J.R.’s mouth parted, and Joe gave his head a tiny shake, blurting out, “What?”

“The peasant girl was terrified, so she stole the gun and ran away, never letting the king know about her baby. Seven months later, she gave birth to a baby girl.” A mocking grin spread across Kate’s face as she tilted her head toward Joe. “Surprise. We have a half-sister. But even more importantly—” she pointed the gun at J.R., “—we have the gun our father used to kill Allen Steyer twenty-five years ago.”

“That is enough, Kate,” J.R. barked, slowly losing his cool. “We are Simmonses. Simmonses stick together.”

“Then Neely Kate needs to come out here and join us.”

“Why?” Joe asked, but the realization grew in his eyes.

Neely Kate walked out of the darkness close to the windows, her eyes steely. “I’m not a Simmons.”

“I’m sure your DNA says differently,” Kate drawled. “Your mother was smart to leave. She knew our father would have killed her when he found out about the baby. No loose ends.”

J.R. looked like he was close to blowing his stack. “I’ve heard enough, Katherine. You are done.”

“I’m the one with the gun,” she said waving it in his direction. “I’m the one who says when I’m done. You can’t control me anymore.”

I took a step back, bumping into a candle-covered desk.

J.R. released a low growl. “So what’s your purpose with this little show? Are you trying to embarrass me? Because you’re currently the embarrassment.”

“Embarrass you?” she spat out. “And don’t you pretend to care about me. I was nothing to you! If anything, you were so smitten with Hilary you hardly paid any attention to me. Even when we were kids.”

“He wasn’t smitten with me,” Hilary said, looking at J.R. with tears in her eyes. “He raped me in the name of teaching me how to hold on to Joe.”

The horror of it all stole my breath. I had known for some time that J.R. Simmons was an evil person, but this . . .

“My God,” Joe said in an agonized voice. “Is that true?”

His father wisely kept his mouth shut.

Hilary started to cry. “I was seventeen. We were juniors. You were supposed to be in love with me, but you kept screwing other girls. He said if I learned how to please you, you’d stay with me.”

Joe put a hand on his stomach, looking like he was going to vomit.

“He told me once you settled down with me, he’d leave me alone. But Roberta saw me coming out of his office that first night . . .” She wiped her face. “I went home and locked myself in my room, planning to run away Monday morning when everyone thought I was at school. It would have given me an eight-hour head start.” She started to sob. “But then you came over, and you had that note from your father . . . J.R. said if I didn’t cooperate, he’d accuse Roberta of stealing from the family. He threatened to have her arrested.” She shook her head. “I loved her, Joe. I couldn’t let him do that.”

“Oh, God,” Joe forced out. “We had sex that day. I thought you were a virgin . . .”

Hilary began to sob. “I was desperate to make J.R. stop. I thought he’d stop if I had sex with you. But he didn’t. He didn’t stop until much later.”

Joe’s chest rose and fell rapidly. His gaze lowered to her rounded abdomen. “Is it . . . ?”

“It’s yours,” she said. “I swear it. He told me I had to make you marry me. It was his idea for me to get pregnant, but he insisted the baby had to be yours.”

“Are you sure?” Kate asked in an amused voice.

“Oh, my God,” Hilary spat out, turning to face her. “You call me a monster, yet you’re the one who’s enjoying this horror show. What does that make you?”

“Unsatisfied.”

“Maybe this will help,” J.R. sneered, and the sound of gunfire burst in my ears. “Is this what you wanted, Kate?”

I dropped to a crouch—we all did—and a red stain began to blossom across Hilary’s chest as she fell to the ground. I cast a glance toward Skeeter, but J.R. stood between us.

I screamed as I heard another gun shot.

Skeeter squatted and shoved his hands against the back of his legs, breaking the zip-tie. Then he ran for Neely Kate who stood a few feet from him at the edge of the equipment.

Joe leaned over Hilary’s body, grabbing her wrist to feel for a pulse.

Kate sat on the desk and laughed.

But Joe ignored her and pulled out his cell phone, starting to make a call.

“Drop it,” J.R. said, pointing his gun at Joe.

“What are you going to do?” Joe asked, getting to his feet, then taking a step toward him. “Are you going to shoot me? Go ahead and do it! You’ve taken everything else.”

“Not yet.” J.R. lunged and grabbed my arm, pulling me toward him and putting the gun to my temple.

“Call 911, Joe,” I said, surprised I felt so calm. “You need to get an ambulance for Hilary.”

He looked at me with a blank expression. “She’s already dead.”

Grief washed over me like a tidal wave, making my knees weak. He’d lost another baby. My gaze turned to Hilary, her hand covering her stomach, protecting her baby even in death. She’d never stood a chance with her upbringing and considering what J.R. had done to her . . . what he had turned her into.

J.R. didn’t seem to notice the desperation around him, or perhaps he just thrived on it. “That was unfortunate, but she’d proved herself incompetent time and time again, not to mention she was warned to keep her mouth shut. Why won’t people listen to me?” He looked over and realized Skeeter was gone. A wry grin lifted his lips. “Malcolm left you? That’s an unexpected surprise. No matter. You’ll do for now.”

He placed me between himself and the dark factory as he started to limp toward the window.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Joe snarled.

“Rose and I have unfinished business,” J.R. said as he continued toward the window. I let him lead me, too overwhelmed by the sight of Hilary’s now mostly red shirt.

So much death. So much destruction.

Kate was not amused. She hopped off the desk. “This is my party, and it isn’t over yet.”