“You’re going to need your fluids,” he explains. “The therapies here can be rigorous and taxing on the body.”
“No, no, no,” I say to him. “Please don’t do whatever you sick people are going to do.”
My mind races with possibilities.
With cold, clinical efficiency, he pierces my vein with the needle and hooks me up to the fluids. They feel like ice cream pouring into me through my vein.
He leaves again.
When he returns with an uncapped syringe, I shake my head. He ignores me and adds it to the line. Almost instantly, it chases away the chill with prickly warmth.
My eyelids quickly grow heavy and my teeth start chattering uncontrollably. I want out of here. I want to be with Caius, safe from this monster.
Seth returns again, this time with a blanket. It’s incredibly warm as he spreads it out over my prone form. The heat soothes my aching soul.
I fall asleep with Caius’s warm body on my mind.
Caius
“It’s fake,” I say to Dad, voice cold. “Well, at least her part in it is.”
He frowns, studying me intently. “Don’t be naive, Son. You saw it with your own two eyes.”
Yes, I saw the picture he painted for me to see, but I also saw through it.
It’s as if he forgets I’ve been immersed in his twisted world as his favored protege.
“And there’s the issue with her and Doc Junior,” Gideon adds. “Theo wasn’t the only one she was sleeping with.”
The mention of that twat has my eye twitching. It’s nearly impossible to rein in my anger. They’re expertly pushing my buttons and I’m foolishly letting it affect me.
She’s not sleeping with Theo or Doc Junior.
She’s mine.
You can’t fake the adoration she has for me when I’m deep inside her, our eyes locked and souls tangling.
So stop letting them rile you up, dumbass.
“My daughter is troubled,” Gideon explains sadly. “Her mother had mental problems and it’s clear she inherited them from her. It’s in your best interest to distance yourself from the girl. We’ll get her the help she needs. You can go back to your normal life. I’m sorry she’s caused such mayhem.”
I drain the rest of my glass and set it down on the table beside me hard enough I’m surprised I don’t break it. All eyes are on me as I rise to my feet.
“Where are you going?” Dad asks with a frown. “We’ve only just begun to discuss this.”
“I’m sick of this,” I spit out. “The lies. The bullshit. I’m going to see her.”
I’ll find my brother and force him to take me to her.
They have words of protest for me, but I’m no longer interested in indulging them in conversation. I storm out of the living room, passing Eva on the way.
“Find her,” she mouths, bottom lip trembling.
I give her a curt nod. I’m not going to find Romy to satisfy Eva. I’m going to find her because she’s mine and safe with me. If I have her with me, maybe I can think a little more clearly. Everything feels so murky all of a sudden.
The door closes behind me with a soft click. My feet feel heavy. Is it the shoes I changed into? Maybe I drank a little too much without a thing in my stomach to absorb its effects.
I slam a shoulder into the hallway wall and grunt in surprise. Okay, so yeah, I’m definitely inebriated. Stupid. I’d been so pissed, I didn’t control myself, drinking everything that was offered to me.