55. Christian
CHRISTIAN
W illiam Cross looks like death contained in human cells. Like a corpse and not a living, breathing human being.
Or . . . as close as you can get when you’re as fucked-up and twisted as he is.
Levi stands on one side, Mila on the other, while Bella and Paulina stand behind us. I would have preferred if Mila hadn’t seen this, but after I returned home from the hospital a few days ago, she’s refused to let me out of her sight.
I can’t say I mind.
“I see you managed to live,” my father croaks out through the oxygen mask, pumping air that should go to someone else who needs it. Someone who deserves it and not the bastard in front of me.
“I see you’re still alive, somehow.”
“Christian,” Bella admonishes quietly from behind me, and Levi shoots her a look, silencing her.
She just doesn’t understand yet what kind of monster he really is. She was always protected as a kid, whether by Levi or Mom or me. That ends today.
“Let’s start at the beginning.” I take a step forward despite the pain in my shoulder. I shouldn’t be up right now, but this can’t wait.
Every second I know he’s here, being waited on hand and foot is another second that passes where I think about killing him. Slitting his throat in his sleep and watching the life drain from his eyes.
“You sent Mom away to the lake house earlier than us because you thought the lodge would go to you in the event Mom died.”
“What?” Bella snaps from behind me. I continue.
“You knew she was planning to divorce you and that you had no claim to Mom’s money, so you set up your son to kill her. Didn’t you?”
William doesn’t answer.
That’s okay because I have more.
“You knew how twisted his mind was, and you also knew it wouldn’t take much to convince him that she needed to be dealt with. So, you had them ride up there together, and when he got her alone . . . he murdered her. When he was done, he burnt the place to the ground, and conveniently, we were far enough behind them that by the time we got there, the bodies would have been unrecognizable.”
I hear Bella gag, and Paulina lets out a deep breath. There’s a heaviness in the air, but of course, there always has been when he’s around.
“Glad to see you finally figured it out,” William smirks, though it lacks any of its usual heat with the tubes all around him. “Only took you fourteen years.”
“After it was done, you made us believe Sebastian had died because you knew he could tell everyone what you made him do. So, you shipped him off to Saint Peter’s and left him to rot in that asylum. That is . . . until he met Talia after I called off the engagement and the three of you devised the plan to get rid of us. You promised Sebastian and Talia the lodge would be theirs in your will. But of course, it wasn’t yours to give away, was it?”
“Is this true?” Bella asks and I don’t have to turn around to know she’s crying. She steps forward to the edge of our father’s bed, tears streaming down her face while she looks down at him. “Is this true ?”
William ignores her, looking straight at me instead.
“Your mother did nothing for this place,” he wheezes. “While I was working late nights, she was at home with the children she had to have. This place belongs to me. ”
“Wrong,” I tell him, holding up the documents I’d had in my hand since the moment we walked in. “This was hidden in the safe down in the basement along with Mom’s death certificate. It’s her will, and it states the property goes to her children. Which means Levi, Bella, and I are the owners.” I toss the papers in his lap. “You never owned anything except that cancer that’s slowly killing you.”
He glares at me, reaching out with a feeble hand to grab the papers.
“And before you think about ripping those up, just know that’s a copy. You’re only wasting what little energy you have left.”
“This document proves nothing.”
“On the contrary,” Paulina finally speaks. “It proves you’ve committed larceny. You kept the lodge from it’s rightful owners.”
William laughs from the bed.
“When you found out I was onto you, you sent Sebastian to hurt my wife, didn’t you?”
William’s gaze flicks to Mila, and I step in his path. Fuck that. He doesn’t get to scare her again.
“You sent him there to kill her in the hopes that I’d fly off the handle; only your plan backfired when she proved to be stronger than what you could do to her, so you sent your hounds to find her. That night on the rooftop, you planned for Sebastian to kill me, but . . .” I shrug. “He’s never been a good shot. Guess I fucked that plan too.”
“You were supposed to die,” he croaks, his eyes glinting in anger in the dim lighting of his room.
“ Then— and this is the most laughable part—after you learned I was alive, you found out you had cancer and wouldn’t be around to inherit the lodge, anyway. You were pissed off, so you sent Collin to my house, but that failed. You lost control of Sebastian, and he kidnapped my wife because you told him with me out of the picture, he would be welcomed back into the family. That failed, too.”
“What are you going to do? Kill me?” he challenges, a wicked grin on his face. It’s all the more creepy with the oxygen mask over his lips. “Please. I’m already dying. You’d be doing me a favor.”
I open my mouth to speak, but Mila takes my hand. When I look down at her, she gives a subtle shake of her head.
“He’s right. Killing him is what he wants,” she says softly.
Fuck.
I’d come to the mansion with every intention of putting him in the ground tonight, but looking down into her soft gray gaze, I know she’s right.
“How could you do this?” Bella asks, tears clogging her throat. She backs up when he holds a hand out to her—he’s always had a soft spot where she’s concerned. “You killed mom? Had Sebastian rape Mila? He carved nasty things into her skin and you sent him to do that to her?”
When he doesn’t respond, she turns on her heel and storms out of the room.
“Let’s not forget the other shit you’ve done over the years,” I murmur, and Levi’s shoulders stiffen. “My siblings and I are finding it hard to move on with you in our lodge.”
“You can’t move me,” he croaks. “I’d be dead within a week.”
I shrug. “Quite frankly, I don’t care. You’ll be moved to a care facility with enough funds to cover your very basic needs.” I look down at his fancy oxygen machine keeping him alive. “Once that runs out, well . . . I guess you’ll find out the rest when it happens. I know you love a good show.”
“This is my home,” he growls, attempting to look menacing when he sits forward. Unfortunately for him, a stiff breeze would take him out. “You will not throw me out.”
“If I had my way, I would have thrown you in the ocean,” I murmur darkly and Mila’s hand tightens around mine. “You can thank her for the rest of your miserable life.”
I pull Mila towards the door, and Levi follows. Paulina stares at my father for a long moment before she joins us in the hall, shutting the door on a hacking cough that rings out behind us.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispers, tears shining in her eyes. “I never knew—”
“None of us did,” Levi interrupts her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “You’ve been the best damn aunt to a bunch of unruly kids. We owe you everything.”
She smiles, but it dissolves into tears.
“You guys are going to make me cry.”
“Too late,” I chuckle, and Mila releases me to give her a hug.
We start back down the hall, Levi walking beside me and Mila with Paulina up ahead. I’m slow due to the bullet hole in my side, but I’ll be damned if I roll around on one of those electric scooters like Mila suggested. Can you picture a six-foot-three man crammed on a motorized scooter? I fucking can’t.
“I’m leaving,” Levi says quietly so the women won’t hear.
To be honest, I expected it. He’s been here long enough. The lodge has never felt like home to him. Only a prison.
“When?”
“Now.”
“Job?”
“Something like that,” he shrugs.
All I can do is shake my head when Levi’s jaw tightens.
“Keep an eye on her.”
I don’t have to ask who the her is that he’s referring to. I can see it even if he can’t. As if on cue, Ava walks out of her room up ahead of us, her eyes going wide when she sees us. She looks between Levi and me before she turns away with a flush to her cheeks.
“Don’t run from this place because of him,” I say, stopping at the door to my office. I have the task of finding the shittiest nursing home I can find to shove Willaim Cross into for the remainder of his days.
Bonus points if there are fleas.
Levi pauses, his hands in his pockets. His jaw tightens, and he looks away.
“You should have killed him.”
“No . . .” I start, my eyes landing on Mila, where she stands at the foot of the stairs, hugging a crying Bella. “Think I’ve killed enough for one lifetime, don’t you?”
“It’s what we’re good at,” he shrugs. “Besides . . . he tried to kill Mila. He tried to kill you .”
“Don’t you know?” I cock a smile. “I’m unkillable.”
“Hey . . .” Mila says, stepping out onto the back porch of our house where I’m sitting and watching the sun fade behind the trees. “I couldn’t find you. I got worried.”
I hold out a hand for her, and hesitantly, she comes to me, sinking into the bench beside me and nestling into the crook of my arm. She’s so careful; it’s like she’s afraid that if I make one wrong move, I’ll break.
“Just needed to think.”
“I’m sorry,” she says softly, her head resting over my heart. “About your father. I know it must be hard.”
I shake my head. “No . . . he was the easy part. He was dead to me the moment I was born. He never knew how to be a father.”
She’s quiet for a moment, studying me. Abruptly, she sits back and takes my chin, forcing my gaze to hers.
“You aren’t him. You’ll never be him.”
“No?”
“Christian Alexander Cross,” she scolds softly, raising up on her knees to face me. She cups my cheeks in her hands, the soft scent of her perfume washing over me.
Fuck. Dr Roberts at the hospital is a dick for telling Mila I had to wait eight weeks to have her. It’s been one, and I’m already pissed off.
“You may be an asshole sometimes. You may leave the toilet seat up too often, and you may have almost died—I’m still mad at you for that, by the way—” She shoots me a look that has me chuckling under my breath. “—But you’re also so intuitive, sometimes I wonder if you can read my mind. You saved my life. You saved so many others from an even worse fate. You’re . . . everything.”
I reach up, despite the pain, and capture a tear that slips down her cheek.
“I told you if you wanted your freedom, I would give it to you,” I murmur quietly, running my fingertips over her wet cheek.
“You already did. In return, I want to give you everything.”
“So, where do we go from here?” I repeat the same words to her she used when I came back from hunting whoever tried to hurt her. Back when I didn’t know Sebastian was still alive, and before I knew, the people responsible were right here under my nose.
Mila smiles softly, leaning in until her lips hover over mine.
“To bed.”
“Fucking finally.”
“To recover, Mr. Cross.”
I slip a hand up her thigh, and she shivers at the contact.
“We’ll see about that, Mrs. Cross.”