“Sal will cut you into pieces when he gets his hands on you.”
Tyran laughed. “He hasn’t found me yet.”
“Enough!” Sylvia shouted. She moved in front of me, leaning into my arms so she was inches from my face. “I want my granddaughter!” she hissed.
“Not a chance in hell,” I growled, and then spat in her face. She glared at me and pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, wiping her cheek.
She stepped back and nodded at Tyran. Ty’s smile was evil. How we’d all missed the deranged psychopath we called a friend,I didn’t understand. He pulled a knife from his belt and sliced along my arm.
I clamped my teeth together, holding back the urge to scream at the burn. He did the same to the other arm.
“I want my granddaughter, Cian. She has a legacy to fulfill.”
“Fuck you, bitch.”
Tyran shoved the knife between two of my ribs, narrowly missing my heart and lung. The pain was like nothing I’d ever felt, and I knew there was a strong chance I would die today.
“I want you to call that Russian bastard you have watching her and tell him to bring her here.”
Russian bastard?
Was Maxim following my daughter? Or more likely having her followed. That son of a bitch!
“No,” I said.
“Mr. Fitzpatrick.” Every time she said his name, it was an order to inflict more pain. He shoved the knife into my gut again. This time I screamed. The pain was too much. He sliced across my thigh and then jammed the knife into the open cut.
“Do not kill him!” she snapped. “If he won’t cooperate, play with him until he’s unconscious, then drop him at the hospital. My granddaughter will rush to his bedside, and we’ll get her then.”
She walked to the door, turning back to look at me. “You could have been so much more,” she sneered. “If only you hadn’t been born a man.”
She left, and I turned my eyes to Tyran. He placed his knife back in its sheath and cracked his knuckles. “You heard the boss,” he said with glee. “Now I get to play. Payback’s a bitch, Ci, and you’re due for a lot of it.”
Tyran punched me again. Over and over, my head lolled to one side, and then the other. His fist rammed into my gut, and I felt a rib snap. Another punch I was sure hit my liver.
Sylvia told him not to kill me, not because she felt anything toward me as a mother, but because she wanted to set a trap for my daughter. Everything in me raged against the darkness that was closing in. There was nothing I wouldn’t endure to keep my daughter safe.
I’d deal with the Russian bastard later. Right now, I had to focus on Maddie. Staying awake, staying away from the hospital. Keeping Maddie safe and far away from me.
If Sylvia got her clutches on my daughter, she’d never see Henry again. She’d never see her mother again. Tyran stepped back, and I shook my head. I had to stay conscious. I couldn’t give in to the darkness; if I did, Maddie’s life would be in danger.
I could barely see where Tyran was. His anger at my not giving in was palpable.
“You think you’re so tough?” Tyran looked around the room, focusing on the broken table, then he picked up the leg that had been busted off. “Let’s see how you hold up against this.”
As he lifted the table leg over his head, I closed my eyes and let the darkness take me. If he killed me, Maddie might be safe. My body was on fire with pain, but I swore I heard a gunshot as the world faded around me.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Dread
Lunch with Caity was more fun than I’d expected. The woman might be in her fifties, but she was gorgeous. That red hair did it for me. I was a sucker for a redhead.
My first look at her had my dick waking up and looking for a nice warm spot to enjoy. But the moment Cian walked out of his office, and I saw the way they looked at each other, I knew I’d never convince her to fuck me.
Fucking shame.
“I need to get back to the office,” she said, pulling out her wallet.
