I believed him.
I opened the door a crack.Celine’s relief hit me like a blow.
“I thought you were leaving,” she said.
“In a minute,” I lied, handing her the phone.
Her eyes flickered as if asking—
Are you okay?
I nodded too fast.
“Anything I can do to get you out of here?”she asked.
“Go,” I said.“You’ll be late.”
She hesitated.Put a foot in the door.
Francesco opened it fully.
Then yanked Celine into the office.
The gun came up.
“Wait!”she cried.“I—I did what you asked!”
My stomach dropped.
“Celine?”My voice barely existed.
She looked at me—broken.Guilty.“I didn’t have a choice.He threatened my family.”
The gun fired.
She fell.
Blood bloomed across her chest like spilled ink.
I screamed.
Francesco stood over her, smiling.
“She got you here.Her services are no longer needed,” he said, nudging Celine with his foot.
Something inside me went very still.
“Let’s finish,” he said.
Francesco dragged me back into Ray’s office.
Back to the computer.Back to the money.
“Sit.”
My fingers hovered over the keys.
“You move it,” he whispered, “or I paint this room red.”
