Reckoning (Sacrifical Duet Book 1)

by Riley Ashby

  “You didn’t come last night,” she whispered, fully awake though her eyes were still closed. I let my own fall shut.

  “I was afraid of what would happen.” Of what I would say.

  “Meyer Schaf is never afraid.”

  “I’m afraid all the time.” Shit, I hadn’t meant to say that out loud. My eyes flew open to find her staring at me in shock.

  I twisted her face toward me, kissing her deeply to preempt the questions that confession spawned in her mind. She refused my advances, placing her hands on my cheeks and holding me back.

  “Tell me why.”

  “How can you not see it?” I shouldn’t be talking to her. I was giving too much away, and I wasn’t even drunk.

  She was silent for a moment as her eyes searched mine. “You blinded me.”

  I pressed my lips against her forehead. She was so warm. “Be good today. Don’t let Anita in.” I left before she could coax anything more out of me.

  The day was packed to the brim, but I was next to useless. Shawn kicked me under the table during meetings, covered for me when possible, but ultimately, everyone could tell I was off my game. I told Jessica to cancel the last meetings of the day, and then I locked myself in my office. Of course, that didn’t stop Shawn.

  “What’s up with you today?” He sat carefully in the chair in front of my desk, trying to hide his curious gaze with a relaxed posture. Still, he was too tense, legs crossed unnaturally in his attempt to appear casual.

  “Nothing,” I said, swallowing as I remembered the taste of the pills as I shoveled them in my mouth like candy. “I’ve just had a weird few days.”

  “Does it have anything to do with your dad taking off early?”

  I raised my head too quickly. “Conrad left?”

  “No explanation. Just walked out a few minutes ago. Didn’t say when he’d be back.”

  My frown hurt my face. Conrad didn’t leave work early. He was too invested in the company to just walk out in the middle of the day. “Something must be wrong.” I grabbed my phone, but I had no texts or missed calls. Whatever it was, he didn’t feel like sharing it with me. Not that that was all that unusual.

  “Did you two get into it recently?”

  I snorted. We didn’t have an interaction that ended on a friendly note. Well, except for the night he gave me Madeline.

  “Maybe he ran off to get laid.”

  After Eva took off, the women came and went like seasons. I supposed that Conrad thought I was old enough to more or less take care of myself by the time I lost the only mother I’d ever known, so he didn’t bother hanging onto anyone else if someone new caught his eye. Still, there would occasionally be a woman who lasted more than a few weeks, sometimes even months at a time, to help me with my homework or meet me after school, but that was rare. Most of them couldn’t be bothered with me, choosing to stay in Conrad’s room even when he wasn’t around. At night, wandering the halls when I couldn’t sleep, I’d sometimes hear enough to know my father liked things rough. Maybe rougher than most normal people. It explained why the girls didn’t have the energy to leave the bedroom, at least.

  My phone buzzed as Shawn started to reply. He closed his mouth, and I snatched up my phone, seeing a text not from my father but from Joshua.

  Security issue at the main house. I’ve been asked to address it.

  I started to tap out my response—he was not to leave Madeline alone under any circumstances—but paused midsentence as I realized it was already too late. He’d already caved to whatever my father had asked him to do.

  Madeline was by herself at my house.

  I suddenly knew where Conrad had gone.

  Madeline

  The day felt colorless after he left. I grabbed his arm before he could pull away completely, pushing my fingertips into the healing wounds on his shoulder. He snatched my wrist as he turned to look at me.

  “You want to hurt me?” His voice changed tenor, no longer a whisper but full-throttle defense.

  “No. I want to heal you.”

  He threw my hand away and stalked out. That didn’t surprise me.

  What did surprise me was when, halfway through the afternoon, Joshua abruptly stood, told me to lock the doors, and then walked out without any explanation. All I could do was stare at the door in shock for a moment. He was supposed to stay with me, and he was gone. What had called him away? Was there something wrong with Meyer? Surely, he wouldn’t keep me in the dark if that were the case.

  He would if Meyer asked him to.

  I weighed my options. Should I run after him? He probably took a car. I’d be alone and defenseless on the vast property, and I didn’t know what the other security personnel would do if they found me. Last time, they had left bruises over my entire body.

  Running to the door, I flipped the deadbolt quickly and hoped it would be enough to keep out any intruders. What time was it? Would Meyer be home soon, or would he work late tonight to punish us for getting too close to each other?

  The garage. I sprinted through the kitchen to turn the lock there too, wishing it had something more substantial. I didn’t know if there was a way to prevent the garage door from opening. Even if there was, that would mean Meyer couldn’t get in later, so that wouldn’t work.

  Nausea settled into my gut, and anxiety skyrocketed through my body as I thought about all the points of entry to the house. There were windows and the sliding basement door made of glass—so many places a determined person could get in if they wanted. Had the order to lock the doors been a precaution or a warning?

  I hadn’t been truly alone for two seconds since I was brought here, but now that I was, I recognized I was in more danger than ever. Walking to the bedroom, I sat on the bed and waited. Every passing second felt like an hour, but despite how often I checked the clock, it was never late enough, was never a time I could expect Meyer to be home and stand between me and the far worse monster residing only a few thousand yards away. The skin on my bottom lip was worn away, my nail beds completely destroyed as I tore apart my own body while I waited.

  Then it happened.

  The quality of the air seemed to change in an instant. It wasn’t something I could explain. Maybe I heard the front door close, or a murmur in the hallway, but I snapped my head up toward the door a moment before it opened, and Conrad stepped into the room.

  He grinned at me lazily, an expression I’d seen a hundred times on Meyer’s face. It seemed much more sinister coming from his father. “Well now, what exactly have you done to land yourself in my son’s bed?”

  An excellent question, one I couldn’t quite answer. I scrambled off the mattress to the far side of the bed, but he was in front of me before I could get to the bathroom and shut the door. Where was Joshua? Where was Meyer? What had happened to land me alone with this man?

  “There’s no one here to interrupt us, darling. I sent my son’s little pal on an errand.”

  My hands flew up as he reached for me, but he grabbed my wrists and yanked me forward. “Let go of me.” I put every ounce of bravery into my words, knowing I couldn’t do anything to make him comply with my command. Conrad didn’t take orders from anyone.

  “I don’t take orders from you, my dear. Are you perhaps too used to giving them to my son?” He tossed my hands aside and grabbed me around my throat, pushing me backward into the hard corner where the door met the wall. My spine protested at the wood pressing into the bone. “I want to know what you’re doing to him. He’s been off-kilter ever since you arrived, and I know I did a better job of preparing him than this.”

  “I doubt you’ve ever taught him anything useful.” My voice gargled around his hands, and his fingers loosened a fraction so I could take a deeper breath. “You think you’re some sort of maestro, crafting the perfect psychopath? He’s too good to be your son. Whatever poor woman you tricked into carrying him for you put too much of herself into him.”

  He laughed in my face, so cold it pinned me in place more effectivel
y than his hands. “His mother died giving birth to him; I have Eva to blame for his upbringing. Maybe that was where I went wrong. I should have dropped him at the nearest fire station the moment we cut the cord. Or better yet, drowned him in the bathtub so he could join his mother in the afterlife.” He adjusted his grip on me, tilting his head to study me better. “I don’t know what I ever saw in him. Keeping him alive was my moment of greatest weakness. Now, Anita? She’s truly my child. As ruthless as they come. Maybe it’s not too late to correct the mistake I made thirty years ago.” He lifted one hand, finger against his temple like a gun. “One shot would be all it takes. A little messier than putting him down in a bathtub, but that’s my own fault.”

  I slapped at his wrist, but his grip was unyielding. My feet kicked for his knees, but his arms were too long; he held me far enough away that I couldn’t make contact. “You’re fucking sick.”

  “You have no idea, Madeline Sheppard.” He sneered. “Is that sorry excuse for a man who invaded my property the other week your true father? Or was it one of the men your mother fucked the night she decided to throw my generosity in my face and walk out the door?”

  An inhuman scream escaped me as I scrambled to hit him, scraping my nails across his fist in an attempt to do some sort of damage in exchange for his horrible words. “Take that back!” His skin broke beneath my nails, and he hissed at the pain, jerking back just slightly, enough for me to kick out and hit his shin.

  “Didn’t you hear me the first time?” He yanked me away from the wall and threw me to the floor across the room. The carpet cushioned my head as it hit the floor with a thud, but I retched as his foot landed in my stomach. He liked to hit the soft spots. “I don’t take orders from you. Stay on the floor where you belong.”

  I clambered to my feet, ignoring my cramping stomach, and spun to face him once more. My back pressed against the wall with nowhere to escape. “I know the truth now. You’re the monster here, not that there was ever any doubt. But I have proof.” I held my breath, trying to stop my shaking. He continued moving toward me even as I spoke, the predator stalking his prey to the end. “You kidnapped her. She was a child. And you hurt your own son in order to make her comply.”

  “Meyer told you that, did he?” He shook his head as he came to a halt in front of me, disgust clear on his face. “I knew I could never trust that little brat. If anything, your mother ruined him.”

  My heart pounded. I couldn’t let this go back on him. I’d already fucked up by letting my emotions get the better of me when he insulted my mother. If he suspected that Meyer really felt anything for me but disdain, he’d bury us both. “Meyer didn’t tell me. He defends you to the end, even when you don’t deserve it.”

  He laughed as he reached out to touch a strand of my hair, the tips of his fingers brushing against my cheek. I jerked away from him, but he closed his fist, pulling tight on my hair and straining my scalp. “There’s no need to protect him, little girl. He’d never do the same for you.”

  I flashed back to in front of the fire, his lips on my neck with my mother’s letter in my hand and the taste of my own blood on my tongue. The next words left my lips without my permission. “He already has.”

  “Is that so?” The hand released my hair and moved to my chin, holding my jaw too tightly. “Does he fancy himself in love with you?”

  My heart sank. Get back on track. “He doesn’t know how to love, thanks to you.” I didn’t believe that, but Conrad’s eyes continued to darken with every word he spoke. He was too close now; my heels bumped the baseboard as he continued to encroach upon my space. But there was nowhere for me to go, no way for me to fight, and he knew it. He could overpower me in a second, and there would be no pleading with him. No magic word to make him stop. This had always been his endgame, no matter what he might have told Meyer. He wanted me for himself, and Meyer was just the tool to help him get me.

  “I bet he hasn’t even fucked you.” His other hand went to my hip, thumb digging into the soft flesh of my belly. I closed my eyes and swallowed back my disgust as he forced one leg between my thighs, sliding up until he could go no higher and grinding his knee against my core, bruising the tender flesh. “He was always too soft. I knew he wouldn’t have the guts to do what was necessary.” I turned my head to the side as he ducked to kiss me, his lips landing on my ear. He opened his mouth and bit me.

  “You don’t deserve to be his father. He’s a good man!” I should keep my mouth shut. Should play into his game and keep him busy until Meyer or Joshua showed up. But Meyer had suffered so much abuse already; I couldn’t stand him taking any more. Not when I could stand up for him. “You did your best to ruin him, but it won’t be enough. His eyes are opened wider every day. You can’t keep him under your thumb forever, Conrad, and he’s going to leave you someday. You won’t be able to stop it.”

  Conrad grabbed my face with both hands and gripped my jaw hard, sending my teeth sliding around my mouth. “You don’t know my son. Don’t ever presume to be a part of this family because you are nothing. Worse than dog shit on the bottom of my shoe. You are the worthless daughter of a faithless whore, and you’ll be a whore yourself before I let you leave.”

  “Since when is she yours to let leave?”

  My heart stuttered at Meyer’s voice as my eyes flew to meet his, standing in the doorway with his hands in fists at his side. He was here. I’d made it. My legs went weak, and I had to remind myself that this wasn’t over; I couldn’t collapse quite yet. But the panic I’d been fighting back continued to claw its way to the forefront of my mind, sending stars to my vision. I coughed to try to clear them.

  Conrad seized a handful of my hair and wheeled me around to stand in front of him, pushing me over awkwardly. “Since when do you allow your toys to talk back so rudely?”

  “She doesn’t talk back to me.”

  All I could see were the polished toes of Meyer’s shoes, standing still too far across the room to be of any help to me.

  “He tried to kill me,” I blurted out, but Conrad put his foot into the back of my left knee, and I fell to the ground, only for him to yank me back up to that stiff, bend-over position.

  “You would be so lucky,” Conrad said, “considering what I have planned for you.”

  “It’s not your plans she should worry about, though, right?” Meyer’s feet moved toward me a step, one foot slightly in front of the other. “Because you said I was in charge of this operation. You gave your word.” He was trying to sound confident, but even I could hear the undercurrent of fear in his voice. He cleared his throat. “If I need your help, I’ll ask for it.”

  Conrad finally let me go, pushing me forward so I fell into Meyer’s hands. He cupped my chin and raised me to face him, studying my face briefly before pushing me to the side and taking another step toward his father and sliding slightly in front of me. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  I walked back against the bed, watching father and son face off in the bedroom on this chilly fall day. My face felt cold where Meyer had held me, but it faded too quickly.

  “You are slacking at work.” Conrad frowned as he picked his jacket up off the bed and slipped into it, pulling the fabric tight across his shoulders. “I wanted to make sure I didn’t give you too much responsibility.”

  “You wanted me to break her. It’s not my fault it’s been so much fun. I stayed late last night and was in early today, as you insisted.”

  Conrad smiled out of one side of his mouth, but there was no warmth in it. His eyes glinted hard and cold. “Perhaps I overestimated your ability to multitask.”

  “Did I not land a five hundred-million-dollar contract last week?”

  I quavered at the amount. Amnesty Abroad would kill for that kind of money while Meyer would use it to build weapons of mass destruction.

  Conrad feigned indifference, but he was shaken by the reminder. He looked away as he adjusted his perfectly knotted tie. “Let’s make sure that trend continues. I’d h
ate to have to take away your plaything.”

  He walked toward the door, bumping shoulders with Meyer, who looked at me for only a moment before turning to follow his father out. Alone in the bedroom, I sighed and let my shoulders relax, then massaged my aching jaw. Every muscle in my body released, and the panic I’d been fighting off was allowed to resurge.

  My breath, which I’d been tightly controlling, came faster and shallower while I dug my fingers into my knees. Get a grip. It’s all right. He’s gone.

  That had been too close, and I knew it would happen again. Conrad was going to come back here for me, one way or another. I suddenly wondered if he might kill Meyer in order to do it.

  Meyer came back into the bedroom a moment later, carefully locking the door behind him. When he turned to look at me, I crossed the room swiftly and grabbed his arm.

  “What the fuck? You let him kick me again!”

  His jaw tightened, and I became aware of how tightly I was gripping his forearm, my fingernails digging into his skin through his jacket and shirt.

  “Let go of me.” He whispered the words, but it wasn’t a threat I heard. It was fear.

  I’m afraid all the time.

  I peeled back my fingers one by one and smoothed the fabric, then held his arm more loosely. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “You didn’t fucking scare me.” I heard the slight emphasis on the first word. He shook me off and walked to the closet, pulling off his jacket and tie as he went. “Why did you let him in?”

  “I didn’t. Joshua said he had to leave all of a sudden and told me to lock the doors. I was in here, and he showed up out of nowhere.”

  He exited the closet in a T-shirt and jeans, joining me once more by the bed and looking me up and down. “Where did he touch you?”

  I twisted my head to bare my neck, glaring at him out of the corner of my eye. “Am I not bruised?”