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“You and Damien are the closest thing to children I’ve ever had. You fill that void within me.”
“I get it. You’re the only mother we’ve ever had. I would never do anything to jeopardize that.”
Nancy pats my hand and gets up from her seat. She walks alongside me and leans into kiss my cheek. “Be careful, son. That brother of yours was born evil. I know you don’t need me to tell you that, but he’s clever and vindictive with it.”
Nancy leaves me sitting alone at my breakfast bar feeling like the whole world is against me. I hate that my loved ones are being affected by my family’s decisions. Families are supposed to be united, but my family members aren’t all blood. Not anymore. They’re people who have helped to build me up to be who I am today. People I’ve chosen to have in my life. They’re the people I want around me today, tomorrow, and forever. It’s my job to remove the loose cannons, because with them still around to cause trouble, our lives will never be our own.
***
I pull into the hospital parking lot and get out of my car. I look around the busy area. Nurses and doctors coming and going, people visiting their loved ones, patients coming to appointments. Everyone has a reason to be here. What I’m looking for is something out of the ordinary. A person or vehicle that looks out of place, but I come up empty. Colton isn’t going to make this easy. The asshole was practically on my property for God knows how long and I didn’t have a clue. He’s playing a game, and we’re always a step behind him. I’ve always said he’s dumb, but he’s having the last laugh right now.
I enter the hospital and make my way to the ICU department. In the waiting area outside, I spot my mother sitting with her cell in her hand. She’s concentrating hard on the device and doesn’t even acknowledge me as I sit in front of her.
“Mom.” She doesn’t flinch.
I lift my hand slowly and squeeze her shoulder. She jumps out of her skin and drops her cell on the floor.
“Jesus.” She scrambles to pick up her cell, but I reach down and pick it up for her. She snatches it from me. “You scared me, Clark. I was a mile away.”
“I noticed. What’s going on?”
My mother sits back in her seat. It’s only now that I can see how tired and old she looks. She looks so far from the person I grew up around.
“Your father had trouble breathing due to the blast. He was intubated. They’ve said he’s critical.” Tears roll down her cheek.
Crocodile tears. I want to roll my eyes because my parents’ marriage was never based on love. They married for money and status and to piss off my mother’s father. Something I can’t understand at all. No amount of money or power would make me marry or trap someone. Life is short. You need to share that with the love of your life. With people you care about. I hate that money and power have dictated my mother’s life because no one deserves that, even if she has the hard-faced bitch routine down perfectly. I always wanted to see the real person behind the mask of make-up and designer clothes, but that never happened. When I was younger, I thought she went to bed with a full face of make-up on and woke up with it in the morning still flawless. We never saw a natural woman, a tired mother, a loving wife. It was all an act. Seeing my mother like this today is horrible because she’s a mess. There’s a part of me that wants to say, you’ve only got what was coming to you. But there’s a big part of me that wants to show her support and comfort.
“You should get some rest.”
She sniggers. “I don’t know what that word means. I’ve got too much to oversee since your father and Colton are out of action.”
“Have you heard from him?”
Mum looks up at me, bites her lip, and shakes her head. Is she hiding something? “I wish I had. He should know about your father.”
I laugh. “You do realize it was probably him that caused this, right? You’re not that deluded, Mom.”
“He would…”
“Do not say he wouldn’t do this. If you say that, I’m walking out that door.”
I will not sit here and listen to how good my brother is. How he loves his family. It’s all bullshit. He couldn’t love anyone. He’s so filled with hatred and evilness that love could never enter his heart.
“Why are you here, Clark? You made it clear that you weren’t interested in your father last night.”
I shrug. “I wanted to ask if you had heard from Colton.”
My mother looks down at her hands and breaks eye contact with me.
“Look at me!” I snap.
My mom lifts her eyes slowly until they reconnect with mine. “I can’t help where Colton is concerned. Don’t ask me again.”
“After all he’s done, after all the destruction, the pain and hurt, you’re still going to defend and protect him. What has he offered you, huh? What has he asked of you?”
She shakes her head but doesn’t look at me again. I shake my head in disbelief that even now she won’t see him for what he is. I stand up, bite my lip, and look down on my mother.
“You deserve one another. I hope you’ll be very happy on your own, because let’s face reality here, your husband doesn’t look like he’ll be the same again, if he ever pulls through. Your number one son who you’ve put on a pedestal is going to end up behind bars, if he’s lucky. Because, if I get my hands on him, he’ll be pushing up the daisies.”
