“What do you want, Kenny? Didn’t we say all there was to say to each other?”
“I saw you sitting here and wanted to say hi. You don’t respond to any of my text messages. I’ve sent you flowers. You won’t accept my apology.” Without permission, he sat down at the table with her. “I don’t understand why you won’t talk to me.”
She rolled her eyes, not trying to hear any of his bullshit. On the other hand, she also didn’t want to make a scene. “We said all there was to say. You can stop with the flowers and text messages. When I walked in and saw you fucking our neighbor, the message couldn’t have been clearer.”
Kenny’s breathing became more ragged the longer he was in front of her, but Hyacinth was not focused on him. She was looking around for Rhys to arrive. Some of the surrounding tables cleared out. There must have been a lull in customer activity. Again, not paying attention to what was happening around her, Hyacinth did not see the anger simmering in Kenny’s gaze.
“You were never supposed to come home early that day,” he snapped.
The tone of his words caught her attention. Hyacinth swiveled her head to look at her ex-boyfriend and knew he was the one coming after her. Threatening her. She never would have thought him capable, but it was staring her right in the face.
His thinned lips, clenched fists, and wide eyes made her pull back. She didn’t recognize the Kenny who was sitting across from her. In the two years they’d been together, he had never shown this level of aggression. That was one of the reasons she knew they would never make it together. He never got angry, just held everything inside, and let it fester and grow. She had always considered him weak. Which was why she could walk away without a fight and not look back.
“It doesn’t matter what I was supposed to do. You weren’t supposed to be fucking another woman in our bed.”
He tried to reach out and grab her hand, but she snatched it out of his grasp. “How could you just leave me? You walked away as if I meant nothing to you. As if you never loved me.”
Rage filled Hyacinth as she listened to Kenny whine like a little bitch. She wasn’t the one cheating on him. It wasn’t her who had brought someone else into their bed. “What did you expect me to do? Stay with you after what I saw?”
“You should have known she meant nothing.” His voice rose, and his pupils seemed blown out. His head shifted and moved all around as if he were looking for someone. “You should have stuck around. You knew how much I loved you, Hy. You knew no one else could take your place. But you left me. All our friends left me. Everyone thought I was a fuck-up because I cheated on you. You never understood how hard it was for me as a man. I said no to so many women. Maria was supposed to be safe. She was married. Had small brats at home. There was never any danger of her taking your place. Plus, she was clean, so I didn’t have to worry about wearing a condom. Don’t you see? It was the perfect solution. I could get what I needed to keep me sexually satisfied, but I could still love you. And you ruined everything!”
Now on high alert, Hyacinth caught the eye of a server. They motioned toward a phone and mouthed 9-1-1. Choosing not to respond, so as not to give anything away, Hyacinth turned back to Kenny. On the table, he had a long, sharp butcher knife.
“You’re fucking crazy.” She couldn’t help the words from escaping even if she tried.
When he continued, his words sent shivers up her spine. “Then I see you working at Mannetti’s. You’re wearing tight clothes and shaking your ass all over for that fucking thug. Everyone thinks he’s just a business owner, but I know exactly who he is. And there you were, taking rides from him. Probably fucking him in the back of that car like a fucking whore. You were never a slut for me, but I know you are for him. You belong to me, Hyacinth. That you think you can move on without me…” he laughed maniacally. “When I broke into your apartment and trashed your bedroom, I thought you would call me for help.”
Yup, that was the missing piece. Her mistake was not considering him to be a real threat. His absolutely crazy ass really thought she would need him again after what he did to her. “Why would I do that?” she asked, trying to stall. Her eyes kept going back to the knife resting on the table, his hand covering the handle.
“Because you’re mine. You’ve always been mine. You love me and I love you just as much. No. I love you more.” His lips turned up in a snarl. “And then you showed up with that guy from Mannetti’s. You were in his car early in the morning, which meant you probably slept with him. Then he kept on touching you, as if you belonged to him.” With one hand, he began hitting the side of his head. “No. No. No. No. You belong to me. I don’t care if you’re a whore. I’ll fix you once we’re back together.”
Hyacinth didn’t want to listen to any more of his ramblings. Making a split-second decision, she stood from her chair and went to run. She had to get away from behind this table where she was trapped. If nothing else, she would go down fighting. The yell that came from Kenny was unlike anything she had heard before. As soon as she heard him running behind her, she looked around to find something she could use to defend herself. With her long hair trailing behind her, she felt Kenny grab her strands and pull tight.
“Stop running from me, Hyacinth,” he yelled at her.
“Fuck you,” she spat. The sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance, but she didn’t know how long it would take them to arrive. Was she willing to wait and take the chance that he would use that knife on her? No, she wasn’t.
Adrenaline rushed through her. The words of her father echoed in her head.
“Everyone has a weak spot. You just have to put up with some pain in the process. Go for whatever area will stop them the fastest. If you must decide between them and you, always choose you. Damn the consequences. Just live.
And she had every intention of doing that today. As he raised the knife to plunge it down, she shifted her stance. As his arm came down, trying to strike her in the chest, she moved to the side. She screamed in agony as the blade sliced through skin and muscle.
“Asshole! You fucking stabbed me.” The pain was overwhelming, but she was still on her feet and ready to fight. When he tried to pull the blade from her body, she swept his feet from underneath him. In the background, she could hear the sirens getting closer. Screams of horror surrounded her. If she was ever welcome here again, it would be a miracle, which only made her angrier. She really liked their breakfast sandwiches.
“I loved you, Hyacinth,” he continued yelling as he scrambled to find something else to use as a weapon.
“Fuck you, Kenny.” Gritting her teeth, she removed the knife from her shoulder. The pain was excruciating. She could feel the flow of blood gushing from her body. Her mom and dad would never believe this. They’d tried to get her away from danger, only for this sorry motherfucker in front of her to bring trouble to her doorstep. Why couldn’t he just move on? “Did you think I would just let you kill me? Man, you got me all fucked up. You have no fucking clue who I am or what I can do. That you really came after me in my home to harm me is some bullshit. Did you really think I wouldn’t be ready for you?”
“I’m gonna kill you,” he yelled before running towards her.
Adjusting her feet, tilting her back foot up and bending her knees, she smiled. Now, if anyone other than her parents, or maybe even Rhys, had seen that smile, they would think she’s just as crazy as the man running towards her.
But the smile covering her face was one of absolute knowledge that the person she was facing was about to meet their maker. And Hyacinth knew Kenny had no clue what was about to happen. Just as he got closer to her, she turned ninety-degrees. Her hand with the bloody knife dropped and arced back up, hitting Kenny directly in the heart. Not willing to allow that to be the end of it, she balled her fist and punched him in the face before placing both hands on the top of his head and pushing with all her might. His face crashed into her knee and she heard a sickening crunch.
When his body fell to the ground, the knife lodged in his heart went even deeper. He was dead before his body hit the ground.
“Hyacinth!”