Twinsequences Ivy (Twisted Twin #2)(14)

I walked down the stairs, taking my time, fully aware I still had to root through my parent’s things to get a location on my sister. With my hand on the doorknob, I knew this was going to either be the best decision for the situation, or the worst.

“Come on, Ivy. Let me help you. I’ve been out all night worried. Please. I love you. I don’t care what you said before. I know you were desperate. You and I have something special. I won’t let you ruin your life.”

I closed my eyes and thought about our time we spent together. He’d done nothing but fall head over heels in love with me. I, at least, owed him the decency of an explanation as to why I was never going to let him drag me back to that awful place. I cracked the door, leaving the chain locked. “I’m not going back there. Nothing you can say will change how I feel. This was my plan all along. I’m not crazy. I know exactly what I want, and what I need. Don’t stand in my way, Mikael. It would be bad for you if you did.”

He gritted his teeth as he attempted to hold it together while losing his temper terribly. “You can’t do this to me.”

I started to close the door again. “I can and I will.”

Mikael pulled his broken cell phone out of his pocket. He’d picked up the pieces and somehow put it back together. “Don’t make me call this in.” He looked down like he was dialing numbers. “The police are on to you. It’s only a matter of time before they arrive.”

I burst open the door, jerked the phone from his hands and threw it into the street, shattering it from the case, and making sure he couldn’t use it again. “No!”

Mikael used my sudden outburst as his way into the house. He pulled me along, pinning me against a wall as he kicked the door shut again. His hot breath was on my face, his eyes red with fury. “You will not take me down with you, do you hear me, Ivy? You’re coming back to the hospital with me. This plan of yours is over.”

I kicked him between the legs, squirming out of his hold. I darted for the kitchen, hoping to come up with something to keep him from getting anywhere close to me again.

I rounded the counter, pulling a large knife out of the drawer as I did it. Mikael threw his hands up only feet away from me. “Don’t do anything stupid, Ivy. This doesn’t have to get violent.”

I swung it around toward his face. “You have no idea what I’m capable of. I tried to give you a way out. I told you what we had meant nothing.”

“You’re ruining my life. You’re sick if you think that’s going to fly.”

He hit my last nerve. He called me sick. Before he could react, I stuck the knife up against his neck and put all my weight against his body to pin him still. “If you make a move I’ll end you. Do you get me?” I saw him trying to lift his hands. “Put them behind your back. Move over to the chair slowly.”

He wasn’t taking me seriously. Mikael swung his hand around to latch onto me. I applied pressure and took a slice out of the skin on his neck. The immediate pain made him cringe. In all honesty, I think he was shocked I was capable of harming him. “You thought you knew me. I get it.” I laughed at his assumption. “I’ve been in control this whole time.”

Blood steadily dripped from his wound as he rushed to the sink to obtain a dishtowel to press over his injury. “Don’t do this. Please. I have a family.”

I pointed the knife in his direction again. “You’re going to do exactly what I tell you, and if you do, I’ll let you live.”

“Think about what you’re doing. This is a mistake.”

I pressed the tip of the knife against his chest. It was obvious he feared what my next move would be. “Sit down in the chair to the left. Put your hands behind your back.”

“The police are on the way.”

“Your phone is in pieces. They didn’t have time to track your call. Stop wasting my energy. I’ve got plenty of more important things to worry about.” I took the dishtowel out of his hand and tied his wrists together. Blood was still coming out of his neck, but I was sure I hadn’t hit an artery. The cut was too shallow. With his hands temporary unable to go anywhere, I went in the junk drawer and pulled out the Duct tape. I covered his wrists again, making sure this time he’d be unable to break free. When I got to his legs to attach them to the chair he tried to kick at me. I grabbed the knife and drove it into his thigh. He screamed, so loud I wondered if the neighbors could hear. “Shut up or I’ll do it again. I’m trying to spare your life, but you keep making it harder. Don’t you understand, this isn’t part of my plan? I have to find my sister, and nothing is going to stop me this time, not even you.”

He pleaded. “I know the real you; the one who has feelings. You cried to me about how sorry you were. You wanted forgiveness.”

“All I want,” I corrected, “Is my sister’s life. The person you’ve known for three years doesn’t exist. It was an act. I don’t care about you, or the fact that you’ll be fired for helping me. I don’t even care if they find out we’ve been f*cking for years in that little dump of a break room. You were a tool, and now I don’t need you. If you want to see that little wife of yours again, you’ll keep your mouth shut and wait for my parents to return home tonight.”

“Ivy, please. You’ll get caught. You’ll go to a real jail this time. Doesn’t that mean something to you?”