Page 90 of The Doctor's Twins

But, I fixed her. Mommy dearest thought her fake tears of remorse would save her from my wrath. Stupid whore. I felt nothing when I plunged the knife into her cold heart and watched as she gasped and pissed herself while the life oozed out of her, red and sticky. The picture of her lifeless face was forever etched in the pathways of my brain.

Peyton had about as much chance of changing her fate as my mother had. She humiliated me and that was her mistake. She should have stayed and perhaps we’d have worked something out.

I left her in the basement to meet with a client and run a few errands. It was about 5 pm when I returned to the house. I imagined that Peyton had pissed herself by then, so I went to her cupboard and pulled out a clean pair of jeans and a blanket.

She was going to be my ‘houseguest’ for a while longer, so there was no sense in assaulting my senses in the process. I wanted Peyton to appreciate the error of her ways before I killed her. She was probably hungry, so I stopped in the kitchen and made her a sandwich before I went downstairs to the basement.

The faint smell of urine met me as I moved closer to where my wife was tied to the bed. She was startled when I dropped a bucket on the floor.

“There. No need to piss yourself again.”

“How thoughtful,” she snapped.

I walked over to her, cut the cable tie off her wrists, and placed one of her wrists in handcuffs. I closed the other cuff around the metal base of the bed so that Peyton wouldn’t run.

“What do you want, Mateo?” she asked. “If you’re trying to scare and humiliate me, you’ve accomplished your goal. Kudos. How much more are you wanting from me? You’ve already killed my child and possibly ruined my chances of ever being a mother. What more can you take from me?”

“You don’t get it, do you?”

“Clearly not. Why don’t you explain it to me?”

“Oh, I intend to. But I find action speaks louder than words, darling. And, when I’m done, you’re going to appreciate the true meaning behind my sentiment.”

“Did you ever love me, Mateo? Do you even understand what it means to love?”

“Ha! Please! Love. Phhh! There is no such thing. It’s a fantasy society conjured up so that grown men give away everything they slave so hard for so that women can lord it over them. Love is bullshit, Peyton.”

“I loved you,” she said softly.

“No, you betrayed me. How is that love?”

I wanted to slap her when I saw the tears well up in her lying eyes.

“Here,” I said and shoved the sandwich into her hand. “Eat this. You’re going to need your strength.

25

BEN

Frank, Millie, Craig, Alyssa, and I were at the house, waiting for Sam and his men to arrive. We sat in the living room. Poor Millie was a wreck, and Frank was pacing up and down.

“I can’t stand this waiting,” he said and poured himself a whiskey. “I have to do something, Ben.”

“Please, my love,” Millie pleaded, “think of your heart.”

“Stop fussing. I’m fine.”

“It’s going to be okay, Frank. Sam will be here soon, then we’ll leave.”

“How do we know that Mateo…”

Peyton’s father couldn’t finish his sentence, but we all knew what he was trying to say. None of us knew for sure that Peyton was still alive. I had to believe that Mateo would want to keep her alive so that he could ‘teach her a lesson’, as it were. Everything about the man screamed narcissist.

“I’ll put on the kettle,” Alyssa said and left the room.

I followed her. I needed some fresh air. We were all stressed to breaking point and waiting around had us all on the edge.

I hid my terror by falling back on my military training. I was never as thankful for that mental training as I was at that moment. No combat situation I’d ever been in could compare to the fear of losing Peyton.

---