Daddy's Stepstalker (Daddy's Little Deviants)

“You guys are the best.”

She made a shooing motion with her hands. “Go watch. I’ll get the table set up for us to eat after.”

“Thanks. If you ever divorce Jackson, you can find me.”

“Shaw, I can hear you in there hitting on my wife. Go find your own.”

“I don’t need a wife.” I followed the sound of his laughter to the living room. “I need a husband.” A certain paranoid boy who I needed to hold close to me to keep in line. Could I even keep someone like Ari in line?

“What? That means you’re…”

“Bisexual.” I took the armchair next to the sofa where he was sitting. “That’s not a problem, is it?”

“No, of course not. I’m just surprised, that’s all.” He turned up the volume on the television. “You’re right on time for the news.”

I gave Jackson a sideways glance. He didn’t seem to be dwelling on my news. It’d never been a thing before for me to tell people I was bisexual when I was married to Anne. I hadn’t dated anyone after either, so the topic never came up.

“And here we go.”

I sat back in my chair as the headlines of the local news came on.

“Shocking discovery of a brutal murder and a video that explains the motive behind the killing. Does Coleyville have its own vigilante? This and more in tonight’s news segment.”

“What the hell’s that all about?” Jackson muted the television as advertisements followed the headlines. “You heard anything?”

“No, I’ve been locked in the office practically all day. Trying to manage without Julieta.”

“A temp agency is supposed to send a secretary over tomorrow,” he said.

“Thanks for handling that, by the way.”

“No problem.”

“Seriously, you’ve been a big help. I know it couldn’t have been easy accommodating me all this time, giving me the time to figure out what to do. You’ll no longer have to worry about that, though. I’ve found a place and I’ll be getting out of your hair tomorrow.”

“You did? That’s great. Though I admit I’m going to miss having another man around the house.”

The logo for the local news station flashed on the screen, and Jackson unmuted the television.

“Coleyville has seen its fair share of crimes, but the police are baffled at a murder that took place last night. No one saw it coming,” the news anchor said. “Local contractor Judd O’Connor was found dead in his home this morning by his son. It appears as if the deceased was tortured by fire, an instrument of his own making. We have Laura Todd on that report.”

My heart pounded in my chest, and my hands grew sweaty. Wasn’t this why I watched the news religiously every night? To see if he had indeed followed through with his plan? And he had. Common sense said to walk away and not listen to what Ari had done to Judd, but I had to know.

The reporter gave a warning that some of the images contained graphic and possibly disturbing content before walking us through the information she’d gathered at the crime scene and by talking to the police captain.

“The body suffered from burns, which investigators have ruled down to being torched. Wet towels were found on the scene, apparently used to put out the fire in order to prolong the torture. While the police are not saying much, they have confirmed a cellular phone was recovered from the scene with everything wiped except for a video of the deceased confessing to several crimes. He confessed to arson of at least three buildings, including the library, in which one person died. He also mentioned physically abusing his son and his sexual involvement with at least one teen whose name the police will not release to protect the youngster’s identity. While the contents of the video has disgusted the neighborhood, there’s a division in whether the perpetrator should be brought to justice or hailed a hero for exposing crimes that went undetected by the police for years.”

“Unbelievable,” Jackson muttered beside me. “Doesn’t his kid go to our school?”

“Not anymore.” I forced the words out while my heart hammered hard in my chest. I inhaled deeply and let out the breath slowly.

“You okay? You look a little pale there.”

“It’s just all so disturbing.”

He said Judd would pay, but I didn’t imagine he would torture the man. If Ari was capable of doing this, what else could he do? What else had he done in the years he’d been away?

The hairs on my arms rose, and my stomach turned rock hard. For the first time since meeting Ari, I was afraid. Afraid of what I’d encouraged. Not even when he’d drugged me had the fear been so strong. He’d killed Judd because of me, but what was the reason for torturing the man? Had he gotten off on it?

Bile rushed up into my mouth, and I bolted off the couch to find the nearest bathroom.