Page 88 of Deception
“That’s also my fault.”
“What—”
“I have to do it. Not you… Me.”
The sigh from Lex sounds like relief. “You don’t have to.”
Nodding, Rocco blinks back the tears. “Yeah, I do. I’m at fault for all of it. Go out there like you were going to, and I’ll make it quick. She won’t even know it happened.”
They walk back out, and Lex takes the gun from her waistband. Rocco feels a bit of comfort seeing the pain from this betrayal. That she still has an air of disbelief that they got here like he feels.
“You’re going to kill me?” Autumn asks, her chest heaving.
“You betrayed the club,” Venom says. “There’s no exception for a rat.”
“But I did this for us, Rocco,” she says, tears streaming down her face as she pleads with him. “You can’t let her kill me. It’s only because I love you.”
His hand shakes as he holds the gun behind his back, and the tears sting his eyes. “You betrayed us, baby. I love you, but this is my family. This is the only life I’m going to have.”
“He promised to spare you!” she shouts. “We were going to finally be happy!”
“Tell him you love him,” Lex says.
Shaking her head, Autumn looks at Lex. “Please, Lex, don’t do this. I’ll go away.”
“Tell him you love him, Autumn. Make sure those are the last words he hears from you. Please. Please, Autumn.”
“I love you, Rocco,” she says, tears staining her cheeks.
Her body slumps forward, and he lowers the gun to his side as Lex falls to her knees and lets out a strangled cry. He moves to the ground, his gun discarded on the floor, and he pulls Autumn’s body into his arms.
“I’m sorry, baby. I should’ve let you go a long time ago, but you’re free now,” he says as the tears finally fall.
The hollow point bullet entered the base of her head but didn’t exit. Closing her eyelids, he pretends for a moment that she’s just sleeping and kisses her forehead.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers and rocks her, his hand shaking as he cups her cheek. “I’m sorry.”
“What the fuck just happened?” Venom asks as he stares in confusion.
Bending down to take Lex’s hand, Melanie looks up with watery eyes. “Rocco took care of it.”
“It’s my fault,” he says, his lips pressed against her skin. “I should have let her go years ago. Probably more. I pushed her to this.”
“This isn’t your fault,” Colt says.
His head snaps up, and he glares at his President. “Isn’t it? I’m the reason she talked to Julian. Lex was right. I let her settle, and she was desperate. I fucking failed her.”
“She made her choices,” Venom says. “She could have left at any point.”
“You don’t get a say in this!” he shouts. “The only time she ever left me had her coming back with a stalker who almost killed Colt. You weren’t here, so you don’t know. You don’t understand.”
“I do,” Lex says, her voice cracking as she crawls over and gently caresses Autumn’s hair. “I understand.”
For the first time in a long time, Rocco sees that he and Lex have something in common. They understand this pain that no one else will.
“She hated you,” he says. “That was my fault.”
“She made her choices,” she says and lowers her head to gently kiss Autumn’s forehead just like Rocco had. “It doesn’t matter that we weren’t good for a while. She was still my friend. One of my oldest, and this isn’t how it was supposed to end.”
