“I have it from here,” Stanley snaps at Javi, before shutting the door firmly in his face. The hairs raise on the back of my neck, but I try to exude confidence for Roman’s sake. “Take a seat on the couch. I’ll be with you in a moment, Roman.”
My lips twitch, but I sit next to Roman quietly as Stanley grabs a pad of paper and pen from his desk, before heading toward the white chair. He sits, getting comfortable with one leg crossed over the other. I struggle not to sneer at him, but I want this to work. I need help, and so does Roman. If Doc trusts this man to provide it, the least I can do is listen without being judgmental. Or at least too judgmental.
For a moment, he just stares at Roman. It’s fucking weird as hell. Finally, he clears his throat, ignoring me to speak directly to Roman.
“Now, I know most therapists like to use the first session as a ‘get to know you’. A way to find out what the patient thinks is the issue, and reassure them that they’re in good hands and so forth.” His lips twist into a sneer as he pauses to take a breath. “But I find that to be a pointless exercise. I prefer to jump in and get things moving. The sooner we solve what’s wrong with you, the sooner we can all move on with our lives.”
Roman sinks further into the couch while I stiffen, interrupting the asshole. “Excuse me. Javi made it very clearthat his approach is to do it with teamwork. I’m not sure what you think you’re doing. There’s nothingwrongwith Roman.”
“If you insist on being in here, I require you to be silent. This session is for Roman. Working through his Daddy issues, and the ways he’s a disappointment to his father, will be more useful to him than continually feeding into his delusions.”
“What the fuck?! Carter has us as part of the Council for a reason. If he was disappointed in his son, he wouldn’t trust him with that. You don’t know a damn thing about his family!”
Stanley shakes his head, scribbling words on his notepad before looking up. “Do. Not. Interrupt. Me. Again. Besides, I’m talking about hisactualfather—Cristian. It’s clear that Roman has Daddy issues, based on the reports of him having multiple ‘relationships’ with men, in some misguided belief that he’ll gain acceptance from such fractured delusional belief that quantity somehow can make up for the quality of an actual, real, lasting relationship.
“Not to mention, of course, his father must be disappointed. I came here and can see that the Amato Family is no more. Instead, you’re all hiding behind this ‘Council’. He ruined his father’s hard work—his legacy. The whole reason the child was even born. Now, I doubt he can save his relationship with his father, but he can at least take steps to minimize making repeated self-sabotaging errors in the future, like riskily engaging with multiple partners, chasing what he seems to think is love.”
Fury erupts from deep inside me, chasing away the demons that have held me shackled down. In the blink of an eye, I’m suddenly on top of Stanley.
“What the fuck?!” His voice raises to a pitch high enough that would send dogs into a tailspin, but fuck that.
I slide my knife from its sheath and thrust it into Stanley. He tries to fight me, but he’s weak as hell, and he’s triggered the sideof me that desperately needed to be let out. Fuck am I so glad Roman managed to get me a knife today.
Stab.Slice.Stab.Slice.
Blood goes everywhere, soaking into the white chair, making my knife slippery, and I let out a scream of pure hatred as I keep going. It’s savage, raw, and I lose myself in it. I lose myself in the memories. Of Peter. Of the man who hurt Benjamin’s mom. Of all the past, mixing with the present. Fuck, maybe the future too.
Strong arms grasp me from behind, but I shake them off, getting another stab in, even though it’s clear the asshole is already dead. Still, it can’t hurt to make sure…
“Enough!”
I shudder at Master’s voice, immediately going limp as I drop the knife. Though my eyes don’t leave the bloody and very hole-filled Stanley. The demons may have let me off their leash, but fuck if the anger has been fully exorcised.
“Shit! This is not good. Fuck,” Javi shouts as he bursts in.
Suddenly, my mind goes…numb. Everything went from too fast, too hard, to nothing. And I burst into tears at the loss of feeling. Fuck. Are the demons back? Did they come for me and I didn’t know?
I can’t slow my breathing, and it gets harder and harder to draw air. Roman isn’t saying anything, and I fight against Master, wanting to get to him. Maybe he can bring back the feelings. Maybe…
I shudder, the sensation of ice sliding through my veins, and I glance over, staring at a grim faced Javi, who has a needle in his hand. There’s no gentle slide like with the others when they’ve given me medication. No, suddenly the blackness rushes over me before I can even say a word, but inside I’m screaming…even if nobody can hear me.
Even if nobody will ever hear me…
Iwhimper when Lio goes limp in Allesandro’s arms. Javi moves in to take the dead weight of my friend from him, even as Allesandro tries to resist. “If I understand it right, you’re healing after being fucking shot in the chest. Like hell are you going to carry him.”
“No, but I can,” Tennant says as he strides into the room. He doesn’t even glance at the dead body.
Ten scoops Lio up into his arms like my friend weighs nothing, and I stare at him, numbness sweeping through me. This is the first time I’ve seen Tennant—or any of my loves besides Ignacio—since I’ve been home, apart from the Council meeting we had yesterday, but right now, it doesn’t matter. The only thing I can focus on is the boy in Tennant’s arms.
When he turns to leave the office, I jump up from the couch, forcing all eyes to me. “No! You can’t take him!”
“I need to get him back to his room, Roman,” Tennant says softly. “You should go to yours, too. Javi can walk you.”
“I can,” Javi tells me gently. “Come on, I know your trust has been violated, but I’m here, if you want to talk about what happened.”
I shake my head, my entire body starting to tremble. “No, no, no, no! You can’t take him from me. He needs me.”
“You can go too,” Javi says. “No one wants to take anyone from anywhere.”
