Skin Tight (Skin Deep #4)

It’s funny when you think about it, I suppose. Ian and I lived together for almost a year already, and our sex life was already pretty hopping. But there’s something about the whole newlywed thing that increases your sex drive like crazy.

So the first couple of days after the wedding were almost perfect, even though we were pretty much back to normal life, both of us working during the day, and then spending the nights secluded together, locked in just about every carnal position we could imagine, and then some. We’d sorta-kinda told everyone we were putting a hiatus on friend/family visitation for at least the first week, which got us a few knowing grins and a lot of understanding, especially from Chloe and Brandon who’d adopted the idea for themselves.

By Wednesday, I was ready for a vacation for sure, not only to spend some uninterrupted time with my husband (I love calling him that!), but because the kids had been on a whole other level since I’d been back. I’d never seen them so wound up!

I called Ian on the way home from work to see when he’d be home so I could start dinner for us, or to see if he just wanted to pick something up, but he didn’t answer. I was pleasantly surprised to see that his truck was in the driveway when I got home.

I pulled in and shut it behind me, entering the house and calling for him as I sat my bag down on the counter. I heard a muffled response coming from the back of the house, so I went to find him.

And find him I did.

I pushed open the bedroom door and froze as I saw Victoria standing there, pointing a gun at Ian. I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, the gravity of the situation dropping like a lead weight in the pit of my stomach as dread curled through my veins.

Against all odds, I hoped and prayed silently that she hadn’t seen me…but she had.

Ian was standing, hands out in supplication, unmoving. I could see the fear in his eyes, but I was almost certain that it wasn’t fear for himself; no, he was afraid of what Victoria would do to me.

She smirked and cocked her head, not taking her eyes off of Ian as she addressed me. “Oh, good. You’re here. I was hoping you’d get to see this part.”

“Victoria-” Ian roared, stepping forward, to do what, I’m not sure.

But he didn’t get anywhere.

She pulled the trigger, and I screamed as blood bloomed on Ian’s chest. He fell backwards onto the carpet, hitting his head on the dresser as he went down. His body was still and silent when he landed, not responding as I screamed his name over and over again.

I moved to go to him, but found myself blocked as Victoria stood in front of me, her hand shaking as she pointed the handgun at my face. I noticed in that moment that she was perfectly coiffed as usual, but her eyes gave away just how far she’d come unhinged, and I wondered if I would make it out of this alive.

“Why?” I shouted at her, tears of rage filling my eyes and spilling over as helplessness washed over me. I couldn’t move, couldn’t go to Ian to see if he was alive, because what good would I be to him if I ended up with a bullet in my brain? I cursed myself a dozen times over for the fact that my phone wasn’t in my pocket, but instead, was tucked inside my purse, sitting on the kitchen counter where it would do me no good.

Victoria let out a chilling laugh. “Why? Why not! That’s the real question, LEAH.”

She backed away from me, motioning with the gun for me to follow. I stepped forward cautiously, following her silent directives until I was standing inside the room, about five feet from Ian.

“Let me-” I began, taking one more step towards him, but stopped when Victoria screamed, “NO!”

“You want to know why, so I’m going to tell you. I mean, like I said before, why not, honestly, because he was pretty much asking for it. Traipsing around with you, waving you under my nose when we ALL know he’s supposed to be WITH ME!”

Victoria screamed the last part, making me flinch as she swung the gun back into my face, pushing it forward until it rested against my forehead, right between my eyes.

“Well.” She started speaking once more, her voice wavering slightly, but otherwise remaining low and calm. “I’ve decided that I don’t want to go to jail. And I’ve decided that I’m not waiting any longer for him to come to his senses, so, if I can’t have him, neither can you.”

She said it simply, as if she was reciting the weather to me, or some other mundane topic of conversation.

“You’re crazy,” I bit out through clenched teeth.

She tilted her head back and let loose with a loud, long, psycho-killer laugh that confirmed the fact that she’d gone beyond unhinged.

It was killing me to not be able to check on Ian, so I tried reasoning again, rushing the words this time so she couldn’t cut me off. “Please, just let me check on him!” I cried out fervently.

She tucked her chin into her chest and stared at me, her laughter cutting off sharply. “No. You can’t help him. He’s dead. And you know what? You’ll have to live with that for the rest of your life.”

I swallowed hard, then breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled the gun away from my head once more. My jaw was aching with the pressure of clenching my teeth so much, but I was so afraid of setting her off…and I couldn’t let myself believe that Ian was gone.

“You know, if you’d have just listened when I tried to warn you off, when I told you I was his girlfriend…we wouldn’t be in this predicament, now would we? But you didn’t listen. Oh! Thank you, by the way. I forgot to tell you how much I enjoyed using your little love toys while Ian watched me on video. He really enjoyed the pictures, too. Did he tell you that?”

“You disgusted him, Victoria.” The words were out before I could stop them.

She paused, turning her head sideways as she studied me, a small smile playing about her lips. “You’re trying to distract me. And you’re lying.” She smirked. “I wasn’t disgusting to him when I had my lips wrapped around his dick, sucking him off.”

A low growl sounded through the room, and it took me a second to realize it was coming from me.

Victoria sighed and rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t act like you didn’t enjoy that night, too. See how nice I can be? I was willing to share him with you, went as far as shoving my fingers up your greedy little cunt to keep you happy, but did you appreciate that fact? No! No, you didn’t, you stupid little bitch!”

She’d reverted back to screaming at me, her face blood red, and her eyes squeezed shut.

I took that opportunity to glance at Ian, trying against all hope to see some sort of movement from him, but that was a mistake.

While I was distracted, Victoria struck out with the hand still clutching the gun, slamming it against the side of my head. It was a glancing blow, catching me more on my forehead just above my temple, but as warm wetness started trickling down my face, I knew my skin had split.

“I didn’t say you could look at him, you fucking bitch!”

Victoria was breathing hard, the sound sawing in and out loudly in the silence. My head was pounding, and I was blinking quickly, trying to keep blood out of my eye.

She stepped away from me again, keeping me in her sights as she lowered herself on to my bed, scooting into the center of it and arranging herself artfully. “Now. Here’s what’s going to happen. Since you came home and caught us,” she waved back and forth between herself and Ian, “you shot him in a jealous rage. Then, you shot me.”