Tears sprang up instantly as I looked at him in question. “I can see your tastes have changed. Italian, huh?” He pressed his fingers in as I fought for air. “Oh, sorry, your turn to speak.” He loosened his grip as I gasped and inhaled all my lungs could hold.
“Fuck you. Goddamn you, Lazarus Walker!” I pushed away the agony that threatened to seep in.
“Such a pretty face on such a deceiving bitch. Did you ever even think about the mess you left me in?”
“You made your own mess. You’re still an addict. I made the right decision leaving you.”
His blue eyes lit up with pure fury. “I’m talking about the day you put a fucking bullet in me.” Spittle dripped from his mouth as he leaned in closer and dug his nails into my neck. “You. Just. Fucking. Left!” Laz raged as I tried to think of any way to shift my weight to my advantage. I had only one choice, and I took it. I jerked back and then forward with all my might and nailed him in the nose with my skull. I heard bone crack and was instantly freed. Still gasping, I gripped the mallet on the floor and came back at him with a hard swing. Laz was fast and caught my arm before he landed a hard backhand to the side of my face. I screamed out in rage, the pain a bystander to the anger that fueled me.
“You bastard!”
“I’m calling the police!” I heard Amber scream from behind the door.
“You do that, you join your sister tonight!” Laz shouted right before I reached him. I swung my fists in a futile attempt as he batted them away. His nose was shedding blood as he laughed at my anger and determination to bruise him further.
I cleared my counter, throwing everything I could get my hands on as he easily avoided the debris with hell in his eyes. He was playing with me, and I was fighting for my life. He had me in weight and size, and I was defenseless without my guns. High and out of his mind, it was only when I managed to sting him well with a heavy coffee mug that he came for me. He gripped my T-shirt and nailed me flat on my back to the island. His blood dripped down my neck as he wedged himself between my legs.
“I’ve been waiting thirteen years for this. It’s probably better that you’re alive when I do it.”
Realization dawned as he pulled at my shorts. I fought hard as he ripped at them with steady hands, despite my angry blows to the side of his face.
Annoyed, and only when I hit his tender nose, he slapped me hard enough to daze me while managing to get my shorts down. I fought with every fiber of my being to no avail. His fury won.
“Laz.” I lay exhausted on the counter, breathing heavy, full of fight and not an ounce of energy to execute it. I needed to buy time. “Are you really going to do this to me with your son in the next room?”
Laz worked himself tighter between my thighs.
He ignored my attempt to appeal to anything decent inside him. “You turned into a whore, right? For that guy in Memphis. Ray? Way different story than that scholarship you lied about. A little birdie named Lucy told me. Said you were holed up fucking Ray before you left for Harvard. And I believe there is some unfinished business between us about some money you stole from me. What’s your hourly rate? I’m pretty sure I’m covered.”
“You’re disgusting.”
“You made it that way!” I felt the anger radiate from every part of him. “You think you’re so much fucking better than me, Taylor? You’re a white trash whore faking a high-class life.”
“And you’re a drug addict. That’s all you are.”
Another slap had my face exploding with pain. I felt the copper build in my mouth and spit it out directly in his face.
Laz raged on, his face close—too close. I had no choice but to see my death in his eyes.
“Finally afraid, Taylor? That’s a relief. It makes you seem almost human. It’s deceiving, though. We both know you don’t have a goddamn frail bone in your body. Your sister is your only weakness. And I’m going to take her from you.”
“Fuck you!” I cried as he snapped my panties away from my body.
“I’ll take a piece of you, and then I’ll take the rest.”
I clawed his arms bloody as he hovered above me. My efforts seemed to satisfy him. It was only when I lay limp again that he stopped the workings of his belt.
He stared at me as my jaw trembled, satisfied with my defeat.
“Laz, please, you want this. Fine, I’ll give it to you, okay? Just please don’t let them see.” I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him closer. “You want this? Take it.”
“Fuck you.” Another slap to the side of my face had me seeing stars.
“Laz.” He paused as he looked down at me. I gathered it was something in my voice that made him do it. He studied me like he saw a ghost.
Stopping his hands on his pants, he screamed in rage. “You were promised to me! I did it all for you! Every goddamn thing!”
“I’m self-made, goddamn you! I did it myself! What the hell did you ever do for me!?”