𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 [𝟏𝟖+] ✔

51

Never in my life have I felt true fear the way I do now.

When I'd heard of Orla's back story, how she had come from such a strong family who battled evil, I vowed to myself that I'd never let anything happen to her. I'd protect the little girl as much as I could, even though my dad refused to allow her to stay with me. He'd said I was too young and naive, and maybe I was. She'd gone to Ainsley's parents, was treated like crap, and when she was finally with me...

I've dragged her into this. She's innocent.

Mark has Orla's hair in a firm grip, the barrel of the pistol pressing to her temple. With no life in his eyes, completely void, he waits for me to push away from Robbie's hold. I plead with him, beg him as I raise both of my hands.

"Okay," I whisper calmingly, dodging Robbie's attempt to pull me back behind him. I walk forward, trembling. "Okay," I repeat. "Let her go. Please."

"You'll do as I say?"

I nod. "Anything." And I mean it. I'll do anything to keep her safe.

Mark grins like a Cheshire cat, releasing Orla and tossing her to the ground. He fixes me with a warning glare when I try to get to the whimpering child.

"Awesome," he says simply, watching Robbie pull her behind him. "Now, if you both stop the bastarding dramatics, and Danielle is happy with her find, we'll be leaving."

Orla sobs, hiding her face behind Robbie's leg. "I don't want to see the bad man."

A lump gathers in my airways.

She shouldn't be here.

Mark chuckles, scratching the side of his head with the gun. "I hate children," he says with a laugh, dragging his palm down my bare arm and wrapping his fingers around my own. It's revolting, but I fight the urge to pull away, especially when he runs the metal barrel of the weapon along my lips. "But I'll love ours, princess."

Robbie steps forward, looking from me to Mark, snarling with rage. "If you touch her, I swear to God—"

Mark cuts him off with a deep chuckle. "What exactly are you going to do? Huh? I saw how bad a shot you were when Eric was training you, and you're an even worse punch." He snorts. "The heroic, ex-ex-boyfriend thinks he can save the day while he's locked up. Do you remember hurting her? Do you remember all those times you broke her heart because you couldn't handle that she wasn't loyal to you? You're pathetic. The only reason I even recruited you was because I wanted to be close to her, I wanted to know about her."

Mark lets go of my hand, strides forward and grabs Robbie by the throat, and a whimper comes from behind him as Orla cowers. I want to calm her, try to stop this, but I'm terrified if I intervene that Mark will do something worse. I've no idea how far this guy will go with his temper. He blew up nearly all the oxygen, killing multiple people, and by the sounds of it, he hasn't had the best upbringing.

So I stand at the door, shaking, watching as the maniac traces his fingers all over Robbie's face like a creep.

Then he laughs, really laughs.

"What was it about this guy that made you fall in love with him? It can't be his looks." He tilts Robbie's face from side to side, inspecting him. "It definitely wasn't the sex, I'm a witness to how many orgasms were faked."

"That's enough!" I bellow. "There's a child here."

But Mark ignores me, continuing by lowering his voice to a whisper. "I watched how many times she had to get herself off when you failed to. Do you know how frustrating that was to watch? To see you have everything and take advantage of it? Of her?"