by Ashley Jade
“Eden—”
“Enough, Cain,” I sneer. “You’re losing focus again.”
I position him so the tip of his dick drapes over the tank. “Look, I’m not gonna make this complicated. Consider this my special version of a lie detector test. For every question you refuse to answer or try to lie your way through, your cock goes in the tank. I should warn you though, my patience is wearing thin. I suggest you do yourself a favor and only tell the truth.”
“That’s your big plan?” He snickers. “For the record, Brainiac, forcing a confession from a person under duress is inadmissible in court.”
“Fortunately, I’m not interested in a judge or jury hearing the truth, I only care that Eden hears it.”
Confusion spreads across Eden’s face. “I already know the—”
“Not all of it. There’s more than Cain killing his family and blackmailing me.”
Cain shakes his head. “That’s not true. I never—”
“And in the tank we go,” I interject. “Boy, that didn’t take long.”
“Wait,” Cain shouts. “Okay.” He looks at Eden. “I did it. You said I had to tell the truth, right? Well, here it is. They abused me for years.” He inhales a ragged breath. “I finally had enough of it, so I killed them.” His eyes become glassy. “I couldn’t take it anymore, Eden. If that makes me a terrible human being, so be it.”
“That’s not what makes you terrible,” Eden says, jabbing her fingernail into my desk. “Blaming the murder on an innocent woman and then blackmailing Damien when he was only trying to help you is.”
“You’re right. But I was young and scared. I didn’t want to go to jail. I wanted the future I planned for myself. The one I worked my ass off for.” He sniffs. “You don’t know what it’s like to have someone you love treat you like you’re lower than dirt and control your every move. You don’t know what it’s like to have all this fury and pain building up inside you, waiting to erupt every time they hurt you. It eats away at you, Eden. Just like poison—it kills every good thing inside you. And every single fucking day they look you in your eyes, taunting you as they cut you deeper. But you can’t make it go away and you can’t stop the bleeding because you’re not strong enough. So, the monsters continue to win…continue destroying you little by little. Until one day you just snap…because you’ve finally had enough.”
Eden stays silent, but I see the pain flashing in her eyes. She knows exactly what it’s like.
Because Cain is her monster.
He tilts his head toward me. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. It took me eleven years to say it, but I truly feel horrible for what I did to you. You were a good friend, we had a bond…and I took advantage of that. I’m so sorry.”
“No, you’re not.” Cain can’t fool me anymore. “The only thing you’re sorry about is the position I have you in now.”
The one I’ve been pining for all this time.
I fish out my cigarettes with my free hand and light one. “Now that we got the first two murders out of the way, let’s jump to the next notch on your list. Shall we?”
He struggles against me. “There is no other notc—”
I lower his dick into the water, and he starts to scream…until he looks down and realizes he’s on the side with the good fish.
But the thing is, most fish tend to get curious about new friends in the tank. Especially when you haven’t fed them much for the past few days…in preparation for this moment.
Cain exhales, looking relieved…until some of the fish start nibbling.
“Fuck.” Eden looks away. “That’s gross.”
Stubborn bastard he is, Cain withstands the torture for the better part of a minute before he whispers, “Karen.”
“Sorry, man.” I cup my ears with my free hand. “You’re gonna have to speak up if you want the love bites to stop.”
“Karen,” he grits through his teeth and Eden gasps. “I killed Karen.”
I tug him back so he’s out of the water. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Eden bolts up from the chair. “You killed my mother?”
“Yes,” Cain says with more vigor. “What she was doing to you was abusive and I couldn’t take it anymore.”
For a moment, I think Eden’s going to fall for it, but she shakes her head. “Yeah, so abusive you waited four years to do it, and then paid medical professionals to brainwash me.” She starts pacing the room. “Christ, what is wrong with you? I know she was a bitch, but she was the only family I had. You had no right to take that from me.”
“I’m so—”
“She might have come around.” Eden folds her arms around herself. “She was cruel and mean. But maybe we could have had a relationship in the future. Now I’ll never know…because of you.”
“I was doing what I thought was best,” Cain snaps. “And that includes hiring professionals to treat you. With all of Karen’s neglect and mistreatment, I needed you to learn to trust someone first before—”
“Shut the fuck up,” I growl. Every word he says brings me that much closer to the end of my fuse. And I’m sure as fuck not going to stand here and let him manipulate Eden into thinking he did this for her benefit when he only did it for his. “You make me sick.”
“Funny,” Cain muses. “Your fascination with me always made me sick.” He turns his head to Eden. “He’s been obsessed with me since high school.”
“I know,” Eden informs him. “Damien told me everything about your history.”
He snorts. “Sweetheart, the fact that you’re still standing here helping him tells me he did not.”
Her red lips part in surprise as her gaze flits to me. “What’s he talking about?”
“Come on, Damien,” Cain sneers when I don’t answer. “Don’t leave us in suspense.”
Rage lights me up and faster than the flip of a switch, I kick his legs out from underneath him and plunge his head into the tank.
Cain’s not running the show this time, I am.
He thrashes against me as I drown him, but I don’t let him up for air until his movements slow down.
He wheezes, gasping for air. “Damien helped me set up the teacher we were having sex with for the murder of my family.” He winces, preparing to be dunked again. “Damien might have you fooled, but trust me he is far from innocent. He could have saved her and told Trejo the truth during his interrogation, but he didn’t.”
“I already know about Mrs. Miller,” Eden says. “Like I said, Damien told me everything, including the part he played in it.”
Cain’s eyebrows draw together, and I can see those psychopathic wheels in his head turning.
I don’t want his wheels turning, though. What I want—is to hear him admit the one thing I haven’t been able to prove, but feel burning in my gut every time I think about it.
“So, you know she was his friend? The one who introduced me to her—or should I say, presented her on a platter to me to use and take however and whenever I wanted. He took an abused woman and manipulated her into doing whatever he wanted, and then betrayed her when it suited his needs. He’s no different than I am.” He holds Eden’s gaze. “And if you don’t believe me. Just ask yourself this question, sweetheart. If he could backstab his friend…a woman he claimed to care for, what’s to stop him from doing the same thing to you one day?”
Eden opens her mouth to speak and then clamps it shut. She wants to argue but she can’t.
Because as much as the both of us hate to admit it…
“Cain’s right.”
My feelings for Eden are real…but it doesn’t change what I did. Or the truth I’ve been concealing from her so I could keep her a little longer…like the selfish bastard I am.
I might not have murdered all those people like Cain did, but I really am no different.
There are different shades of evil, but in the end, it doesn’t matter whose shade is darker—we’re both still villains.
Eden’s eyes grow bigger. “What do
you mean he’s right? I don’t—”
“You will.” I grip the back of his head. “But first, I need something from Cain.”
“I’m not doing shit until you—”
I immerse his dick in the tank and lower my lips to his ear. “Did you kill her?”
“Who?”
“Don’t play fucking stupid. Kristy. Did you kill Kristy?”
“No, you idiot. Her hus—” He flinches when I press a button on the remote, lowering the divider. “Damien, don’t do this.”
Oh, I’m gonna.
"Two hungry piranhas can never coexist in one tank, Cain," I grind out, repeating his own words back to him. “Therefore, I suggest you speak now and admit what I already know, or so help me God I will make you suffer far worse than you made that poor woman suffer.”
Hell, I plan on doing it anyway.
A guttural scream erupts from Cain as the piranha munches his way through the fish closest to him first. He’s got about two seconds left before the piranha comes over to this side of the tank and he loses his favorite appendage.
“I did it,” he screams. “I killed Kristy. Fuck. I’ll tell you everything, Damien,” he screams. “I’ll tell her the truth, I swear. Just take my dick out—” He sucks in air, wheezing as I yank him back. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, motherfucker. This is far from over.”
“You killed her?” Eden whispers. “How could you—”
“I’m sorry,” Cain croaks, hanging his head in defeat. “I’m so fucking sorry, Eden.”
He knows as well as I do this is it. The final showdown.
And for once, it’s no longer about our feud or revenge.
It’s not about winning either…because the last round ends in a draw.
We both lose her.
Eden’s eyes ping pong between us. “Why is he apologizing to me?”
The muscle in my chest squeezes, reminding me I have a heart deep down…one that’s breaking for her.
I’ve spent my whole life not giving a fuck about other people, or my actions. But if there’s one major event I could ever take back. One wrong I could undo…it would be saving Kristy.
But I can’t. The only thing I can do is tell Eden what she never could.
What she never got the chance to…because of me.
“Because he killed your mother.”
“I know,” she says, not understanding. “Cain confessed before.”
“He confessed to killing Karen before.” I look her in the eyes because it’s the least you can do when you’re about to rip someone’s entire world out from underneath them. “Karen wasn’t your biological mother. Kristy was.”
Chapter 40
Damien
Past…
“You ever wonder what your life would be like if it weren’t for one major event?”
“Sure.” I rake my gaze up and down her naked body before I grab my cigarettes off the nightstand. “Just today I thought about all the good sex I’d be missing out on if I didn’t bend you over the table in the science lab that day.”
She smiles and lets out a small laugh, causing those big tits of hers to jiggle with the action. “I was being serious, Damien.”
I light a cigarette as I think about her question. We don’t usually get into such weighty conversations, but I don’t mind talking to her.
Mrs. Miller’s not only hot. She’s chill as fuck.
“Sometimes I think about what my life would be like if my mom didn’t die.”
I hate the pity shadowing her blue eyes. “I wish I knew what to say.”
Sometimes there isn’t anything to say. It just is what it is.
“She was a junkie who preferred drugs to her kid.” I take a long drag of my cigarette. “I’d say her death was upsetting, but you can’t lose something you never had, you know?”
“Yeah.” She winces. “Can I ask you something kind of messed up?”
“Shoot.”
She props herself up on her elbow. “If your mom wanted forgiveness for not being a good parent, would you give it to her?”
“Depends.”
“On?”
I shrug. “Why she wanted it. Was it because she’s truly sorry, or because she wanted to make herself feel better about being a shitty mom?”
“The first,” she whispers.
“Then yeah. We all make mistakes. Some worse than others, but who the fuck am I to judge?”
“I wish there were more people in the world like you.”
That gets a laugh out of me. Usually people are wishing they don’t run into someone like me ever again.
I lean back against my headboard. It’s obvious she’s got some shit going on in her life and needs someone to lay it on.
“What’s your big event?”
“My daughter.”
I expected her to mutter some shit about marrying her husband, or maybe even fucking a student, but not this. She never mentioned kids before.
“You have a kid?”
“Yes...no...not exactly.” She looks at me. “It’s complicated. Promise you won’t judge me when I tell you this?”
“Like I said before. Who the fuck am I to judge?”
She sits up in my bed. “I ended up getting pregnant when I was twenty-one.” Her forehead creased as she continues. “Here’s some irony you’ll appreciate. I was sleeping with my teacher.” She exhales a small puff of air before she continues. “My very hot, very married professor. I went to his office after class one day to get extra help and he came on to me. It was dirty and wrong, but after fumbling teenagers and drunken frat boys, it was nice to have sex that actually ended in an orgasm.”
I can’t help the cocky smirk I throw her way. She already knows not to paint me with that same brush.
The tip of her mouth crooks up briefly, despite her serious tone. “It’s all fun and games until someone gets pregnant. I still remember the look of sheer terror on his face when I told him. The next day after class he said it was a huge mistake and he couldn’t lose his family.” Her eyes closed and a flash of pain pinches her features. “He told me to get an abortion... gave me three hundred bucks and an A for the semester and that was that.”
“Shit. Talk about leaving someone high and dry.”
“Yeah. I was scared and on my own, so I did what any girl would do, I called my mom...mistake number two. I knew better. My family was overly religious. Not the real kind where you accept everyone and help people in need. They were the hypocritical kind that only cared about appearances and judging people. When I told her I was pregnant, she said I was an embarrassment. When I told her who the father was, she declared my bastard baby and I would burn in hell and as far as she was concerned, I was no longer her daughter.”
I blow out a breath. “Sounds like your mom cast a few stones in her picture perfect glass house.”
“Yeah. Nice, right? At that point, the only thing I could think to do was call my cousin. She was four years older than me and had left the church the second she turned eighteen.” Reaching for my cigarette, she takes a deep drag and slowly exhales. “She doesn’t freely admit it to outsiders because she’s pursuing a career in law, but she’s gay. Which is the reason she was also kicked out of the family. I thought if anyone would understand, it would be her.”
She tucks a strand of long blonde hair behind her ear. “Anyway, I asked her if she could drive me to the clinic. She said yes, and that I could stay with her for the week to get my bearings. My spring break was coming up so I took her up on the offer. When I got there, I started getting cold feet. I wasn’t ready to have a baby, but…”
“You didn’t want to have an abortion either,” I finish for her and she nods.
“Exactly.” Her eyes become glassy. “It’s funny, you never really know how you feel about something until it happens to you.”
She wipes her tears with the back of her hand. “That’s when my cousin asked if I would consider letting her keep the baby. She said she always wanted to be a
mom but in vitro or adoption were her only options. If she adopted my baby, not only would they be family, she assured me I could see him or her whenever I wanted, and I’d know my baby was being taken care of.” She smiles, but there’s no humor in her expression, only pain. “I liked the idea. I knew Karen was in a much better position than I was and would give my baby a good life.”
“I’m sensing a but coming up.”
“But then I made mistake number three.”
I wouldn’t call anything she did a mistake, so much as being young and naive, but I digress. “What happened?”
“I trusted Karen. When my semester ended, I moved in with her for the summer. She took care of the medical expenses, bought baby stuff, drove me to doctor appointments. Basically everything I had hoped my own mother would do.” She looks up at the ceiling. “She was a lawyer, so it never occurred to me to have the adoption papers looked over before I signed them. I did ask her what a closed adoption was, and she said it meant that no one but the two of us would be able to find out she adopted my daughter.”
There’s despair in her gaze when she looks at me. “I had a minor complication when I gave birth, something to do with the iron levels in my blood. They wanted to keep me an extra night for observation, but my daughter was discharged. Karen and I decided she would take the baby home and come back for me the next day. I hugged my little girl, kissed her on the forehead and handed her to Karen.”
This time, she makes no attempt to wipe away the tears rolling down her cheeks.
“But Karen never came back. She didn’t answer her phone, either.” She presses a palm to her stomach. “I took a taxi to her house, but it was empty. When I went to her office, they told me she had given notice and left her job three weeks prior. She was just...gone.” She clenches her fist. “She didn’t have any friends that I knew of, and I didn’t have any money to look for her. God, I just remember the panic of thinking I’d never see my daughter again.”
“Did you call the police?”
In my experience, cops are usually nothing but assholes, but not when it comes to children.