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“Now that you’ve proposed your terms, I’ll state mine,” he said, blowing smoke in my face now. He smiled like an arrogant fuck. “Only fair, correct?”
What the fuck did I give about being fair when it came to him? Even still, he continued on, placing his back to me again. He walked over to the window our chess set had faced, a perfect view of his gardens and fountains. In fact, it looked so much like our property back home in the backyard it made me sick.
What he had out here was about three times larger. Like he was trying to outdo my father’s childhood home and the gardens my biological grandmother planted. Grandpa Prinze soiled her name with this whole phony-ass display.
Probably on purpose.
“You know, you’re so much more like me than he ever was,” Grandfather said. He grinned. “Your father? What you call abuse, I call toughening him up, making him a man.”
I saw red, seething, shaking. I almost couldn’t see through the haze of red.
He faced me. “I’m sure he never used my tactics, but you still managed to be stronger than he ever was.”
“Fuck you,” I growled, and in my haze, I approached him. I raised a fist.
He caught it. He did by the wrist, but he only stopped me from hitting him, made me hesitate, because of the look in his eyes.
There was madness there.
Horrifying, it stared back at me, a warning in the old man’s gaze.
The smile with it only made it appear more warped.
“My new proposal is that you do what I say,” he said, his head tilted. “You continue to come here and do what this old man says. You visit me and humor your grandfather.”
“You’re fucking crazy—”
“Because otherwise, things can happen,” he stated, making my blink. “Terrible things can happen, and I’m sure you wouldn’t want your parents knowing about these visits. They’d be pretty upset, their lives disrupted. And how is your mother these days? She still work for the city?”
I twitched.
His grin widened. “Surely, you’d know I’d keep tabs on my son and his family. I mean, where do you think he learned it?”
He lowered my fist slowly, so chillingly calm my stomach clenched. He puffed his cigar again, wetting his lips after. He directed his cigar at me. “You’ll continue to come see me. You will until I see fit.” He leaned in. “After all, we wouldn’t want another accident. What happened to your aunt Paige was so tragic.” He made direct eye contact. “Wouldn’t want your mother having any bad luck.”
He tapped my face, making me twitch again.
He sat at the table, picking his ashtray up off the floor. He knocked some ashes into it. “You’re dismissed for today. I’m sure you have a lot to think about.”
He said it so coolly, so coldly. Like he hadn’t just threatened my mother’s life.
Like it meant nothing.
Such words probably didn’t to this man, this monster.
Turning, I left, but his words stopped me at the door. He said my name, and when I turned, he was smoking his cigar again.
He blew smoke from his lips. “How’s the weather in Maywood Heights this time of year?” he asked, casually. He shrugged. “I might be thinking about making a visit. Excellent fishing out there. At least from what I can remember.”
Shock kept me silent, but strength kept me standing.
Grandfather grinned. “You think about that too,” he said, then stared at the window. That was the last thing I saw before I closed the door. I strode with unsteady footing all the way to my car.
I had a lot of time to think during my drive home that night, but my last thought sobered me. He said I was more like him than my father, and he may be right. There was only one way to fix what I’d done. I’d opened Pandora’s box, and there would ultimately be only one way to close it, end it. My grandfather couldn’t be on this earth if I wanted my family safe.
I’d have to take care of him.
Chapter One
