Page 334 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

I choke back a sob and Roman nuzzles my neck. “Why did he have to do all of that?” I whisper. “Why the hell did he have to ruin everything?”

“Hey,” Roman whispers. “You’ll never understand what went through his head, Chell. People grieve in different ways.”

“How can you be so matter-of-fact?” I ask, twisting my head to look at him. “After everything he did to you and your family? To those guys he killed? He didn’t give a damn about anyone but himself. He let my dad take the fall for him. I mean, because of his stupid ass choices, I was kidnapped!”

“And did that turn out so badly for you?” he asks, a smile tugging at his lips.

I sniffle. “No, but that’s not the point.”

“I know. And you have a lot of rage inside of you right now. I get it. I’d feel the same way. But you need to figure out a way to move past it. He went off the deep end, yeah, but you shouldn’t remember that part. You need to hold onto everything else, otherwise you’ll be poisoning yourself every time you think of him.” He drops a kiss onto my forehead. “Besides, now you’re going to make things right with your dad. That’s a good thing.”

“Great. One good thing,” I mumble.

“You have me, too,” he says. “And Bella.”

I shake my head. “No, we need to take her to the police. I can’t keep her in good conscience. She needs to be with her rightful owners. I’ve lost too much to deny someone else the happiness she can bring. We’ve already kept her for too long.”

Roman’s brow furrows. “Are you sure?”

I nod. “Yes.” My heart is already breaking. Why not say goodbye to one more thing?

“We’ll stop on our way to see your dad.” His lips stretch into a tight line. “If it’s what you really want.”

“It is,” I say, swiping at my eyes. “I’m going to take a quick shower and then we can get going.”

He nods. “Okay. Do you want anything to eat? Coffee?”

“I can’t even think about it,” I murmur. “And then later…we need to talk about what we’re…what happens with…” I take a deep breath. “What we do with the…body.”

I gently lay Bella next to Roman and slide out of the bed, grabbing some of the clothes he bought me the day before during our shopping spree.

My temples throb as I brush my teeth and turn on the hot shower spray. The water scalds my skin, making it tingle. It mixes with the tears running down my face as the events from the last twenty-four hours replay in my mind.

I don’t know how much time passes while I stand there. Could be minutes. Could be hours. But instead of making me feel better, more refreshed, the shower only fuels my fury.

I wasted so much time, so much energy, so much of everything to make a better life for someone who didn’t even think enough about me to do the same.

We were strangers, and that realization makes the tears fall faster and harder.

I finally step out of the shower, moving around like a zombie.

Roman takes a quick shower once I am finished and I spend a few minutes playing with Bella before my heart takes its final, I hope, beating of the day.

One of Roman’s guys drops off a car for us to drive since the Bentley is in desperate need of body work. We climb into the BMW 7 series and I hold Bella tight in my lap as he drives uptown toward the police station in Inwood.

A fleeting thought occurs to me when I remember the rent on our apartment is overdue.

Ourapartment.

A gaggle of tears forms in my throat as Roman makes a turn down Shipwell Avenue and pulls up to the curb. He turns off the ignition and looks at me. “You sure you want to do this?” he asks.

I take a deep breath. “Yes, at least someone should be happy today.”

He snakes an arm around me as we walk inside with Bella. We stop in front of a one-way mirror and pick up the phone to let them know the reason for our visit. A few minutes later, a tall officer with kind eyes walks out and motions for us to follow him. He introduces himself as Officer Johnson.

He asks some questions about Bella — where we found her, if we’d seen her before that day, if she’d had on a collar.

She clings to me like she knows something is about to change for the worse, and I hold her tight because I know she’s right.

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