I remembered the ghostly pale look on her face as she’d tried to hold on to life.
Below them had been the two children. Victor had strapped a bomb to the them. I thought I’d saved the kids, but I didn’t. I didn’t save any of them. To hear that more evil had happened before I got to them was heartrending.
Fucking Victor. This was how you got to a guy like me. By messing with my mind.
Screwing with my mind. I wouldn’t have known that Henry had to endure all that and Lydia had to go through that.
In my head, the image of them on their wedding day popped up. I would never forget how happy they’d looked. I’d never seen two people happier in love together. Then they went and surprised me more by being even happier when their children were born.
I would have loved to tell my friend that I, too, had found that one woman to steal my heart. The woman who could change me into what I’d probably wanted for myself all these long years.
But Henry was gone. Victor had shot him in his head, and Lydia, and he’d fed their children poison. All were dead.
Poor Lydia. That woman had been beautiful in every way and had loved Henry with her last breath. Victor had raped her.
It wasn’t often that anything brought me close to tears and madness. But this…
Jesus Christ.
I wouldn’t have known what really happened. I wouldn’t have known because in my book, no one had lived that night to tell the tale. Just one person who I’d thought was dead.
Victor.
I zeroed in on my new friend feeling the last shred of humanity slip away from me.
I raised my gun and pulled the trigger. The fool cowered against the wall when he saw that. He was, however, still laughing from whatever drug he’d taken.
My hands shook, and I realized that if I killed him, that would be ending him mindlessly. Self-defense was me. Self-preservation was me.
This was part of the game. I hated that Victor could know me so well.
Fucking bastard.
I was about to release the trigger when I suddenly imagined Amelia’s beautiful face. Days ago, when we were at my place, I’d talked about changing. Then it became evident that I couldn’t, but that was different to this. I wasn’t telling her I couldn’t change for her. I was saying I needed to do whatever I could to protect her, and I would.
I saw her beautiful face looming before me in my mind’s eye, and it stopped me from pulling the trigger.
Instead of firing the shot I was nigh of releasing, I turned and walked away, letting the fool live.
However…
My years of experience kicked in. That clicking sound.
Click-clack…
That was all I needed to hear. I snapped around quicker than he could release the trigger and fired a bullet straight between his eyes.
Self-defense, self-preservation.
It was different.
I watched him go down. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he crumpled as blood gushed from the wound.
I took out my phone and called the number for the cleanup crew.
Chapter 6
Amelia
