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“Essentially, yeah. Victor wanted me to warn her off, and get her to drop the case, so that he could keep his hands clean if the shit hit the fan, and sail me down the river instead of him. Except that he told me she was blackmailing him, not suing. I found out the truth from Kik herself.”
“I swear to God, that man is the devil incarnate. I’m sorry, I know he’s your father and I shouldn’t talk about him that way, but…”
“No apology needed, and I can and do say a lot worse about him all the time.”
By the time I’d finished filling her in on the rest of the plan, Mom was grinning from ear-to-ear.
“Well done baby boy, I’m so proud of you. You’ve inherited all of the good qualities your father has—hard work, rigor, persistence, determination, and smarts for miles—but none of the awful stuff. Unlike him, you have a heart.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Mom, I have my moments.”
“I’m sure. A mother knows these things.” I let her have that one—whether it was true or not—she needed something to believe in, and I wasn’t about to burst her bubble.
Chapter 44
Kik
Black. Everything was black. And in the blackness that swam before my eyes, a few key words loomed in and out of focus. Cardiac arrest… failed to resuscitate… time of death.
Time. Of. Death. Time. Of. Death. Time. Of. Death. Time. Of. Death. Time. Of. Death. Time. Of…Death.
Nothing was real anymore. Except those three words. Not the hospital, not Rocky and Kayla, who were supporting me on either side as I wailed and hollered. Not me. And definitely not Drew.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I could barely breathe through the tears, let alone speak coherently. I had no idea whether he could even understand what I was saying.
“Xavier called me when Rocky found out about your dad going into surgery. I came as soon as I heard. I’ve been out in the hall the whole time.”
“Leave.”
“We—” Rocky motioned to Kayla “—saw him out there, and told him to go several times, but he refused. I didn’t want to make a scene—you were my main priority—and there wasn’t much I could do, anyway as it’s a public area, so I let him be.” I’d had no idea that whole time.
“We didn’t want to worry you with this on top of everything else, so we decided not to tell you, and hoped he’d get the memo that he wasn’t wanted, get bored, and go away.” If she knew Drew like I did, she’d have realized that was never going to happen.
Rocky’s voice was calm and pointed until she addressed Drew. “But it’s different now. You heard her. Fuck off back under the rock you crawled out from.”
While we waited for Dad to come out of surgery I’d finally properly filled her in on what had been going on between us—before that, she’d known there was something, but not the full story. She had been understandably mad by the time I got to the end, though I couldn’t help reflecting on the slight hypocrisy of her outrage, given what Xavier had put her through for them to get to the point they were at now. I hadn’t had the energy to say any of that though, I was way too focused on worrying about Dad’s operation.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Yes you are.” I broke free of Rocky and Kayla’s grasp, and launched myself at Drew, beating ineffectually at his solid chest. He didn’t even flinch.
“You’re going to hell. You did this. You and your evil, twisted father. You killed my dad. I hate you, and I’m going to make you pay!” Again I had no idea how much of what I was saying was actually intelligible. It sounded fine in my head, but when I came to speak the words, I was so choked by emotion and tears, I couldn’t be sure of what actually came out.
I reached up higher this time, slapping and punching in the vague direction of his face, though I couldn’t see through all the tears, so I flailed blindly with as much power as I could muster. Although I connected a fair few slaps and punches, he stayed still again, letting me hit him.
“I’ll make you bastards pay if it’s the last thing I ever do. I swear to God, I’ll get justice for Dad, and everyone like him.”
“It’s over.” His voice was gentle and low, and despite my anger, the calm tone knocked the wind out of my sails.
“This isn’t over. I’m going to ruin your life, like you ruined mine.”
“You’re right. It’s just the beginning. What’s over is my father’s reign of terror.”
“What are you talking about?” I let my hands drop limply to my sides, the fight falling out of me.
“Victor has been arrested over Cavanagh Corp’s conduct regarding chritonium, as well as a whole bunch of other equally terrible shit. If I’ve done what I set out to do, he’ll be in jail for the foreseeable future. It’s kind of a long story, and now isn’t the time or the place, but just know that you, and everyone else affected, will definitely be getting what’s due to you.”
“What’s due to me? Is that some kind of sick fucking joke? What’s due to me is for my one remaining parent not to have just died on the operating table during a lung transplant that he only needed due to your father’s actions.”
