Page 12 of Dangerous Promises

I can't kill him. And he's playing with me.

"Off you go, princess. Run to safety," Alexei says, a smug smile on his face. Looking at me with condescending pity like I'm a pathetic toy.

I'm shoved into the car, and the last thing I see through the crack in the door is Alexei slinking away, satisfied. Freddie and Anton join me, the former going to touch my shoulder.

"You shouldn't have done that," I growl, shrugging him away.

I turn and ignore them, hiding my face before they can see the first tear fall.

By the time the car pulls up at the house I still haven't spoken a word to Anton or Freddie. I asked them not to interfere, and they did, anyway. It's just what I expected of them but still I find myself filled with disappointment. They are very lucky that Alexei let them get away with it.

It doesn't seem to matter how many times I remind them I did this so that they wouldn't get trapped in the middle, they just don't seem to ever hear me. If they bend the rules enough times, eventually Alexei will get sick of letting it slide.

They're only a step behind me as I push through the front doors, immediately annoyed to find that Angie is still here.

I push past her, but she pays me no mind.

"Sage, stop!" Anton demands. Knowing the tone in his voice, I do stop, but I don't turn back to look at him. "We had to-"

"I told you not to interfere. I told you to let it play out," I growl, still facing my back to him.

"This again?" Anton sighs, more easily annoyed with me than he used to be.

"Just let it go," Freddie advises, meant to be said under his breath but I still hear it.

"She doesn't understand wh-"

"Oh I understand," I say, turning on my heel and taking a step down the stairs to yell at them. "I did this so no one else would get hurt but you don't trust me to finish it."

Anton takes a deep breath and his nostrils flare while he regards me. "Respectfully, Sage. As if I would ever let you take this on by yourself."

That only serves to piss me off and I open my mouth to tell him so but he gets there first.

"Do you think we could bear to lose you?" Anton shakes his head and bites his lip. "You don't want anyone else to get hurt? Me either. You are the someone else I can't bear to see hurt. So think about that next time you go rushing off to fight your fucking promise."

Anton storms away, his expensive shoes clicking on the tile. With just me, Freddie and Angie left, the tension escalates to the point of awkwardness.

Angie seems more amused than anything, flaring her brows at me. "That was interesting. I enjoyed it. Nonetheless your father is home and therefore I have no further reason to stay."

As she goes to exit the house, Freddie gives her a playful look which she doesn't return. She runs her hand down his arm before lightly slapping his shoulder. "Don't call if you need anything."

Freddie disappears too and despite being the first one to temper, I'm the one left alone feeling like discardable trash. I climb the stairs slowly, gripping the rail like it's the only thing holding me up.

I pass the room that used to be my dad's, surprised by the hive of activity even though I knew he'd be here. I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear as I peer curiously through the door and set sight on my Dad back in his old bed. It's both a welcome and a horrible sight. To see him looking so gaunt and pale. A small figure in a place where he used to seem large.

He's placed upright in his canopy bed in front of the maroon curtains. Even from here I can see that his face looks sad. His mouth slightly downturned and vulnerable.

"You're welcome to go in," the nurse says from behind me, startling me into action. I jump but I still can't press my feet forward. "Go on now," she says, giving me a shove in the back that pushes me into the room.

With no space left between me and my fear, I step on careful toes towards Dad's bed.

He doesn't seem any bigger the closer I step. Now he is just small. Nothing like the dark, imposing person that he used to be. Even smaller than he was weeks ago when I last visited him.

It seems impossible that he could wake up now. He's been in a coma for over a year. Every part of the last few years has been a struggle. Bad news after more bad news. I'm not expecting any good. I think I gave up hope on him a long time ago.

Seeing him here is a different kind of grief. I've lost him anyway and yet his body still haunts the earth. Unable to move on.

I can guarantee if Dad knew what would become of him he'd tell me to pull the plug and let him go. Dimitri DeMarco was never small and he never turned away from a fight. Yet his body wastes away in this bed and I know he would hate it.