Chapter 9

"No, he's never laid a hand on me in that way." Jalyse assured him, sniffling a little, and leaned further against the deck as she raked a hand through her hair, sighing raggedly. "He started…getting rougher with me as far as the sex went. He was almost breaking me in half to be brutally honest with you. I finally told him I couldn't take the brutality anymore and that's when he stopped wanting it. That's when I got my suspicions that he was getting it elsewhere and it was my cousin because they are both sex addicts."

Mark knew that about Journey firsthand. He himself had a healthy appetite, but the woman just didn't seem to ever want to stop. He had a sneaking suspicion that if she could, she'd skip the air she breathed and live solely on sex. Mark felt like snapping John's neck in two. He didn't care if the kid had done it knowingly or not. Just the thought of someone hurting Jalyse, sexually or not, was enough to royally piss him off. He studied her thoughtfully and finally asked, "You sure you don't want to confront them while they're together?"

"Why so we can look like complete morons, Mark?" She shot back hurtfully, leaning back against him since she'd stumbled, her knees giving out on her a little from the exhaustion that'd taken over her body suddenly. She hadn't cried this much in a long time. "If you have a plan in mind, then you tell me now because at this point, I honestly don't care if their hearts get ripped out of their chests."

"I've got a fair few amount of ideas swirlin' round." Mark admitted in a drawl, gently picking her up in his arms and carried her over to the gliding swing that was on the patio. Mark set her down and lowered himself beside her. "Mainly, I'm wantin' to catch the two together." He smiled coldly. "Hard to look like a moron when the evidence is right there in yer face."

Blinking a little at him carrying her over to the swing, Jalyse looked over at him with a raised eyebrow after he'd set her down. "So in other words, you want to walk in on them fucking each other's brains out." It was a statement once again as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You know they won't show any remorse right? They'll just blame it on us, saying we did something wrong…"She raked a hand through her hair in frustration.

"Which is the point where I'm gonna grab them by the hair, drag their sorry asses outta my house, and inform Journey that things just ain't workin' out." Mark replied, looking somewhat amused though his eyes were dark with rage. "Then I might just set my dogs on them."

"That'd be something amusing to see…" She smirked at the thought of the dog's part and started giggling, bringing her knees up to curl beneath her, and leaned back against the swing as they started gliding together gently. "What else did you have in mind besides catching them doing the nasty? You said you had other ideas in mind, what are they?" She pressed curiously, looking out at the long stretch of land, and sighed heavily, not believing she was about to end her three year relationship with John.

"Well obviously tyin' their asses up and drownin' them out back in the rain barrel is outta the question. Too bad they made murder illegal, eh?" Mark smirked, about to say something else when Journey stepped out, glaring at them. "Hey."

"You planning on coming to bed anytime soon or just going to sit out here and…chat?" Journey asked, her blue eyes blazing with fury as she had her hands on her hips, her voice dripping with scorn and hatred.

"Haven't decided." Mark simply replied, staring straight at her, and shot her the same look she was shooting him.

"Why don't you go see what John is up too?" Jalyse suggested heatedly back at her cousin, her teal eyes shooting fire back at her, not believing she was her blood. She had her arms crossed in front of her chest, her legs now crossed, and dared Journey to say something else to them.

"Maybe I will since you two seem so damned cozy!" Journey spat, her eyes locked on Mark, who simply smiled sardonically at her. "Motherfucker…" She hissed, spinning around, blonde hair flying, and stormed back inside the house.

"I think you pissed her off." Mark drawled, sounding bored with amusement shining in his eyes.

"Good, she deserves a lot more than that. Her and that prick I used to refer to as my boyfriend." She stated, not phased in the least by her cousin's outburst, and continued swinging with Mark. She felt at peace with him for the first time since they'd met and sighed when the tears started building in her eyes again. "Go on with your ideas." She urged, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

Mark nodded, opening his mouth before frowning, his green eyes widening when he heard something crash. "If she's doin' what I think she is…" He growled, getting up, another loud crash confirming it. "My goddamn bikes!" Mark practically dived into the house, heading straight for the garage. He wasn't all that shocked to find Journey tipping them over. "GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE BEFORE I RIP YER DAMNED HEAD OFF!" He roared, his voice booming throughout the garage.

"You love these stupid bikes more then you do me!" Journey screamed back, tears streaming down her face before fleeing out of the garage.

Jalyse had actually bolted in the house behind Mark and physically cringed at the damage her cousin had caused, shaking her head in disgust. "Oh Mark…" She couldn't say anything else, staring at all the broken pieces of his prized possessions, and could already feel the anger welling up inside her body. She turned around and stalked into the house. "JOURNEY MARIE CARLTON! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT FUCKING NOW!" Jalyse bellowed, her voice bouncing off the walls of the house, not caring if John even heard her at this point.

"Go to Hell, Jalyse! Why don't you just mind your own damned business!" Journey shouted back, slamming a door shut behind her.

John came running out, flying backwards when Mark stalked by, and getting shoved aside. His blue eyes widened when he seen Mark was carrying a piece of one of his motorcycles as he climbed the stairs. "Um…What is going on?" He asked hesitantly.

"What's going on is the fact that we're THROUGH, John!" Jalyse shouted back at her boyfriend, tears building in her eyes, and shook her head as the disappointment swelled through her teal orbs. "I can't believe I actually trusted you. Trusted my own cousin, who was supposed to love me, instead of use me to get some more DICK! Was it good, John? Was it fucking good to fuck her brains out when you KNEW she was with Mark the entire time? You two make me fucking SICK and I hate you both! I HATE YOU!!" She tackled him to the floor and started hitting him with everything she had inside of her. "YOU BROKE MY HEART, YOU BASTARD!"

John instantly shielded his face form her blows. "I don't know what you're talking about, J baby!" He shouted back at her. When she screamed out liar at him, he changed tactics. "It's not like that, J! She fucking came onto me!"

Jalyse pushed herself off of him and actually kicked him in the ribs, causing him to groan, and spit on him as the tears poured down her cheeks like two raging rivers. "You've hurt me for the LAST time, you PRICK! It's OVER between us, John! It's fucking OVER!" She shouted at him, backing up a little, and wrapped her arms around herself, trembling. "How could you break my heart this way when all I ever did was love you? You make me physically ill, you and that little slut whore of a cousin I have! I hope Mark breaks her in half for what she's done and how much abuse she's inflicted on him!! I hope it was worth it, John. I hope it was REALLY worth it because this is the LAST time you'll EVER see or hear from me! Now get the fuck out of here and get to the airport. I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

Journey let out an ear piercing scream when Mark had decided he'd had enough of her abusing the Hell out of him. She found her sorry ass being pinned to the wall by the bike piece, which was being pressed dangerously hard against her throat as she screamed out, "MARK, NO!"

"I want you to get the Hell outta my house, hear me?" He growled menacingly, his muscles bulging out of his arm, and his green eyes spitting venom back at her.

When he released her throat by pulling the bike piece away, Journey came flying down the stairs, tripping in her own haste, followed by a lot of clothing. "I FUCKING HATE YOU!" She screamed, scooping up her clothes and retreating, watching as Mark slowly stalked towards her. "Just you wait, Mark, I'll burn this place to the fucking ground, you son of a bitch!"

"Take that…boy and get the Hell out of my house!" Mark ordered coldly, watching as John backed away from Jalyse, sporting a seriously fucked up face from her blows. "Before you wind up lookin' like him, only worse cause my hands are a lot bigger and a helluva lot harder." He threatened, flexing his fingers in her direction.

John stared at the woman he used to call his girlfriend. "Nice…you're going to stay here with a fucking woman beater, huh?" He spat, helping Journey when she stumbled. "Hope you're both very fucking happy together!"

"No see, there's where you're wrong. We were NEVER together, not like you two." Jalyse hissed back at them, glaring hatefully at her cousin, and walked over, not laying a finger on her. "I never want to speak or see you again. You call me once and I'll fuckin' hunt you down and KILL you myself! I hate you, Journey! I hate you so much right now. I hope it was worth it. I hope his dick was worth it because you're not my twin anymore! We were never twins cause I'm not a slutbag whore like YOU!"

Journey's nostrils flared and she went to strike Jalyse only to find her hand lost in Mark's huge fist. "Let me go you bastard! Bullshit, you two have probably been going at it since day one! You're both the same, two pathetic morbid losers who'll never be anything because you're both worthless! You hear me, J? WORTHLESS!" She spat at her cousin, jerking away from Mark, and gathered her bags. "Come on, John…"

Nodding, his blue eyes locked on his now ex-girlfriend and shook his head in disgust. "Yeah…let these two get back to whatever it is they do. Fucking animals or something. Hick fucks." He cursed, following Journey out the door.

Mark followed them, letting out a shrill whistle as he bellowed, "HADES, PAIN, PANIC, SICK'EM!" He watched as the trio instantly bounded out the door and immediately went to attack John and Journey, a sick smile on his face.

"AT LEAST WE WERE FAITHFUL FUCKIN' COUNTRY HICKS UNLIKE YOU TWO CHEATING SCUMBAGS!" Jalyse screamed out the door, tears streaming down her cheeks, and watched as John hastily put Journey in the car. The dogs were jumping on it and peeled out of there like the hounds of Hell were on their ass, which they were.

She finally stumbled back from the door and raked a hand through her hair, knowing it was over between her and John. It had been for awhile and she was finally glad it was over. Not saying a word to Mark, Jalyse walked into her guest room and immediately started packing. She wasn't welcome here and she knew it because this was her cousin's ex-boyfriend and she couldn't stand Mark to be quite honest. The man could light her body and blood on fire and make her temper rise in two point five seconds.

Mark followed her, leaning in the doorway, and watched her. He knew she was leaving and he had a fairly good idea why. "Why don't ya just stay tonight, Jalyse? Yer cryin' and not really in the condition to be drivin'." He suggested gently, not wanting to upset her anymore than she was.

"No, I need to leave. We did what we were going to do and now its over. I think I'm going to catch the red eye flight out of here and hope to never step foot in Houston again." Her heart shattered, laying in a million pieces at the bottom of her stomach as she continued packing, crying and sobbing. She wanted to just lay down in a dark hole and never come out again. She'd been stupid enough to stay with John for three years. Three years of heartache. Who knew how many women he fucked behind her back? That thought caused her to cry harder as she started slamming her clothes harshly in her bag.

Mark gently pulled her away from the bed, away from her bag, and stared down at her. "We're back to hatin' each other?" He asked softly, wiping away her tears with the pad of his thumb.

Her bottom lip trembled as she closed her eyes, letting the tears spill down her cheeks, and felt her heart squeeze with pain at what he said. "No, I don't hate you." She assured him, her voice cracking, but she didn't care at the moment. "I'm sorry for what I did, but I couldn't handle it anymore. Those beautiful bikes that she destroyed. I can't explain it. Something snapped inside of me and I knew you had this all planned out, but I'm an action kinda gal. When I see something isn't right, I fuckin' step up no matter what I'm getting myself into."

"Oh believe me, when I seen my bikes all bets were off." Mark assured her. "And they can be fixed, I think." He sighed, staring down at her, hating to see her cry. "Come on out to the livin' room with me. I'll build a fire, open a bottle of somethin' with a high volume of alcohol, and we'll toast Pain, Hades, and Panic takin' a few chunks outta those two scumbags' asses." Mark stated, not wanting her to leave, especially in the condition she was in. He didn't want her to leave period, but knew he couldn't stop her, except this one night.

Deciding to say the Hell with it, Jalyse nodded as she threw her clothes down that were clutched in her hands on the bed and allowed him to guide her out to the living room.