Page 10 of Maddening Fixation

As though Sarah’s death wasn’t the tragedy.

I was.

My uncles stormed into the bedroom like a pack of starving wolves.

Their faces were thunder.

Their eyes already filled with accusation.

Uncle Declan reached me first.

His palm cracked across my face with enough force to send me crashing into the wardrobe.

“You wicked, illegitimate bastard!”

Another slap.

Harder.

“How dare ye lay a hand on yer own sister?”

I stared at him, unable to breathe.

“What?”

“Ye pushed her!”

“I didn’t—”

His fist smashed into my jaw before I could finish.

Blood filled my mouth instantly.

He grabbed my shirt with both hands.

“From the eighth floor!” he bellowed. “What kind of heartless piece of shite murders his own flesh and blood?”

“I didn’t touch her!”

Uncle Cillian seized me by the collar without warning, wrenching me completely off the floor.

Uncle Declan stood at his side, his face as hard and unforgiving as stone.

Cillian dragged me closer until our faces were only inches apart. His features were twisted with a fury so absolute it barely looked human.

“Have ye finally lost yer fuckin’ mind?”

His grip tightened. “Were ye drunk?”

“No!”

“Were ye jealous?”

“No!”

“Then why is she dead?”

“I don’t know!”