“Untie him,” I barked out.
Joshua moved past me. From the corner of my eye I caught the glare of the knife in his hand. Sam lifted his face, color draining from his already pale face when he saw what Joshua was holding.
“No, no, no!”
“Shut the fuck up!” I yelled, frightening him even more. My entire body warmed in satisfaction at the look of fear on his face.
Joshua moved behind him, cutting the zip ties that’d bound his wrists.
“He’s been fed properly, right?” I grunted, eyes locked on Sam but asking the other three men in the room.
“Fed, warm bed to sleep in, and kept comfortable the last three weeks, as per your request,” Carter answered behind me.
“For the life of me, I don’t know you’d want this piece of shit kept comfortable,” Tyler growled.
I moved closer to Sam, bending my knees and peering up at him. “I have my reasons.” A sardonic smile creased my lips. “Isn’t that right, Samuel?”
I heard grunting behind me but paid it no attention.
“Look at me!” I ordered.
Sam blinked a few times, his eyes peering down at me. They narrowed on me. He was growing angry. Good.
“My wife…” I paused, grinning even more when I watch his eyes glaze over at those two words. “My wife,” I repeated, “thinks I’m a good man. She tells me almost every day.” I shook my head. “She is my lifeline.”
“You don’t deserve her!” he yelled.
I nodded. “That, we can agree on.” I cocked my head to the side. “She’s wrong. I’m not a good man.” I rose to my full height, standing over him. “A good man wouldn’t do what I’m about to do to you.” I took a step back. “Stand up.”
“Fuck you!” he yelled.
A chuckle broke free of my lips. “I said, stand the fuck up!” I kicked the chair out from underneath him as I repeated my words.
“Unf!” He groaned when he fell on his ass. “She loves me!” he screamed from the floor.
“This fucking guy is whacked!” Tyler yelled behind me.
I bent low, moving in close to him. “You think so? Was she in love with you when she was riding my dick last night? How about when she gave birth to my children? Or now that she’s pregnant with two more of my children? She still love you?” I taunted, knowing my words would finally send him over the edge.
“Grrr-ahh!” he growled, lunging at me. However, he yelled in agony when I stood, dodging his lunge, and pressed the heel of the steel-toe boots I wore to his face.
Blood poured out of his nose but the crazed gleam in his eyes revealed he was too far gone to care. Excellent. That was just where I wanted him.
“Fuck yo–” He couldn’t get the full curse out before my right cross landed on his chin. Just as he was falling from my punch, I landed another kick to his kneecap. The second time, warmth infused my body when I heard the crunch of bones breaking. His yelp of pain also sent a shiver of elation through me.
Sam was beyond reason at that point, which was just where I wanted him. I could see the agony on his face but my words had set him off. He limped, charging me, screaming that Patience was his. I saw red and blacked out. I caught him with a quick jab and then a left hook to his right ribcage, causing him to buckle to the ground. For most that might’ve been enough, but this was the bastard that’d tried to kill my children while my wife was pregnant the first time, then attacked my woman again. The image of him punching her on that video replayed in my mind. The fear I still saw in her eyes most days over the past three weeks, wreaked havoc on my soul. No. This motherfucker could not live to see another day.
I pounded into his face and chest with everything I had. He flailed his arms and legs at first, as I straddled his body. Eventually, his arms fell to his side as he lost consciousness, but I continued the brutal hammering. Even once my arms grew heavy with exhaustion I stood, and broke one of the legs free of the wooden chair he’d been sitting in when I first entered. I used that leg to beat the rest of the life out of that deranged, son of a bitch, until there was nothing left.
By the time I was finished, my chest heaved, as my lungs struggled for air. I felt like I was coming to from fainting. I looked around, seeing the bloody mess that was once Sam laid out on the floor. His face was unrecognizable; blood and brain matter now coated the floor. My entire body was covered in blood but I knew none of it was mine. The room was completely silent.
I tossed the wooden chair leg aside, the sound reverberating against the concrete. It wasn’t enough. I growled and kicked the lifeless body again and again. I wished I could bring him back to life just to do it all over again.
“That’s enough!” I heard in my peripheral but I didn’t stop.
I kicked and kicked again until three pairs of arms tugged at me.
“He’s fucking dead!” Carter yelled.
“Bro, enough!” Joshua added.
“We need to dispose of the body,” Tyler chimed in.
“Fuck him!” I growled.
“Let it go, bro,” Joshua stated. “He’s gone. He can’t hurt her anymore.”
His words finally mollified me. She was safe. My wife would no longer have to worry about that motherfucker ever again. Or anyone else, as long as I was concerned.
I held up my hands, silently telling my brothers I was fine. They could release me.
I turned from the body. The sight of it still angered me and I needed to regain my sanity to go back to my family.
“You need to clean up,” Joshua came up behind me, stating. “New clothes are in the bathroom. Shower, get this shit off of you, give me your clothes and we’ll burn it with the rest of this filth.”
I nodded, heeding Joshua’s words. I sauntered off in the direction he pointed, reaching the bathroom that was a total contradiction to the room I’d just come from. Whereas the large, empty, concrete space was dreary and dark, the bathroom looked as if it could’ve been a part of a luxury home or hotel. A full size shower, granite tiles on the floors and walls. There was even a huge bathtub for soaking. This was on of Joshua’s buildings.
I didn’t dwell too much on my brother’s affairs. After removing my clothing, I stepped in the shower, and let the hot water wash everything away. I wasn’t about to let Sam or anyone else come between my wife and I any longer. Even if that someone was me. We’d been through too much. She was mine and there wasn’t a damn thing anyone could do about it.
I’d promised her that once I returned home, that it was over. He was no longer a part of our lives and I meant it. Sam was dead. The only other time I’d see him again would be in hell. But before then, I had a wife and children who needed me. They’d get my full attention from there on out.
Epilogue
Patience
“Oww! It huuuurts!” I yelled and moaned from the hospital bed.
“I know, Patience. Just one more push!” the doctor insisted. I wanted to tell her to go fuck herself. I was exhausted after twelve hours of labor. The last thing I wanted to do was push out not one but two babies.
“Come on, baby. Just a little more,” Aaron cooed from my side.
Despite the pain and exhaustion, the tenderness in his voice and the vice grip he had on my hand spurred me forward.
“I’m not having anymore of your twins!” I insisted and then inhaled deeply, readying myself for the next push.
“If you say so.” He pressed a kiss to my sweaty forehead.
“Push, Patience. One…two…” The doctor continued counting as I pushed, bearing down with everything I could. “The head’s out. One more…come on.”
Seconds later, loud wailing pierced the air as our baby boy was born. I barely had time to welcome him with a kiss to his little reddened face before his identical twin made it clear he was ready to make his entrance into the world as well.
Aaron quickly passed the baby to one of the nurses, and grabbed my hand again, his free hand massaging my shoulder as he and the doctor encouraged me to push. I put everything out of my mind
and just listened to the sound of Aaron’s voice. It was the beacon of light through the pain.
Eight minutes after his brother was born, our third son entered the world. His cries were even louder than his twin’s. It wasn’t lost on me that both babies’ crying ceased as soon as they were placed into their father’s arms. I knew then our two boys had fallen as hopelessly in love with their father as their mama had. My only regret in that moment was that Kyle and Kennedy couldn’t be in the room.
It took a while to clean me up as I’d had some tearing during the birth and needed to be stitched up. Afterwards, both babies were placed on my breasts so they could begin latching. Aiden, the oldest, latched immediately, while his younger brother, Evan, struggled a little but eventually caught on.
I noticed how aggressively both twins began sucking, taking in all the colostrum they could. I glanced up to a frowning Aaron.
“What’s that look?” I grinned, already knowing what he was thinking.
“They’re sucking on what belongs to me.” His frown deepened.
I didn’t even bother looking up toward the nurse who gasped at his words.
“Jealous of your own sons?”
His shining eyes rose to meet mine. “Maybe a little.” He bent down, pressing a kiss to my lips before sitting down at the side of the bed. His large hand went to stroke one baby then to the next one.
“I’m sorry I missed this the first time around.”
“You’re here now.”
He nodded. “And I’ll be here for our next two…or three births.”
“Three?” I gave him a glare. “You said you wanted three more kids. We just had two. How does that equate to two or three more births??”
The left side of his face kicked up. “I lied.”
Shaking my head, I mumbled an expletive under my breath. “I’m not having any more.”
Aaron leaned over and kissed my lips before kissing the tops of the babies’ heads. “I bet I can get you to change your mind.” He had the audacity to fucking wink at me.
I went to give him my retort but his next words blew me away.
“Marry me.”
I wrinkled my forehead. “I just delivered two children, but you’re the one who’s delirious? We’re already married.”
The gleam in his eyes grew as he nodded. “Marry me again. This time on a white sand beach while the sun sets as we say our vows.”
My eyes were blurry before he’d even finished this last sentence. “You remembered?” I whispered. I’d once told him during a late night conversation all those years ago that while I never imagined a big wedding, I had wanted one on the beach, at sunset.
“Every word you’ve ever said to me.” He bent low, his face just inches from mine. “Marry me again.” He removed a box from his pocket, opening it, showing off my diamond ring. The ring I hadn’t worn in months due to the swelling from my pregnancy. Pulling it out, he turned the ring so I could read the inscription on the inside of the white gold band.
I smiled widely. “Aaron’s Patience,” I read the words.
“Forever. Even if these two haven’t gotten the memo yet.” He gestured to the two newborns in my arms who were nestled against my chest, still suckling away.
I giggled and then nodded, tears running down my cheeks. He cupped the back of my head, fusing our lips together.
I was his and he was mine. Always had been. Always will be.
The End