Page 62

JAMES

A few seconds are all I have before Topher and Camden reach the stairwell.

They’ve been wandering through the main floor for long minutes. I get why. During the years that Topher lived here, I hadn’t slept in my room much. There’d always been work to do. Heaps of it.

Oliver had twice as many paralegals and associates working on his cases. Preferred spending his waking hours mingling and bringing in clients. He’d join me when I went to threaten people. But office work never appealed to him.

I preferred the more hands-on approach. And since I never wanted to wake Topher up, I spent my nights on the main floor, out of earshot.

Now, there isn’t a night I don’t spend next to Ophelia in bed.

The woman I’ll burn down cities for.

“He’s not here,” Topher whispers.

His voice comes to my left. They’re in the media room, where he used to watch television while I worked over the weekends.

The memory stings. Not as much as the thought of Ophelia raped and lying in a pool of her own blood.

“Probably in bed, fucking his whore.” Camden snorts, sounding drunk.

My fingers press into the handle of my gun. Fire scorches my skin. My veins.

His whore .

Talking about her like he has the right.

Focus.

I step away from the stairwell, walking deeper into the main floor.

“Let’s go.” My son, on the other hand, sounds sober.

He should’ve noticed that I hadn’t locked the doors or gate. He should’ve been suspicious.

He isn’t.

What a disappointment.

“You’re not going anywhere.” I hold up the gun when they come out of the room. Both of them are in black hoodies and jeans like common thieves. Pathetic.

Topher doesn’t hesitate, pointing his gun at me. “You’re the one who isn’t going anywhere.”

A strange feeling races through me. It’s got nothing to do with fear. Even when Camden holds up his gun clumsily.

Something’s up. Ophelia.

Our connection is strong. Unbreakable.

She’s defying my order. I just know it.

Nothing can be done about it now.

Fuck.

“Is that so?” I tilt my head. The gun stays right where it is. “Put your guns down. Back the fuck up. You do that, and I might let you leave here with your lives intact.”

“Liar.” Camden’s hand shakes.

His gun shakes.

“You’re right, I am.” I suck in a deep breath.

Expand my lungs. Let out a slow exhale. I’ve got all the time in the world as far as they’re concerned.

“I’ll kill you too. For threatening Ophelia.

For the audacity to come after either of us.

However, I could be merciful. Give you a swift death. Or I could choose not to.”

“What happened to you?” Topher’s expression is a mixture of hurt and disgust. “You’re the one who taught me to never get attached to a woman. Now you’re willing to die for one?”

Ophelia isn’t just any woman.

She’s my everything. My purpose in life. A true, valid reason to wake up in the morning.

The things I do to her when we’re alone, she loves it. The humiliation. Being degraded.

She’s mine.

And she’s definitely not his to ruin.

In another life, I would’ve explained it to him. In this one, it’s too late. He’s had his chance. Maybe I shouldn’t have let him spend hours with Oliver.

Maybe.

What’s done is done.

I narrow my eyes at him. “Don’t you dare come to my house and question me.”

“The fuck I will.” He takes a step closer, aiming for my chest. Reminding me of my father.

Only difference is, I’m not wearing bulletproof clothes tonight.

That’s how confident I am. “You’re outnumbered.

Outmatched. I’m betting your fuck toy has no idea how to use a gun.

Just like she knows jack shit about practicing law.

My God, Dad. This is one hell of a midlife crisis. ”

Silence is all he gets.

“I told her what you do to women who give you babies.”

More silence.

No point in telling him his mother wasn’t raped. Wasn’t forced. That she didn’t die by my hands. No one has the right to my secrets. My weaknesses.

No one but Ophelia.

Camden burps. Repulsive. “Where’s my dad?”

I stare at Topher as I answer him. “Where he usually goes when he disappears.” Taunting a drunk, armed man is dangerous. I fear fucking nothing. “Shoving his dick into one or ten women.”

“Motherfucker.” His steps thud on the wood floor. I count four heavy ones. “You’re holding him here, aren’t you?”

“No.”

“I’ll go upstairs.” The words are mumbled. I understand him anyway. Loud and clear. “Use my gun to rape your bitch. I bet she’d sing then. She’ll tell me where Dad is. While your brain is splattered on the floor.”

Topher advances on me. Two feet closer, the barrel of his gun still aimed at my chest.

He’s a lousy shot, and we both know that. He’s been to a gun range twice. Even this close, he’s not sure he’ll get me.

He’s terrified he might miss.

That my retribution will cost him his life.

He’s already lost it. He’ll figure it out soon enough.

Once I take out the stumbling drunk. The slurring asshole who dares to threaten Ophelia.

“Come anywhere near her. Go ahead, prick. Try me.” I don’t wait to attack him, moving closer to Topher while keeping my gaze fixed on Camden.

“You’ll be begging for death by the time I’m done with you.

I’ll feed you your insides. Your fingers.

You’ll choke and gag on them, asshole, and you won’t be able to stop thinking of this moment. So please, test me. Be my guest.”

Camden has the sense to shut up. His face pales. Turns a light shade of green. His grip on the gun loosens.

My lips curve up.

I’m not one to smile. To gloat.

This is a different kind of victory. This is the beginning of my new life.

Taking out the trash never felt so good.

My smile twists into a sneer when I feel it.

I feel her.

Ophelia. Again.

Her movement. Her breaths. The cadence of her heartbeats. Slow. Steady.

She better not be outside our room.

She fucking better not be, or so help me…

“Big words for a dead man,” Topher repeats the threat. He could pull the trigger. Put a bullet through me. I could bleed out. But he has to talk. Idiot. “Your reign is over, Father. Give up.”

Camden is a worthless, shivering fool. I fix my attention back on Topher. Tell him the words that will hurt him more than anything. “The only thing I’m giving up on is you. You’ve had plenty of chances to do better. You’ve squandered every single one.”

“I—You—” His chin dimples, finger tightening on the trigger.

“Your mother would’ve been disappointed.”

The air in the house shifts. I sense the blood rushing through Ophelia’s veins.

Impossible. She’s upstairs.

I ordered her to stay there. I?—

“Die!” he shouts through tears when he fires at me.

At the worst possible timing.

My heart stills. Throat locked.

She’s here. She’s here. She’s here.

“No!” Ophelia runs, speeding out of nowhere to stand before me.

She takes the bullet for me.

I’m not myself. Not in my body. I don’t even breathe.

Somehow, though, I move. Wrap an arm around her stomach and pin her to my body. My head tips down to see red liquid bursting from her chest. Dripping down the gray sweatshirt she had put on before coming down here to save me.

Her face is white. Mouth gaping. Air pushes out of it.

One exhale.

She doesn’t breathe back in. Or she does, and I don’t see it.

I don’t fucking see it.

Snap out of it. Remember who the hell you are.

She needs me. She’s hurt. Hurt bad.

Bleeding.

My heart breaks. Crashes to the floor. All the way to the center of the earth.

The corners of my eyes sting.

The hollowness in my chest, it hurts. The pain is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

There’s nothing left of me.

Not my ribs. Not my heart. Not my lungs. I doubt there’s a drop of blood left in my body.

I’m an empty shell.

So how does everything hurt so bad? Why am I being stabbed by a thousand invisible knives?

Without her, I…

Mourning for her while she might still be alive is a luxury I don’t have.

I’ll lose my shit later.

This can’t be it.

She’s not dead.

Can’t be.

Protect her. I have to protect her.

I’m back in my body in a split second. Fast enough to notice that her hands aren’t on me.

She’s not fighting.

My Ophelia always fights.

Camden laughs. I hear him while I stare at my son. While I put her down and come between her and them.

“She deserved it—” Topher starts.

Two shots to the head, and Camden is down. Torturing him would mean putting Ophelia’s life— she’s alive, damn it —in danger.

I won’t allow that to happen.

Fuck.

The hollowness in my chest changes. Pressure. I’m consumed by it. Almost drowning. That’s how awful this pain is.

I’m dying. My body is shutting down on itself.

Ophelia.

The first night in the cell, how I spread her legs. Checked her. Treated her like property. A piece of land I owned. She was so sweet.

The evenings that followed.

Every meal, every time I touched her. She wanted me more and more. Needed me.

Fuck.

Her angry tears in my bed. Her soft smiles. Her depraved desires.

All these moments are close and yet so far away.

As I stare into Topher’s blue, shocked eyes, the memories of her drift even farther.

Come back. Stay. Don’t go. Don’t leave me here alone.

I can’t live without you.

I’m talking to the memories of her.

I’m keeping them. We’ll have so many more of them.

A light touch on my heel. A brush of a delicate hand.

I can’t let my imagination get the better of me.

“Dad, please, I?—”

Pow. Pow. Pow. Pow.

I’m not sure how many rounds I empty into Topher’s face.

What I’m sure of is that I didn’t miss a single one.

He’s unrecognizable by the time he drops to the floor in a loud thunk .

The pressure in my chest intensifies as I consider what I have to do next. A rope cinching around my lungs. A thousand-ton brick crushes me beneath its weight.

I won’t survive it if I turn around and she’s dead.

Throughout my entire life, I’ve been invincible.

Vicious. Destructive.

I’m none of those things. Not anymore.

I’m all emotion. All pain. All hurt.

Torn from the inside.

With my vision darkening around the edges.

With bile rising in my throat. With what’s left of my soul preparing for the worst.

I turn around.

Drop to my knees.

I should check for her pulse. Should press on her chest to stop the bleeding.

Though it looks like it’s stopped on its own.

My body has other plans.

My hands cradle her face. Her soft cheeks. Her delicate jaw. My thumbs find her lips and swipe them.

That’s what will keep her alive. Forcing her back to life. To me.

“Ophelia.” Her eyes are closed, but?—

But—

Her hand reaches up. Half an inch off the ground.

“Ophelia.” I bury my fingers in her face. My voice is rough. Demanding. Ordering her to stay alive. “You’re sorely mistaken if you think you’re getting away from me. Come back to me. Come the fuck back. I’m not doing this life without you, you hear?”

“James,” she mumbles as her hand slides up to my wrist.

The other one goes to her chest.

The corners of her lips curl up. Barely.

“Shh, baby.” I stroke her cheeks. Reverently.

Adoringly. I still sound like the bastard that I am.

My voice remains harsh and emotionless. The voice that made her fall for me.

The voice that makes her bend to my will.

“Rest. As long as you’re back, you can rest. We have a doctor on staff, remember? ”

Her eyes flutter. Lids heavy.

I have to detach one hand from her. Have to shove it into my sweats pocket. Reach for my phone.

Fuck, I have to move the other one too. Stop the bleeding.

I press my hand on top of the one she has over her chest.

Something isn’t right. Something’s out of place.

The smell. It’s strange.

This must be what happens when a person loses their sanity. They imagine things.

“The ICU room we have in the backyard? You remember that too?” I talk to her instead of drowning beneath layers of fear. “Our doctor will take you there. You’re going to be just fine. We’ll take care of you until the paramedics get here.”

When I built the room right next to the staff quarters, I considered how insane it might look. How paranoid. Then again, my father might still be here if he had one.

“No… No need.” Her eyes open. The fathomless dark pools find me. “I’m fine. Hurt, but fine.”

Shit. She’s hallucinating.

The phone rings. One. Two.

“Mr. Hawthorne?” my doctor answers on the third ring.

Ophelia pries her hand from beneath me. She slaps the device off my hand, causing it to crash to the floor.

“Get in here,” I shout, staying on top of her. I won’t leave her for nothing. “Bring a gurney. I’ll kill you if you’re not here within the next two minutes.”

Then my crazy, unhinged woman does what only a crazy, unhinged woman would. She shoves her bloodied fingers into my mouth.

On an impulse, I suck on them. The animal in me will always devour every part of her.

“Taste,” she whispers, her voice hoarse. “Shut up and taste it.”

My nostrils flare as soon as I realize what she’s smearing on my tongue. My eyebrows fly up. I wrap my hand around her wrist, pulling it out.

In a second, her sweatshirt is no more. I tear it off her, staring at the mess beneath it.

A clear plastic bag has been ripped to shreds there by the bullet. What’s left of it is pinned to her chest by a blue elastic band I recognize from my gym at home.

Her body is unharmed. The bullet Topher fired is lying there. Between plastic, ketchup, and water.

Any other day, I wouldn’t have missed it. The light color isn’t a deep crimson red at all. I wouldn’t have recognized the sweet smell.

Today isn’t any other day.

“Bulletproof shirt?” I run my hands over the thick liquid. Over her shirt. Her navel. Stomach. Back up to her breasts. Her collarbone.

She’s alive.

“Learned from the best.” She coughs. The bullet hit her hard. Her cheeks flush, and she tugs my hand, pulling me to her. I press my lips to hers, stroke her cheeks with my knuckles. “From my owner.”

“Why the hell would you do that?” I speak against her lips. My mouth brushes hers. I suck in her air. Give her all of mine. “You could’ve died, Ophelia.”

“Mr. Hawthorne.” Doctor Gable is breathless. I don’t hear the gurney dragging. He must’ve brought someone to help him carry it behind him. “Sir, where are you?”

“Over here,” I say.

“I couldn’t lose you too.” A sob breaks from Ophelia. Then a cough. “I would’ve died without you. Do you understand?”

Her sobs and coughs tear through me. Right to the bone.

Then unhinged laughter follows as she digs her fingernails into my skin. I let her.

I let her be whatever she wants.

She’s alive.

Until the end of time, she’ll always be mine.