Page 89 of Viktor

“You almost killed Delia.” Sara’s voice shook, and Viktor kept track of her out of the corner of his eye. His focus had to remain on the gun, but he needed her safe too.

Something like regret flickered in his eyes for the barest of seconds before they turned ugly again.

“Did you know she was in the house?” Viktor asked, his tone mild. The cafeteria staff finally noticed what was going on. He saw two of them run into the back, and the rest huddled off to one side, watching what was happening, shocked and afraid.

“I saw her when I was downstairs. She ran up the stairs and tripped. When I went to find her, she was hidden, but it didn’t matter. She wasn’t getting out of the fire.”

“You left your daughter to burn up in a house?” Viktor’s rage flared, and this time he embraced it. “She’s six years old.”

“I thought she was with you.” Roger waved the gun toward Sara. “I never meant to hurt her. She’s my baby.”

“You left her in that fire!” Sara shouted, standing up and trying to launch herself at Roger, but Viktor caught her.

“She wasn’t supposed to be there!” Roger shouted right back. “I tried to find her, tried to get her out. I was going to lock her in my truck until I finished at the house. She would have been safe if she hadn’t hidden from me.”

“She hid from you because she’s scared of you.” Viktor started to understand something basic about Roger. He loved Delia. His need to abuse notwithstanding, he did love his child. Didn’t matter, though. She wouldn’t be his for much longer.

Roger shook his head, denying it. “No. She was never afraid of me.” He turned hard eyes on Sara. “You did this. You made her afraid of me. She almost died because of you!”

“You hit her, you bastard!” Sara spat and tried to get away from Viktor, but he only held on tighter.

“I…I can’t have done that. I’d never hit her. Not her.”

“You were drunk, Roger, and you were mad. You knocked her tooth out, you hit her so hard.”

A tear fell from his eye. “She’s mine. I love her.”

“You loved me once, Roger, and you still hit me.”

“Then I was right to do what I did.” He swung the gun around aimlessly and Viktor cringed. He pushed Sara behind him, but she refused to stay there. She came to stand beside him instead.

“What did you do?” he asked, keeping a watch on Sara out of the corner of his eye.

“I never want to hurt Delia. Not her. I couldn’t find her, and I thought that maybe it was for the best. Sara said I hurt my baby, but I don’t remember it. I was afraid maybe I did, maybe I would hurt her in the future, so I had to protect her. Even from myself. It would be better for her to suffer a little than to have to suffer all her life.”

“So you decided to let her burn.” The censure in his voice made Roger’s eyes narrow on him, and the belligerent abuser was back.

“She’s mine, and I can do what I want to her.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. She’s mine now.”

Roger’s lip curled, and he let out a hollow laugh. “You might be fucking this adulterous whore, but Delia’smyflesh and blood.”

“You’re a sperm donor. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Roger swung the gun toward him and away from Sara. Exactly where he wanted it. The man’s eyes were wild, his hatred so deep, he didn’t care about anything or anyone anymore. He fully believed Sara and Delia were his to do with as he pleased. Taking that option away from him had finally pushed him over the edge. Viktor had seen it so many times before.

Roger was unpredictable right now, and that made him dangerous. He saw the cafeteria door crack open behind Roger. Thank fuck. He’d hoped one of the two who’d run back called hospital security.

The man who stepped in was not who Viktor expected. Dylan Jenkins, his best operative, slid inside the room. He was as good as Conner. He put a finger to his lips and started inching his way closer. Kade just had to keep Roger talking until Dylan could reach him.

“You want another man’s sloppy seconds?”

The slur in Roger’s voice had gotten worse. He was drunk, which made him twice as dangerous.

“She’s not anyone’s sloppy seconds. She’s a survivor, and I love her because of how strong she is. You’re nothing but a bastard who likes to beat on defenseless women and children.”

The growl that rose out of Roger’s throat was the first warning, and without thinking, Viktor turned toward Sara and pushed. He heard more than felt the gunshot. There was a burning sensation in his shoulder, but he tackled Sara and rolled, caging her in so she wouldn’t get hurt.

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