“No one else hurts Emma. She is only mine to hurt.” The spit flies from his mouth, and he is indeed the monster Emma thought he was.
Cherry lies on the floor and attempts to get up. We watch, frozen in our spot. Julian walks over to her, and instead of helping her up, he points his gun at her.
“I can see you are going to be a problem. I was hoping we could have some fun together, but I don’t think it will work out anymore, Cherry.” With that, he lifts his gun and shoots her twice in the chest.
She lands backward as red appears on the ground, pouring from her chest wounds, making the red of her shirt even darker. She places a hand on her chest as blood comes out of her mouthin a cough that sprays blood all over the floor. Julian lifts his gun once more and shoots her in the head. Three bullets, and Cherry is gone.
Emma stares at her dead body. Cherry’s eyes are fixed, locked on something she no longer sees. I know that she is gone. Emma shoots her gaze to Julian, who has already lost interest in Cherry—if she ever held any interest to that man.
He walks over to Emma, and Eduardo is trying so hard to restrain himself from lunging forward. Julian stands by her side. “I think this has gone on long enough, Emma, don’t you? Why don’t you tell Eduardo who you really love?” He looks over at Emma expectantly. Eduardo attempts to lunge forward, and Julian watches as I hold him back.
He lifts his gun at Emma. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Eduardo.” He tsks. “If you claim to love her as much as you say, it would be in your best interest not to move any closer.” He moves closer to us and kicks our weapons out of the way.
I look over at Eduardo and Eli. We all have the same pained expression of anger and sadness in our eyes.
“Say it, Emma!” he screams at her, and she looks him in the eyes, not backing down.
“I’ll never say that to you, Julian,” she says low enough, but we all hear it. It has its desired cruising effects on Julian.
His eyes narrow, and then he lifts his gun to her. Emma locks her eyes with Eduardo and mouths,‘I love you always.’
Part Two
The Present
Chapter Eighteen
EVIE
“Tear You Apart” by She Wants Revenge
We stand there in shared silence trying to process the events that have happened from our point of view and lives that led up to this moment. Jameson pulls me back to hold me, letting me know he is here for me and not going anywhere. We line the shots up again, and I make another toast.
“To all the twisted lies coming to light.” I lock eyes with Emma and she nods.
“I’ll drink to that.” She lifts her drink up and taps the table like I’ve seen her do so many times with her friends.
I frown, recalling this as Emma commits such a common action with no thought to it, as she tosses her shot back. We down the shots and throw our discarded limes on the plate before us. Jameson intertwines my fingers with his, sensing my downward spiraling mood. He silently encourages me with this action, but patiently waits for me to tell them the truth.
I look at our entwined hands and it gives me strength to get it out there. To place my past before us. To verbalize the words that I want to suppress more than anything because of all thefeelings that arise from the torment of reliving it through my vivid memories of past events.
And I do—the long, sordid tale of those past events and leading up to all that transpired just yesterday. I speak of what happened while we were disposing of the bodies. The empty vessels. The people who caused us so much pain, but we know that it doesn’t end there. We know what's to come, just not when. That is an unspoken truth that lingers in the air like the calm before the storm.
Hours later, he is still holding my hand. I stop and look around at everyone, and I suddenly feel so sleepy. It’s as if all my energy has been zapped from my body. I know that I am, in fact, more emotionally drained than physically. The thought of just telling everyone the entirety of our sordid tale has taken so much out of me, and to be honest, it has the same effect on Evie and Mateo as I stare at their resolute expressions.
Eduardo is the first to break the silence. He claps his hands together. “Okay, I think that we should all get a good night’s sleep and then reconvene in the morning. It has been a long couple of days.” He brings Emma in and kisses the top of her head.
We look around at each other to process the conversation and decide to table it for another day. I look at Mateo, and he shakes his head, reading my thoughts of silently imploring him to take us back to the apartment. “Not a chance in hell, Evie. I am staying here tonight.”
Eduardo grabs Emma’s hand. “You are all welcome to stay. In fact, I insist. There is room for everyone.” Emma kisses Eduardo’s hand before releasing it.
“Babe, will you help me get everyone settled into a room?” He looks at her lovingly.
“Of course, baby. Do you need me to grab you any extra sheets from the linen cabinet?”
She nods. “Yes, and a fitted sheet for the sofa, too.”
Mateo starts to walk toward it, already choosing his place to retire for the night. “I’ll take the sofa, Emma.” He drops his bag near it, and Eduardo comes back from down the hall, carrying linen for the bedding. Mateo takes the items and makes himself comfortable on the sofa.
