“I can’t fucking hear you, Powers!”
“Yes,” he whimpered, his hands going back down to his leg.
“Good.” I smiled as I straightened out his shirt, dusting off the debris from the ground.
Simon held his breath, unsure as to what I was doing.
“Now, if you call the police about this, I will leave you in a fucking ditch. The irony of that will not be lost on me. As a matter of fact, go ahead and call them because the thought of following through with that promise makes my dick hard.”
Simon’s lip quivered, my words cutting to the core of our problem.The satisfaction I got from seeing his fear was better than I had ever imagined, regardless of how many times I had dreamed about it.
“Cane, dude, I’m sorry.”
“Fucking really, Powers? After everything that’s happened, you think ‘I’m sorry’ is going to fucking fly with me?”
“I lost everything because of you,” he said, spitting out a mouthful of blood to the side. “Everything. It’s taken me years to get back on my feet while you’ve waltzed around the city in your shiny car with your pretty little girlfriend. I had to sit there and watch that development go up, listen to everyone say how brilliant you were. What a great son you were, what a legacy your father had. You think that was easy for me to swallow?”
“I could give a fuck if it was easy for you.”
“Fuck you.”
I took a step back and smiled widely before reaching out and patting him on the shoulder. I took a step toward Max and heard Simon exhale in relief.
Like a flash, I turned back around and unleashed a flurry—a right, left, right—to his face. His head bounced like a ping pong ball before his eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed against the SUV. Slowly, painfully I’m sure, he slid to the ground and toppled over into a lifeless heap.
I watched him lay there, reduced to the piece of shit he always had been.
Max came up behind me, clasping me on the shoulder. “What now?”
“He’s still breathing, so we leave him here.”
“Fine. We better get out of here then. You ready?”
“Let’s go.” I turned toward the truck.
Simon had been taken care of. Now I had to take care of the other piece of the puzzle, the one I should have taken care of a long time before.
TWENTY-TWO
Cane
“Where is she?”I stormed into the kitchen with Max a few feet behind. I hadn’t bothered knocking or ringing the bell, and Kari looked surprised to see me.
Kari stood with her arms crossed, looking at me silently.
“Where is she?”
Someone better fucking answer me before I lose control.
“She’s upstairs,” Kari said softly, “in her room. But I don’t know that you should just go up there, Cane.”
“Thanks for your input,” I muttered, making my way to the staircase and taking the stairs two at a time.
I had to see her. I had to know she was okay.
I knocked lightly on her door, but there was no answer. I knocked again.
Shit. That hurt.
