Page 61 of Roma Queen
What the hell? He can’t be serious. My father and I fought like crazy when I received an acceptance letter from Gonzaga. I thoughthe’dgone behind my back, applying to the school without my knowledge. He’d denied it.“Why the hell would I send you to fuckingSpokane, Zara? You think I wouldn’t insist on you staying here in New York if you were going to stay in school?”But I hadn’t believed him. I’d assumed he was trying to manipulate me into doing what he thought was best at the time. But all along, it wasLazlo?
“You’re insane. You’re fucking crazy if you think I moved all the way to the other side of the country because you drew me here. I’m not that impressionable.”
Lazlo smirks like the goddamn Cheshire Cat. “The human mind issoopen to suggestion. Even the smartest, most intelligent people succumb to it. You ended up right where I guided you.”
I feelsick. This man disrupted my life in such an awful way. I became a dispatcher because I wanted to be there to help others caught in such horrific situations, but I was determined not to let what he’d done alter my life. I wanted it to be my own. I didn’t want his violence or even that poor nun’s tragedy to shape my future. I needed it to be my own.
And now I’m finding that I haven’t been making my own decisions for years because of him? That I’ve been influenced, controlled and lead down a path that I might not have otherwise gone down? I can’t. I just can’t handle this…
“Zara.” I look up, and Pasha’s handsome face is grim. “Where’s Garrett?”
“He’s with Corey. He’s taking him somewhere safe.”
Pasha’s face is a picture of confusion. “Corey?”
“Delusional bitch,” Lazlo hisses. “Don’t you read the news? The boy’s dead. I was finished with him. Garrett disposed of him for me.”
I try not to shake, but the wrath building up inside me feels like it’s about to boil over any second, and I won’t be able to stop it. “Did he? Hmm. I just had a very interesting conversation with that little boy. Seems Garrett’s his friend, and he’s been keeping him alive and safe, away from you.”
“Fuckingliar.” There’s a glimmer of doubt in Lazlo’s eyes, though. He can’t be certain, but he suspects I might be telling the truth.
“You cut out his tongue. I’m willing to bet you did so much worse to him, too, didn’t you? He was your first true manipulation. You’ve treated him like a dog, his entire life. But you should know, Lazlo…you keep kicking a dog, and one day it’ll eventually turn around and bite you.”
“He wouldneverdisobey me.”
“Why not? His life’s worth nothing to him. You’ve hurt him. Taken everything from him. He didn’t have much left to lose. He finally said enough was enough.”
“He didn’t say anything.” Lazlo’s smile is a cruel, bloody slash across his face. “I took care of that.” He shrugs. “If he’s gone, then so be it. The man isbroken. He won’t survive without me.”
I take a step forward, readying myself. I wasn’t prepared for the vengeful need that pulls at me now, demanding he pay for everything he’s done. I’ve thought about this for days—whether I’ll be strong enough to do what has to be done when the moment arrives. Now that we’re here and that moment is upon us, I…I think that I can.
“Zara, wait. He has Shelta.”
I blink, staring at Pasha. “How?”
“She left the camp and came here, to findhim.”
“Why the fuck would she do that?”
Lazlo leers at me. “She cast her own sister out for tying herself to agadje,but she didn’t cast out thegadjein question? She didn’t even tell anyone whohewas? Makes no sense, right?”
A rotten, foul suspicion begins to gnaw at me. Oh, god. No. For fuck’s sake,no. It doesn’t even bear thinking about. Not even Shelta would do something so vile.
“Thereit is,” Lazlo says, chuckling darkly. “I told you she was a clever girl.”
Pasha jabs the man in the back of his head with his gun. “No more games, asshole. Just spit it out already.”
“She’sin lovewith him,” I mutter. “She was jealous. That’s why she threw Sarah out of the clan. That’s why she was so outraged by the accusations you made against him, why she defended him, helped him recover after you stabbed him, Pasha. It’s why she panicked and kept the picture of Corey I brought to her tent that night. She brought it toyou, didn’t she?” I fire at Lazlo. “She wanted you to tell her you weren’t involved in the boy’s disappearance.”
“Some women will believe whatever they want to hear,” Lazlo admits.
Pasha’s revulsion is clear as day. He reels back, dismay written all over his face. “She wouldn’t. She wouldn’t have anything to do with you.”
“Ididn’t want anything to do withher, but she was quite persistent. I realized that cultivating a dalliance with the king’s wife would be useful after a while. Especially once the king was dead.”
“You didn’t hurt my father,” Pasha whispers.
“Mmm. Poison’s a remarkable thing. There are so many toxins that’ll cause the heart to seize. And it’s not as if your people are likely to call in a doctor for an autopsy. If it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, then it’s a fucking duck. Your father keeled over at the dinner table, clutching his chest. He looked like his heart was failing in his chest, so that’s what everyone believed.”
