Page 9 of Twisted Kings

Rumors sometimes found their way into the public domain, but Malcolm and his PR vultures soon squashed them mercilessly. Journalists were either paid off or they had accidents. The last guy who tried investigating my father endedup dead in a Marrakesh hotel room. The official line was a senseless robbery gone wrong. Wrong place, wrong time.

I knew differently because I’d overheard Dad talking to Dominic. The scales finally lifted from my eyes that night. My father had always been a ruthless psychopath, but I hadn’t grasped how deep the rot went until I heard him discuss a man’s execution in the same tone he used to order a pizza delivery.

It was then I truly understood how fucked I was. There was no way of escaping my father. If I refused to play ball, he’d find a way to hurt me or those I cared for.

The sham of an engagement with Camilla was a good example of how he liked to pull the strings for his own ends. He knew I hated the bitch, but because me marrying Camilla suited his purposes, he ignored my feelings on the matter.

And now the engagement was dead in the water. All thanks to a lying, manipulative whore called Thea.

My fists clenched as I sat down in a soft leather chair and faced the man who’d contributed 50% of my genes. As always, I wondered what my mother ever saw in him. Yes, objectively speaking, he was handsome.

For an old dude.

His hair was darker than mine, more brown than caramel, streaked with silver these days. Unlike other men his age, he hadn’t gone to fat, although he’d lost muscle mass over the last year or so.

Women still loved him. They always had. The asshole had charm in abundance, but it was only ever superficial. Dad wasn’t capable of loving anyone but himself.

I’d watched a documentary on Ted Bundy once. He was charm personified, too. Good looking in a wholesome way. It was partly why he got away with his crimes for so long. Who would suspect a man like Bundy of being a deranged serial killer?

Bundy and my father had a lot in common. Both were narcissists scoring high on the psychopathy scale. It was a wonder I hadn’t turned into a monster like Dad, but that was mostly thanks to my mother’s softer influence.

“Give me your phone, Cassian.” I jumped. Had I zoned out?Shit. Fatigue was catching up with me with no alcohol in my system.

“Why?”

He leaned forward, eyes burning with rage. “Do as you’re fucking told, boy.”

Boy? I almost laughed. I was bigger than him.

“The days of me doing what I’m told are long gone,father.” To my left, I saw Dominic’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. He hadn’t expected that. The fucker didn’t move a muscle, though.

Dad sat back in his leather chair and smiled, but the anger remained.

“Really? You think so little of your mother that you’d dare defy me?”

Ice trickled through my veins. “What’s mom got to do with this?”

We stared at each other for a few seconds, and then he grinned.

“Her doctor says she needs in-patient treatment for her issues. If she doesn’t show signs of improvement over the holidays, then I’ll be forced to commit her for a few weeks, maybe longer. The treatment regimen at the Highgate Clinic is second-to-none. Your mother will besafethere.”

I fought the urge to leap from my chair and beat him to death with the iron poker resting next to the fireplace. The only thing that stopped me was Dominic’s presence and the thought of spending the next 100 years in prison.

Dad’s reckoning was coming, but I needed to be smart about this. So I took a few deep breaths and ignored his smirk. Heknew damned well that threatening Mom was the best way to keep me in line.

“She was a wreck the last time you sent her there.” Highgate masqueraded as a psychiatric facility for the rich and dissolute, but in reality, it functioned as the playground for a sadist called Dr Lassitor. I’d met him twice, and both times, he reminded me of a corpse.

Dad scoffed. “Dr Lassitor does wonderful, ground-breaking things for the mentally ill. His research is second-to-none. I spoke with him earlier. He wants to try an experimental new drug on your mother. Thinks it will be the push she needs to break free of her demons.”

“The only demon she needs to break free of is you!” The words fell from my lips before I could prevent them. It was stupid. I could see that now from the way he openly grinned.

“Tut tut, Cassian. You always did have a soft spot for your mother. I thought I’d beaten it out of you, but never mind.” He sighed like I’d disappointed him in some way. “Now, hand over your phone.”

It was pointless arguing. He had me over a barrel, and he knew it. I pulled my phone from my pocket and threw it at him. His sharp growl of irritation let me know he didn’t appreciate my attitude, but I ignored it.

I watched as he locked it in his safe. “I took the liberty of removing all your tech devices. Consider this a time out for bad behavior.” What the actual fuck? He was treating me like a 10-year-old!

“I have schoolwork to do.”

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