Chapter 51
KAIDEN
It’s one week after Sage’s death that I check on Vinny again.
I’m half worried he’ll try to kill himself, but part of me has hope that he won’t. He lost everything in the flick of a lighter—both Sage and Beckham, the two people in the world he’s ever loved, and all hope of a future for him was tied to them.
“Hey,” I say, walking into his bedroom.
His front door was unlocked, and part of me wonders if he’s waiting for Becks to show up and fix this. Maybe he’s waiting for Sage to creep in and tell him this is all one big joke.
He’s under the blankets in bed but answers me anyway. “Hey.”
“Wanna go do something tonight?” I ask, sitting down next to him. His eyes peek out from under the blankets, and he narrows them.
“Why aren’t you off in a depressive hole somewhere too? You loved Sage just as much as I did.”
I shrug, not letting the thought of Sage seep into my mind. “We all have different ways of dealing with shit.”
“And yours is to pretend she never existed?” Vinny spits, sitting up and looking at me with daggers in his eyes. “She was a real fucking person, Kai, and you should be mourning her. We loved her. We loved Beckham. Everything is fucked!”
“Okay, relax,” I growl, feeling defensive.
“No!” he shouts. “Why don’t you give a fuck?!”
“I do, Vincent!” I yell and shove his chest. “I’ve been helping her grandmother plan the fucking funeral!”
Vinny’s face falls, and his eyes sparkle with moisture. “What?”
“Yeah,” I spit, shoving him again. “So don’t say I’m pretending she never existed, because I’m trying to make sure she’s honored the right way.”
He sniffles. “Sorry.”
“Yeah.” I stand up, crossing my arms over my chest. “So, are we going to do something tonight, or not?”
“Nah,” Vinny says, lying back down under his blankets. “I just wanna get some sleep.”
Heat spreads through my face as anger simmers in my chest. Stepping toward him, I rip the blankets off. “Vincent, get the fuck up! You can’t just lie here forever. Get up, and let’s find something to do to get our minds off this, at least for tonight.”
“There’s nothing, Kai. Nothing’s going to make me feel any better.” He looks at me with pain in his eyes, and my frustration fades a little.
Sighing, I sit down at the edge of his bed.
“I just want to know that Becks is in as much pain as me—I want to know that he’s in more fucking pain than me,” Vinny whispers. “Does that make me a bad person?”
Shaking my head, a small grin tugs at the edge of my lips. “Not at all. Why don’t we go make sure Becks feels exactly what you’re feeling?”
I know that madness has entered my mind when I feel adrenaline pulsing through my veins as we walk to Beckham’s.
I’m excited. Excited to punish Becks for what he’s done.
And even though I told him to never speak to me again, I’m very interested in what he has to say for himself when he’s faced with both of us together.
He was a shell of a man the other day, and I didn’t feel completely fulfilled after our encounter. He wasn’t scared of me, just accepted the fact that he’s dead to us and let me walk away without a fight.
Today will be different. I’ll get him to feel exactly what we feel deep down.
Even though I won’t show it, my world is shattered. He took the one person I’ve ever let under my skin, the one person who ever fit against me like a matching puzzle piece, and he’s going to pay for it.
I thought maybe his charges, spending his life in prison, would be enough. But it isn’t. I want him to taste the fear that Sage probably felt that night, when fire crept up on her and engulfed her, took her skin and flesh and bones.
Even though I’ve looked at Beckham as a brother since we could walk and talk, I’ll punish him like anyone else who’s hurt me.
And I’ll fucking enjoy it.