Page 59 of Buried in Blood
I finish with a sharp inhale, letting the silence carry the weight of it all. Then I zip up, smooth out my shirt, and stroke Brooke’s cheek like she’s a fucking pet I trained to beg.
“Go upstairs,” I say quietly.
She stands without hesitation, lips swollen, mascara smudged.
“Yes, Damien.”
She exits like a ghost—silent, unbothered.
When the door clicks shut behind her, I turn to Dante.
And smile.
“See,” I murmur, crouching in front of him again. “The difference between you and me? I don’t pretend to be something I’m not.”
He doesn’t answer. Just stares.
So I lean in, drop my voice to a near-whisper.
“I’m letting you go.”
His brow lifts—confusion flickering like static.
“But not because you deserve it. And not because I’ve gone soft.”
I reach into my pocket, dangling the key to his chains between two fingers.
“I’m letting you walk out of here because I want you to. Because Iownthe outcome.”
I unlock the first cuff. The second.
He stays still, cautious. He’s being smart.
I crouch again, hand on his shoulder, grip tightening just enough to make him wince.
“But know this,” I hiss, voice cutting like a blade. “If you so much as breathe in a way I don’t like—if youthinkabout interfering with what comes next—I will carve your new little sister into something unrecognizable.”
His whole body tenses.
“I’ll make her beg to go back into the system. Beg to be forgotten. I’ll erase her so thoroughly, that not even the Devil himself will recognize her when I’m done.”
Dante doesn’t blink.
But his silence? That’s the fear talking.
I stand, pocket the key, and back away.
“Now get the fuck out of my house,” I say. “And remember who’s still down here in the dark.”
The best part is that I know he will run right now. He is unarmed. He knows I’ll fucking kill him and Brooke. I know he will be back, but this time… He’ll have to find me on his own. No one will be there to guide him to me.
It’s going to be fucking perfect.
* * *
The blueprints are everywhere.
On the desk. The floor. The fucking walls.
