Page 111 of The Retaliation You Deliver
Her brows pinch as she listens to whoever’s on the other end before her eyes lock with mine, something flashing in her eyes that I can’t decipher in the darkness.
“Yeah. Okay. Yeah. As soon as we can. Yep. Thank you. Goodbye.”
“What the—”
“Richard had a heart attack.”
My chin drops at her words.
“He’s in the hospital, but it doesn’t look good. He’s unconscious, on a ventilator.”
“Shit.”
She glances at the screen briefly before setting it on my nightstand and crawling back into bed with me.
“Is he going to—”
“She suggested I get there as quickly as possible if I wanted to see him.”
“Shit,” I repeat.
Reaching for my hand, she lifts it to her lips.
“It’s going to be over, Lee. Our pasts can die with him and we haven’t even had to do anything.”
My lips part to say something but I can’t find any words.
Relief and regret slam into me all at once.
I can’t deny that I’m glad he could have already taken his last breath. But equally, I wanted to be there when he took it. I wanted to look into his cold, evil eyes so he knew who was responsible for his last moments.
Maybe it was a bit of a pipe dream. A fantasy.
I’ve never had any kind of clue how I could have made it happen. It’s why I needed Reid. He’s got the kind of contacts I would need.
“Are you okay?” she asks, cupping my cheek and bringing me back to the here and now.
“Y-yeah. I’m good,” I tell her honestly.
“I’m going to have to go to Miami,” she says sadly. “There are going to be things I’m going to have to take care of.”
“Y-yeah, of course.” Sitting up against the headboard, now fully awake, I pull her into my side, dropping my nose to her hair and breathing her in.
“It’s going to be over,” I whisper against her.
“It is.”
18
Macie
Silence falls around us as we both get lost in our own thoughts.
Memories of my childhood with that evil man flicker through my mind but they quickly merge into the image of him now, weak, frail and in a hospital bed.
I don’t even feel guilty for feeling glad he’s in that position.
“I’m coming with you,” Leon states suddenly, the determination in his voice startling me.
