Page 67 of Devious Roses
“What I had to do,” Sasha answers, a feverish gleam about her. She waves the gun around as though it’s some sort of extension of her arm. “I acted when no one else would. I made him stop. I’ll do whatever I have to do to make it stop.”
“Sasha,” I say with a ripple of horror inside me. She’s too unpredictable and unstable in this moment. “Put the gun down. Please, just put it down.”
She shakes her head. Her tears freefall down her face. “It’s not over. The men… he’s had them watching me.”
“Sasha, we’ll take care of it. I promise you. You just need to get help.”
I’m not sure how much time passes. Things have gone silent on the office floor, except for Sasha’s sobs. She clutches her gun and trembles on the spot as though unsure what to do next. Everyone else on the floor has presumably fled.
Soon the distant whir of sirens starts.
The door to the office cracks open. A man appears. As soon as he does, I’m aware his attention is keyed onto us. We both look over at the same time.
The man grins at us, then he does what Sasha did to Polk—he holds up a gun and he shoots her.
I can’t even scream when it happens. The moment’s too sudden and surprising. Sasha hits the ground with a soft thud and lays immobile only feet away from a dead Polk.
I whip around for another look at the man in the doorway.
I don’t understand. I don’t get what’s happening.
He’s unfamiliar and familiar all at once. Someone I’ve seen before, but someone whom I don’t at all know except…
“Now that that’s over and done with, we’ve got to get going,” Renzo says. “I’ll take you home, sweetheart. Your husband’s waiting.”
19
delphine
“What…”I can’t even finish my sentence. I’m still so dazed. So out of it.
I’m not sure I’ve ever been so speechless in my life. My brain might as well be powered off the way I gape at the man in the doorway and try to compute how and why he’s here.
Renzo Bonetti is an old-time rival of Salvatore’s. The two were warring as far back as my days at Westoria Prep. During the birthday trip Salvatore and I had taken the summer before college, the two of them had almost come to blows.
Another time when we’d been out on New Years Eve, we’d been attacked by a man in an alley. Salvatore had been so sure he was acting on behalf of Renzo and the Viscontis. The moment had been a catalyst for our soon-to-come breakup as I realized how dangerous Salvatore could be.
Once the Visconti crime family had been dismantled, I hadn’t paid much attention after that. Salvatore hasn’t once mentioned him…
A lopsided grin takes over his face. “What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you weren’t expecting to see me. What’d you think? I just poofed into thin air and stopped existing?”
My mouth opens and then clamps shut. My head shakes. I don’t know what to do or say, because I can’t fathom what’s happening.
Polk and Sasha lay in bloody pools at my feet. Sasha killed Polk only for Renzo to shoot her. She’s releasing gurgled, struggling breaths, on the brink between life and death.
“We need to get her medical attention. I’m going to reach for my phone and call 911.”
“You’ll do no such thing, sweetheart. We’ve got important fish to fry. More important than making sure some prostitute doesn’t bleed out on the carpet.”
I glare at his callous disregard. “How did you even find me?”
“You act like it’s hard. I’ve been keeping tabs on you—all of you, including the prostitute—for weeks. I followed you the whole way here. Even figured your security wouldn’t come in with you. Luckily I don’t give a fuck about walking into government buildings and committing crimes.”
“I have no business with you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve got business with you—and your husband. We’re heading to see him. A reunion, for old time’s sake.” He beckons me with the arm holding his gun. “We’ve gotta be on our way. You hear those sirens? The cops are already on the premises.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”