Aidan remains passive, although he cranes his neck toward the front. I see every muscle in his face twitch and convulse as if each nerve is trying to fight against the other. He’s holding back his anger.
“Do you mean the land in Pennsylvania?” I question peculiarly. This gets me a jerk of the head from both of the men, at least I think it does. My eyelids seem to be growing heavier by the second. They’re begging me to let them close, but I refuse.
A chuckle comes from the condescending man who thinks he holds all of the cards here. Oh, no. My heart starts beating wildly in my chest, my thoughts going crazy like a caged bird drumming his frenzied little wings.
“You are an evil man. Pathetic and insane. I feel sorry for you. A man who has never been loved by anyone. A man who is jealous of this man here,” I lift my scraped up arms, aiming them in the direction of my true brother. “That’s really what this is all about, isn’t it, you pig. You’ve been sloping slowly downhill in the shadows of a real man your entire life, and you can’t take it anymore. So you’re going to take him and his family and show him you’re the man, aren’t you? Well, let me tell you something. You’re no man. You’re nothing.” I’ve identified him perfectly. I feel his self-esteem deflate just as I feel his glare bleed me dry.
“For those remarks right there, you little bitch, you’ll be the first one to die.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
AIDAN
All hope of happiness have been sucked out of my world. My future has been stolen. And in its place is an abandoned vastness of nothingness. I sit here, stunned, wishing I could have done anything to not have heard the aching screams come from the love of my life. I know she’s alive, I know my son is as well. I can feel it in what little bit of my heart is still hanging loosely in my chest.
I cannot begin to imagine what kind of numbness, vacantness, or other emotions Deidre is experiencing right now. Matthew must have stripped our son right out of her arms by the way she was screaming for him to give him back to her. And then there was silence. The only things I heard were doors being slammed shut, an engine being cranked on, and then we took off.
I can honestly say I thought I hated Junior before, but that wasn’t hate. It was more like shame, pity for even having to associate myself with him at all. Hate isn’t even strong enough for what I feel for him right now. Only the love I have for Deidre and Diesel outweighs the hate I encompass for this man.
Hate lies at the destructive end of the spectrum while love lies at the positive side. My love is more powerful, more meaningful, and this low life, who both hates and loves himself, has tipped that scale in the right direction for me and the wrong one for him.
I know exactly where he’s taking us. I’ve traveled this road before. He’s taking us to my land. The land he will never get. I made damn sure he would never get it if anything were to happen to me. Those papers I signed at Calla’s office were papers signing this land over to Roan. Junior may have said he didn’t want it, but he’s a damn liar. He’s bringing us here to set about whatever fucked-up plans he has in his head to try and destroy me. Only, I have plans of my own. I may take my last breath in a few hours, who the hell knows, but it sure as hell won’t be without making sure he swallows his right along with me.
“Aidan.” I feel Anna nudge me, move her body closer to mine. The phone wedged in my pants keeps going off, vibrating against my skin. I can’t get to it.
When she tells me not to move no matter what she does, and her tiny little, cold hands meet my sweaty skin, I know exactly what she is trying to do. Although she cannot pull this phone out. I tell her so. Feel her pressing her fingers against the screen until it finally stops moving.
I hold my breath, hoping like hell she hit the right button and whoever has been trying to call can hear the words that escape from her mouth. She’s brilliant. In control. Which is more than I can say for myself right now. This beaten woman is smart, intelligent, and if I could pull my head out of my ass and get my hands out of these motherfucking cuffs, I would hug her right the fuck now, help her in the same way she is trying to do me.
I listen to her try and get him to tell us where we are going. My mouth is glued shut to let her finish whatever plan she has mustered up. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out she is egging him on by lashing out at him. She’s trying to put more attention on herself. Only I know Junior. He may despise her, think she has stolen money that he believes rightfully belongs to him, but his plan is to basically kill her. However, the blueprint he has sketched out is to make me watch, to see me suffer as he snuffs out the lives of the people I care about.