Fuck, no! It can’t be. My mother. Her father. Dante killed my uncle? The only normal fatherlike figure I’ve ever known.
“Your father stayed... because he had no one left to run away with. And he gave you a story. A fucking tale you ate up.”
“No!” A sob tears out of Summer, and I move to her without thinking, but she pulls away, not letting me touch her.
I take another step. She retreats again.
“Summer?”
What Mason says doesn’t change a thing between us. Nothing can tear us apart.
“It was my right to take everything from Dante...” There’s another audible wheeze on exhale. “Just like he took everything from me.”
My father pulls Summer’s attention away from me, but before mine settles on him too, it slings to Jacob, whose face is a mixture of confusion and disbelief. I hope my cousin finds some relief in the fact that the man responsible for his father’s death has been tortured and killed, because I will never allow him to pin the blame on Summer like he had on me.
“If I weren’t abroad... I would’ve tortured Dante myself. But he got away once. I wasn’t risking that again. What was done to him was far from enough. It would’ve never been enough. But tell me,Maeve, how does it feel... knowing everyone you’ve loved is dead... because of the actions of your father? And more importantly, for such a smart girl, how did you not see through his lies? Maybe then you would’ve saved your family. Maybe... it’s your fault, after all.”
“Shut up!” I shout. “Don’t let him get to you, honey.”
That’s his way of using her weakness against her—the thing he has mastered to perfection.
Summer doesn’t even look at me. I wonder if she even heard me, the way her eyes have lost focus, like she’s not even here.
Mason’s laughter makes our attention shift back to him.
“It’s gonna be one hell of a story for your kids... when one day they ask about the grandparents. What are you gonna say, son? ‘Mommy’s father was shagging my mother... and killed my uncle, and my father tortured and killed your mommy’s whole family.’ Can’t make this shit up.” Mason’s dark chuckle makes Summer look away, like she’s fighting not to let him see how he’s winning. “Guess I can ruffle your feathers after all, Maeve.”
No. I won’t let him.
I open my mouth to tell him exactly what I think of him, when Summer cuts me off.
“You’re right.” Her voice shakes violently. “I-I... chose to close my eyes to the fact his story didn’t add up.” She moves back. “If I hadn’t, my mother and brother wouldn’t be dead, and I wouldn’t be here today.” Another step back. “Dante...” She utters the name with disgust. “He would’ve gotten what he deserved, and everything would’ve stopped with him.” She backs into the front door. “But the bottom line is, you took my brother from me, and for that...I’ll drown your fucking world in blood.”
The door swings open in a heartbeat, and she runs outside. It takes me a moment to react and run after her, hearing her scream out.
“Help! I think he’s having a heart attack. Do something!Please!”
Fuuuck me!
She’s fuckin’ sobbing through her words. If I didn’t know better, I’d be instantly persuaded she’s indeed trying to save my father.
As Mason’s goons rush for the front door, she pulls the gun that was tucked in her jeans and drops one with a shot to the back of the head.
Then she puts a bullet into the chest of another, while I take care of the third, who dares to aim his weapon at my future wife.
Two gunshots echo—one from behind me. My gaze snaps to Summer. I don’t care if I get shot as long as she isn’t.
Summer’s squeezing her palm over her left arm, blood trickling down through her fingers, and everything but her blurs as the lens of my perceptions turns red.
Instinct makes me scan for another threat. The piece of shit who Summer shot in the chest is now sporting a red dot on his forehead. When I check behind me, Dean’s lowering the gun.
I promised Summer no one would hurt her, and I failed her. More than once, for that matter.
“It just grazed me.” I don’t know what my face looks like whenI turn back to her, but her voice shakes. It’s not fear, more like she’s trying to keep a bomb from going off. “See?” Summer lifts her hand to show me the bullet only clipped her.
But there’s blood.
The man who I can no longer torture hurt her.
