Page 60 of Karma
Looking at Psycho and Venom, Colt shares their shock. VP was married to Margaret when he knocked her up, but he was still sleeping with Phillip’s mother? And they all know VP messed around with Emma before Margaret died.
“What we were having didn’t change anything. I knew I was playing with fire, and I was trying to convince her to get youhelp. She refused, and that’s why we stopped. I needed a clean break if she wasn’t going to keep turning a blind eye.”
Tilting from side to side, he pouts. “Oh, was parenting hard? Poor you.”
“You tried to skin a cat alive when you were barely out of diapers,” he says. “There is no way I would let you near my family.”
“ButIwas your family, too!” he shouts. “When something doesn’t go your way, you just wash your hands of it and walk away. The people you bring into this world aren’t meant to be disposable, Nash.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
He laughs. “Why the fuck do you think I targeted people who looked like your children? You clearly didn’t get the message because the way Lex said it, you were only concerned about Zane. Too much commitment being a father to more than one kid?”
“I never left Lex.”
“But you don’t really love her, do you?”
Scoffing, VP shakes his head. “You have no idea—”
“Okay, sure, you love her. As much as you can, but it was just never quite enough. Not like you love Zane. She loved you, though. Probably still does no matter how much she wishes she didn’t. She’s not like us, Nash. She comes off hard, but she’s soft where it counts.”
“Is that right?”
“If things were different, you know, like me trying to kill her, she probably would’ve welcomed me into her life. Who knows? Maybe everything could’ve turned out differently if I didn’t feel the need to teach you a lesson.”
He laughs in a way that chills Colt to the bone. This motherfucker is legitimately nuts. VP doesn’t like it, either, and he snaps. “What’s so fucking funny?”
“I’m just imagining an alternate universe. I could be sitting at that fucking table wearing that stupid fucking leather like you. Wouldn’t that be a kick?”
Every reaction Phillip gets from VP intrigues the other three men. It’s not difficult to get under the older man’s skin, but Phillip manages to do it much easier than anyone else before. Maybe there is some guilt there he’s downplaying and hiding from everyone.
“Tell me something, Nash. Who were you more concerned about? Your daughter or your son?”
“I was worried about both—”
“Bullshit.”
Colt glares as VP fumbles to defend himself. “I care about both of my children.”
“Technically, you have three,” Psycho says with a cough.
“But you love Zane the most. He’s the favorite. Which is kind of interesting because the middle child has a reputation of being the forgotten one. The oldest is usually the most loved, and the youngest is spoiled. But not with you.”
“You were impossible to love.”
For some reason, his confession hits Colt hard even though Phillip just smiles with satisfaction. As a father, he can’t imagine not loving his child. No matter what that child might do, he’d still love him or her.
“Do you love Margaret more than Emma? Is that why you don’t really give a shit about Lex? I always thought you loved Emma the most, but I don’t think that’s the case. I think you just lost your ability to con women into your bed.”
“I’m not playing this game with you.”
“You created this game!” he shouts. “Everything I do is because of you! Everyone I killed was to teach you a lesson. This is all your fault!”
Swallowing, VP looks around at the three officers staring him down. All focus has moved to him, and Colt knows that whatever’s broken inside Phillip isn’t VP’s fault. What he did was play a part in making it all so much worse. Like Zane, it’s time he finally pays for the consequences of his actions.
“You’ve always gotten away with everything. You didn’t like the first family you created? Great. You started a new one. Before your wife even dies, you climb onto a new woman and knock her up. That relationship causes strain on your favorite child? Well, obviously you cater to your kid at the expense of everyone around you. But it’s never your fault. Or his. It’s everyone else’s. They all just don’t understand, do they?”
“That’s—”
