Lady Balls (Itty Bitty Delights)

I stop, thinking back to when Wendy told me this story and the rage I felt. She sobbed against my chest as the words poured out of her, and I held her with stiff arms, my blood boiling at what happened to my baby sister.

“He shoved her to her stomach, held her face in the dirt, and raped her, the whole time whispering nasty shit in her ear.”

Camila stiffens. “Oh, Jesus,” she whispers.

“Wendy never saw who it was. It was too dark and she had dirt in her eyes. She never told anyone. Her thought process was that it wouldn’t do any good since she couldn’t identify the guy. She held that secret inside her for six months, constantly looking over her shoulder, looking at each guy with wariness because it could have been any one of them. She stopped going out with friends and became a recluse. Mom and Dad knew something was wrong, but they could never get her to talk. I hadn’t been home since she started her senior year of high school, so I had no idea what was going on. Any time I talked to her over the phone, she sounded normal. I found out later that she didn’t want me to suspect anything because she knew how I would react.

“It was while she was at the grocery store that she heard a man talking in the next aisle over and she recognized the voice. She had a panic attack in the store and tried to leave before he saw her, but she ran into him before she could. It was Logan Zeers. He must have recognized her too, because he threatened to kill her if she ever said anything. Of course, she believed him and was terrified. She locked herself in her room for a week. Mom and Dad were freaking out and called me. I was right in the middle of end of year testing, so I couldn’t rush home until the weekend. But by then, it was too late. Wendy had made her plans and there was no changing her mind.”

I stop long enough to down the rest of my drink. Camila’s watching me with wide, anxious eyes filled with pain.

“Addison rode with me to Silver Falls to visit her family. I wanted to go straight home to see what was going on with Wendy, so I was going to take her home afterward. Wendy had no idea we were coming and Mom and Dad were out for the evening. While she was holed up in her room for that week, she planned and plotted a way to get Logan to the house. Addison and I walked in right as Wendy was lifting my Dad’s gun to point at Logan. I never even got the chance to try and talk her out of it before she pulled the trigger.”

I move my gaze from Camila’s stunned ones and look blankly across the room.

“I’ll forever remember the look on her face as she shot Logan in the chest, right where his heart was. She looked serene and at peace.” I focus back on Camila. “After, she collapsed on the floor and began crying. Something told me I needed to talk to her before I called the police, so Addison and I took her into the kitchen. The words were pouring out of her mouth before I even asked what happened. I listened to every word she said, my anger growing with each one, and I knew in that moment, had she not killed Logan, I would have.”

“Oh, God, Brady,” Camila says tearfully. “I don’t know what to say. What Wendy went through… I can’t imagine the horror of it.”

“She was messed up for a long time because of it. I thought about calling the cops, but I couldn’t take the chance they wouldn’t believe her. And even if they did, the chances were high that she would still do some time because it was premeditated murder. Logan had already caused my sister enough pain. He got what he deserved. It was bad enough what he did to Wendy, but there’s no telling how many other girls he hurt. Wendy, Addison, and I loaded Logan into the back of my truck and dropped his body in Wader’s Swamp. The alligators took care of the rest of him.”

A tear leaks down Camila’s cheek, and I use my thumb to swipe it away.

“As wrong as it may sound, I don’t blame Wendy for what she did.” Her tongue slides over her lips, wetting them. “But I don’t understand how this leads to you marrying Addison.”

My voice is hard, unable to hide my anger. “Addison had always had a crush on me. She never hid it from me, so I always knew. As much as she wanted it otherwise, I never felt anything but friendship toward her. I knew her obsession was intense, but I didn’t know she was truly dangerous. I caught her a few times trying to intimidate a girl I was dating. I shut it down and reiterated again there would never be a romantic relationship between us. I thought she finally understood, because the incidents stopped.”

A harsh laugh slips free. Camila lifts my hand and presses a kiss against the pads of my fingertips. I pull in a breath and continue.

“I thought they stopped, but she just hid them better. A few weeks before we came home and everything happened with Wendy, the girl I was dating was mugged. At the time, we thought it was random, but I suspect now it was Addison or someone she paid. A week after we got back from Silver Falls, Addison came by my apartment. It wasn’t until then I realized how delusional and unhealthy her obsession was. She pulled out her phone and started playing an audio recording. The bitch had recorded the conversation we had with Wendy the night she shot Logan. Then she gave me an ultimatum. Marry her or she would take the recording to the police.”

Camila jerks up straight in my lap, her eyes light with fire. “She did what?”

I run my hand up and down her back, trying to soothe her anger.

“I felt the same way. Shocked.”

“That sick bitch,” she seethes.

As serious as the situation is, I can’t stop my lips from twitching. I love that she’s so angry on my behalf.

Leaning forward, I give her a quick kiss before I finish my story.

“Addison had multiple copies of the recording, so even if I destroyed the one she played for me, there were many others. I was not letting my sister go to prison after what she had already gone through with Logan. So I did what I had to do. I married a woman I hated to protect my sister.”

Camila spins around to face me, setting her legs on the outside of my thighs so she’s straddling me. She gently cups my cheeks with the palms of her hands and looks deeply into my eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” she says quietly. “I can’t even imagine how hard your life has been living with that vile woman. I know I should feel sorry that another human being is dead, but I can’t help but be relieved. She didn’t deserve the life she was living.”

I grab her wrist and move her hand to my mouth for a kiss. “It’s over now.” And fuck if a huge weight isn’t lifted off my shoulders.

She nods, and for the first time since I left her in the motel this morning, she smiles. “It’s over.”

“No more hiding,” I point out.

Wrapping my hands around her hips, I pull her closer so her pussy is sitting right on top of my cock. As soon as her warmth hits me, my shaft wakes up with a twitch.

Camila’s smile grows. “No more hiding. No more sneaking around. No more worrying.”