Don’t bother to run. The guards are there to keep enemies out and you in.” He walked toward his study, which, of course, meant he was going for the bourbon. In less than an hour, he’d be drunk and even more vile.

I watched him walk to his study door and realized my hatred for the man had gone past the point of sanity. He’d killed Colt for no reason. I grabbed a heavy copper vase from the table in the entry. I ran toward Ray. The fake flowers fluttered to the ground as I lifted the vase over my head.

Ray turned around and lifted his arm. My forearms nearly broke in half as they smacked his hard arm.

The vase bounced off his shoulder and clanged loudly as it clattered to the marble floor.

He swung his fist at me, and I stumbled back.

Shards of light sparked across my vision and I couldn’t tell which way was up. I fell hard onto the cold floor.

Ray reached down and pinched my skin painfully as he grabbed my arm.

This time, he didn’t wait for me to get to my feet.

The skin on my legs stuttered along the smooth floor as he dragged me to his study.

My head lolled back as he grabbed both my arms and jerked me to my feet.

With a solid push, he shoved me onto the sofa.

My neck snapped and my head jolted back and forth.

Everything turned fuzzy gray. I flopped down on the cushions and hid my face to keep the room from spinning.

Through the haze, I heard Ray unlock his liquor cabinet.

My mind drifted in and out of reality. One minute, I was leaned over his desk trying to plunge a letter opener into his face, and the next, I was safe and secure in Colt’s arms. That vision and the reality that I’d lost Colt forever made me curl into a ball of quiet hysteria.

Now, my only hope was that Ray would get drunk enough to kill me.

I wanted the end to come soon so that I didn’t have to endure the excruciating heartbreak.

It was clear to me that I was never meant to have any happiness in my life.

My childhood and teen years had been one long string of disappointments.

Then I’d ended up with this monster. With Colt, I’d finally found someone that made me feel that life was worth living.

And now, because of my sordid past, he was gone.

I stumbled off the couch. Ray turned around just as I grabbed a glass from his liquor cabinet.

I smacked it on the side of his desk to give it jagged edges, deadly shards just sharp enough to cut a throat.

Ray stepped back. But it wasn’t his throat I was heading for.

I shoved the glass toward my neck. Ray’s eyes widened, and he lunged for the glass.

I put a gash in my shoulder as he knocked it from my hand.

He stared at me. “You had it all here. Money. An easy life.”

Tears clouded my vision. “Life with you was never easy. But when you started drinking, it became unbearable.”

Ray’s jaw tightened. He tossed back the bourbon and slammed his glass on the desk. “We’ll see just how unbearable I can be.” He reached for me as there was a knock at the door. He stopped. I used the pause to step out of his reach. His silent, menacing glare stopped my retreat.

“Yes?” he called sharply.

One of the men from outside poked his head into the office.

Ray had obviously hired a whole new crew for protection.

I was sure it had to do with the miserable failure of his men the night I’d made a run for it.

Overwhelming sadness washed over me again as I thought back to that night, the night I’d ended up in Colt’s arms.

“What is it?” Ray asked.

The man stepped inside. He was armed with a large handgun, a ridiculous contrast to the expensive, crisp suit he was wearing.

He looked more prepared for a business meeting than protecting a lowlife bookie from all the people who wanted him dead.

“Sir, the man who gave you information is here to collect his ten thousand dollar reward.”

A derisive laugh shot from Ray’s mouth. “Is he? Fucking mercenary. Tell him to get the fuck off of my property. If he doesn’t leave, shoot him.”

The man looked shocked.

I glanced over at Ray. “God, you’ve really lost your fucking mind.”

He ignored my barb and glared at the man who hadn’t moved yet.

“Well, is there something else?”

The man shook his head. He seemed to be thinking the same thing as me. “Nope. I’ll go ask him to leave the property.” With that he turned and left.

Ray faced me. “Next time one of my men is within earshot, you keep that pretty mouth shut. Now, where were we?”