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“You’re asking me to take care of your fucking dog?” I look up toward my cameras. They’re intact, working. How did I miss this?
“I overrode them to make sure you saw what I wanted you to.” Her voice is so fucking small, laced with guilt that my heart still refuses to accept.
“What if I didn’t come by? You would do this to a poor, innocent animal? You chose him. You picked him, and now he’s useless to you so you just leave?” I’m not sure if I’m actually talking about her dumb dog that I love or about myself. Someone who sheshouldlove.
“You come by every night. You two have a bond I never had with him.”
“Dogs can sense when you don’t like them.” I scoff. “Dogs are fucking smart.” I give my head a good shake, hoping to knock some sense into myself.
“Why?” I ask. “I could have given you everything. I would have moved mountains if that’s what it took.” I rip up her shitty letter that asks me to take her dog in. It says nothing about forgiveness. Nothing about loving me. I’m not even a thought in her mind, unlike how she is in mine. I was prepared to murder my bloodline to keep her safe. I would have given my own life if it meant she was happy. I’d die a happy man knowing she would continue to smile.
“I loved you.” My voice cracks like a pussy. “You’re like a sister to my brother. We trusted you.”
She stills, her spine growing rigid.
“Did you do it?” I ask, praying she has no idea what I’m talking about. I didn’t want to ask, the full, clear sentence unwilling to go past my tongue.
“I did what I had to do. It’s nothing personal. No one missed it.” She’s emotionless, uncaring in the way she talks. What the fuck? It’s like this is no big deal, and her tone is almost as if telling me to get over it. “Anyway, I just returned it all not even five minutes ago. Go check. It’s all fucking there.”
Betrayal.
The thought of it gets lodged in my throat. It’s thick and suffocating. No matter how hard I try to swallow it down, it stays at my Adam’s apple, unmoving.
“It’s not about the money,” I whisper, my vocal cords unable to produce any more volume. “We trusted you.”
“You should have killed me when you had the chance.” Defiance is dark in her irises as she glares at me.
“You can’t possibly mean that.”
“My father killed my mother for betrayal. It’s in my blood.”
I can’t believe the things coming out of her mouth. I thought I knew her. My heart squeezes like a vice has been clamped on to it. It’s being pulled and it hurts so fucking much. I’ve forgotten what the sensation of pain feels like and understand why I turned it off.
I pull up my phone and send a quick pin drop. My finger catches one lone tear that she’s forcing out to make me feel more. I won’t have any of it. Fake tears do nothing for me.
“It’s time I correct my first mistake.” My voice drops and becomes hauntingly dark. I haven’t heard this tone from myself since my father was alive. The blood in my veins hums with a destructive energy that has me shaking and wishing for bloodshed.
“You couldn’t have possibly loved me, Max,” she has the audacity to say, telling me my own truth.
“We will never know now.” I turn back around, my hand gripping the wooden door. “And take care of your own fucking dog.” I slam the door, its hinges rocking in their sockets. That bloodthirst I have tried to repress is clawing under my skin. The monster in me wants its freedom, but I keep walking. If I turn around, I can’t trust what I would do.
The glass door at the entrance cracks as I slam my fist against it. Her father sits right where I left my pin drop.
“I’ve just texted you her apartment number,” I spit on my way out, Sienna’s father’s hand catching the door.
Sienna
WhatIdidn’texpectto see was the hurt I caused in Max’s face. The other thing…him letting me go. Maybe I was banking on being forced to stay and have him keep me in this weird, twisted world we live in. But he just left. Let me go like I wasn’t worth his time. I was expecting a fight, a blowout,something, anything more than what happened.
I pull out the second letter I wrote him, the one telling him that I do love him and explaining about the money. I knew they would find it soon enough, and I wanted a chance to explain my side and the reason I returned it all.
I suppose there’s no point in leaving it here now. My hands rip it in half and continue until it’s just bigger than the size of a quarter and leave the shreds scattered on the table.
My door pounds three times.Max. He came back.My shoulders sag with relief as I open the door, preparing myself for the real fight this time.
“Officer?” I look past him before my eyes land on his badge. “McCain. What are you doing in these parts?”
“What a small world it is, Sienna. Sorry to be pounding on your door like this. I was called in for a break in a few doors over and wanted to see if any of the neighbors had seen anything.”
