MARRY YOUR KILLER
Chapter Fifty-Five: The Father
---
The days after the warehouse were dark.
Yuri was gone. The money was gone. Keizer was still out there, somewhere in the shadows, waiting. The house felt empty without Yuri in his corner, without his cold face, without his red hair bright against the white walls.
Percy moved through the rooms like a ghost. He stood in the corner sometimes, his arms crossed, his face cold. Aries watched him. They didn't say anything. They didn't need to.
Ella was awake now. She was sitting up in the hospital bed, her face still pale, her eyes bright. Aries was beside her, their hand in hers. They had told her they loved her. Every day. Just like they promised. And she had said it back. Every time.
Care was healing. Her back was bandaged. Her steps were slow. Cole was beside her, his hand in hers, his face soft. She was alive. She was safe.
Jay was in the study with Keifer, going over the accounts again. The money was still gone. The trail was still cold. Yuri had been too good. He had been planning this for years.
"He's gone," Keifer said. "He doesn't want to be found."
Jay looked at the map. At the pins and strings and photographs. At Yuri's face at the center. "We'll find him. We have to find him before Keizer does."
Keifer's hand tightened on hers. "My father. He's been behind this the whole time. The hack. The money. Yuri. All of it."
Jay looked at him. His face was calm. His eyes were dark. "He wanted to destroy you."
Keifer nodded. "He wanted to break me. He wanted to take everything I loved. He wanted to leave me with nothing."
She pulled him close. Her arms were around him. "He didn't. He didn't break you. He didn't take everything. You still have me. You still have all of us."
He held her. His face was in her hair. "I have you."
---
The call came at midnight.
Keifer's phone buzzed. He looked at the screen. His face went white.
"What is it?" Jay asked.
He didn't answer. He answered the phone. His voice was low. "Father."
Jay's hand tightened on his arm. Keizer. After everything. After Yuri. After the money. After the war. He was calling.
Keifer listened. His face didn't change. His hands were steady.
"You want to meet," Keifer said.
Silence.
"Where?"
Silence.
"I'll be there."
He hung up. He looked at Jay. His face was calm. His eyes were not.
"He wants to meet. At the old house. The one where I grew up. Alone."
Jay shook her head. "You're not going alone."
He took her face in his hands. His eyes were steady. "I have to. He won't talk if you're there. He won't show himself if he thinks it's a trap."
"Keifer—"
He kissed her forehead. "I'll be back. I promise."
He walked to the door. She watched him go. Her hands were empty. Her heart was pounding.
---
The old Watson house was at the edge of the city.
It was dark when Keifer arrived. The gates were open. The garden was overgrown. The windows were black. The house where he had grown up, the house where his mother had left, the house where his father had become something cold and distant.
He walked to the door. It was open. The hallway was dark. The stairs were empty. He walked to the study. The room where his father had sat for hours, staring at the wall, planning, waiting.
The lights were on.
Keizer was sitting in his chair. His face was old. His hands were thin. His eyes were Keifer's eyes. Dark. Cold. Steady.
"Son," Keizer said.
Keifer walked to the desk. He stood in front of his father. His face was calm. His hands were steady.
"You took everything," Keifer said. "The money. The accounts. Yuri. You took everything."
Keizer looked at him. His face didn't change. "I gave you everything. The company. The money. The power. You threw it away for a woman who was supposed to be your enemy."
Keifer's hands tightened. "She's my wife."
Keizer stood up. His face was hard. "She's a Mariano. Her family has been trying to destroy us for generations. Her uncle started the war. Her father let it continue. And you married her."
Keifer stepped closer. His voice was low. "You started the war. You and her uncle. You and the man in Singapore. You've been planning this for years."
Keizer's face didn't change. "I was protecting our family. I was doing what needed to be done."
"You were destroying us." Keifer's voice was rising. "You took everything. You took Yuri. You took the money. You took—"
"I took what was mine." Keizer's voice was cold. "I built this family. I built this empire. And you were going to throw it away for a woman who doesn't love you."
Keifer stared at him. His face was white. "She loves me."
Keizer laughed. It was a cold sound. "She loves your money. She loves your power. She loves what you can give her. When that's gone, she'll leave. Just like your mother."
Keifer's hand went to his gun. "Don't talk about her."
Keizer stepped closer. His face was inches from Keifer's. "Your mother left because she was weak. Because she couldn't handle what it takes to be a Watson. And you're weak too. You've always been weak."
Keifer's hand was on his gun. His face was white. "I'm not weak."
Keizer smiled. It was his father's smile. Cold. Cruel. "Then prove it. Leave her. Leave the Mariano woman. Come back to the family. Take your place. Be the son I trained you to be."
The room was silent. Keifer looked at his father. At the man who had raised him. At the man who had taught him to be cold, to be distant, to be a weapon. At the man who had been behind everything.
"No," Keifer said.
Keizer's face didn't change. "No?"
Keifer stepped back. His hand was steady. "I'm not leaving her. I'm not leaving my family. I'm not leaving the people who love me. You took everything. You took the money. You took Yuri. You tried to take Ella. You tried to take Care. But you didn't break us."
He walked to the door. He stopped. He looked back.
"I'm not you," Keifer said. "I'm never going to be you."
He walked out of the room.
---
The gunshot came from behind him.
Keifer heard it before he saw it. The crack of glass. The whistle of air. The sound of something moving too fast, too close.
He turned. His father was standing in the doorway. His gun was raised. His face was calm. His eyes were cold.
"You were always weak," Keizer said. "I should have done this years ago."
Keifer didn't move. His hands were empty. His face was calm. "Then do it."
Keizer's finger was on the trigger. His eyes were on Keifer. His hand was steady.
"Goodbye, son," Keizer said.
The shot came from the window.
Keifer heard it before he saw it. The crack of glass. The whistle of air. The sound of something moving too fast, too close.
His father fell. The gun fell. The blood was red on his white shirt, spreading fast, blooming like a flower.
Keifer dropped beside him. His hands were on his father's chest. His face was white.
"Father," Keifer said. "Father."
Keizer's eyes were open. His face was pale. His lips were moving.
"Keifer," he whispered. "I'm sorry."
Keifer's hands were shaking. "Stay with me. Stay with me."
Keizer smiled. It was small. Tired. Real. "I was never... the father you deserved."
His eyes closed. His hand went limp.
"Father!" Keifer screamed. "Father!"
---
Jay was at the door.
She ran to him. Her hands were on his face. Her voice was steady. "Keifer. Keifer, look at me."
He looked at her. His face was white. His hands were red. "He's gone. He's gone."
She pulled him close. Her arms were around him. "I'm here. I'm here."
He held her. His hands were shaking. His face was in her hair. "He was going to kill me. And then someone—"
He looked at the window. The glass was broken. The curtains were moving. The night was dark.
"Someone saved me," Keifer said.
Jay looked at the window. At the dark. At the shadows. At the person who had been watching. Who had been waiting. Who had saved him.
"Who?" she asked.
Keifer looked at his father's body. At the man who had raised him. At the man who had tried to kill him. At the man who had said he was sorry.
"I don't know," Keifer said. "I don't know."
---
The police came at dawn.
The house was surrounded. The body was taken. The questions were asked. Keifer answered them. His face was calm. His hands were steady. Jay was beside him. Her hand was in his.
When they left, the house was empty. The garden was overgrown. The windows were dark. The place where Keifer had grown up was silent.
He stood at the door. His father was gone. The man who had raised him. The man who had tried to kill him. The man who had said he was sorry.
Jay was beside him. "Are you okay?"
He looked at her. His face was tired. His eyes were dark. "I don't know."
She took his hand. "Let's go home."
He nodded. "Let's go home."
---
The car was waiting. Jay opened the door. Keifer got in. She walked around to the driver's side. She stopped.
There was a letter on the seat. White paper. Black ink. One word on the envelope.
Keifer.
She picked it up. Her hands were shaking. She got in the car. She handed it to him.
He looked at the envelope. At the handwriting. At the word that was his name.
"Who is it from?" Jay asked.
He opened it. His hands were steady. His face was calm. He read.
Keifer,
I saved your life tonight. Not because I forgive you. Not because I want you to forgive me. Because she asked me to.
She asked me to choose. She asked me to be better. She asked me to be the man she thought I could be. And I'm trying. I'm trying to be that man.
I took the money. I took everything. I was going to destroy you. I was going to take everything you loved. I was going to leave you with nothing.
But I couldn't. I couldn't destroy her. I couldn't destroy any of them. Because they saw me. They saw me when no one else did. They saw me when I was nothing. They saw me when I was a weapon. They saw me when I was a monster.
And she saw me. She saw me and she loved me anyway.
I'm not coming back. I can't come back. I've done too much. I've taken too much. I've hurt too many people.
But I'll be watching. I'll be there when you need me. I'll be there when she needs me. I'll be there when any of them need me.
I'm sorry for what I've done. I'm sorry for the money. I'm sorry for the lies. I'm sorry for Ella. I'm sorry for all of it.
But I'm not sorry for saving you.
Yuri
---
Keifer read the letter twice. Three times. His hands were shaking. His face was pale.
Jay took his hand. "It was Yuri. He saved you."
Keifer looked at the window. At the dark. At the shadows. At the place where Yuri had been watching. Waiting. Saving.
"He's out there," Keifer said. "He's out there and he's watching."
Jay squeezed his hand. "We'll find him. We'll bring him home."
Keifer looked at her. His face was tired. His eyes were dark. "What if he doesn't want to come home?"
She pulled him close. Her arms were around him. "Then we wait. We wait until he's ready."
He held her. His face was in her hair. "He saved my life."
She held him. "He saved your life."
---
The sun was rising when they drove away.
The old Watson house was behind them. The city was ahead. The light was gold. The sky was clear. Keifer looked at the letter in his hands. At the words Yuri had written. At the man who had been his friend. His brother. His enemy. His savior.
"He said she asked him to choose," Keifer said. "She asked him to be better."
Jay looked at him. "Ella."
Keifer nodded. "Ella saw him. She saw him when no one else did."
Jay looked at the road. At the city. At the home that was waiting.
"She saw all of us," Jay said. "She's always seen all of us."
---
END OF CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE