Page 84 of Midnight Torment

Dante said nothing in reply, just stood staring at the floor.

“We’re going,” Jordan said, pushing himself to his feet. “You wanted Grampa to suffer for killing Mum? You’re twenty-five years too late. Every year, he stands at her grave and cries. It’s the only time anyone is allowed to speak her name. You don’t need to punish him; he does that himself.”

“You going to keep walking away, Jordan?” Dante asked.

Jordan spun around. “I must get that trait from my father, considering he walked out of my life twenty-five years ago and didn’t look back. Fuck you, you sanctimonious piece of shit. I’m glad you had time for your nieces and not your son. I was in boarding school from when I was eight. You could have found me anytime you wanted, but you were too busy building your empire of blood and pain. Stay the fuck away from me and those I love, or I will happily tarnish my soul with the sin of patricide.”

He grabbed my hand and tugged me to walking. “Jordan…”

“No, Megan. I can’t do this. I’ll sort this out with Grampa.”

“He’ll kill you since you know the truth,” Dante called out.

“You were going to kill Megan and then me to upset him, so what difference does that make to us?” Jordan turned to face his father. “You were there at Michael’s funeral. You came to Zee’s apartment. Anytime you wanted, you could have walked up to me and told me the truth.”

Dante took two steps forward. “And what? Admitted I wasn’t strong enough to protect my wife? That I have a son who doesn’t know me? Fuck it, Jordan, I’m only human.”

Jordan held his hand up. “You would have happily killed me for your vengeance until others knew your sordid little secret. My dad died a long time ago. He was the hero who kept the monsters out of my wardrobe and from under my bed. Let’s just pretend the last ten minutes never happened. You go back to wanting to kill me and I go back to believing my dad died to protect me and Mum.”

He moved toward the door, his hand gripping mine so tightly that I thought he would break the bones. I never knew my parents, but this betrayal was even worse.

Jordan froze when Dante’s hand grasped his shoulder. “Jordan, I—” Dante paused, the air almost condensing around us as he struggled to find the words. “You and Rose meant everything to me. I went from having a family to having nothing. Everything was upside down in my life, and in the end, all I had left inside me was hatred and pain. You didn’t need that in your life.”

“I needed my dad to help me grieve the loss of my mum,” Jordan bit out. “Instead, I was made into a soldier from the moment I moved in with Grampa. Everything was upside down in your life? I got to grab a handful of clothes and a teddy bear. Boo fucking hoo.”

Jordan spun around, pushing me behind him, his fist connecting with Dante’s chin. I braced for the worst, but Dante did something I never would have predicted. He grabbed Jordan in a bear hug that held his arms immobile, his hands stuck out like a penguin under attack, his fingers opening and closing into fists.

He never let anyone touch him. Ever. It was an unwritten rule that took months for me to break down with him. Jordan rarely did hugs, and they had to be given on his terms. Right now, Dante was dancing with death. Jordan would either allow the hug to continue or he would stab Dante in the back.

Flynn gave me a troubled look, his mouth twitching to the side. His expression telling me he had the same fears as me.

“Rose would have been so proud of the man you became,” Dante said in a low growl.

My eyebrows flew up and Jordan’s shoulders tightened. Flynn took a step forward to be in a position to drag them apart. Jordan’s body loosened and his head fell onto Dante’s shoulder.

My breath caught in my throat.

Dante’s gaze locked with mine as he spoke to Jordan. “She wanted you to be a doctor when you grew up even though you wanted to be a dinosaur.”

“Dinosaurs have potential,” I said. “They get to stomp about and eat people they don’t like.”

“Dinosaurs weren’t about at the same time as people,” Jordan replied, his voice muffled.

“Smartass,” Flynn snarked. “No offence, but I have a race in a few days. I only came to rescue Megan, not for family reunions. So, can we decide if we’re killing each other or not, so I know if I should put my gun away?”

Jordan pulled himself free, and automatically tugged me into him, my head fitting under his chin. It was the position he used when he was feeling insecure. My arms snaked around him. I didn’t care what anyone said, Jordan was mine alone to protect. He always had been.

Dante eyed Jordan and then turned his attention to Flynn. “It would appear that I didn’t have all the information needed to make an informed decision. There will be no more deaths tonight, but I will not rest until Horatio Berkeley faces justice for what he did to my wife and family.”

Jordan stiffened. His grampa was the only family he’d had his entire life. “I need to speak to Grampa first. I’ve already told you that he suffers the loss of Mum constantly. No one is allowed to talk about her, no photographs of her are allowed in the house. He suffers in his own Purgatory.”

Dante laughed, and the noise made my skin crawl. “That’s not grief, Jordan, it’s guilt. The only person meant to die that night was me. He intended to take his broodmare back along with the heir he always wanted.”

“I still need to speak to him. I can’t eradicate twenty-five years overnight.”

“Do I have any staff left here?” Dante asked, his right eyebrow raising.

“Only whoever you have on this ground floor, “Flynn replied. “Everyone else is dead since it was a lethal force mission.”

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