It Takes Two | ✓

Chapter 20

Adam didn't look up as they edged around the doorway into the living room. He was distracted, messing around with the candles, still calm and at peace.

It was shattered the moment the man holding Gabe spoke. "Daddy's home!"

And oh, God, the look on Adam's face confirmed it. The man holding Gabe was Adam's father. He laughed again and shoved Gabe towards Adam.

"Ah ah," Adam's father scolded as Adam's eyes began to dart around the room in search of a weapon. He held up the hunting knife to give Adam a good look at it. "If you give me any trouble, I'll use this on him."

"What do you want?" Adam managed to choke out.

"What do I want? Well..." He paced slowly across the room. "I want you to put your phones on the coffee table and sit down on the couch." When they hesitated, he held up the knife and gave it a practiced twirl. "Now, please."

They obeyed.

Adam's father wasn't a large man, but the rolled up sleeves on the collared shirt he was wearing revealed a wiry musculature. He was soaked through from the rain, but otherwise he had the dress and grooming of a working professional.

"My mum'll be home soon," Adam said, though it came out as barely more than a murmur.

"Would you like that? I don't think you'd like that." He gave the knife another twirl. "Don't worry, though. I put a tracker on her car, and she's..." He got out his phone and pressed a few buttons. "Oh, look at that, still stuck in traffic. That's good. We don't need the extra mess, do we?"

"You should let Gabe go, then."

Adam's father pressed his lips together and ducked his head. "Mm, yeah, see, the problem with that is that I'm not a complete idiot. Nice try, though."

"Why are you here, dad?"

"Because your mum's kept you away from me for years, and look at you. You're a pathetic mess, crying about how bad you feel for everything you do. Makes me sick."

Adam had folded his arms over his chest and was squeezing himself so hard that he trembled a little. "How would you know anything about me? I haven't seen you since I was ten."

"Did you want to?"

Adam averted his gaze. He didn't answer.

"Anyway, the answer to your question is that you really need to be more careful about who you talk to on social media. Say, Twitter for example."

Adam shook his head. "No, my Twitter is private. I only have people I know in real life on there."

"Mmh, well, smart thinking, only you didn't bother to make sure everyone was who you thought they were. Just stop. Think about it for a second. I'm sure you can get there."

Adam's eyes tracked back and forth for a few seconds and then came to a sudden stop as realisation dawned on his face. "He said Uncle Damien gave him my Twitter."

"I said that, and then you briefly showed a hint of common sense when you questioned that claim because your Uncle Damien never once brought Gabriel out with you when he took you somewhere so why would they be talking? When would they have even had the opportunity? But then I spouted some bullshit about Damien giving your Twitter to him because he was worried about you, and you gave up on being sceptical."

"All this time...?"

"All this time, baby boy." Adam's father turned to Gabe. "He's sorry, by the way. So sorry. How will you ever forgive him? Makes me sick. Everything I tried to teach him, and now he's just weak. I never should have—"