Yet I didn’t seem to feel the pain. I shoved his head down and smashed it hard against the doorframe.
My men held him down, forcing him to his knees in front of me.
He didn’t cry, just glared at me with fierce, stubborn eyes.
The man was indeed striking, his gaze sharp and steady.
He looked much like me back when I was still young and untested.
Even the fire burning in his eyes was the same as mine now.
But sadly, he didn’t understand that with only this bit of wildness, there was no way he could walk away unharmed.
I casually picked up the baseball bat leaning against the wall and swung it hard at his leg.
The crack of bone mixed with his screams, yet not a bit of pity rose in me. I enjoyed his pain, as if it were a song for my broken love.
Before the second hit could land, the door flew open. A cold wind rushed in, filled with anger.
The dark mouth of a gun aimed at me, and Athena’s voice cut through like ice.
“Waylon, let him go. I don’t want things between us to get uglier than they already are!”
With one hand, she held the gun; with the other, she pulled him close into her arms.
Her eyes softened, her voice turning gentle.
“Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”
A familiar line. Ten years ago, walking through blood toward my broken self, she had said those same words.
I laughed through the tears. “And if I say no?”
She laughed too.
“You’ve already taken his child, that’s enough. Let him go. Let’s act like nothing happened. That’s the best ending we’ll ever get.”
I knew her too well, and I could see the killing intent hidden under her smile; she truly wanted me dead.
Along this road, we had supported each other, and she had once poured all her tenderness into me, almost making me forget how many bodies she had stepped over to reach where she stood today.
No anger, only shame. I grabbed her hand and pressed the gun against my forehead.
“Do it then, kill me!”
“Athena, you know my nature. If I walk out alive today, you’d better be ready to collect the corpse of your pretty boy!”
The sharp click of a bullet being chambered cut through the air.
Athena’s bloodshot eyes locked on me as her fingers tightened around my throat.
“You think I don’t dare?”
“I can let go of the child’s matter, but him, you cannot touch!”
“Waylon, don’t push me!”
I stared back at her with a blank face.
The tense standoff broke with the sudden shrill ring of a phone. Athena let go of me and pressed answer.