Ruining Him (McKinley Ranch Duet #2), page 1
RUINING HIM
BOOK 2, MCKINLEY RANCH DUET
KYLIE KENT
MCCARTNEY INDUSTRIES
CONTENTS
Ruining Him
Please Stalk Me
Copyright
Blurb
Chapter 1
Josh
Chapter 2
Emily
Chapter 3
Josh
Chapter 4
Emily
Chapter 5
Josh
Chapter 6
Emily
Chapter 7
Josh
Chapter 8
Emily
Chapter 9
Josh
Chapter 10
Emily
Chapter 11
Josh
Chapter 12
Emily
Chapter 13
Josh
Chapter 14
Emily
Chapter 15
Josh
Chapter 16
Emily
Chapter 17
Josh
Chapter 18
Emily
Chapter 19
Josh
Chapter 20
Emily
Chapter 21
Josh
Chapter 22
Emily
Epilogue
What Next?
Afterword
Devilish King
Devilish King
Also by Kylie Kent
Acknowledgments
About the Author
RUINING HIM
THE MCKINLEY RANCH DUET
Advanced Reader Copy
Book 2
Kylie Kent
Social Media:
Website & Newsletter: www.kyliekent.com
Facebook: @kyliekent2020
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PLEASE STALK ME
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Ebook ISBN 13: 978-0-6489981-8-1
Paperback ISBN 13: 9780648998198
Cover Illustration by
RJ CREATIVES GRAPHIC SERVICES
Editing services provided by
Kat Pagan – https://www.facebook.com/PaganProofreading
This book contains scenes and discussions of non-consensual sexual acts, profanity, sexual content and violence. If any of these are triggers for you, you should consider skipping this read. This is book 2 in a 2-part duet; expect NO cliff-hanger.
Copyright ©2021 by Kylie Kent
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
This book is dedicated to all the survivors. All who live with the internal and external scars left behind. Never stop fighting for you, never give up on finding your happily ever after.
BLURB
Josh
Emily came crashing back into my life, bringing with her everything I was missing.
But she’s not the same girl I knew years ago. Gone is the girl who was always happy and eager to please everyone. The one who didn’t let life get her down.
She’s conquered her demons but they still haunt her whenever she closes her eyes. Her screams tear through the darkness night after night.
She thinks she needs to get away, to keep running. To leave me behind.
But I won’t lose her again; I will slay anything, anyone, who thinks they can get in the way of my keeping her.
Emily
I wasn’t meant to let myself get attached to Josh again. I wasn’t meant to stay this long.
Now he knows my biggest secret; he knows I’m not the sweet girl he thinks I am.
I’m being chased, hunted down like prey.
But I won’t let my past mistakes hurt Josh.
I need to leave before he finds me.
Leaving Josh behind is not going to be as easy as I thought it would be, but it’s my only option. I’ll do whatever it is I have to do to protect him, even if that means I have to Ruin Him.
CHAPTER 1
JOSH
Theme song - Ruining Me, Danni Giddings
Married, she’s fucking married. Or was married. How the fuck did I not know that? Why do I feel like my heart just fucking shattered into a million pieces? That should have been me, only me. She went and married someone who wasn’t fucking me.
“Fuck!” I yell, pulling at my hair.
“Josh, just stop the car. Let me out,” Emily whispers while moving as far away from me as she can get.
I look at her, really look at her. She’s scared. I don’t think I’ve really ever seen her this scared before. I need to calm down; my yelling is not helping her at all. But fuck, she fucking married someone else.
“I can’t.” My voice is hoarse, the words barely audible.
“You don’t need to. Just tell him to stop the car and let me out.”
“I can’t let you go, Emmy. I’m never going to be able to let you go. You knew that before you came back. I warned you if you came back, I’d be keeping you.”
“You have to let me go. You don’t understand… They’re going to find me, and I’d rather not drag you down with my mess.”
“Your mess is my mess, Emmy. I’ll fix this. I can fix this.”
Emmy shakes her head no. She doesn’t say anything, just looks down at her hands and continues to shake her head no repeatedly.
“Tell me why?” I ask. I need to know why she fucking married someone else.
“You want me to tell you why I killed him? I was cooking dinner; it was his favourite. I thought he’d be in a good mood because he liked when I cooked spaghetti. When I heard the door jingle, I ran into the bedroom to check the bed, then to the bathroom and redid the towels. By the time I got back out to the kitchen, the sauce was burning.”
Emmy hesitates and stares at me, silently begging me to tell her to stop. I probably should. I know I’m not going to like whatever it is she has to fucking say. But fuck, I need to know. When I asked her to tell me why, I was referring to the whole marriage thing. I want to fucking know why the fuck she married him.
I wait her out, not breaking eye contact. I can do this. I can sit here and listen to whatever it is she has to say. I need to do this.
“He… I knew he was going to be mad. I don’t know why I did it, but I picked up a small knife out of the block and hid it behind my back. He…” Emmy shakes her head no again.
“He what, Emmy?” I ask her, not moving a muscle. I’m so afraid I’ll scare her off and she’ll stop talking. This is the most she’s ever fucking talked to me about this prick.
“He got mad, threw the sauce. He hit me a few times. I don’t know why I did it. I don’t know why now. It wasn’t different from any other time. But when he was...” She glances at me briefly then looks away. Again, I wait, with the patience of a damn saint.
“When he was raping me, I remembered I had the knife in my hand. I don’t know what came over me. I just brought the knife up and jammed it into his neck. There was so much blood. It was everywhere.”
“Stop the fucking car now!” I yell at the driver. He’s quick to pull over to the side. As soon as I jump out of the vehicle, I’m bent over, throwing my fucking guts up. I watch the black SUV come to a stop behind me, and looking over my shoulder, I see another one just up the road in front a bit.
Paul springs from the SUV at the back with a bottle of water in hand. Fuck me, I’ve gutted and cut up human bodies like a bloody butcher and never once have I spilled my guts over that. But the image of Emily being beaten, being… raped. The thought of her having to endure that for years is too much. I want that fucker’s blood. The inferno that’s roaring inside me is the most intense I’ve ever felt.
I’m fucking losing it. Bending over, I’m clutching at my knees, trying to breathe through this. Attempting to calm the fucking beast within. I know I need to be the strong one here. I need to not let Emmy see me fall apart so easily. But fuck me, this is hard.
What’s worse? It’s all my fucking fault. If I hadn’t made her leave town, this would never have happened to her. I’ll never be able to forgive myself. How can I expect Emily to forgive me?
“Boss, you all right?” Paul asks, holding out the bottle of water towards me.
I take the bottle and swish some water around my mouth before spitting it out. “No, I’m obviously not fucking good,” I grunt out.
“Well, you might want to get over whatever it is real quick. We got company and that girl of yours needs to be out of sight.” He nods his head towards Emily, who is standing on the other side of the car, glaring straight at me wi
“Fuck!” Passing the water bottle back to Paul, I make my way over to Emmy. “Babe, you need to get back in the car.”
She just stares at me. I don’t like the blank look on her face. Why the fuck can’t I read what she’s thinking? I’ve always been able to. It’s like she’s shut down, closed off all emotions.
“Emmy, get in the fucking car, now.” I growl when she makes no effort to move. The moment the sound leaves the back of my throat, I know I fucked up again. I need to remember to be gentler with her. Right now, though, I need to get her back in the car and out of view. I see a black SUV coming up the road before slowing to a stop.
“Fuck, I’m sorry, Emmy. I’ll make this up to you later,” I whisper as I manhandle her, picking her up and sitting her in the back seat of the car. I make sure I flick the child lock on the door before shutting her in.
Turning around, I see some ass stagger out of the SUV that’s just pulled up behind Paul’s car. Four of Paul’s guys jump out of the vehicle in front of mine, coming to a stand behind me. Paul goes to step forward and I pull him back.
I wait for the ass to speak as he stops directly in front of me, obviously knowing who the fuck I am.
“Mr. McKinley, you’re a hard man to track down.”
“Depends on who’s looking,” I reply.
“Detective Jones.” He holds out a hand. I look down at his outstretched palm and dismiss it. Like fuck, am I shaking hands with this fucker.
“What can I do for you, detective?” I ask.
“I’m looking for a woman—Emily Livingston. Know anything about her whereabouts?”
“Emily Livingston. I haven’t heard that name since high school.” I shrug my shoulders. Everything in me wants to end this motherfucker right here. “I heard she left town right after graduation. Why are you looking for her? What’d she do?”
“That’s classified, but if you do run into her, here’s my card. I’d like to ask her a few questions.” He holds out a card, which I take and pass off to Paul.
“Sure.”
I watch as he turns and walks back to his car. “Detective,” I yell out before he gets in. Turning back, he raises his eyebrows in question at me.
“I’m curious… how exactly do you plan to question a dead girl?” I smirk, knowing full well this is the asshole who signed both Emily and her mother’s death certificates. The smile falls from his face momentarily, shock replacing his confidence.
“My sources tell me Miss Livingston is very much alive and breathing. For now,” he says as he climbs into the car. Paul steps in front of me, stopping me in my tracks.
“Do not let him rile you up, Josh. You reacting right now is exactly what that prick wants.”
I know he’s right, but fuck, I want to gut the fucker. I want to hear his screams as I skin him alive. Nobody will ever threaten Emily and walk away unscathed. He may think he’s walking away, but I now know who he is. Before the day is out, I’ll make sure I know everything there is to know about Detective Jones.
As soon as the detective drives off, I open the door of the car, instructing the security detail that they are not to leave any room between the convoy. I will not take chances with Emily’s safety.
When I get in the car, Emily is sitting on the very far side, scowling in my direction. Fuck, how the fuck am I going to fix this? Reaching across, I pull the seat belt over her shoulder and plug the buckle in. Lingering a little in her space, I inhale her scent.
She always smells so fucking good, like wild berries. “I’m sorry, so fucking sorry, Emmy. I know it’s not forgivable, what I’ve done, but I will try every day to earn your forgiveness.”
I sit back on the other side of the car. “We’re going to the penthouse,” I instruct the driver before pressing the button and winding up the privacy screen. As soon as the divider’s up, and it’s just Emmy and me, I breathe a sigh of relief. I don’t need to pretend with her. I don’t need to be anyone other than me.
Leaning over, I grab at my hair as my head hangs down. I breathe in and count to ten, over and over again. I’m trying everything I can to stop myself from reaching for her. She needs to make the first move. The disdain on her face when I got in the car was clear as day.
She hates me. Rightfully so, too. I’m a fucking asshole. She’s never going to be able to forgive me for what happened to her, the fact that none of that would have happened if I never chased her out of town.
“Josh?” her quiet, timid voice asks.
I look over to see her eyes red, silent tears staining her cheeks. Every time I see her cry, I feel her pain right down to my core. It shatters something in me. As broken as I am, it surprises me that there is anything left to break, but for Emily, there is always more.
I reach a hand up slowly to her face; she doesn’t flinch at my touch. It’s a small, hollow victory. “I’m sorry,” I repeat as I wipe her tears away with my thumb.
“I understand. I won’t be a problem for you anymore. Just stop the car and I’ll get out,” she whispers.
“You’re not fucking going anywhere, Emmy. You don’t understand. I refuse to lose you again. I won’t lose you again. I can’t.”
“Josh, I’m only going to bring trouble to your life. Just hearing what I did, what I’ve done, made you sick. How can you even look at me? I can’t even look at myself in the mirror without seeing it.”
“The only thing I see when I look at you, Emmy, is a fucking angel, my fucking angel. A survivor. When I look at you, I see everything that’s good in this world.” Fuck me, she thinks I was sick because of what she did. “God, Emily, I wasn’t sick because of what you did. What happened to you should never have fucking happened. It’s my fault. I should never have made you leave town. If I didn’t, then none of that would have happened. I would have been around to protect you.”
“No, it’s my fault. I left town, Josh. I made choices that led me to Trent. What he did is not on you. It’s on me. I should have been smarter, gotten out of that situation earlier.”
“This isn’t something we are going to agree on, babe. But know that from here on out, it’s me and you. Just the two of us against the world. Nothing will take you away from me, Emmy. I will fix this.”
I lean in and claim her lips with mine. Her hands reach up and pull my head in closer to her. She unclasps her seat belt and straddles me, her pussy crashing down hard on my cock. “Fuck, babe, as much as I want you, this isn’t safe. You should have a seat belt on.”
