On My Way To You (Broken Love Duet 2)

“Wakey-wakey,” he singsongs, slapping me on my cheek because my eyes are closed. “Don’t fall asleep, Callie. Don’t you want to ask me why I would owe Chasity anything?”

“I don’t understand,” I whisper.

“Because you’re being stupid again, Callie. Use that pea-sized brain of yours and ask yourself what I would have paid Chasity to do?”

I shake my head trying to clear it. Mitch’s slap gets harder on the side of my face. I open my eyes wide, trying to convince him I’m alert.

“That’s my girl. Now, what would I have paid Chasity to do?”

“I don’t understand…”

“Jesus, apparently I’m going to spell it out for you.”

My eyes start to close again. He yanks my head up and slams it back against the table.

“I said stay awake, damn it!”

“I…I’m awake,” I groan. It might be smarter to pass out, but I get the feeling I want to hear what he’s about to tell me. He’s too proud of it. Besides, it involves Chasity. If I can get something to prove that Mitch killed her, then maybe I can get him locked up if I survive tonight.

“I gave Chasity the shit she put in Reed’s drink to get him to have sex with her,” he brags.

At first, I think I’ve heard him wrong. Surely, I did. It doesn’t make any sense. Why would he do that to his own brother. I wince as I force myself to lift my head so I can look at Mitch.

“I can see that got your attention.”

“Why?” I gasp.

“You weren’t even on my radar. No offense, darling wife, but you’re not exactly my type. My stupid brother, though, he was fucking possessed by you from the beginning. Do you know he even asked me to stay away from you? Hilarious, really. I’m sure that hurt him. He’s always thought he was so much better than me and all because he can play music. It’s ridiculous. I saw the way you two were together that night at the lake. My brother was so happy. I needed to prove to him that he’s not as special as he thinks he is. Lucky for me, you made it so fucking easy. Do you know the secret to happiness, Callie?” When I don’t answer him, he brings his knife back out and puts it up to my throat. “Answer me, or I’ll cut out your vocal cords so you can never speak again,” he growls.

“Wh…what?” I gasp, truly starting to believe that he’s not going to let me live.

“Finding a woman with daddy issues. It makes them so much easier to manipulate. I just had to add fuel to the fire. We make a good team, Callie.”

“We’re not a team,” I tell him. If I’m going to die, I’m going to tell him how I really feel.

“Oh, but we are, Callie. I pulled your strings, and I’ll be the first to tell you some of your strings were boring and some were really sweet,” he says, leaning down to push my bra up and freeing my breasts. I reach up to push his face away, kicking and squirming. The knife cuts my neck, but I manage to rake my fingernails down the side of his face, drawing blood. He takes his knife and plunges it into my leg. I scream out as he twists the knife, leaving it in.

“Bastard!”

“There’s some fire left in you yet. Too bad that it’s much too late to show it. Really, if you think about it, you should appreciate my brilliance, Callie. All I had to do was pull the strings and you reacted exactly how I wanted. It was a beautiful how we worked together.”

“Fuck you,” I growl. The physical pain I’m feeling is so intense that there’s no way to describe it, but the pain inside when it hits me that this man destroyed Reed and used me to do it is unfathomable.

“Oh, that’s coming, baby,” he laughs. His hand locks around my chin, his fingers branching out on each side of my cheeks, holding me in his steel grip, making it impossible for me to move my face. “You know what I’ve decided tonight?”

I moisten my lips with my tongue, my mouth going dry as I realize that I’ll never survive to tell Reed how sorry I am.

“What?”

“That your death will bring my brother more pain than anything else I could manage. So, you’re going to die. But don’t worry, I’ll keep you around a couple of days so we can have our fun. I’ll send you off with a real bang or two,” he laughs. “Besides, it will take me that long to figure out how to make your death look accidental.”

He starts undoing my pants. I try to move but he puts his weight on me, making it impossible. He gets my pants down and I cry because it shifts the knife. He lays over me, grabbing his belt. He backhands me when I try to fight. Then, while I’m trying to recover from that, he forces my hands above my head. He grabs his belt and uses it to loop around my wrists, cinching them together. Only then does he get off me. I try to get off the table first, thinking that if I manage that I can try and make a run for it. I scramble off, falling to the floor. My hands are bound, but I grab a large vase that’s on the floor. When Mitch grabs me by my hair pulling me back, I don’t fight him. I figure standing is better. I take the vase and slam it across his face. As he falls backward, I take off running. If I can make it outside, I can try to get to my neighbor’s.