realized they’re very similar. My girl can say some crazy shit when she’s at her low points. That regret always appears in her eyes, though—that sadness and horror only some girls know. Once I found out about Trevor, it clicked.” He snapped his fingers. “That’s why—they’d been sexually abused. Knowing now that Janie’d dealt with it for most of her life because of Trevor, it made sense that Maura had too.”
“Stop it!” Kylie tried to stand again, but he shoved her down.
He spoke coolly, but underneath his skin a monster lurked, hungry for her destruction. “I’d gone to arrange for security and hire a specialist to examine Maura, and she said the same thing that Janie did when I came for her: ‘Please take me.’ They hoped I was an angel come to take them from all the pain.
“It did something to me—hearing those same words, seeing her dark hair spread out like a halo. So I held her hand and told her she was going to be okay. She cried and said it wasn’t. She said she couldn’t stop feeling them.” He gave her a dirty look that made her eyes water. “But you knew that, didn’t you?”
Kylie shook her head as tears spilled down her cheeks. “She lied.”
“You saw your dad molesting her.” The violent statement punched her in the stomach, and she gasped. “You lied when she told Lorelei and your teachers, and you told her no one would believe her after you hit her.”
“Stop it!” Kylie covered her ears, but she still heard him. The girl in the hood became clearer, and her cruel smirk and jealous green eyes glowed with menace because she wanted to destroy the purest of hearts. Go back to the dark.
“Did Daddy not like your blond hair?”
“Stop,” she shouted.
“Were you jealous?” The violent sound of his voice made her ears ring. “Daddy gave his new daughter too much attention for your liking. He gave her attention she didn’t want because she’d already been abused by her own father.”
“You know nothing,” she whispered, trying to hide from him and the girl under the hood.
Ryder didn’t stop. “That little abortion lie Maura blurted about you had seemed a bit far-fetched. But it wasn’t really a lie, was it? Poor Maura had your father’s baby growing inside her when she was thirteen years old. Kinda puts a new perspective on his sudden death, doesn’t it?”
“My father was probably murdered,” she screamed, wishing she could rip his head off.
“Good. It means a child molester’s dead.” He snarled, his face twisting in rage. “It makes sense now why you never cared about Janie’s rape—why you hated her a little too much for being the one who pulled the trigger on her rapists. Made you think of dear old dad, didn’t it? All of us cherished and protected her, and you only took it we were happy your dad was killed. I’m not, by the way.” A dangerous smile stretched over his lips. “I wish the motherfucker was still alive so I could kill him myself.”
“Shut up!” She couldn’t breathe—couldn’t escape.
The voice slithered across her skin. You can’t hide now.
“Fuck, it makes so much sense now.” He laughed cruelly. “You saw Maura every time you looked at Janie. It’s girls like you who make Janie hate her looks. I’ve had to teach her it’s okay to be pretty—to think she’s beautiful. The person she used to see in the mirror was ugly because she listened to the same bitches who tormented you. She fears guys getting close and then bitches like you make her feel like it’s her fault guys like her. Don’t you realize that’s what you’ve done to Maura? But where Janie’s had us, Maura’s had no one. It pushed her to seek acceptance by spreading her legs.”
“You know nothing.” She wiped her hand over her face to hide her tears.
“My men have been looking into everything about you since the fight happened. When they reported Kylie Hood was popular at her old school and how people only remembered Maura as a weird loser, I was sure they mixed you up. After all, the Kylie Hood you’ve been selling isn’t the type of girl who bullies weaker girls—or should I say, girls who boys think are prettier than her? The Kylie Hood you wanted us to see was shy and innocent—everything you’re not.”
“It’s not true,” she cried. It was.
“No?” He chuckled, a vicious, deep laugh that rattled her bones. “Luc was investigating you first because