I stood in the center, arms crossed, watching. Not participating but not stopping it either.
Complicit. That was the word. I was complicit in every broken rib, every shattered bone, every scream.
Movement in my peripheral vision. Aria had gotten out of the car. Standing there, hand over her mouth, horror written across every line of her body.
Fuck. She wasn't supposed to see this up close.
Vincent fell to his knees, hands clasped together. "Please. Please, I'll do anything. I have kids. A family. Please don't—"
I pulled my gun. The movement automatic. Practiced.
Aria gasped. Loud enough I heard it over the groans of the beaten men.
I looked at her. Held her eyes while I raised the gun. Put it against Vincent's temple.
Pulled the trigger. While whispering “I am sorry”
The sound cracked across the compound like thunder.Vincent's body dropped, lifeless. Blood pooled beneath him, dark and spreading.
Aria's face was sheet white. She stumbled backward.
Aria ran back to the car, shaking so violently I could see it from twenty feet away.
I started after her. Marco's hand on my arm stopped me.
"Let her process. Give her space."
"She just watched me execute someone—"
"Exactly. So let her have a minute before you crowd her."
He was right. I hated that he was right.
The drive back was silent except for Aria's shaking breaths. She pressed herself against the opposite door, as far from me as possible.
I didn't try to comfort her. Didn't reach for her. Just let the silence stretch.
Finally, she spoke. Her voice was barely a whisper.
"How many people have you killed?"
Truth or lie? Which would hurt less?
"I stopped counting years ago."
She flinched like I'd struck her.
"Does it bother you? Do you feel anything when you do it?"
I looked at her. Really looked at her. Saw the horror in her eyes. The disgust. The fear.
Saw the girl from the club disappearing, being replaced by someone who understood exactly what kind of monster she'd let into her life.
"I feel plenty. I just learned to separate business from emotion a long time ago."
"So you just killed him. No trial. No second chance. Just—" She made a gesture. "—execution."
"That's how this world works."
