Page 10 of Dimitri
Fortunately for me, I have another card up my sleeve.
“And what about that kid of yours growing in her stomach? The one you don’t know about because you’re ignoring all the signs. What if he or she were ripped away from you? How far would you go to keep her safe?” He’s taken back by my suggestion his girlfriend is pregnant, but he doesn’t deny my assumption, confirming he has an inkling that everything I’m saying is true. “My daughter was cut out of my wife’s stomach. They butchered her like a piece of worthless meat. I don’t care who I have to trample, I won’t stop until they’re forced to pay for their mistakes.”
Maddox stands from his chair so quickly, he topples it over. “Justine is my sister. I won’t have her used like this.”
“And she’s my daughter!” I thrust Fien’s photograph onto his side of the desk before lining up my pistol with the crinkle between his brows. “She ranks higher than anyone.”
I discover the Walsh’s don’t just fight with their fists when Maddox draws a gun on me. It’s clear it is one he picked up from a gangbanger in a back alley, but the quality of the weapon shouldn’t enter the equation when calculating how much time you have left. The skill of its user is the only sum needed.
Do I think Maddox has the guts to kill me? Probably not. But he won’t hesitate to maim me if it increases the odds of keeping me away from Justine.
If only the heat didn’t get too hot for Tobias, then we would have found out. He interrupts our conversation long before I get the chance to prove nothing will ever come between Fien and me.
Not a woman.
Not the law.
No one.
“Lower your guns.” When we remain standing firm, Tobias’s voice rises as readily as his anger. “Don’t make me repeat myself. I’ll shoot you both before leaving you here to rot. Trust me when I say two less criminals in a sea of many won’t be missed.”
Unsurprisingly, Maddox lowers his gun first. He has the instincts of a killer, he just needs to hone his skills. I’d be happy to teach him if he weren’t glaring at me like he wants my insides hanging out of my belly button.
“Stay away from my sister.”
Stealing my chance to reply that I wouldn’t be the only one licking wounds if I did that, he dumps his gun onto my desk, spins on his heels, then walks away.
You have no idea how satisfying it is when Tobias strays his eyes to mine to seek permission for Maddox to leave. Some would say it’s because Maddox entered my premises with a loaded weapon, so Tobias is simply following the law. I know it’s more than that. Tobias cares for me in his own twisted way. I guess that can be expected since he killed my mother.
Guilt does weird things to people.
As does vengeance.
I know that better than anyone.
Chapter Five
Roxanne
“Come on, Roxie, don’t be like that. You were into it last time.”
While rolling my eyes at Eddie’s highly inaccurate statement, I continue down a dark alleyway. I can’t believe I was so stupid to fall for his sob act. He doesn’t care that my scholarship floated precariously in the wind for three months after the security guard was murdered, or that I sat at a police station for fourteen hours giving testimony about an incident I’m still struggling to comprehend.
Even the officer taking my statement was wary about my recollection of events, and I was as honest as Mother Mary. I even told him about the stranger watching Eddie notch his finger inside of me, aware that it could get me in trouble, but hopeful it would see me skipping a murder conviction.
It worked, however my life hasn’t been the same since. My nanna is still angry at me, the dean at my school won’t stop eyeing me like a freak since our emergency meeting to save my ass, and all my friends bar one up and vanished.
You’d think that would keep me on the straight and narrow, but no, I’m clearly a weirdo who gets off on danger. Why do you think I agreed with Eddie’s suggestion for us to camp out in a dark alleyway on a rainy Friday night? It isn’t the same alleyway as three months ago—Eddie was smart enough to pick one two towns over from the crime scene of our last farce—but I’m still striving to relive an event I should give anything to forget.
Someone call the mental hospital. A new patient is at the ready.
“Roxanne…” The clomp of Eddie’s flip-flops on the wet ground irks my last nerve. “I wanted tonight to be special. Why do you think I bought you flowers?”
By special, he means he wants to slide to the home plate by doing something as simple as purchasing a bunch of gas station flowers.Ifhe purchased them. I wouldn’t put it past him to steal them. That’s how cheap he is.
Too angry to let his bad taste slide, I say, “You left the price tag on the flowers, Ed. For future reference, $3.99 won’t get you close to home plate.” I let out a soundless whine before spinning around to face him. “Even if you did pay for them, which I’m highly skeptical about, I forked out fifteen dollars foryourmovie ticket, so if we’re counting merit points,I’mcoming out of this date shortchanged, not you.”
“I tried to even the score.” He slants his head so the moonlight can catch the speckles of yellow in his brown eyes. I’m a sucker for the uniqueness of his golden eyes. “But you weren’t into it like you were last time.”
