Page 53 of Devil’s Kiss (Sunset Cove #2)

Alan looked at him, and Jordan noted the bored and somewhat unimpressed look on his face.

He was a skinny guy, not much taller than himself, and his coloring was the same as Derek’s, as far as his hair and eyes went.

But that was where the similarities ended.

There was no warmth in those eyes. There actually wasn’t much of anything.

And Jordan thought it sad that this man had missed out on knowing someone as wonderful as Derek due to his ignorant upbringing.

Alan then shrugged and turned back to Derek. “Yeah, okay. I don’t give a shit who you’re fucking.”

“Well, nice to meet you too,” Jordan muttered. “I see candor runs strong through the Pearson household.”

Alan frowned, and Jordan wondered if he’d say more, but instead he focused on Derek, obviously deciding he was an easier issue to tackle than the strange guy holding his brother’s hand.

“He’s been asking for you.”

“Why?” Derek said, and to Jordan he sounded as though he couldn’t have cared less as to the answer.

“I dunno. Just keeps asking where you are.”

Derek shook his head. “Doesn’t make any sense, but okay. What room?”

Alan gave them the room number and they headed down the hall. When they reached the door, Derek stopped, and Jordan stepped around in front of him so he could look into his eyes.

“Hey. You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“No,” Derek said with a grim look on his face. “I need to.”

“It’s going to be okay. Once you’re done, come back out here, and I’ll be waiting. I promise.”

Derek nodded and took a deep breath. As he let go of his hand, Jordan felt as though he were sending a lamb to the slaughter, but at the same time he knew that Derek had to face this if he was ever going to break free from the monster that lay in wait and have a hope of moving on with his life.

DEREK STEPPED INTO the hospital room and looked around the stark white walls. On one side was a whiteboard with the nurse’s name and the date, but other than that there was nothing. It was a true testament to the fact that this miserable bastard hadn’t loved anyone in his life but himself.

As Derek walked farther into the room, he noted how frail his father looked, even in comparison to when he’d seen him just a couple of days ago.

He waited for the pain to hit him, the sadness over the fact that his father was the one lying in that hospital bed likely hours away from his lungs giving out.

He stopped at the foot of the bed and shoved his hands into his pockets as he looked down at the figure attached to several IVs and who had a nasal cannula valiantly trying to help him breathe— yeah, good luck there —and all he saw was a sad figure of a man who’d terrorized him his entire life.

Thinking that coming here had been a terrible mistake, Derek was about to turn around and leave without bothering to speak, but before he got the opportunity, his father opened his eyes, and Derek immediately found his feet frozen in place.

“I was wonderin’ if you’d show.”

“You were smart to wonder. It’s not like you deserve anyone standing here, especially me.”

His father pulled the tubes out of his nose and coughed. “Yet ’ere you are.”

Derek walked around the bed, trying to work that out himself. Why had he felt compelled to see him one last time? He had nothing to feel guilty over if he let him rot away all on his own. So why had it seemed imperative that he be there?

As he got closer, his father’s eyes followed him.

“I heard you asked for me,” Derek said when he was by the side of the bed. “Well, here I am.”

His father’s eyes tracked over him, and then his dry lips stretched into a smile ripe with malicious intent. “I just wanted to prove to myself that I was right.”

Derek narrowed his eyes as his dad started to laugh and then sputter.

“And I was. Showin’ up to watch your dear old father die.

Hoping that maybe he’ll reach out a hand and tell you that he loved you all along.

Sorry to disappoint, but I just wanted to prove I was right. You’re still a fucking pussy.”

Derek stared down at the man looking up at him with such hatred, and knew right then exactly the reason he was there.

It wasn’t to say goodbye. And it wasn’t to assuage some misguided sense of guilt he would harbor. No, it was for neither of those two reasons.

“I’m not here hoping you’ll tell me that you love me,” Derek said.

“It would be more traumatizing to know that someone like you did love me. I’m here to tell you that you lost. For years you’ve tried to break me.

To hurt me, and you did, physically. But you know what?

I wasn’t lying when I told you that you no longer have the power.

Because when I walk out that door today, I will no longer waste my time thinking about you. ”

Derek leaned down and braced a hand on the rail of the bed so it looked as though he was hugging his father, but instead he said in his ear, “I’m happy.

I’m in love with a wonderful man, and I hope you rot in hell for every evil fucking thing you did to me.

Have a nice life, Dad. However long you have left of it.

I’m going to go and enjoy mine knowing that what I just told you will eat away at you until you take your final breath. ”

Then, without sparing his father a final glance, Derek straightened and walked out the door to deliver on his final promise to a dying man.