Page 231 of Breaking Rosalind

I sit up in bed, my heart pounding. “Finally.”

She turns back to give me a sharp nod. “I acquired an orderly uniform and some ID. That will allow you to enter and exit the hospital without raising suspicion.”

The formality in her words grates on my nerves. “And you?”

“I’ve canceled today’s hooker so I can take her place. That gives us ample time to kill him slowly, then take out Tommy when he comes to visit.”

“And afterward?”

“I already made arrangements with Xero,” she replies, turning her attention back to her phone.

A burst of anger propels me out of the bed. I stalk toward her, my fists clenched, mind in utter turmoil as I grapple with rejection and confusion.

“What does that mean?” I say through clenched teeth.

Rosalind halts, her fingers pausing mid-text, and gazes at me as if I’m the lunatic. “We need a decoy to help you get past the guards. I also asked Xero to station a car at each exit with a driver. Black sedans with sequential registrations driven by men wearing black baseball caps.”

“Isn’t that overkill?”

“Probably, but we could get separated. That way, both of us have a surefire escape route.”

It’s too early to feel relief because it sounds like she’s already planning our breakup. “And after that?”

She flashes me a smile. “Then we celebrate.”

“And after we celebrate?”

She inhales a deep breath and sighs. “Tonight will be complicated enough. We need to take out one set of guards without alerting the other. Once we’ve dealt with the first brother, we only have a short window of time before it’s time to take out the other.”

“Alright,” I say, my voice tight. “But you don’t get to disappear in one of those sedans.”

She closes the distance between us and places a palm on my chest. “There’s no chance of that happening.”

“Until you get your money,” I add, trying not to sound bitter.

“Will giving you an answer help you focus better on the mission?” she asks, her voice soft.

I give her a sharp nod, the muscles of my stomach tightening in anticipation of her rejection.

“There’s no such thing as love. Before you protest, I believe in filial love, platonic love, and any other kind of affection that’s built up over years of sacrifices and trust. But romantic love is nothing more than an extreme chemical reaction.”

“Are you comparing what we have to a drug?”

She raises a shoulder. “Maybe. Drugs fade, just like romantic love.”

“Give me a chance to prove to you I’m not fickle.”

Her eyes soften. “After tonight.”

I nod. “Deal.”

It’s not the answer I was hoping for, but it’s the sliver of hope I need to get through tonight’s confrontation with Matty Galliano.

I need to stay alert. Rosalind is likely to escape me the moment the Galliano brothers are dead. I’ll have to move quickly before she slips away.

NINETY-THREE

ROSALIND