AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Everyone stepped forward, Ewen gripping Dad’s hand and Logan fighting a welling of tears. Maeve scooted close to Dad’s ear, whispering something private.
All too soon his arm jerked, before his body joined in, spasming just as the nurse had told us it would. I froze, watching my father move more than he had since the day Harold shot him. It was hard to trust the nurse’s word that he wasn’t trying to fight it.
Maeve cried out, tears spilling as she looked round at the nurse. I slipped my arms around her shoulders and held her tight, letting her sob, her mascara lacing tears into the sleeve of my shirt. I held her until Dad stopped moving. And continued as her shoulders convulsed in my grip. I dared a glance at our father as his lips took on their bluish tinge. It was then it hit me. He was gone. There was no more raising of his chest, or the quiet swoosh of the air. There would be no more slaps on the back when we pulled off a job, or angry admonishments when we didn’t live up to his expectations. Our parents were gone. All we had was each other.
As I looked at my siblings, less Esther, a wave of emotion hit me. My chest burned as my breath stuck there, my face heating. I needed air.
The nurse jumped as I let go of my sister and threw the door open. Not stopping until I made it to a fire escape, and out onto a concrete staircase. With great gulps, I swallowed down air, fighting not to break down entirely while an alarm blared out behind me.
I was still there when Maeve slipped down onto the step next to me, putting an arm around my waist and pulling me against her.
‘You okay?’ she asked.
‘I didn’t say goodbye.’
‘He’ll know you were there. Some goodbyes don’t need to be spoken, they can be felt.’
‘I’ll miss him.’
‘Me too.’
We sat there together, a nurse closing the door behind us as the sun dipped behind the towering stone buildings of Glasgow.
‘Do you want to come back to mine? Get some pizza?’ Maeve asked, looking hopeful.
But I had someone else I needed to see.
Darkness had fallen by the time I made it to Katie’s house, twigs crunching beneath my feet as I traced her house lights through the towering trees. Every step closer made me feel a kilo lighter, my body gravitating toward her.
I pulled my mask over my face, aligning it with the long-sleeved black hoody at the neckline before pulling my hood up.
Warmth flooded me as I spotted her in her bedroom, but rage soon replaced it when I saw Tommy in her room. I slipped as close to the window as I could without being seen and watched them together.
A dark, scabbed cut marked Katie’s perfect lips while a bluing bruise highlighted her jawline. Darkness flooded me. She hadn’t had a mark on her when I saw her the previous night. Did that fucker hit her?
I’d kill him.
I’d take him to one of the warehouses and skin him alive if I saw him lay a hand on her like that.
Tommy sat on the edge of the bed next to Katie, sliding his fingers down over her arm as she looked up at him. There was hesitation there, a flash of worry before her face softened as he leaned in and kissed the edge of her lips.
Maybe she truly loved him.
Maybe I’d displaced my distrust?
Maybe she enjoyed being bent over his car as the men sat less than a metre away.
Maybe I was wrong.
Or maybe she just needed to learn her worth. To know what it’s like when a man idolises you. When he cherishes every perfect little smile that crosses your freckled face.
Tommy pushed her down toward his crotch, making her slip onto the floor between his thighs as he laid back on the bed and left her to it. With her back to me, I couldn’t see much more than her bobbing head and her jerking arm. Until I saw him pick up his phone and scroll while he let her suck him.
Piece of shit.
The moment she noticed was clear in the sloping of her shoulders. Her fingers dragged about the leg of her pyjama bottoms, searching for something.
But what?
