I wonder what my luck is like tonight. Maybe he’ll let me sneak through his bedroom door for old times’ sake and sleep with his arms curled around me. I hate that he’s had such a shitty night, but then, we all have. Maybe King needs me more tonight. After trying to save as many lives as possible while waiting to hear about his sister, he could really use some comfort.
“Alright, so what’s the plan?” Sebastian continues. “I have a few ideas, but—”
Carver launches out of his seat, crashing to the ground in front of Tobias. He throws his full glass clear across the room, letting it smash into the fireplace. Rum soaks the wall as his hand reaches for the glass moving towards Tobias’ lips. “NOOOO,” he roars, knocking it out of his hand just in time.
But it’s already too late. That’s Tobias’ second glass.
Tobias grunts, his furious glare shooting toward Carver as rum soaks through his already destroyed clothes. Everyone watches on wide-eyed, not a damn person having a fucking clue what’s going on. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Tobias demands, flying to his feet.
Carver stares up at him, genuine fear shining in his eyes. “Cyanide.”
Panic sets in and my heart instantly races. I don’t know much about cyanide, but I know that it can be deadly.
Tobias stills and looks down at Carver on his knees before him, his eyes wide and the terror clear on his face. He falls to his knees, his hands coming to his throat, almost as though he’s choking. Carver holds onto him, desperately searching his face. “SOMEONE CALL A FUCKING AMBULANCE.”
“No, no, no,” I begin to chant, my hand gripping Cruz’s beside me as silence falls through the room.
Tobias looks at his son as Michael Harding whips out his phone, urgently dialing 911. “Hunter,” Tobias breathes as King watches on in horror, not able to believe what’s happening right before his eyes.
His father begins to fall, and Carver gently lowers him down, but the second his head hits the expensive tiles, he begins frothing at the mouth as a violent seizure rocks through him.
“DAD,” King cries, rushing forward, knocking past me and shoving Carver back until he’s sprawled out behind him. King slides in, cradling his father’s head with hot tears stinging his eyes, killing me as I see such a strong man break. “No, Dad. Don’t you fucking go. We’re not finished yet. DAD.” King shakes him in desperation. “Open your fucking eyes. You’re going to be alright. The ambulance is on its way. Just hold on a little while longer.”
King holds his father as we all watch on in fear, my heart shattering in my chest as my body trembles under Cruz’s desperate hold. I want to run to King, I want to hold him and tell him that it’s going to be alright, but it won’t. There’s no escaping this.
Tobias King will die tonight.
“No, Dad. Please, no,” King sobs, dropping his head down to his father’s as his violent seizure eases and his body becomes limp in his son’s arms. Tobias finally gives in, allowing the cyanide to shut down his organs, and I watch in heartbreak as this great man is brought to his knees and we lose another soldier to the war that’s better known as Dynasty.
CHAPTER 36
King’s arm curls around my body, pulling me in tight against his chest as he lays awake, staring up at the dark ceiling. I finally got him into bed at five this morning, but we’ve both just laid here, neither of us saying a word as we soak in one another’s comfort.
I’ve drifted in and out of sleep over the past few hours, but I don’t think King has even closed his eyes to blink, he’s just stared up at the ceiling with his hand propped behind his head.
“Are you alright?” I murmur into the quiet room, placing my hand on top of his and lacing our fingers, holding him as tight as I possibly can. I can’t even begin to imagine what he must be feeling, watching his father fall like that … fuck, it broke him. I’ve never seen devastation like that before.
“No,” he grumbles as a sliver of morning sunlight begins to shine through my bedroom window. “But that doesn’t matter. I’ll figure it out and learn how to cope, but my little brother and sister … I just … Mom’s going to have to tell them this morning and I can’t stop thinking about how this is going to destroy them. Dad always treated me as an heir. Our relationship was strained, but with the twins … they got to have the relationship that I always dreamed about. They were just his kids, not his protégé, and they fucking loved him. They’re never going to be the same.”