Page 98 of Triumphant Kings

“Dead?” he laughs. “Who told you that? My sons? They would love that, wouldn’t they? No. I’m not dead. I’ve just been waiting in the shadows for my moment to strike. Do you really think I’d let you all get away with ruining me?” he laughs, and the sound sends chills down my spine. “I refuse to go down until all of you go with me.”

“If it’s money you want, take it. Take it all, then leave. Money means nothing to us.”

He laughs again. “Money is everything,” he growls. “Without money, you’re nothing. And you took mine away from me.”

“I didn’t do anything.” I shake my head.

“You’re the reason I lost him!” he shouts. “He was mine! I was going to take him and go far away from here, where we could live like fucking kings!”

“Who?” My brows furrow together. “Collin?”

“No,” he growls. “Your father.”

“My father... w-what does he have to do with any of this? He’s dead.”

“I know.” He laughs like it’s the funniest thing in the world. “Because I killed him.”

Dread fills my stomach like cement, my eyes welling with tears. “Why? Why would you do that?” Mom had told me I should stay away from Bradly, but I didn’t know he knew them on a personal level. And for him to... he killed my dad? Why?

“Did your mommy tell you he and I used to be the best of friends?” he asks, leaning back on his heels. I breathe just a little bit better knowing he’s put some distance between us.

“N-no.”

“Well, we were. I didn’t care that he was a scholarship student. He might have been poor, but he was a good guy. That was until he met your mother,” he spits. “He fell so head overfucking heels for that bitch and forgot all about me. He chose her. After everything I did for him!” he screams. “I offered him the world, and he chose her!”

Something tells me that this wasn’t just some guy upset he lost his best friend. He sounds like a scorned lover. Was Bradly in love with my dad?

“So you killed him over it?”

“I went to him and gave him a choice. Me or her. He chose wrong. She loved to rub their happiness in my face. Always smiling and laughing, putting her hands on what belonged to me!” He shakes his head. “He wasn’t going to pick me no matter what I did. I had two options. Kill her and watch him be in pain for making the wrong choice, or kill him and take away the most important person in her life like she did me!”

“So you killed your best friend? That’s so fucked up!” I shouldn’t be poking the bear, but holy hell, all of this is so fucked up. I don’t even know what to think.

“It would’ve been more fucked up if I killed her, he would move on with someone else, and I’d be forced to watch him live a happy life without me. So, I killed him. If I couldn’t have him, no one could.”

“You’re crazy.” A sob bubbles free. “You know that, right?”

“And you’re a stupid whore. Another Evans woman who thinks they can take from me. Who thinks what is mine belongs to them! No.” He dives forward, making me scream as he traps me on the bed below him. “I will not let you take from me, like she did. First, I’m going to kill you, sending my sons the message that they chose wrong, just like your dad. Then I’m going to find your mother and kill her too. You can all be one big happy little fucked up family together in hell.”

His hand wraps around my throat. My eyes widen in horror, a scream trapped in my throat as I claw at his arm.

My heart pounds, my lungs scream as tears spill down my cheeks.

No. No, I can’t go down like this. I need to fight, I need to live. There’s a tiny little human inside me that’s depending on me.

But no matter how much I kick, punch, and claw at him, he just tightens his grip, taking what I give him while he stares down at me with his evil eyes, lip peeled back as he breathes heavily.

As I feel the life drain from my body, I think about their smiling faces, the way they make me feel when they hold me tightly. Their kisses. The way they smell. Every little detail brings some sort of comfort.

Just as I’m about to pass out, I hear someone shout, “Oh fuck no!” A moment later, the hand is gone from my throat.

I gasp deeply before breaking into a coughing fit, desperately trying to breathe in more air.

“You stupid bitch!” Bradly roars.

“Aww, that's a cute pet name. I prefer cupcake, though,” a female voice laughs.

“I’m going to kill you,” he growls.

---