Page 13 of Cruel Knots

My heart shrivels up with shock and grief at those words. Callum had always been intense with his emotions but I never thought he could be a murderer.

“Our old man’s dying too,” he says with a smug grin. “From now on, it’ll be just us.”

“What happened to Dad?” I ask, pushing him off me and sitting up straighter. “Where have you taken him? I want to go see him right now.”

“Why bother?” he says, fixing his shirt. “Your presence isn’t going to make any difference.”

I stare at my brother and find myself staring at a stranger.

Callum was older than me by a gap of twelve years. He doted on me since I was a toddler. He didn’t even like our parents chiding me for my naughtiness.

There was a time when I loved him more than Mom or Dad.

I noticed something strange about him only after I’d grown up a little. He looked at me differently. He treated me differently. There was something weird about the way he touched me too.

I don’t even want to think about it but my brother’s love for me has truly festered into something dark and obnoxious. Tonight’s events are proof of that.

I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that Callum killed Damien, Leon, and Mikhail. He had to be kidding. Maybe he was simply saying that to punish me. Maybe they’ll all return home tomorrow.

If he wants me to regret retaliating against him, I’m willing to play along. “I want to see Dad,” I say through a choked throat.

He lets out an exasperated sigh and to my horror, an indulgent smile comes over his lips. “You can’t let your brother rest after a long day, can you? You always need me.”

For the first time in my life, I’m beginning to realize the cold, stark fact that my brother is a psychopath. He doesn’t care about me or our father at all.

“I must see him,” I say, getting to my feet. “If you’re tired, just tell me which hospital he’s been admitted to. I can go on my own.”

Grabbing my wrist, he tugs hard, making me stumble and fall onto his chest. His arms go around me, tightening their hold on me until I’m suffocating.

“You always care too much about others,” he says in a strangely husky voice. His hands caress my back in a way that sends cold shivers through me. It’s hard to explain why but my brother’s touch disgusts me.

“I know it’s late,” I say, hoping to distract him. “But if you tell me where Dad is, I can get there on my own.”

“Were you this insistent on seeing me when the old bastard sent me away?” he whispers against my ear. “Did you kick up a fuss like this back then?”

Dad never talked about the reason he sent Callum to oversee his business in Europe. He never came to visit us but made occasional phone calls to talk to me. No matter how much I invited him for Thanksgiving and Christmas, he always refused.

Dad rarely mentioned him all these years. I never recognized the strange aloofness between them until now. Had Dad been trying to keep Callum away from me?

Callum loosens his hold, allowing me to get away from him. Coming to stand next to me, he takes my hand in his.

The contact between our skins revolts me but I stay quiet. I need to see Dad as soon as possible.

“My car’s outside,” he says. “Come on.”

His Mercedes is waiting for us on the front lawn. Leading the way forward, he allows me to climb into the passenger seat.

I take a deep breath as he settles behind the wheels and drives out of the grounds.

Since it’s close to eleven P.M., there’s barely any traffic on the streets at this hour, allowing us to speed along the familiar route to St. Nicholas’s ER unit.

Reaching the parking lot, Callum gets out of the car and opens the door to my side. He guides me inside the hospital and without any help, navigates to the fourth floor where intensive care patients are kept.

I glance up at him, taking note of his confident gait.

Callum was aware of Dad’s accident and even knew where they were keeping him. Only a psychopath can carry on with his day as if nothing happened.

“He’s in there,” he says, stopping me in my tracks outside one of the rooms.

---