He struggles with touch. She struggles with trust. How could these two, afraid of necessities of love, ever come to need each other?
* * *
Ulyssa Miller, a proud college student in psychology, strives to become the best therapist she can be in o...
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"P-please he said he'd kill my grandmother."
Valmore hummed to himself before coming to a conclusion. "Let the boy go, Ziad. I believe he's ready to give in."
Ziad released the bloody hem of Jason's shirt from his fist, watching him cough miserably. "Who's this new man?" he asked and squatted down in front of him, dropping the knife.
"Ulyssa's father."
Ziad took several deep breaths. He never understood how men like Raymond could just be let back out on the streets. "He's been released again?!"
Tears streamed down Jason's cheeks as he whispered from his busted lips, "He has a weapon..."
"Be specific," Ziad spat.
"Princeton's son..." Jason responded, hardly able to breathe. "One of his breeding prostitutes confessed she had his child after nineteen years. They killed the woman not too long after her confession and turned his son into something unstoppable."
"He's named Leon, after his nephew...blond, but both of his eyes are red. They tore his arms and replaced them with steel. All he does is kill and take orders now. You can't win."
"All this for Ulyssa?!"
"Not just her," Jason mumbled as blood seeped from his mouth. "Raymond wants your wife back. He wants you dead, and wants to see that mayor burn."
Ziad almost laughed, "We'll kill him. Easy."
Jason's eyes closed and he fell to his side, "He's not the man you think he is anymore..."
Ziad looked down at his fists, clenching his jaw as he held back a raging scream. He thought he had finally made every bad man in his little girl's life go away.
He had Jason. The twins had Princeton. And now this?! It was driving him absolutely mad.
Valmore remained calm, "We'll get to the bottom of this. We always do."
• • •
Willa powdered her face to cover her bruises, sighing deeply when she looked at the cut on her bottom lip. All she remembered was seeing black space, only to wake up with her children tied to chairs in a rotting room. It was frightening.
"Still a crazy old man, after all. Hm?" she asked her uncle.
Kenneth finished taking the tracking chip out of Aven's arm, dabbing the open wound with peroxide and healing cream before wrapping a gauze around his bicep.
Willa laughed a bit at his silence, "I admit...you had me there."
"Go play with your sister," Kenneth whispered to Aven, and the boy hurried over to Autumn, who was building Legos with Antero.
