Chapter 29 Cain
My ears are buzzing. This can’t be happening. Not him. Not this worthless piece of shit.
“Long time no see, boy,” he hisses. He’s got to have a death wish.
My jaw locks so hard it hurts. Rage boils in my blood. This motherfucker used to be my father’s right hand. His loyal fucking dog.
And now I know. I know my old man’s still alive, pulling strings from whatever hole he’s hiding in, laughing his ass off while I tear myself apart.
Now, I’m sure that he set all of this up. I’m sure he’s somewhere around and laughing at me. I know he wants to drive me fucking nuts. I can feel it under my skin.
I snap, grabbing him by the collar and shaking him violently. “Where is he?”
He chuckles broadly, but that only adds to my anger. I punch him. “Answer me!”
“You’re dying to know, right? Maybe he’s already in your house. Maybe he’s the reason she twitches in her sleep,” he mocks, eyes wide. I punch him again. Harder.
“Where is he?” I fume.
He grabs my collar in a weak grip and locks his gaze on mine. “Where he always is. Ten steps ahead of you.”
My hands won’t stop shaking, and my temples are beating like war drums.
I slam my fist into his face again, harder, wanting to feel something break.
Then I pull myself away from him, breathing like an animal, needing distance before I do something worse. I can’t kill him now. Not yet.
“Cain, stop,” Kate?ina pants.
“Hush,” I shout back.
He grins through broken teeth. “Look at you,” he slurs. “Still the same pathetic little bastard. Remember? Crying in your own piss while Daddy told his son to beat the shit out of you. Screaming for Mommy to come save you.”
He spits blood next to him. “Nobody came then. Nobody’s coming now. Not her. Not anyone. You’re just a sad, broken freak that this little whore spares and stays around to make you feel better.”
Something inside me snaps.
I fire into his other leg and blow a hole through his thigh. His screams are so loud they rattle my bones and reverberate through my head.
Still not enough. I’m not satisfied yet.
“Shut your hole when you talk about her!”
“This filthy little cunt has made you weak.”
I step closer and shove the barrel of the gun into his shattered knee. His whole body jerks. His eyes roll back for a second.
“Shut your fucking mouth,” I hiss.
But he’s still fucking grinning. Begging for it.
“I bet she pities you. She lets you touch her out of guilt. A freak with a leash.”
The fury inside me turns cold.
I jam the gun against his teeth so hard I feel something crack.
“Talk about her again, and I’ll rip your jaw off and watch you choke on it,” I whisper.
He grins, blood bubbles forming between his teeth.
“You’re running behind a woman again,” he rasps. “Just like you ran behind your mama’s skirts.”
My hands shake, the rage boiling up, clawing its way out of me.
“You’re just a weak piece of shit who bailed because his daddy yelled at him,” he spits.
“I bailed because I couldn’t take it any longer!” I roar. “I was a fucking child! And they murdered my mother while I was listening! I heard her dying! I heard her body hit the floor when that bastard killed her!”
My chest heaves. My whole body shakes.
He coughs, blood spraying across his chin, and then he laughs sickeningly.
“You listened to her die, huh?” he slurs, half his teeth gone, jaw hanging crooked.
“Bet you cried like a little bitch. Curled up in a corner, hugging your knees, while she screamed your name.” He pauses.
“She screamed for you, didn’t she? Begged you to help.
And you just sat there. Useless and crying.
Doing nothing while Atticus butchered her. ”
Memories of that horrendous day flood me, and the fear starts to grow inside me again. I’m not helpless anymore. Then why do I feel like this?
I clench the gun so hard it feels like it’ll snap in my hand until my knuckles are white.
“Shut your mouth,” I growl.
But he’s not done. He wants to die. He wants me to lose it.
“Did she die screaming your name? And you fucking let her?” The gun shakes against his skull. His blood coats my hands. “You’re not a man. You’re the same scared little bastard boy who let everyone he loves die screaming.” He turns his head and looks at Kate?ina. “And she will be no exception.”
I move the gun, ready to end him, but he’s faster. He reaches inside his blood-soaked jacket.
My instincts scream, but before I can react, he slits his own throat.
Blood pours onto the sand, and his body jerks, spasming.
Fuck …
“You won’t find him,” he gurgles, blood bubbling over his lips. “He won’t have to find you. He knows where you are. He knows how scared you are of him …” His eyes roll back, his voice barely a whisper as his life fades away. “And he’s coming. He’s coming for your whore.”
Silence.
Except for the sound of my own heartbeat, pounding like a war drum inside my skull.
Except for Kate?ina’s soft, broken gasp behind me.
My gaze snaps to her.
She’s standing there, frozen, with wide, glistening eyes and arms wrapped around herself like she’s trying to hold the shit together.
The terror floods me. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. I move without realizing it. I stand up and run to her.
I grab her arms and force her to look at me. She gasps in pain, but I don’t let go. I can’t let go.
“Do you believe me now?” I pant.
“I’m sorry,” she wails, her ice-blue eyes watering uncontrollably. “I’m so sorry for what you’ve been through.”
“This is why,” I rasp into her hair, my voice cracking with a manic edge.
“This is why I keep you locked away, where no one can see you … where no one can touch you.” She convulses beneath my grip as I squeeze tighter, feeling her panic pulse against my palm.
“Can’t you see they want to tear you apart just to break me?
No … no, no. You belong here with me. Forever. Safe, untouched … all mine.”
“I’m sorry, Cain. I’m so terribly sorry.”