Page 53 of Beg for Death
I grunted. That wasn't important, not for him. As we drove, I fell into silence. I needed a minute to gather my thoughts and to figure out exactly how I was going to plan out the next part of this. When we pulled up to the docks, Felix climbed out of the car. I walked around, going through the rows of shipping containers. The good thing about Jasper was that nothing ever changed. I knew immediately where to go.
When I reached one of the containers, I held up a hand to Felix. He hung back as I moved forward. The door was slightly ajar to the container. Inside, there were stacks of papers put into boxes and filed away. I knew Jasper's records were inside. Bribes, falsified evidence, things that could get him put away for a long time if they ever saw the light of day. Jasper stopped as he turned, a box in his hands. Our eyes met, and the box fell to the ground as he fumbled with his back pocket.
"Nah," I said. "Go ahead and put your hands up for me." I smiled. "Yeah, just like that."
"E-Ezra," he stammered. "What the fuck are you doing here? All that get over your obsession stuff was bullshit, huh?"
"Of course," I said. "¿De verdad creíste que te dejaría salirte con la tuya jodiéndome?"You really thought I would let you get away with fucking me over?
"Ezra—"
"Felix, come here!" I called. When he slowly walked into the shipping container, looking unsure, I nodded toward his father. "There's a gun in his waistband at the base of his spine. Get that bitch and give it to me."
Jasper looked between the two of us. At first, his jaw dropped as Felix moved behind him and disarmed him, bringing the gun back to me. He stumbled over his words before he seemed to find his voice again.
"What the fuck is this!" he snapped. "I've been talking to cops for weeks now, and you've been off running around with aconvict?" he snapped at Felix. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you listening to him? You should be helping me, Felix. I'm your goddamn father!"
"Are you?" I asked as Felix's face started to look conflicted. "When have you ever given a damn about him?"
"What the hell do you know?" Jasper snapped. He turned on Felix. "I thought you were kidnapped or dead. And you've been with him? All this time?"
Felix stiffened. "I?—"
"Don't stand there trying to form words," Jasper sneered, and I realized how I had never noticed before that his face was so ugly when he twisted it that way. "Go get help!"
My hand wrapped around Felix's upper arm. I dragged him against my body, tucking him against me as I glared at Jasper. The safety on my gun disengaged, and I wrapped my finger around the trigger.
"Say one more thing to him. I want you to," I said as I leveled him with a stare. "Now, get on your knees. And beg for me to let you live."
Chapter Twenty One
Felix
My father's eyes bore into me, tugging at that familia love that no matter how much neglect and verbal abuse I'd gone through could quite squash.
"Daddy, is it okay if I ask a question?"
"Daddy? What sick shit have you been teaching my son?" My father's face twisted in pure disgust. He stared at me as if I was some foreign object. "He's half your fucking age."
"What I do with what's mine is up to me," Ezra said calmly.
Ezra claiming me in front of my dad was like a balm to my nerves. He wasn't hiding me or his feelings for me. I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed my face into his back. I breathed him in and let it roll over me, calming my nerves.
"This is between me and you, Ezra. It always has been. Let Felix go." My father looked helpless on his knees. It was a stark contrast to how he'd always seemed bigger than life any time I saw him. "He doesn't know you like I do, and I can promise you, he won't be able to handle it."
"You don't know anything," I shot back. I pulled back from Ezra enough to loom over my father. It felt wrong but good. Foronce, I'd be the one yelling, and with Ezra behind me, I had some kind of power. "I'm twenty-two, not that you know that. You haven't said happy birthday to me since my eighth birthday, so don't sit here like you care." The words flew out of my mouth without restraint. It wasn't even half of the shit I wanted to say but my emotions were high and it felt good to let out the pent-up frustrations and anger out. "You don't get to sit here and judge me for who I'm with. Ezra is amazing and he cares for me. More than you ever did."
"You don't know what real life is like. If he's such a good guy, why is he pointing a gun at me? You don't know anything and you sho?—"
"If you didn't betray him for your own selfish gain, maybe he wouldn't be pointing a gun at you."
My father laughed at me with that same condescending chuckle that grated on my nerves since I was a child. He did it anytime he knew something I didn't. He'd lord it over me to remind me how worthless and stupid I was.
"Felix, I don't know what he told you, but I taught you there are always two sides to a story." He cleared his throat. "That day was traumatic for everyone involved. I found out the man I loved and planned to bring home to finally meet you was a dangerous criminal."
I moved without a single thought going through my head. I picked up one of the heavier-looking plastic totes and hit my father with it. Whatever argument he was gearing up to unleash was going to be nothing more than bullshit and lies. Jasper fell over, groaning.
"Felix," Ezra called.
