Page 29 of Hell Hath No Fury

He turns his eyes to me, a short laugh falling from his lips before he replies, “I drove straight out of the harbor as fast as I could, and as soon as I figured I was far enough from the lights, I stopped. But I knew I couldn’t wait too long, so I sent out some messages to get someone to meet me down the coast. Then I used whatever clothing I could find to try and slow the bleeding.”

Matt interrupts, “How did you manage to stop the bleeding when you still had to drive the boat?”

Ivan points to his middle as he replies. “Belt. I’ll tell you right now: I’ll never leave my house without a belt again. And I don’t cut the excess off anymore, either. I had to attach two belts together to secure them around his chest. It was just dumb luck that the two bullet wounds were close enough I didn’t have to choose which one to do. And then I used the third belt lower down, but I just about gave myself a hernia trying to manhandle his dead weight.”

Matt frowns. “Where the fuck did you get a third belt?”

Ivan looks at him with his eyebrows raised, and then he says, “I had Seamus, remember?”

“You poor bastard,” Tony mutters. “You would have been in your rights to dump the two of them overboard and go about your life.”

Ivan waves his hand and retorts, “I ain’t smart enough to do that.”

“Oh, I totally get that.”

He falls silent for a few moments, but then Tony speaks up again, “Who did you call to meet you?”

Ivan’s expression suddenly turns serious. “I’m not at liberty to disclose that.”

Tony stares at him with his eyebrows raised. “Seriously?”

Ivan nods and says nothing further on the matter, and Tony looks to Matt, who shrugs, and then Tony says, “I swear to fucking Christ, Matt, if you knew about this.”

He doesn’t elaborate on what he might do, and Matt laughs, putting both his hands up. “I had not a fucking clue. I’m really good at deflection and keeping secrets, but at the end of the day, I’m not a great actor. If nothing else, you should know that about me.”

The two men stare at each other, and after a rather long, awkward pause, I interject, “Seems kind of irrelevant at this point. Ivan did what had to be done, and at the end of the day, the man lived.”

Darius appears in the doorway and then walks across the room, sporting a fresh suit and damp hair. He stops in front of a chair to my left, then shifts the furniture around until he’s at the perfect angle to see everyone, as well as the doorway that leads to where Antoinette is. He sits on the edge of the seat, hunched over in a similar fashion as Tony, with his arms on his knees, and looks at Ivan and asks, “What did you tell them?”

“Just the basics. Your military shower didn’t exactly give us time for a Q&A.”

Darius sits back, sprawling haphazardly on the chair. “Perfect. That’ll save you the hassle of answering unnecessary questions.”

“Unnecessary questions?” Matt says defensively. “You’ve been gone for months and months, and you think there’s such a thing as an unnecessary question?”

“Yes. You all are smart fucking people. You could answer most of the questions you would ask me pretty easily on your own. You’ve known me long enough to know the how and why behind everything I do. So, let’s not waste a bunch of fucking time on useless conversation.”

Tony is glaring daggers at him, and after a moment, he sneers, “Well, now I just want to punch you in the face repeatedly, but I’ll do my best to refrain.”

Darius grins at him, and the expression is such a sharp contrast to his typical demeanor, never mind the ongoing conversation, that I frown. But then Darius replies, “Just as soon as this bullshit is over, you’ll have every opportunity to punch me all that you want.”

Tony acts like he’s thinking it over, then smiles faintly and nods, as if they’ve made a gentleman’s agreement. The room falls silent, and the minutes go by as we’re all lost in our thoughts, except for the nervous energy in the air as Matt, Tony, and Darius all tap a finger on top of their leg, not even knowing that they’re doing it in unison.

Of course, I know what we’re all waiting for, and after some time, our attention is drawn to the doorway. First, it’s Agatha, and she glances at us before disappearing in the direction of the kitchen. She reappears quickly, sitting beside Ivan as she pats him on the leg almost affectionately.

I watch Matt and Tony staring at her, frowning at the exchange, and then they look at each other, and Tony curses loudly. They both turn their attention back to her, but she doesn’t allow them to say anything. “Now’s not the time. She’ll be here any moment, and she’s not going to walk into a pissing contest.”

Both men immediately stand down, but I see their anger simmering below the surface, and I can only assume it’s because they have an idea of who helped Ivan. Or, if nothing else, someone who will know who helped him.

A few moments later, Lilith appears in the doorway, looking over at us before turning back and holding her hand out. Slowly, Antoinette appears.

Darius immediately stands, and even though I can tell he wants nothing more than to rush toward her, he remains where he is. I push down my urge to stand, and we all remain seated as Lilith and Antoinette slowly make their way into the room.

The hostility that Antoinette had been carrying with her earlier is nonexistent. She appears tired yet peaceful, and when Lilith attempts to lead her across the room, she balks. Lilith turns back to her, and they have a brief, silent discussion, and then Lilith releases her hand and continues across the room to seat herself beside Agatha.

Lilith glances at me, giving me a short nod, and I turn my attention back to Antoinette, who’s standing just on the outskirts, wringing her hands nervously.

We all wait patiently, and I fear Darius may pass out from holding his breath when, finally, Antoinette straightens her shoulders and raises her head, not giving any one of us even a glance as she walks directly to Darius and stops in front of him.

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