Page 8 of Finding Carly
At first, he assumed avenging Shawn would be easy. He’d planned to offer Carly a ride home from his friend’s memorial service and quickly finish what he’d started. But she hadn’t even shown up! The utter disrespect infuriated him.
Shawn had taken her in, a naïve twenty-something, and tried to mold her into a mature woman. Someone who would be there for her man, stand by his side, see to his every need. And in return, she’d metaphorically spit in his face. Rejected him in the most humiliating way possible. She’d taken out aprotective orderagainst him. It was complete bullshit.
Shawn had been a good man. The very best. That slut didn’t know how good she’d had it. If he could be half the man Shawn had been, he’d consider himself lucky. But the dumb bitch hadn’t appreciated him. Hadn’t respected him and all the things he’d done for her.
And no matter how many times Shawn had tried to talk to her after shedaredto walk away, no matter how often he’d explained that if she’d just listen to him, she’d go much further in life, be more than a lowly waitress, she’d ignored him.
It was no wonder Shawn had to discipline her. She was a wild animal who needed to know her goddamn boundaries.
Women shouldn’t be allowed to goanywherewithout letting someone know where they were, who they were with. It was a dangerous world out there. If men like him and Shawn were going to protect their women, they had to know their every movement, at all times.
It made perfect sense.
He’d learned so much from Shawn. Including how to be arealman in a relationship, how women just needed to be shown the correct path in order to be a good girlfriend or wife. Women were fundamentally weak. They needed men to lead them. To keep them safe.
And the bitch was not only too stupid to see what a good thing she’d had with Shawn, she was disrespectful to the nth degree.
The fact that she’d refused to move in with him was the final straw. How could Shawn continue to mold her properly if she wasn’t sleeping by his side every night? A man had needs, and Shawn told him all about how Carly had refused to sleep in his bed at the end. Had refused to kiss him. It was unacceptable. She was a disgrace. And she had fucked up everything—for both himandShawn.
When his friend came to him, upset and angry after being served with the protective order, they’d discussed what his next steps should be. It felt so good that his friend had opened up to him about his problems, trusted him to help. He’d been truly honored. They’d decided Carly needed to be taught a lesson, of course.No onesaid no to Shawn Keyes. He was the best the bitch would ever get, and she needed to understand the mistake she’d made by throwing him away.
The plan was perfect…except the evening they were set to carry it out, everything had gone wrong. The bitch had left work early because she was sick and the biggest storm the area had seen in years rolled in.
In the end, Shawn had died.
It wasn’t fair! Carly hadn’t been taught her lesson—and it was now up tohimto finish the job. He would honor his friend by making Carly pay.
The original strategy had to change, unfortunately. There was no time for days of torture. Snatching her from work was no longer an option. And he wasn’t interested in fucking the bitch, as Shawn himself had planned to do; no way in hell would he get his cock anywhere near her poison pussy.
No, she just needed to die. Disappear without a trace.
There were plenty of places he could dispose of her body where it would never be found. The most effective option was the sea. The millions of gallons of water would swallow her up and never spit her out.
Anger churning at the delay, he vowed to avenge his friend. Carly Stewart would rue the day she’d rejected such a fine man. Then, and only then, could he go on with his life with a clear conscience.
Regrettably, he knew he had to wait even longer. Wait until the right time. When her guard was no longer up. The bitch hadn’t left her apartment in ages—and he would know. He was at least thrilled that she seemed to be so terrified; she should be. Danger was coming for her.
But vengeance would be so much sweeter if it struck when she least expected it.
She couldn’t hide out forever. And when she finally crawled out from under the rock where she was cowering, he’d be there. Waiting and ready to strike.
The man turned from the window abruptly. He knew exactly how he would end Carly’s life. He couldn’t wait.
CHAPTERTHREE
Now that Jag had gotten Carly to his apartment, he wanted to nail the door shut and never let her leave. He’d dreamed about her being here more nights than he could count. If it was up to him, she’d never go back to her own place.
He’d been interested in Carly for months, and watching her suffer had been extremely painful and frustrating because he hadn’t been able to do much to help her. But now that she’d reached out to him, he wasn’t going to let her down. The thought that he wanted her to stay with him permanently was crazy, but Jag had seen this exact thing with his friends. Once they’d gotten their women into their lairs, so to speak, they’d never left.
And that’s what he wanted. Carly was his. He felt as if he’d known her forever and he couldn’t seem to shake her. Didn’twantto shake her.
The thing was, Jag knew she could do so much better than him. He was broken inside. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to have a normal relationship, not after his childhood. But for Carly, he wanted to try. Wanted to rise above the shit swirling in his head and be the kind of man she could rely on.
He just wasn’t sure he could.
Pushing away thoughts of his past, Jag did his best to concentrate on the here and now and the meal he was making. The waffles were almost done, then he’d scramble a few eggs. Carly needed to eat. She’d lost some of the lush curves he admired, and the thought of her skimping on food because she didn’t have enough money made him almost physically ill.
He’d given hertoomuch space. He wanted to help her, but he should’ve done more, considering how bad her situation had gotten. That was over now. She was here and they were moving forward.
