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"I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible, and when I leave, you will finally understand why storms are named after people."

- Pinterest

I slammed the Jeep into park, the tires crunching against the gravel of the driveway. Not a single fucking word had passed between us the entire ride, and that silence wasn't going to break now. I was too busy wrestling with the urge to rip Theodore apart with my bare hands. He was still my uncle, and that was the only goddamn reason he was still breathing.

I was out instantly, the door swinging open so hard it nearly bounced back at me. I needed to get away from him before I did something I couldn't take back.

"Hector."

I stopped in my tracks.

I closed my eyes for half a second, inhaled through my nose, then turned to face him.

"Thank you for supporting me back there," he said. "For understanding."

I fucking snapped.

"Support?" I spat, stalking back toward him, every muscle in my body wound tight. "Are you out of your goddamn mind, Theo? You fucking betrayed my father! They killed him because of you! And you murdered an innocent cop like it was nothing! So, no, Uncle, I didn't fucking understand a goddamn thing."

I saw the regret in his eyes, but it didn't mean shit to me.

"Forgive me, son," he murmured, voice low, almost pleading.

"Don't you fucking call me that." My voice was a growl, low and dangerous.

Theodore wasn't just my uncle. He had been my goddamn role model, the man I once wanted to be. But betrayal was something I couldn't fucking stomach.

"I regret what I did to my brother," Theodore said , his steps slow as he came closer. "If I could take it all back, I would. But I killed John Hansley to protect you, to save you. And that, I don't regret, Hector. I loved you like a son. If you want to put a bullet in me, I won't stop you. But whatever you decide, I trust it'll be the right call."

Fucking bastard. He knew exactly where to twist the knife. He knew I still saw the man who had raised me, the one who had protected Madison and me, who had taught me how to survive in this brutal world. But that man was gone.

"I don't think I can ever forgive you, Theo." My voice was quieter now, the rage cooling into something colder, heavier. "You were the man I respected. The man I wanted to be. You were a man of honor, even in this fucked-up life we live. But now.. Now, you're just a man who sold out his own blood. You're the reason your own brother is dead."

For the first time in my life, Theodore looked... small. The mountain of a man I had looked up to my entire life wasn't there anymore. He wasn't unshakable. He wasn't indestructible. He was just a broken man drowning in his own guilt.