Max's Point-of-View
10 hours earlier
"Sir, hold still! I am going to extract the bullet, but you need to stop moving!"
I yell in pain! That asshole shot me in the shoulder, and I have one of my useless men trying to get the bullet out. Not to mention the fact that the bitch shot my middle toe-off on my right foot! The guard has already cauterized my wound.
My guard has to take a heated knife to the arm to get it to stop bleeding.
I need to get rid of Sam and Ryder before I lose another limb!
She owes me her life and so much more! When I get a hold of her, I will strangle the life out of her then I will make Ryder watch!
After that, I will stick my gun down his throat and pull the trigger. I curse the day I ever hired that motherfucker to kill Sam! This all happened because of him! Because he listened to his dick instead of the money!
Now I am on a plane to Mr. and Mrs. Hallowell, bleeding all over the place. I need a goddamn drink!
"Where's my fucking scotch?!" I yell at one of the bodyguards.
The one closest to me jumps up and heads to a cart to get me a refill.
What kind of son-in-law will I be if I don't pay my Tim and Rebecca one last visit before their deaths? I will also make sure Sam gets her due! Her parents mean more to her than anyone else, even Ryder, I'm sure. Nothing will bring me more happiness than having her watch them die.
I yell in pain again!
The guard is reaching into my wound with a pair of tongs, trying to retrieve the bullet. I hold onto the arm of the chair with all my might!
If I hadn't been somewhat drunk, I would've passed out for sure due to the pain. Even then, I still feel it all.
My guard returns with a glass cup and a bottle of scotch. I snatch the bottle from him and take a huge gulp, letting the liquid burn as it travels down my throat.
In a rage, I throw the glass at the wall! It shatters.
This is the worst pain I have ever felt! Well, except for when I cut my own finger off. I groan as another guard brings me another glass cup. He begins to pour me a drink.
I yell as he pulls the bullet out.
"Got it, sir! Now I have to stitch it up, and you'll be fine," the young guard says with a smile on his face.
His words made my blood boil. "Did you say I'll be fine? No! I won't be fine! When everyone is dead and buried, then I will be fine!" I yell in his face.
It wipes the smile off the guard's face, and he continues to patch my shoulder up.
Pulling out my phone, I hit redial. A familiar voice picks up.
"It's Max! Do you have my in-laws' insight? Good! Grab them and burn the boat. Make sure no one else on that boat survives. This message will be loud and clear to my wife and her lover."
I seeth as I hang up the phone and take another drink.
No doubt Ryder and Sam are behind me! I need to be a few steps in front of them!
Hours later, I arrive at an abandoned warehouse about two miles outside of Santorini. The sun is still high in the sky.
One of my guards opens the car door for me. I get out, fix myself, and limp towards the building.
I am in an all-white Dolce and Gabbana suit with red aviator sunglasses.
I feel empowered! Rich! So much so that God, himself, can't touch me at this point. I'm so close to having it all! Everything I want! Everything I deserve!
But I'm also in so much pain! I have to swallow it and push through. This whole thing will be over soon.
I walk into the warehouse, where it smells of nothing but smoke and mold. It's an old fabric factory that caught on fire decades ago. Just the equipment burned. The integrity of the building still holds.
"Where are they?" I ask the man who I hired to retrieve Mr. and Mrs. Hallowell. Apparently, he's the best of the best. This is the man I should've hired to take Samantha out in the first place.
He's dark skin, bald, and very tall. Ryder's a big guy, but this guy is even bigger. Dressed in all leather. It reminds me of a young Shaft. He is even wearing a gun holster.
He looks unamused. "They are in the back. Tied up. Papa decided he wanted to be brave. Had to rough him up a bit," he says with a British accent.
His words make me smile. "Very well! I'm sure we will have visitors soon. Go and get what I asked for. Watch your back, and don't underestimate Ryder," I say, placing my hand on his shoulder.
The man looks at my hand and back at me menacingly. I remove my hand quickly and compose myself.
"I can't wait to meet this...Ryder," says the man with no name.
Well, that's what was said to me. I don't need to know anything about him, though. As long as he's paid, he'll do anything and everything I ask of him.
The man nods and removes his gun from his holster. He turns and walks back outside.
As I approach them, I hear Mrs. Hallowell crying. They are both sitting, hands and feet bound to chairs.
Rebecca looks up at me and starts to scream for her husband.
"Tim! Wake up! Please! He's here!" She starts to sob as she looks at her unconscious husband. It brings me great satisfaction to see how disheveled she look. Her matted hair in a bun. Her black eye makeup running down her cheeks. She's wearing a red bikini with a mesh poncho on top.
I lick my lips at the thought. Rebecca has an amazing body! If I didn't hate this woman so much, I would've dreamt about sleeping with her.
"Oh my God, why Maxwell!?! Why are you doing this!?"
I smile as I approach them. She's struggling to get free from the ropes.
"Well, Mama, because why not?"
I look over at Tim, who is just waking up. He has a severe cut to the side of his head and a split lip. He's wearing blue water shorts and a torn white t-shirt.
"Wow, Tim, you don't look so good! I hear you tried to play tough and got roughed up a bit. It looks like it hurts." I point to my lip.
Tim's eyes glaze over as he completely ignores me and looks over at his wife. "Rebecca! Honey, are you okay?"
"Yes!" She screams. "Thank God, Tim! I've been calling you, and you didn't respond! I was thinking the worst," she says as she begins to cry.
"I'm fine, sweetheart," Tim says to her as he scowls at me. "I didn't want to believe it, but it's true! Did you try to kill my daughter?! And on your honeymoon?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" He yells, trying to free himself.
I pull up a chair in front of Tim and sit.
"Oh, Sam didn't tell you about her assassin, did she?"
Tim and Rebecca look at one another, confused.
"Well." I clear my throat. "I actually hired someone months ago to kidnap her. You both remember that, right?"
They both look at me in utter disgust and shock!
"He was to hold her until her will was finalized, and I was given a copy. Everything would've been mine in the event of her death, of course."
"Then you, Tim, generously told me how if anything were to happen to you and your darling wife here, Sam and I would inherit it all."
I pause and smile at him.
"Remember? The day I went to visit you, and you were so depressed?"
I look at Rebecca and smile. She spits in my direction. Tim looks like he just saw a ghost.
I laugh. "Then I thought, why limit myself to just money? What about all the properties you own and the entire company? It had me salivating at the mouth. It also had put a damper on my plans. That meant I had to get Sam back! Marry the tramp!"
Bile rose in my mouth at the thought of Sam and Ryder together.
"Little did I know, Sam and this assassin would fall in love. Can you believe that, Tim?! Here I am, crying my eyes out, on national television, and she's in bed with the guy! I paid him to kill her, and he didn't do!"
I rake my hand through my hair as I close my eyes. I try to control my anger as I sigh deeply and scratch my chin.
"It's okay! You know why? Because tonight she dies!" I smile at them both.
Rebecca starts to sob while Tim looks at me in disbelief. I enjoy inflicting pain on them without having to move a muscle.
I continue. "He didn't want to bring her back. Instead, he kept her hidden. Can you believe that? And she enjoyed it!" I raise my voice.
"She didn't care that we were suffering! Here we were, ready to bury her, and she's living happily with him. Probably fucking him and vacationing!"
I shake my head, laughing.
It still pisses me the fuck off that she's with him as we speak. Yeah, I slept with every whore in California, but I never expected that betrayal from Sam!
"But I guess he loves her so much that he brings her back, " I say as I sigh.
"Apparently, she didn't know it was him that dropped her back at that shitty motel. All that moping around she did when she was returned to us? It wasn't due to trauma! It was because she wanted to go back to him! To Ryder!"
"Enough!" Rebecca yells startling me.
I look at her and sneer. Her make up is running, eyes puffy. This is the first time Rebecca Hallowell looks a mess.
"You don't like the fact that your only daughter is a slut?"
She looks at me, upset. Then it changes to one of confidence. "Oh, I don't care if my daughter fucked two brothers, at the same time, and then went to meet their father! I'm fine with it, as long as it's not you! You're disgusting! You deserve whatever comes your way! You might even kill us, but I know my daughter. She will make sure you don't live to see a dime of our fortune! You bastard!"
How dare she?!
I get up quickly, kicking the chair behind me. I walk up to Rebecca and put a hand around her throat, squeezing as hard as I can! She panics, and her eyes fill with tears as I get close to her face.
"Leave her alone, Max! Kill me but don't touch her!" Tim yells.
I look over at him with a sinister smile. Tears are in my eyes. If they only knew how bad I want them dead right now! I smile.
It's nothing personal. They are of use to me dead, not alive.
"I want you to know this, Mommy dearest," I say as I turn back to Rebecca, still clutching her throat. A look of panic on her face as she gasps for air. "Know that after I kill you both, Samantha will die. I'm going to make her lover watch as I torture her, cut off a limb or two!"
"Then I will put a bullet through that perfectly shaped head of hers! He's going to watch the lights go out in her eyes. Then I am going to kill him! Do you understand me?! Your daughter will be so disfigured that no one will recognize her in the afterlife!"
I don't realize how hard I have my hands around Rebecca's throat until I let her go. Tears are rolling down her cheeks, as she gasps for air.