“Devotion. Loyalty is devotion, McCutcheon. It’s a deep love and commitment, is a great dedication. It comes with a strong enthusiasm and admiration toward something or someone”.

“I don’t need your lessons”, I reply.

“Yes, you do”, and his eyes dart in my direction.

“You do, my dear, because loyalty is faithfulness. And you are not a faithful person, Shane. Your wife knows that. Everybody does”, he states matter-of-factly.

He stares at me and I keep my eyes up high. I am not intentioned to look down, not tonight, not with this man. Jack Sanders can’t and won’t be someone able to teach me anything about allegiance. Or anything else.

“My wife knows me better than you’ll ever do, and I don’t need your lessons”, I repeat, blinking my eyelids slowly.

Sanders smirks and throws a look behind his shoulders, at Justine. The woman cocks her head to a side and smiles back.

“The mere presence of Justine, here, proves that you’re wrong”, Sanders says and turns to Carmen, “Miss Morales, did you see the photographs Mister Turmont has been so kind to deliver to your house?”.

Carmen smiles a little, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

“Didn’t you want to play, Señor?”, she asks him, conversationally.

Sanders barks the pale shadow of an amused laugh.

“Oh, I see. You want to stay close to your little, unfaithful partner. Don’t you? You chose, didn’t you?”.

“Precisely”, Carmen replies immediately with no hesitation and right now all I would like to do is to kiss her and thank her for her devotion until the end of the world. Yes, I do know about loyalty. I live beside it everyday. She talks to me in Carmen’s voice, she touches me with Carmen’s hands, she teaches me with Carmen’s heart.

“I am glad my son took away pieces of your memory, Miss Morales. I think you owe him. He spared you all the bad memories about Shane”, Sanders murmurs. Carmen doesn’t seem to buy it. She is unreadable and controlled and rational and I look at her in wonder. She’s a fighter. I’ve always known that. But still I am surprised by her inborn strength.

“Competitiveness”, Sanders exclaims, turning his back to us and staring transfixed at the fireplace. His attractive face looks red in the reflection of the flames. The face of the Beast.