Billionaire Protector - Alexa Hart Page 0,71

soon.

“Anne. Valerie Anne. She’s not a liar. And she’s not a murderer.” My own rage was building.

“You’re a dumbfuck. You don’t know shit ‘bout women. And ‘specially not that one. My brother took her in and gave her the goddamn world, and she paid him back by killin’ him, then disappearin’ with his only child. Why is someone like you – a rich, spoiled bastard who could be neck deep in pussy every night – chasin’ around a filthy, trailer trash whore like Val?”

He started to stand as he said this, but as soon as the word “whore” went past his lips, my body took action that would not be stopped.

A nice, solid bash to the head sent Tim’s gangly body back down to the ground. I was mildly concerned that I’d killed him, but that seemed like a problem that could wait for later. Anne was in that building – I hoped – with Murphy, and at the mercy of “Katie”, who may or may not have already hurt her.

I turned to storm the store, and was met with a gun about six inches from my face. Kate – Katie – whoever the fuck this woman actually was, had me by the balls before I’d even gotten inside.

“Drop the pipe.” She ordered.

I dropped the pipe.

She nodded toward the door. “Walk.”

I obeyed, in part so that the psycho wouldn’t shoot me, but also because I knew that I could do far more damage with the tools inside of the hardware store than I could out here in the alley.

“Keep walking. Straight, go, go, turn right, straight, straight, turn left. Have a seat in there, Penn Hardick. Make yourself comfortable.”

Kate had coached me to a small back room within the larger back room, and the first sight I saw when I took the corner as ordered was Anne and Murphy. Both of them had their mouths covered in duct tape, and their arms and legs secured with it as well.

Both of them had tears streaming down their cheeks.

“What the fuck did you do to them? You duct-taped a three-year-old? What the hell is wrong with you?” My rage was instantly back, and fiercer than ever.

I turned defiantly and faced Kate and her damn gun.

“Don’t go getting brave on me, Penn. I’m a woman, but I will shoot you just as dead as a man ever could. Sit.” She pointed to the corner.

As much hatred as I had felt for Timothy, it was possible that I felt more for Kate. “How could you do this to her? Anne trusted you.” I didn’t look at Anne or Murphy as I spoke. I had a plan, and it began with getting under Kate’s crazy skin.

Kate smiled at me sadly. “Oh, Penn. You’re so young and just so, so – good! I bet there’s not a mean bone in that Hardick body, is there? But, no matter. You listen to me, do as I say, and you might make it out of here alive. Maybe.”

“You want money.” Oldest motive in the books. And here I was, the son of a very rich man. Dating Anne, Kate’s employee whom she had explicitly encouraged to keep seeing me.

“Well, Penn, to be quite honest, that’s second on my list. But yes, I want money.” Kate spoke calmly, as though we were having a matter of fact, run of the mill conversation about the weather or local sporting events.

She’s nuts.

“So what’s first on your list?” I was still attempting to get her distracted, but I also genuinely wanted to know what she could be doing something this extreme for if it wasn’t money.

“Murphy.” She shot him a smile, and Anne immediately began thrashing and screaming – only none of what she said was understandable, and she clearly wasn’t doing any damage to Kate while in her duct tape shackles.

“Murphy? You want Anne’s son?” How did people get to this point of insane? How?

Kate kneeled down and ran a hand through Murphy’s shaggy blond hair. He was still sobbing silently and appeared absolutely horrified by Kate’s touch.

“First of all, let’s drop the bullshit. Her name is Valerie. I know that, you know that, she knows that... Let’s be real. And second of all, just because your body brought someone into the world – that doesn’t mean they’re yours.” Kate gazed dreamily at Murphy as she spoke.

“That’s exactly what it means, actually. Got a few screws loose up there, Kate?” This immediately brought her attention back to me, and I could