Page 113 of Beauty & Chaos

“You shouldn’t have done that.” I rasp, wishing I had gone outside and lit a cigar.

“Who is this?” my father asks angrily.

I stay silent for a moment, letting the fear percolate.

“You know who it is.”

Silence.

Then he chuckles.

Fucking chuckles.

“Hello son.”

I sneer into the dark shadows.

“I am not your son. Not anymore. But you are now my target.”

“Ah, Terrance. I knew you’d call. You always were a soft boy.”

Cunt.

I need to be careful. If I show my hand, and that I care about Brook, he will continue to send people after her. Soon it won’t matter. Soon he will be irrelevant.

“Keep flapping those psycho lips, Leo. The world knows who you are now, and I’m going to continue to destroy you piece by piece.”

He laughs. “I am a very powerful man. Give it your best shot.”

“You are a piece of shit. Your influence compared to mine has limits. I could have you killed in your sleep tonight, and you’d never see it coming. I could have someone take you from your bed, chain you in a room, and remove layers of your skin, piece by piece. Your organs would be taken as they kept you alive until the pain makes you shut down.”

“You are sick!”

“No, fucking little boys is sick!” My voice rises and I tamp it down. “Sucking a child’s cock is sick.”

“You wanted it.”

“What I want, and what Iamgoing to get, is watching the world discover who you really are. Watching the people around you slowly step away as you come to see how fucking irrelevant you are.” I snarl. “You are going to lose everything you have while I live in luxury.”

“You can try.”

“Oh, it’s already in motion.” I laugh. “And Leo, when you are living under a bridge and begging for food, think of me.”

“You p—”

I hang up.

This isn’t over. It’s just begun.

I will keep my promise right to the end.

Knowing the man he is, he’ll take his life before he ends up homeless. That’s his choice.

At least now he knows I’m the one behind it.

CHAPTER THIRTY

BROOKLYN