Licking my lips, I nodded even though she couldn’t see. “Sure. Can you put me on the speaker?”
“Guys, it’s Ivy!”
“IVY!” I heard a chorus of cheers and I had to bite back the sob threatening to rip through me, my whole body shaking in rage.
“How’s the big house? You got any—”
“Shut up, Elroy,” Rory yelled.
“Stay strong, all right? It’s almost over,” Cillian’s deep voice spoke up.
“Yea. We can’t wait for you to get home,” Shay, my stepmother, spoke up next.
And I waited and waited…but he didn’t speak.
“Ivy? You there?”
“Yea,” I replied, gripping the phone tightly. “I was waiting for Pierce to speak.”
They were all silent.
“Pierce,” I called. “You aren’t going to say hi? I feel bad enough not being able to congratulate you and Rory on your marriage.”
Silence.
“For fuck’s sake, find your balls and speak!” I hollered.
“I—we—Ivy. I’m sorry,” his bitch ass finally said.
“Ivy, nothing happened before. We were both so sad about you—”
“Rory, do me a favor and shut your fucking mouth and stop insulting me, you little cunt.” I hissed.
“Ivy!” her mother yelled at me. “We didn’t want you to find out like this but don’t be like this.”
And I just
laughed. “Be like what? Pissed? Oh no, Shay, I’m not pissed. I’m motivated. So fucking motivated I’m shaking with anticipation. Maybe you all have forgotten who the bloody fuck I am. But don’t worry, I’ll remind each and every one of you—”
“Ivy, I know—”
“I KNOW EVERYTHING!” I screamed, trying to keep calm. “You all know what you did to me. How each one of you betrayed me. We were family, but you betrayed me and now…I’m going to come for you all. I might have been blind when I came here, but believe me, now I see.”
“And what can you do from a prison cell eight hundred miles away?” Cillian asked. They weren’t even scared…I was worth nothing to them. That was what I meant.
“Seven years ago, I told you vengeance knows no boundaries and has no expiration date. I still believe that. So watch your front became I’ll be out real soon.” Slamming the phone on the receiver, I sat clenching my fist.
I want them dead.
I want them all dead.
***
I was already sitting and waiting when she came in. I couldn’t sleep. I just waited, sitting in the darkness, no food, no water. Nothing mattered but this.
“Good morning.” She sat across from me, wearing a long-sleeved, short, gray dress under her gray coat, and her pearls.
“What do I need to do?” I asked directly.