“You killed my sons…so it only seems fair I kill yers.” Those words echo loudly as the world suddenly moves in slow motion.
I watch through eyes that aren’t mine as Annette steals the gun from Sean’s hand, aims, and shoots. I don’t understand what I’m seeing because when Shay collapses to the ground, unmoving, I’m surely stuck in a nightmare.
This can’t be real.
But when Cami’s guttural cries slam into me, I know this is very real—my son is…dead, dead because of me.
Annette stands motionless with the smoking gun in her hand. She appears stunned that she actually pulled the trigger. Cami almost falls over as she runs to where Shay lies in a crumpled heap. She drops to her knees and pulls him into her arms.
“No!” she screams over and over again, rocking my limp son. But the shot…it was a kill shot.
He’s not dead. What kind of world would allow a child to die in such a manner?
But when everything collides into me in a whirlwind of delirium, I realize this world would. It has. This world has taken so much from me—it’s time I took back.
I raise my gun, but Annette drops to the ground with a thud before I have a chance to fire. The loud boom confirms she’s been shot, but shot by whom?
I desperately search who the shooter is, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise when I see Babydoll’s arm extended, gun never wavering from her grip. I don’t have time to commend her, however, because we have company—and lots of it.
Thanks to the gunfire, we’ve drawn the attention of the police and also our men. Thank fuck—the cavalry has arrived.
“Run!” I order Babydoll, who picks up Shay and takes cover behind a container.
Alek ducks between two containers, but it’s not him I want. Not yet, anyway.
Sean can’t run, thanks to his injuries, but as he scales down the ladder to an awaiting speedboat, I realize he intends to escape another way. But that’s not happening.
Just as he starts the engine on the boat, I jump from the dock into the boat, not bothering to use the ladder. I tackle him hard, but he puts the boat into gear, and it speeds away. I slam his head into the dash, but he won’t let go of the wheel as we sail away.
We continue fighting, but he won’t give up.
When I punch him in ribs, the boat careens violently to the left. I lose my balance and almost topple overboard.
Searching for a weapon, I see it in the shape of a fire extinguisher. If Sean won’t take his hands off the wheel, I will remove them for him. I turn around, ready to end this once and for all, but it seems Sean has the same idea.
The last thing I remember is a flash of silver, thanks to the hammer Sean struck me with, before everything turns to black.
And it’s in the silence where I remain.
I wake with a start, thankful to wake from a nightmare that robbed me of air. However, when I try to move and find that I can’t because I’m bound to a chair, it’s evident the nightmare was real.
That means…Shay.
My heart sinks, but I can deal with the pain later because right now, I need to deal with the arsehole who has me tied to this fucking chair.
“Yer like a fucking cat with nine lives,” I spit, eyeing Sean angrily. “Do ya ever die?”
Sean sits opposite me, casually smoking a cigar. He has every right to be smug. He beat me. I still don’t understand why he wouldn’t just kill me when he had the chance.
“Go on then,” I coax, daring him to finish it. “Y’ve won. Y’ve finally got yer kingdom. You couldn’t do that with Liam or Brody Doyle, so y’ve settled for Annette Doyle instead. Have you no shame?”
I don’t know why I bother because his actions have proved he only cares for one thing—power. He worked his way through everyone, using and abusing them, and once he was done with them, he discarded them like nothing but garbage.
Annette was an easy target. She’s lost her entire lineage, thanks to me. Sean no doubt offered her the world. She allowed her revenge to blind her to who Sean really is.
As I sit here, tied to a chair, I can’t help but think that this has come full circle. No matter how hard we fought, it was always going to come down to this—father versus son. I hoped I would be the victor, but it seems I was mistaken.
Tugging at the ropes at my wrists, I feel they won’t budge. We’re at the factory, not the most discreet of locations, which gives me hope that maybe a miracle can still happen. I need to stall him and hope and pray Cami and Cian will find me in time.
“Why didn’t you just kill me when you had the chance? There were multiple times you could. I can’t get my head around it. Why go to all this trouble? You just wanted to fuck with me, is that it?”
Sean continues smoking, but something is different, something I didn’t see coming. “I knew I’d lost,” he reveals calmly. “So, I learned from you. I can see why everyone risks their life for you. Yer a leader. Yer hope.”
A laugh bursts free. “Are you fucking serious? The time for bondin’ has come and gone. Please kill me as I would rather die than listen to this nonsense.”
“I was tryin’ to save yer life,” Sean states, continuing like he gives a fuck. “Annette had men comin’. I did it for your own good.”
“My own good? Is that why I’m tied up? For my own good?”
I don’t know what game he’s playing, but I want out. And apparently, so does he.
“I needed to explain. That’s why I brought ya here. I want to make a deal. Spare my life. Y’ll never see me again. I can’t beat you; I see that now. I always wanted to rule with ya, son. I’ve not made that a secret.”
“Bullshit! This is another one of yer mind games.”
“No, it’s not. I thought I wanted this, and I did. But with you alive, I can’t win. I don’t want to win.”
I don’t want to believe him, but he’s had ample opportunity to kill me or have me killed, yet here I am, still breathing. “You couldn’t do it,” I state, shaking my head in disgust. “When it got too hard, you realized it wasn’t worth the hassle.
“Do you know how many people have died because of you! And now, suddenly, y’ve had a change of heart? No, I don’t accept it. You wanted this, so take it. I fucking dare you. Kill me and take what so many have died for!”
This makes no sense.
Sean has Alek in his corner with Annette dead. This is what he wanted. So why isn’t he gloating in victory?
“I can’t kill you, Puck. Don’tcha see that? If I wanted ye dead, ye’d have been dead years ago. I thought ye’d eventually concede, but ya never did. Yer so fucking stubborn and I am so tired of fightin’. I protected you against Connor because I really do love you.”
“Shut up,” I snarl, shaking my head angrily.
I refuse to accept his words because they can’t be true. But are they? Is that why he was reading over journals from the past? Is that why I’m still alive?
“With you alive, I can never be a leader. But the thing is, I can’t kill you. So, what do I do? Everythin’ I’ve done was because I hoped we’d rule together. Think about it, Puck. I know I’ve not given you reason to trust me, but you know I speak the truth.