Page 71 of Vow of Vengeance

I stare at him, trying to understand what he's not saying. I think I do, but the awfulness of it is too much.

“You used to dream of me, right? That I would come home and peel back the covers to slip into bed and fuck your filthy little cunt? They weren’t dreams.”

No.

No, I refuse to believe that. And yet, something about the way he smirks tells me it’s the truth… maybe one of the only truths he’s ever given me.

"If you've been alive, where have you been for the last year?"

"I was with you all along, baby.” He leans over me and presses a kiss to my lips, his mouth pressing hard overtop of mine, the smell of rot and the palpable terror stealing my breath. “I told you, I survived so I could come back to you, because you need me. I couldn't risk anyone knowing, in case they tried to come back and finish what they started."

My head is spinning, and I feel faint, like I'm slipping away from the world.

The call is coming from inside the house.

My brain flashes uselessly to the suspenseful movies we used to watch when I was a teenager, falling hard for him because he was the only thing in the world that made sense to me.

When he finally straightens, I suck in a ragged breath, choking and sputtering.

"You were in the house?" My voice sounds frail. "The whole time?"

"Almostthe whole time." He shrugs. "Until your fucking boyfriend had to go and become obsessed with you. I watched them put cameras up in the house across the street, watched him sitting there in that driveway when he wanted to scope out our house, and I knew I had to leave for a while, to avoid being caught. That's when I went to Khan for help."

My brain stutters over the revelation, but once I process it, the accusation feels like a sucker punch.

"Khan?"

As in mybest friend?

No. He wouldn't help Vin.

He didn't even like Vin all that much.

"I knew he'd help me, since I know all his dirty secrets."

I shake my head, because none of this is tracking in my mind. None of this makes sense. And I hate how much power he has over me right now, how terrified I am, how Ibelievehim.

"I don't understand."

"You don't need to. There are more important things. It's been too long since I've been inside you."

I flinch when his hand lands on my cheek, and something in his eyes hardens. He grits his teeth.

"Fucking Evers. He's ruined you."

I want to tell him that if I'm ruined, it's because I loved a monster.

I trusted him.

I slept beside him every night.

But all the words leave my mind when he grips my hair and yanks my head toward him, meeting my lips with the crown of his dick.

Everything inside of me clenches as I clamp my mouth shut, wiring my jaw so that nothing can slip past. I try not to wretchat the feel of his skin against mine, try not to think about all the places that dick has been.

"Open up for me, baby. Show me how much you've missed me, and I'll go slow."

I want to tell him that I wish he was fucking dead, but I refuse to open my mouth, so I glare at him instead, hoping that's enough to prove my point.