Alana huffs with annoyance but blinks her glassy eyes. “You can meet my sister later.”
Holy shit! “She’s your sister! You look nothing alike,” I blurt out.
“You know as well as anyone, family isn’t a blood line. She’s my person.” Alana closes her eyes. “She’s here and safe and that’s all that matters.”
Her chest rises and falls as she squares her shoulders. “There’s a woman in the trunk of my car,” Alana says, her eyes still closed as she presses her head against the wall. Sounds like she had an eventful night too.
The people in the room share a silent conversation about who’s going to ask her the follow-up question. Donny loses.
“And? Who is she?”
“The only relevant information you need to know is that she tried to kill my clients.” Alana opens her eyes, rolling her head to the side to face me. “And I think she’s your half cousin or something. I can’t keep Rita’s spawned family tree straight anymore.”
“Rita’s dead,” Jenny says with an icy and definite tone.
Alana nods, but then adds without remorse, “The woman in the car, I don’t care what you do with her. And I don’t want to know. Set her up in a villa in West Palm Beach or bury her in cement. I want her gone and out of our lives.”
The warrior dips her head and rubs her temples. She’s silent for a moment, only her chest rises and falls in her stillness. “Her name is Mellisa. A lifetime ago I knew her, and I hated her. She damaged everyone stupid enough to be in her path. I destroyed her life before I even knew she was a part of…” She waves her hand in a circle. “This.”
Lance and Thiago exchange glances. We knew Alana had done something to Rita’s family back in high school. Thiago told us when he brought her into the group. But he never elaborated, and we never asked.
Alana lets out a cold huff. Her voice has a hopelessness and emptiness that could only be filled with pain. “Some things are personal, and old wounds hurt deep.” She’s quiet, her gaze unfocused. “Mellisa said, ‘When I dumped him, he tried to kill himself. When he dumped you, he became a millionaire. Guess we know who he loved more.” Her head dips lower. “Worst part, she’s right.”
I’ve never seen Alana hurt or even remotely vulnerable before. I’ve sure as hell never heard her admit someone else was right.
Jenny laces her fingers with mine and gives them a little squeeze. It doesn’t have to be me who steps up and does the right thing for the family, for Alana. Someone else can bury a body tonight.
Uri pushes himself off the seat and says, “I’ll take care of it.”
Alana whispers, “Thank you.”
Markus slaps Uri’s shoulder and says, “I’ll go with him. Remember who’s doing this for you, Boss.” As the two men leave the room, Kingston lifts his head off my leg.
We’re all lost in our own thoughts—reliving the glory and the trauma of the day, each breath a small miracle. I have my girl, my dog, my family and for once, I feel peace.
Uri and Markus close the door behind them and are barely down the hall, when we hear it.
“Who are you?”
Then—gunshots. A burst of them. Echoing through the corridor like thunderclaps.
The room freezes.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Joey
Alana moves first, sprinting toward the door with a bag in her hand. I don’t even remember standing, but I need to follow.
I’ve seen violence. I've lived in darkness. But nothing prepares me for what I find.
Two bodies lie sprawled on the floor. A woman gasps for air, her body writhing. The other is Markus—blood pouring from his chest as he clutches it in shock. Uri is on the ground beside him, trying to hold him down, trying to keep him here.
“No. No—dear God, not him,” Uri whispers, his eyes full of tears.
The woman wheezes, barely hanging on. Dimitri pulls the trigger, and her life is over.
Alana drops to her knees beside Markus. Her hand presses against the wound. “Check for an exit wound,” she says, voice distant.
