His lips press into a thin line as he studies me.
I hate to say it, but he’s looking better than the last time I saw him. Some of the cuts and bruises I gave him for Christmas are beginning to heal, and the soldiers who have been delivering him food have clearly been spoiling him, because he seems to have a little too much strength as he pushes himself from the solid bed we gifted him with.
“I’ve got the perfect date lined up. Candlelit dinner, walk under the stars… and then I’m gonna bring her back here and really get the night started.”
“Leave her alone,” he growls, as if his words could go anywhere near stopping me.
I might have had my moments of doubt over the past couple of weeks, but standing here now, seeing this vile creature of a man I used to call Dad gives my hatred, my need for revenge, a new lease of life.
“Not a fucking chance,” I mutter, stepping farther into the room and pulling a remote control from my pocket. His eyes follow my movements cautiously as if I’m about to pull out a gun. “I’m not going to shoot you yet, old man,” I assure him. “Do you really think I’d have gone to all these lengths to just end you that quickly?”
“Do whatever you want to me,” he pleads. “But leave her out of it. She’s not involved in this life. She doesn't even know it exists.”
“You know,” I say, pacing back and forth in front of him, “I really wish I had time to hang around and chat, to find out how the fuck you managed to live this double life all these years and not get found out.
“I’ve met Joanne, by the way,” I confess as the vein in his temple that used to scare the ever-loving shit out of me begins to pulsate. Now though, it does nothing. There is nothing this man can do now that will touch me. Everyone I care about is safe. Mum is home from the hospital and being looked after like a queen by Galen, my sister is upstairs with Seb, and the rest of my boys out are doing fuck knows what. For all I care, the rest of the world can burn right along with this cunt, so long as they are all safe. “She seems lovely. It really is such a shame to have to tarnish them all because of your stupid, selfish actions, don’t you think?”
“You stay away from my Joanne.”
“Your Joanne. Funny, I’m pretty sure the only woman you should be claiming as your own is your wife.”
His lips peel back in a snarl at the mention of my mum, and burning hatred for this pathetic excuse for a man burns through my veins.
“Fuck her. She’s nothing but a cheap whore.”
Sucking in a deep, calming breath, I clench my fists at my sides in an attempt to stop me from ripping his fucking head off.
“So why the fuck did you marry her then? You were clearly already fucking Joanne, seeing as Joker was older than me.”
“To stop him from having her,” he sneers. “To give me pure bloodline heirs. You know as well as I do that we need pure Greek blood to continue our legacy, and with Joanne, I didn’t have that. But with your mother,” he scoffs as if she’s nothing more than a piece of rubbish he’s tossed away, “I could have had an army of soldiers to follow in my footsteps.”
I stare at him, my brows raised almost in amusement.
“And how did that work out for you?”
He scoffs. “I should have fucking strangled you at birth.”
“I’m sure Joanne had similar thoughts knowing she procreated with you. How much must it have hurt, knowing she strayed and had your precious princess with another man?”
“Don’t you fucking judge me.”
“Judge you?” I can’t help but laugh. “You think I’m judging you right now? I pity you,” I spit. “You’re nothing but a worthless piece of shit who’s tarnished the lives of those around him.”
“My family is good. Pure. Innocent.”
“So that’s why Joker is dead now, is it? Because he was so fucking innocent? You set him up to kill my fucking sister,” I shout, spittle flying into the space between us.
“She should have been mine,” he seethes.
“Well, thank fuck she wasn’t. No one deserves to be walking around this earth with your DNA.”
His lips purse and his eyes harden, something that I didn’t think was possible.
“Anyway,” I say, taking a step back and forcing myself to lighten things up a little. It’s a fucking effort when every single inch of me wants to get closer so I can wring his neck and watch the life drain out of him, listening as he takes his last few breaths on this earth. “I thought I’d set up a little treat for you tonight.”
I press the red button on the remote in my hand, bringing a hidden screen behind the toughened glass on the other side of the room to life.
Jonas stares at it as if he’s forgotten what a TV looks like for a few seconds before his suspicion begins to set in.