Page 243 of The Monster and the Masochist

Cal wrapped his arms around Ryan’s shoulders and nuzzled his nose into his throat before nipping him softly on the side of his neck.

“Maybe… Maybe I can hurt him? Just a little bit…”

There was a muscle pulsing in my brother’s jaw as he glared daggers at our old principal, who seemed to be trying to plead through his gag for Ryan to take pity on him.

Man, was he barking up the wrong tree.

If looks could kill, Ryan would have already incinerated the man with his gaze.

But Cal’s words seemed to jerk my brother out of whatever murderous fantasies he’d been entertaining.

Running a hand through his ginger hair, he let out a long, steady breath.

“No, Callum. It’s a slippery slope. If you need to hurt someone, you can hurt me, but you’ve been doing so well… I can’t let you ruin all your hard work over… over this piece of fucking filth.”

Cal whined in protest.

“Puh-lease, baby? Just let me rip out one tooth? It’ll be so quick!”

Ryan shook his head, remaining firm.

“No… but I’ll tell you what, if you give up the tooth and come up to bed, I’ll let you use the scalpels on me again.”

Cal immediately brightened at this, nearly leaping up and down with excitement.

“Really?”

“Yeah, angel. Really. Why don’t you go up and get everything ready? I’ll meet you there.”

“Dope!” Cal dropped another swift kiss on his fiancé’s cheek before bounding out of the room to go get the… scalpels ready? Did I hear that right?

Once Callum was gone, Ryan turned his stern gaze on us.

He gave me a once-over before reaching out and resting a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry you didn’t feel like you could come to me with this, Theo,” he said, his voice coming out incredibly soft, despite how angry he still looked.

“It’s alright. I… I didn’t tell anybody. I was… ashamed,” I admitted, and my brother’s brow furrowed at my admission.

“The only person who should feel shame here is him, Theo. Whatever he did to you, it wasn’t your fault. You were a child.”

I swallowed, feeling the familiar burn of tears as they gathered in the corners of my eyes.

“I know that now,” I whispered, doing my best to speak through the painful lump in my throat.

Ryan gave me a firm nod before turning his attention to my wife.

“Like I said, I have a viewing in the morning, but it doesn’t start until ten. The new cremator only takes an hour and a half to fully incinerate a body, so if you can just get him in the fridge once you’re done, I’ll have time to check him for medical devices and pop him in before the service.”

Father Samwell’s muffled screams became more frantic as Ryan spoke, and he teetered so violently on his heels that I worried he would hang himself before I had a chance to kill him.

Cass gave Ryan a saccharine grin and tossed her long, glossy hair back over her shoulder.

“No problem. Thanks, Ryan. Have a good night.”

He smiled at her and leaned in to brush a peck on her cheek.

“You too. Thank you for taking such good care of my sister.”