Chapter Thirty-Three
“Did you think you could hide from me forever, girlie?” Reginald’s voice was a serrated intrusion into the peaceful atmosphere of the mansion’s living room.
Roni knew she should have expected Reginald to do something stupid. He had never been the smartest man she had ever known but she hadn’t expected him to be one of the dumbest either. Actually, she hadn’t thought he would be inventive enough to slip past the Feline Breeds on guard while Taber was out of the house, but he did.
One minute she was alone in the living room watching the arrival of several wounded Breed males outside, the next second she was spun around roughly to face the father she had always loathed.
“What are you doing here?” She jerked away from him, her eyes darting to the open door of the room. “Do you think someone won’t know you’re here, Reginald?”
Her stomach dropped at the dangerous look in his eyes.
“Doesn’t matter if they do find out,” he sneered. “I’m just here visiting my little girl. Or did you forget you had a father?”
“Every chance I get,” she snapped back. “What the hell are you up to here? Don’t you have any more sense than to piss off these men, Reggie?”
His smile was terrifying. Confident, assured, stretching lewdly across his face as his blue eyes glittered with malice.
The last thread of hope she had regarding her father snapped. “What have you done, Reggie?” Roni whispered.
“Listen to me, Roni, they aren’t natural. They aren’t human,” he hissed with a fanatical fervor. “I know he put that mark on you. All I need is for you to leave with me. Just for a little while, girl, and let my friends have some blood work. Just some little tests, that’s all.”
“You can’t be serious.” She shook her head slowly, edging away from him, suddenly more frightened of him than anything else she had ever faced in her life. “I’m not going anywhere with you. If this is why you came here, then you may as well give it up now.”
He frowned, a dark, sinister lowering of his brow that had her heart rate picking up nervously. He had never looked at her like that. She had never seen such hatred, such utter contempt in another human’s eyes before. And she had never imagined it would be directed at her.
“You will come with me, Roni,” he snapped, watching her with a feral intensity that bordered on the insane. “There’s no telling what he’s planted in your belly while you’ve been in his bed. Do you think I’m going to allow the world to know a kid of mine is a dirty animal fucker?”
She flinched at the disgust, the terrible fury in his voice.
“You’re insane,” she whispered. “They have as much right to live as anyone else, Reginald. More so.”
“Oh, spare me your pretty little speeches,” he spat. “Tell me, girl, how long have you been fucking the bastard anyway? Was that why he threatened to kill me if I let any of my friends around you? Wanted his pussy all to himself, did he?”
Roni backed up as he edged closer to her. She could feel the hatred, black and vile, pouring from him.
“I won’t answer that,” she snarled, refusing to allow her fear of him to show.
“How old were you when he first found you, anyway, hiding like a snot-nosed brat in those hills? Ten? Eleven? Was he fucking you then, Roni? Is that why you followed after him every chance you got?”
She shook her head desperately, wondering where the hell the men were.
“I won’t qualify that with an answer.” She fought to put as much space between them as possible. “Not everyone has the perversions your friends do, Reggie.”
“If I had known that was why you were so fascinated with him, I’d have given it to you myself,” he sneered. “I could have used a little excitement in my bed after that stupid bitch mother of yours died . . . ”
“Stop.” Roni shook her head in denial. “Leave Mom out of this, Reggie.”
Her frail, weary mother. Roni trembled at the memory of her. She rarely allowed herself to remember her mother. The memories were bleak, painful. Margie Andrews had been too delicate, too gentle, for the life Reginald had dragged her into.
“Leave Mom out of this,” he mocked her cruelly. “Fine, we’ll leave dear old Mom out of it. Get your ass out the door and in my car so we can take our little trip.”
“Why?” The couch was between them, but her way to the open doorway was still blocked. “Do you really think I’m stupid enough to go with you? To let you or anyone you know touch me, Reggie? It’s not going to happen.”
“How ‘bout a trade then?” He paused, watching her intently, his expression triumphant.
“What?” He was insane. Roni could only blink at him, astonished that he could even consider she would trade her own soul for anything he had.
“A trade,” he repeated softly. “You come with me, Roni, and let the boys do their tests, and I’ll tell you why your momma fought so hard to stay hidden on that mountain. I’ll tell you why she let me use her however I wanted to and however my buddies wanted to. I’ll tell you, girl, who your father really is.”
Time seemed to stand still for Roni. She watched Reginald with a sense of fascinated horror, and yet a grain of thankfulness. A thankfulness that went so deep it nearly made her knees weak.
“You’re not my father.”
“I can see that just breaks your heart,” he snapped dangerously. “What, you think you’re too good to be my girl?”
“I think a snake would be too good to be a child of yours, but that’s just my opinion.” She needed to distract him, to get him to shift position just enough for her to sprint over the couch and run for the door. As long as he faced her from the other side, though, she was trapped. “So tell me, Reggie, why would I care who my father is? He can’t be too important or you would have sold the information already.”
“Would I?” He cackled. God, he actually cackled like some old crone. Weren’t crones women?
“Course you would, Reggie.” She kept her voice soothing, hoping to keep him from trying to grab her. She could see the intent creeping into his expression, his body bunching in preparation.
“Naw, I wouldn’t tell you this, Roni. Not for all the land in Texas, little girl. Not without a reason. ‘Cause it would have meant my own life. But I’ll tell you now, if you come with me nice and peaceful like.” Calculating and feral, his gaze reminded her of a rabid dog she had once seen.
She couldn’t let him get her out of the house. If she did, his advantage would be that much greater.
“I’m not leaving with you,” she told him carefully, moving farther back, watching him, knowing he had to be insane. “And Taber won’t let you take me, Reginald. You won’t be able to leave the estate with me. You should leave, while you can.”
His eyes narrowed. “Your stinking little cat is too busy to worry about you, little girl. And I won’t take no for an answer.”
He jumped for her then. Roni knew she would have only a second to evade him, only the slimmest chance to dart past him and run for the door. When his hand swiped for her hair she moved. Any time Reginald became furious with her he would grab her hair first. Hold her in place for whatever punishment he deemed necessary.
She felt his fingers brush by her head as she sprinted over the couch, screaming Taber’s name. Where the hell was everyone, anyway?
“Bitch.”
She almost made it. She was clearing the couch when he caught her ankle, jerking her back with enough force to take her breath as she fought to turn her body, to shield her abdomen and the fragile life growing there.
She bounced against the cushions, kicking out with her other foot as he fought to retain his grip on her. There was no breath left to scream for help. She needed her strength, her wits about her, to try to escape. If no one had heard her screams, then no one was close enough to help her.
She kicked for his groin and missed, but the blow she landed on his thigh had him stumbling back. She jumped and rolled over the couch, her ankle in agony from the harsh twist he had given it. Stumbling, she bolted for the door, screaming out Taber’s name again as she heard Reginald curse viciously behind her.
“I said you’re going with me.” He caught her hair again, this time delivering a sharp blow to the side of her head that left her dazed and crumpling to the floor from the pain.
“Taber,” she tried to cry out his name again, to warn him, to warn someone. But darkness was closing around her, sweeping through her mind, and she knew she only imagined the bloodthirsty animal’s roar that echoed in her head.