“I just want to feel, to see what’s wrong,” Uncle Patrick told her. “I can help, honey. Trust me.”

“I think you should leave,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Is that any way to speak to your uncle?”

His hand pressed more insistently on her stomach, and she swallowed hard, wondering what he would do if she threw up on him. Because it was beginning to be a real possibility.

Her door opened and her father’s head appeared. He briefly regarded them. “Is everything okay in here?”

“Of course,” Patrick said, not bothering to look at her father. “We’re just talking. We’ll be down in a minute.”

Samuel’s ice-cold glare locked on her face, and Ashlynn felt a chill slither over her entire body. He knew what was going on, but he didn’t have any intention of stopping it.

God, she hated him almost as much as she hated Uncle Patrick.

The nauseous feeling returned.

“I’m ready to go downstairs now,” Ashlynn blurted. “I’m feeling better.”

“No, you’re not,” Patrick said matter-of-factly. “Close the door, Sam. We’ll be down when we’re done … talking,” he told her father.

“Do what you need to do,” Samuel said, his tone far too casual for what was going on. “But you need to keep it down. You don’t want Max coming up here.”

Yes, she did. Ashlynn definitely wanted Max to come looking for her. Maybe he would stop Uncle Patrick from … whatever it was he was doing.

Her father met her eyes once more, not an ounce of remorse on his face, then slipped back out of the room, closing the door behind him. Ashlynn tried to free herself from between Patrick’s body and the wall, but his hand pressed down harder on her stomach, his other hand sliding to her thigh.

She knew she shouldn’t have worn a skirt today, but she’d wanted to look nice for the party. Namely, she’d wanted to look good for Leyton. But now, the short skirt made her feel underdressed.

“I’m fine, Uncle Patrick,” she told him hurriedly, meeting his gaze. “I really am ready to go back downstairs.”

His hand trailed up her thigh, and she instinctively reacted, pushing him away. Before she could escape, he grabbed her, spinning her around and slamming her onto her bed, facedown.

“I’ve been waiting for this day,” Patrick growled against her ear. All pretenses that he was worried had vanished completely.

Ashlynn squirmed, trying to get free, but he had one hand on the back of her neck, forcing her face into her comforter, which meant screaming wouldn’t do much good, though she tried, anyway.

“Stop! Don’t do this!” Unfortunately, the words were too muted to be understood. She cried out when his hand roughly went between her legs, his fingers tearing at her panties.

Oh, God! What was he doing?

Ashlynn kicked and flailed, desperate to get away from him, but he was so much stronger.

“You heard your father,” Patrick said. “You need to be quiet. It’ll be much easier if you just do as you’re told.”

“Never!” she exclaimed. “Oh, my God! You’re gross! Get away from me!”

“I’ve seen the way you look at boys,” Patrick grumbled, clearly ignoring her rant. “I thought you’d be happy about this, honey. You want this as much as I do, don’t you, sweetheart?”

He was a lunatic! “Please don’t,” she whimpered, still trying to get free.

“I always hoped you’d come to me one day, but it looks as though I have to take matters into my own hands.”

No. God, no! He touched her between her legs again, and she screamed at the top of her lungs, jerking back and forth, trying to dislodge him, but he shifted, holding her down with more of his body weight.

Where was her mother? Or her brothers? Why didn’t they come looking for her?

Then she remembered Samuel and the way he’d eyed them. He was giving his brother permission to… “No! Don’t. Please don’t!”

Patrick ripped her panties off as he held her down by her neck, then used his free hand to work his pants open. Ashlynn knew he was going to rape her, and she feared there wasn’t anything she could do to stop him. Tears leaked from her eyes as she continued to fight. It was the only thing she could do, because she damn sure wasn’t going to give in. For a brief moment, she thought she’d managed to overpower him, getting to her knees and knocking his hand away, but he grabbed her and shoved her down just as quickly.

“Don’t move and it won’t hurt,” he said, his tone lethal. “Your father promised me this. And it’s time to pay up.”

Ashlynn couldn’t stop the sobs that racked her body as she rolled, trying to get out from under him, but she couldn’t.

“Move one more inch, and I will shoot you where you stand.”

Ashlynn’s heart skipped a beat.

Max.

He was there.

She cried out.

“Take your hands off her, you sick fuck. Right. Now.”

“You need to go downstairs, son,” Patrick told Max. “This is none of your business. It’s between me and your father.”

“As of right now,” Max said roughly, “it’s between you and the bullet in my gun. Move away from her.”

The instant Patrick let her go, Ashlynn jumped from the bed, stumbling to the floor and scooting away from him as fast as she could, heading for the corner. She covered herself as best she could, but he’d ripped her skirt during the scuffle.

“I told you to stay out of this,” Patrick said, his tone eerily calm. “Like I said, this is between your father and me. She’s been promised to me, Max. That’s somethin’ you don’t have control over.”

“I have more control than you know,” Max countered, his gun still aimed at Patrick, his jaw tense.

“You’re wrong about that.” Patrick seemed insistent on making Max understand.

“I’m never wrong. If I ever fucking catch you puttin’ your hands on my sister again, I’ll kill you.”

“Well, you better shoot me now,” Patrick dared. “Because I will take what’s rightfully mine.”

“Is that what you want?” Max asked, sounding genuinely interested in the answer to his question.

Ashlynn’s eyes widened when she realized her brother was going to kill Patrick. She’d always suspected that he would do whatever it took to protect her, but to kill their uncle...

Max’s gaze dropped to her face as though he was looking for her input. It was then that Ashlynn realized Leyton had come into the room, standing directly behind Max, his eyes leveled on Patrick. He looked angry.

Ashlynn didn’t know what she should do, what she should say. Would Leyton think she was crazy if she told Max to kill Patrick? As far as she was concerned, there was only one right answer.

What no one knew was that her brother and her father weren’t the only two whose souls were dark. She’d lived in their world for fifteen years, seen things that she doubted they had wanted her to see. Ashlynn knew things. And she knew for a fact that if Patrick wasn’t stopped, he would come after her again. And what if Max wasn’t there next time? What if she couldn’t save herself?

Patrick would rape her and he’d smile while he did it.

What if he went after Madison? She couldn’t live with herself if this sick fuck hurt her sister.

Bile rose in her throat as she looked up at her uncle.

“Honey,” Patrick said, his tone soothing once more, “tell your brother this is between you and me. We’ll get it settled and go back down to the party. Once it’s over, I’ll never bother you again.”

“You’re a pervert,” she hissed. “You make me sick.”