Cruel Lover

Looking right at me.

“Come on in,” he says, his voice as calm as any I’ve heard. Calm like he doesn’t care what happens to him. The most dangerous sort of man.

I stand and turn the handle, and walk into the room. The element of surprise is gone, so I may as well face this thing head on.

“Odysseus, is it?” He has a hint of an Irish accent. “The soldier. Daddy’s little boy.”

I growl under my breath as I try to remain calm. There are conversations me and my father need to have, about what he did in the past and what he’s done right now. If Winston hadn’t been moved from our private ward, it’s doubtful this fucker would have tried anything.

“What do you want? Money?”

He laughs. “You’ve been quite busy these last couple of days, haven’t you? Saving your ex girlfriend, first from her father’s gambling debts, then from a sniper’s bullet. Is she worth it? Because if it’s just about pussy, I can get you plenty. You just turn around and send her in here—”

I step his way, ready to tear his guts open, but he raises the gun, not pointing it at me but at Winston. My temper is slow, but right now it’s at boiling point. The only thing stopping me is the thought of Malta having to go through that.

“So it’s not just sex then? Good to know. Does she feel the same way? Because I don’t care how I hurt her, I only care about hurting her the same way she hurt my family. I can kill her uncle-father here, though the way he’s been carrying on maybe that would be a blessing.” He turns the gun on me, just for a fraction of a second, before pointing it at Winston again. “Or I could kill her high-school sweetheart who she’s only just reconnected with.”

“All this because your son couldn’t pay the price for his crimes?”

The words leave a bad taste in my mouth. I’ve seen good kids do bad things, and if Malta says this Jay kid was one of them then I believe her. But right now I need to get McKenzie riled. It’s the only way this thing gets settled.

“That bitch hung him out to dry!” He shouts, and my beast starts to pace. How dare he talk about my angel like that? “She needs to know how it feels. He was my only son, do you know what that’s like? The only reminder of my wife, God rest her soul.”

“And what about the innocent people you killed at my dad’s casino? What about the patients here who are getting less than perfect care because of you?”

“I don’t care. I don’t care about any of them. I worked hard for this country, all my life. I left a family just like yours, a family that stole and extorted and bought and sold people’s lives. I served in the military. I fought. I tried to do something different. My son makes one little mistake and the whole system sees him as a failure? Fuck them. Fuck them all. I pushed my brother aside and I took over, and I’d do it again. I’ll take what I want and I’ll have my revenge.”

I shake my head, feigning laughter, like he’s pathetic to me. “Malta did what she could, but she isn’t responsible for your son’s bad choices.”

“What would you fucking know about it?” Finally he turns the gun on me, his face twisted in rage. “You’re scum. Your whole family is scum. You deserve to die!”

Before he can do anything else, I rush at him, roaring like a bear as I drop my head, catching him in the chest and hearing him gasp, winded. But he isn’t surprised for long. My head starts to swim as he brings his elbow down on the back of my neck, and I punch him to the gut. I hear his scream as he brings his knee up into my pelvis, luckily missing my balls by an inch but driving me up by the pit of my stomach.

He’s tough. Desperate men always are. I’ve seen a guy rip his arm out of a cable tie, dislocating his thumb in the process, and rush headfirst at a solid iron door to get away from what’s coming to him. McKenzie taps into that same rush of adrenaline, and I’m thrown back, scrambling desperately to stay on my feet.

It’s only a second, but it’s long enough. He brings the gun to bear and fires.

Chapter Eleven

Malta

The gunshot rings loud in my ears.

And Roxie is up on her feet.

The nurses are screaming.

I’m moving.

All of these things happen at once, and none of them seem connected to me. It’s like I’m watching myself head through the ward, not even sure I know where I’m going. “Stay,” I hear myself say, pointing at Roxie. She’s jumping up at the door to a private room, and I know that’s where I’m going. “Down!” I command, and see her back away. “Good girl, stay there.”