Daniel groaned in response, his beaten body twitching under the weight of his impending death, the death he had earned twice over.The fool had finally forced my hand, and I hated him for it.
“Darren…”
“Goodbye,Brother,” I said, and then drove Jaden’s knife straight through Daniel’s chest plate.
The blade pierced into the useless muscle hiding behind it, the one that beat for no one but itself.His body jolted at the intrusion, a choked scream vibrating up his throat, followed by the breathy pants of a dying man.
Leaning down next to his ear, I sent him off with a final request.“Say hi to the family for me,” I murmured, then ripped the knife from his chest, only to plunge it back in for another score.
Red saturated his shirt, the white fabric soaking up the fountains of blood flowing from the puncture wounds, but not fast enough for my taste.I wanted more.Demanded more.I wanted to dull the blade of Jaden’s knife with Daniel’s flesh and bones until it was as useless as plasticware.
And so I did.
Over and over, I mutilated his body with uncoordinated strikes filled with rage and pain stemming from the thorny roots of his agonizing betrayal.The light had left his eyes eons ago by the time I had finished gouging my wrath into his mangled corpse.What was left was just as unrecognizable as before, the remains of a person I could no longer identify.
My chest heaved from the strain of my vindication, my heart pumping the tar-like malice through my veins at a rate I couldn’t control.I was consumed by so much blinding fury I would have thrown his body across the room if I didn’t think it would fly apart into pieces.
The knife still tightly gripped in my hand, I stood over what remained of my brother, his blood drenching my body as it dripped from my fist.What had once filled me with an animalistic need for revenge was now replaced with vile revulsion for the remnants of a traitor—a traitor I never wanted to lay eyes on again.
Turning away, I marched toward the back corner of the room to chuck the knife into the large utility sink.Ripping off my blood-soaked shirt, I bundled it up and tossed it into the nearby trash can before turning on the faucet.
I ran my arms under the cold water, rinsing Daniel’s blood from my skin to watch it filter down the drain.Running my hands across my bare chest, I collected the sticky red residue and washed it away, doing the same to my face and hair until I was no longer dripping with the stain of a mindless traitor.
When I was satisfied, I dried myself off with a nearby towel just as I caught my reflection in the mirror above the sink.My eyes were just as dead as Daniel’s, a black shadow encasing them in a permanent shade of darkness.A darkness I viciously ruled.
My world only came in shades of black and white.You were either with me or against me.Loyal or disloyal.An ally or an enemy.There was no in-between, no variations to be negotiated, no factors to be measured.And when I knew exactly where you stood, my next move would not be reconsidered.
Did I regret what I had done to my brother?No.It was necessary and well-fucking-deserved.
Did I hate him for making me do it?Abso-fucking-lutely.
But now I needed to set about the next steps in correcting my brother’s mistakes.
The first being my wife.
I headed for the door and wrenched it open to come face-to-face with Scott, who was leaning against the wall, obviously waiting for me.
His brows rose slightly as he observed the state of my body, clocking every inch of me to form one single conclusion.
“So it’s done then,” he stated, a small hint of regret in his voice.
“Have him incinerated.”
I left Scott in the hallway to handle yet another cleanup, though this one would be far messier than the scene at O’Neil’s.While I might be the one cleaning up the figurative mess of others, Scott tended to clean up my literal ones done in pursuit of fixing those figurative ones.I had literally one person I could count on in this world now, and he was currently organizing the disposal of his only equal.
Good, trustworthy help was hard to find in my world.Fear and money only took you so far.And Scott was afforded an additional currency no one else was worth—my respect.
Leaving Scott to the task, I headed for my bedroom.Stepping into the room, I found Sid fumbling with a mobile fetal heart monitor, quickly shoving it into his bag.Jaden was lying on her back with her eyes on the ceiling, ignoring the world around her.Her mangled dress had been removed and the spilled paint cleaned from her skin and hair.
Sloane sat in the armchair just a few feet away from Sid, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared over at Jaden, concern etched deep into her features.And then her gaze met mine.
Heat rose in my blood as I leveled her with a warning glare, reminding her that she had failed my wife today, and there would be consequences for it.
I then looked at Sid, and I didn’t need to speak for him to know what I was expecting.
“Everything will be fine,” he said gently, suppressing a cough into his elbow before zipping up his medical bag.“The baby’s heart rate is normal, and there are no signs of fetal distress.”
I nodded, relieved to know our child was not in any immediate danger but waited for Sid to finish his diagnosis.