Judson descends the stairs, carrying another wooden chair in one hand, and a bag of potato chips in the other. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” He leans the chair against the opposite wall and sits, placing the bag of chips on his lap. As though he remembers something, he stands up again and picks up the roll of tape from the floor.

“Time's up. I hope you’ve said everything you need to say.” He approaches Damien.

“Fuck you. You won’t get away with this. I promise you that.” Damien turns his head from side to side, making it hard for Judson to tape his mouth shut again. But he’s overpowered.

Judson manages to tape Damien’s mouth shut before he can say another word. “I hate to break this to you, but you're not in any position to make promises.” He returns to his chair and picks up his potato chips. “From now on, the only person allowed to do any talking inside this place is me.”

I force my body to stop trembling. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction he craves so much, to see me in pain, to see how much power he has over me.

“Let’s play catch up, shall we?” His eyes still on us, he rips open the bag of chips. The aroma of cheese and onion released into the air, makes me want to puke. “Ivy, my love, in case you’re still wondering, I did it.” He chews for a few seconds. “I killed that Oliver Banes because he fucked with my plans. And you were so naïve to think I was innocent, weren’t you? If you’d stayed long enough, you’d have read of my guilty verdict in the papers. But to hell with the law. A life behind bars is not for me. I had to get out of there, and I did.” He turns to Damien. “You actually thought my housekeeper wouldn’t tell me what you were up to? I guess you didn’t pay her enough to keep her mouth shut. She told me everything. I knew you were reading my letters before she brought them to me, and responding to several behind my back. I even knew Ivy wasn’t dead as you made everyone believe. You were too blind to see my guy following you around. I could have called the cops on you, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make you suffer. This is the kind of dirty work I prefer to do myself.” He clears his throat. “Once I discovered your dirty little secret, it wasn’t hard to figure out where you are. San Maureo, the town you ran off to with Kristi for that new start that never happened. This house you built for her holds a special place in your heart, doesn’t it?” His lips curl into a smile. “I don’t blame you for returning here. It’s a cozy little town, the perfect place to raise a family. I bet you were trying to replace Kristi with Ivy. You’ve always had a thing for redheads.”

Damien’s body trembles, as he tries to control his rage but the fire in his eyes and red face give him away. Satisfied at having touched a sore spot, Judson bites on another chips. His eyes gleam as they meet mine.

“Ivy, I don’t know whether my brother mentioned it, but I have this thing for virgins. I was the first man to fuck Jennifer. And I wanted to be the first to be inside you, but instead, you opened your pussy to my brother.” He places a hand on his chest. “You broke my heart.” He tosses the packet of chips at his feet and leans back, arms folded across his chest. “Now I intend to cause you pain, and I’ll take my time doing it.”

He stands up and walks toward me, crushing the bag of chips underneath his feet. My eyes fill with tears the closer he gets. Damien’s chair shakes again as he tries to free himself, to save me. But he's powerless to do a thing. Soon, Judson is standing in front of me. He leans forward and dips a finger between my breasts. I make noises and thrash my head when he pulls my negligée toward him and cuts it down the middle with a penknife.

My eyes flicker to Damien, but he’s unable to help. His head is resting on his chest again. Perhaps he’s unable to watch what his brother is about to do to me. He said I should do what Judson wants to keep him from hurting me. To hell with that. The moment Judson removes the rope from my ankles and pulls me to my feet, I try to free myself from his grasp but a hard slap across my cheek makes me stop.

“Don’t make me do that again. Now, remember when I said earlier that we’ll be having fun?” He grins, showing me bits of chips stuck between his teeth. “The time has come to do that.” He shoves me against the wall. Pinning my bound hands above my head, he gropes my vagina. Pressing me to the wall, he pushes the crotch of my panties aside. Oh God, he’s going to rape me and there’s nothing I can do to stop him.

Inside my throat I scream for help but nobody can hear me. Something crashes to the floor. Judson and I turn to the direction of the sound. Damien is on the floor, still tied to the chair, writhing and rubbing the side of his face against the dirty floor.

Judson snorts with laughter.

“You won't be able to save her from me. Since you disturbed us in the bedroom earlier, you’re going to watch me finish what I started.” He rubs the side of his unshaven face against mine, making my skin crawl. “Your last memory on earth will be of me fucking this pussy.”

Before Judson tries to rape me again, I jerk my knee up, slamming it into his groin. He stumbles back, his face flushed with anger and pain. Using my momentary freedom and his weakness to my advantage, I try to run past him. He trips me, sending me falling face forward toward the hard floor. The pain inside my head is so sharp it feels unreal. The metallic taste of blood spreads on my tongue.

He recovers fast and drags me from the floor, one hand gripping my hair and the other cupping his groin. He draws me near to his face. “You’re not going anywhere, bitch.” His anger is hot on his breath. “Fine, I won’t be able to fuck you again right now, but I’ll still get to watch a dick enter your pussy.” He shoves me to where Damien is lying. I try to get up, using my bound hands and my knees, but he plants a foot between my shoulder blades, sending me crashing into the floor.

While I’m lying there helpless, he pulls Damien from the floor, along with his chair until he’s sitting upright.

“Get up.” He pulls his gun from a back pocket and points it at me. “Show me how you’ve been fucking my brother these past weeks.”