Page 3 of The Darkest Revenge

“I don’t need your consent.”

Those five words were cold as ice, and I clenched my hands into tight, trembling fists.

“Katie is my patient. If she wants an abortion, her mental state would make it a medical necessity. How dare you, Brandon. How dare you use that against her. How dare you assume she’ll forgive you for that.”

“What do you think you know about it?” Bitterness thickened my snap, but I realized immediately that was the exact wrong thing to say.

Julia stomped over and swung her palm at my face so fast I couldn’t dodge it. The sting of the impact on my cheek rattled my teeth, and she pointed her finger at me, trembling with anger.

“I know that, yes— she knows you’re the one who signed the paper that eventually led to her father’s suicide. I know she’s terrified of losing you because she genuinely loves you. Jesus Christ! You didn’t even ask her whatshethought was the best course of action. You havenoidea what she knows about this guy. You ignore it like it’s going to go away if you can’t see it. How horrifying must it be for Katie knowing you don’t give afuckabout her input? What about her thoughts on her own safety? What about her thoughts on what Mason might do next? What abouther, huh?” Julia stepped back with a scoff thick with disgust, and the blood drained from my face. “What about her, worrying that you’ll leave her and take that baby with you? What about her worrying about her baby growing up with no mother? Because I guarantee you, Brandon. If you don’t fix this shit between you two, the stress will kill her or drive her to kill herself, and that... that’ll be on youfully, and you won’t be able to blame someone else like you did her father.”

Julia stabbed me in the chest with her nail, and I gasped lightly as the impact stole my breath. My heart leapt into my throat and almost stopped beating as she whipped around to storm out of the room again. The silence was suffocating, and I sluggishly turned back around.

Katie wasn’t the same person she’d been when we came to this island, and it wasn’t just the fear that ruined her. It was the doubt, the worry, the desperation of wanting to come clean about her past.

She looked haggard and frail, gaunt, and pale...like a corpse.

“You were right, Brandon. Katie is a victim. She’s a victim of you. She’s a victim of Bert and your father. And even knowing that, she still fell in love with you. You both have your demons, but you don’t know anything about hers, and she doesn’t know about yours. This isn’t a pissing match over who’s are worse, it’s about how to defeat them.”

I inhaled a shallow, rasping breath as I slowly sat down next to her bed again, propping my elbows on my knees to cover my face. Rubbing my cheeks and pushing my palms into my eye sockets, I ground my teeth hard.

“I know this is a baptism by fire for someone with little, superficial personal problems, but the one thing you can do is talk to her and listen. It counts for more than you realize— to communicate. There’s no emails. No briefings. No one else you have to fill in. Just both of you, open and honest.”

“After the past few months, I didn’t think you of everyone would be the one to tell me to try to save my relationship.” Sitting back, I sprawled a little in the chair to stare blankly at the ceiling. “What if Katie doesn’t forgive me? What if I can’t forgive her?”

“... Then you’re fucked, Brandon. Yeah, she should’ve worked up the courage to tell you who her father was. Maybe, none of this would’ve happened if she came clean. But asking ‘what if’... contemplating what may have happened or could’ve happened— it destroys people. You never had a reason to bring up the Steele incident because you’re such a pussy you ignored it like it never happened. She had every reason, knowing who you were and what you did. Brandon, this isn’t about that anymore. It’s no longer a situation of confession and being absolved of ill intent. So, you need to ask yourself... Do her initial intentions outweigh the happiness you've found, and if not, are you capable of working together to defeat Mason?”

Sniffling a choking breath through my nose, I flopped my head back until my neck hurt.

Nathan frowned at me under furrowed brows. “He’ll kill her. You realize there’s a high chance that’s how this ends, right?”

My stomach roiled at that, and Nathan leaned on the wall by the door to cross his arms. Lifting my head, I gazed at Katie through bleary, throbbing eyes, and a headache sprung up behind them. Reaching over to place my palm on her bump, I ducked my head and closed my eyes.

ChapterThree

KATIE

My eyelid twitched, and my mouth dried under stinging eyes as they locked on the restraint clinging firmly to my wrist. The world filtered through my scope of comprehension in slow motion, and I pulled my knees sluggishly to my chest.

I was so tired. I was tired in my soul, and I didn’t want to fight anymore.

“K-Katie.”

Brandon’s whisper was almost inaudible under the intense white noise in my ears, and I glanced over as he shut the door to my room very quietly. He had something in his hands, but it was just a blur of... purple? Maybe. I couldn’t breathe through the emotions clogging my nose and tightening my throat, and he drifted in and out of my field of vision until he was right in front of me. Even then, so close, he was almost featureless, and I flinched when his fingertips touched my cheek.

“We need to talk, Katie.” The air swirled when Brandon spoke, and my head became so, so heavy under the weight of his attention. “Katie—”

“Why? If I just killed you like I planned to...” I could feel my lips twisted in a horrid sneer, but my face felt like it was going to detach from my skull. “I should’ve listened to Mason and got it over with before I started doubting what happened. You killed my dad. The circumstances don’t matter. You signed the paper. You neglected to read the contract or fix it. It’syourfault he’s dead, and you should be dead, too.”

Brandon’s breath hitched loudly in the otherwise quiet room, and his eyes bored holes into me as a torrent of abuse just came spewing out of my mouth. I couldn’t stop it. I was too tired. I didn’t see a light at the end of this tunnel. I was stupid to hope we could recover from this.

“You wouldn’t have been the only person I killed. You’re so stupid. Naïve. Do you really think I ever told you the truth about anything? Mason’s an international criminal, and I was his apprentice. I killed people for money. I killed a man who beat his kid to within an inch of his life, and I never lost a wink of sleep over it. And it was all... all of it, to make sure I could kill you, because you fucking deserve it. You can’t claim ignorance. Who the Hell signs something they didn’t read? Who the fuck trustsBert—” I almost choked as my tongue grew thick and invisible cotton jammed down my throat. “You think you’re above it all... that if you ignore it, someone else will clean up your mess. That it’ll just go away. That everyone has to protect you. You’re a deplorable human being.

“You think you had it so bad because your dad died and left you all this responsibility. You don’t know anything. You can’t miss what you never had. But I had my dad. I loved him, and he loved me. We were happy. And all it took was your stupidity and your inexperience and your need to blame others for your mistakes to make it all go up in flames. You killed my dad. You took him away from me. You ruined my life. And I thought to myself... you’re so pathetic.” My eyes flickered over as huge, dense tears streamed down Brandon’s face, and my heart twisted painfully. “You killed my dad, you basically killed my mom, and I should’ve never tried to do the right thing and get all of the story. I wasn’t even going to bother with Bert. He’s old. He’ll die on his own time and won’t need any help from me. And I could’ve been the bigger person and moved on. Butyou...”

“W-we can... we can get through this...”

A harsh scoff escaped me at Brandon’s blubbering, weak declaration.

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