He was the original wound he’d never heal from…
His father.
CHAPTER
FIFTY
ISLA
Joe didn’t waver,attacking full force. “You fucking killed her, you little shit! You finally fucking killed her!”
I flinched, stunned by the power of his statement.
Joe slurred, stumbling all around. “You sucked the life out of her! You both did! You and Julius! You did this to her! You’re the reason she’s dead!”
I thought Kraven would fight back.
I thought he’d argue.
Stick up for himself.
Something.
Anything.
Other than how he was reacting. He was frozen in the place he stood.
Coming from a guy who always chose to fight, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
Joe barged right in as if he were invited. Fully aware he wasn’t even welcome. Every last one of his demons emerged, clouding the space around us. The tension was so thick you could choke on it.
The answers he needed.
The truth he was looking for.
The reality of his mistakes and regrets.
None of what I thought I’d see from a father who abandoned his sons was there.
Instead, he was filled with nothing but his wrath.
The room smelled of booze and weed, and it was obvious he was shit-faced. He could barely stand, slurring his words as he held a bottle of whiskey that was almost empty.
I grew anxious and impatient from the mixture of emotions he triggered inside me. The sentiments dwelled in the dark hollow space where fear still lived.
Not for me but for Kraven.
He wouldn’t survive this.
The man who made him was also the man who’d destroy him in the end. Now if that wasn’t irony, I didn’t know what was. He was nothing like Melody, making me think physical abuse was involved as well. It’d make sense why Kraven always chose to fight as his first instinct. He watched it at home and possibly experienced it himself.
By the way he stood, I could tell this wasn’t their first rodeo in confrontation. I was more surprised by Kraven’s reaction than by their encounter.
Not an inch of my skin didn’t feel their hatred for each other, boiling from both Knightleys.
“You know she hated you,” Joe mercilessly baited. “She hated being a mother! She fucking despised it!”
Kraven swallowed hard, sweat pooling at his temples while his hands fisted at his sides. Finally, a reaction out of him. Though I didn’t know which one was worse, seeing something or seeing nothing.
