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Back The Little Lies Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. Love crime, thriller and mystery books?
  3. Also by Valerie Keogh
  4. Dedication
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. Acknowledgements
  54. A note from the publisher
  55. Love crime, thriller and mystery books?
  56. You will also enjoy:

They were meant for each other.

37

A shaky step took Jodie nearer the door. ‘The only emotion I feel for you is pity. You’re deluded. Sick. You’re sick, Victor.’

He got to his feet and moved towards her. ‘I haven’t aged well, I give you that, but when I was younger, you adored me, swooned when I touched you.’ When he reached a hand for her, she stumbled backward, her mouth twisting in disgust.

The tip of Victor’s tongue appeared and slid from one corner of his mouth to the other.

Jodie shook her head. This couldn’t be happening. How stupid she had been to come here. Feeling the room spin, she reached for the door handle. She had to get out of there.

But Victor, as she’d suspected, could move fast when he wanted to and she felt her arm caught in a grip that shocked her with its strength as he pulled her into his embrace. She’d been wrong, this close to him there was no sign of illness, his skin colour might be odd but there was no yellow in the white of his eyes. She’d been fooled. Or maybe she’d simply seen what she’d wanted to see.

‘You know I’m right, Jodie,’ Victor said, his fingers tightening on her arm, hurting. ‘You love me, I know you do.’

Jodie was almost overcome with the smell that came from him with every word, a foul stink that made her weak. She reached down for every atom of strength she had and lifted her chin. This close, she could see flecks of green in the brown eyes that were boring into hers and fought to meet them without wavering. Show no fear, it was the way to fight monsters. ‘I was smitten with you when I was a child, a vulnerable child who’d lost her father the year before and was easy game for a manipulative sleazebag.’

Victor’s face moved closer, his lips parting. Jodie was horrified and nauseated to see the raw meat gloss of his tongue. She would rather die… or fight. She drew her free arm back and drove the heel of her hand into his chest with as much strength as she could gather. The force of the blow, or perhaps the surprise of it, worked, and Victor released her arm, stumbled backwards and fell to the floor.

Jodie wanted to hit him again, wanted to keep on doing so, wanted to shout and scream, kick him, stamp on him, let the anger she hadn’t realised she had stored for all those years to erupt in one huge volcanic explosion. She took a step towards him, then took two steps back, all anger suddenly dissipating.