Page 57

Fifty-Six

Thalia

Since coming back from Romania, I’ve been staying with Emma and Leo since my dad and Killian are fighting and going at it.

I’ve talked to my mom about this whole situation and all she said was, “They’re grown men. They can handle it. I can’t be here to fix Ace’s problems all the time because soon I won’t be here to help him. He needs to learn.”

Hearing her say that made my heart hurt and I ended up crying to Alexander about it.

She isn’t lying and that’s what hurts.

“I’ll be back, okay?” I say to Landon, who’s too busy coloring to even notice me.

“Okay,” he says, not looking at me.

Little shit is always mean to Alexander and I.

He has our attitude.

“Dad’s going to be with you today, okay? So be good for him.”

Landon sighs and rolls his eyes like I just interrupted him. “Fine.”

See what I mean by little shit?

I roll my eyes back at him and leave. I go to Alexander who is on the couch, watching something on his phone.

“I’m going to go see what my dad is up to. I haven’t heard from them in a while,” I say, making Alexander lock his phone and look up at me.

“When are you going to be back?” he asks, standing up and pulling me closer to him.

“Not sure. Probably in a couple hours so I can check on my mom too.”

He nods his head and wraps one arm around my waist to pull me against his body. He takes my chin in his fingers before smashing his lips on mine.

“I love you,” he says against my lips while I just escape all my problems for a few seconds.

Alexander always makes me feel better and distracts me.

When he was in a coma, I was so lost without him. I couldn’t think straight and now that I have him back, I’ll never take him for granted.

“I love you too.”

I leave Alexander and Landon to head to my parents’.

It’s not a far drive since Leo and Emma live in the neighborhood.

Once I get to the house, I park my car and get out. When I walk inside the house it’s quiet, but I see my dad sitting on the ground.

“Dad?” I say before rushing over to him. He spits out blood as I wrap my arm around him so I can help him up. “What happened? Where is Killian?”

My dad lifts his head, and he almost looks unrecognizable.

There is no way Killian did this.

“He came back home. But he made sure to make it clear how much he hates me.”

I help him to the couch and sit him down.

He looks bad.

His eyes are swollen and has a busted lip.

Blood is covering his face and he looks like he’s going to pass out.

I go to the kitchen and get a first aid kit to clean him up. “Has mom seen you?”

I hope not because if she did, she’d probably start freaking out and crying and she doesn’t need that.

But if she isn’t sleeping, I’m sure she heard what went down.

“No. She’s still upstairs. Killian left not too long ago.”

“I don’t blame him,” I mutter as I clean dad up.

“He told me once Aria dies, I have to leave and never show my face and if I do, he’ll kill me.” I keep my tears back because the only person I’ll ever cry to now that I’m older is Alexander and my mom. I remember crying around my dad when I was a child, but things have changed. “How mad do you think your mom will be?”

“She’ll be devastated. That’s why you have to clean yourself and get your shit together before seeing her. She can’t see you like this. It will break her, and she doesn’t need this.”

“You think she’ll forgive me?” he asks, worry filling his eyes.

I know the only person my dad truly cares for is our mom. Me and Killian will always come second.

“Of course, she will. You’re the love of her life. She’ll always love you no matter what. But she also loves Killian. You shouldn’t expect her to be happy with the whole situation. This is too stressful for her, and she shouldn’t have to worry about two grown men fighting.”

He leans his head back and closes his eyes. “I don’t know what to do, Thalia.”

I feel bad for my dad, I do.

The love of his life is dying and he’s taking it out on Killian.

He put himself in this position.

“You fucked up, dad.”

He laughs and shakes his head lightly. “At least one of my kids calls me dad.”

I furrow my eyebrows at him.

What the fuck?

I know it’s a defense mechanism, him laughing and joking about this because I know he loves and cares about Killian. He feels bad because how could he not?

He ruined his son.

He is what everyone says he is.

The cold, ruthless devil that no one would dare cross.

He made Killian into the devil, maybe even more than him.

“You’re so stupid. Do you know what you did?” I ask, making him look up at me. “You made Killian go on a mission to kill Reign’s dad. After he fell in love with her, you didn’t care, you went and tried to kill him yourself and when that didn’t work, you tried killing her before sending Killian to the hospital for a heart attack. And now you’re joking about it? Are you serious?” I furrow my eyebrows at him and stop cleaning his face up.

He looks down at his hand and licks blood off his lip. “I know.”

“You can’t control everyone. You certainly can’t control Killian, no one can. You tried and look at what happened. You lost a son, and he lost a dad and the love of his life in less than two weeks. You were supposed to be there for him, be a dad to him and accept him and all his decisions. You failed him.”

“I know, Thalia.” He sighs.

“Then why aren’t you doing anything to fix it?” I ask, getting a little frustrated.

If he knows then he should go and fix it!

“Because I don’t know what to do.” My dad looks at me and looks defeated and like he’s just given up. Who knew, the king everyone was afraid of, would finally lose and fall. “Your mom’s dying, and I can’t do a thing about it. I can’t fucking control her health. No amount of money or fucking doctors will fucking save her, Thalia.” He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. “Killian is a dad.”

I swear my face pales and I widen my eyes at him. “What?”

“Reign was pregnant.”

That’s not possible.

No one said anything.

I lick my bottom lip slowly and sigh too. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Killian did kill you. After everything that he’s been through in the last week, he actually let you go.” I look at my dad. “The thing about Killian is that he never had anyone to truly love him. He never got to experience the kind of love that Reign gave him. And you tried to kill her. All of this is your fault. Reign killing herself and saving the baby and Killian. She left the world and left a baby for Killian. Her love, the love that was meant for Killian and that child is gone forever. And it’s your fault.” My dad nods his head and I notice a small tear fall from his eye. “Your punishment is to see how you made Killian so heartless and unlovable. You’re going to see Killian the way you wanted to. But instead of being happy, you’ll feel guilty for the rest of your life.”

“And the love of my life will die along the way. I know, I’m fucked Thalia, you don’t have to spell it out for me.”