“Now that’s been established, I have something I need to take care of.”
“I am more than happy to do it for you,” Tennant says, a gleam in his icy eyes that has the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.
“Unnecessary. It’s my problem. Besides, you have your own issue to deal with.”
He grins a little. “Yes, yes, I do. And I am very much looking forward to it.”
“Good. If you have any questions, any of you,” I make sure to meet the eyes of every single family member, “Please ask me first. Dr. Ranlen deserves to be left alone after what she just had to do. And please, don’t harass my staff. I know it’s hard to believe right now, but they’re good at their jobs, and can be trusted.”
I see the doubt on the faces of the Martellis, but hopefully, my next task will take care of that. The last thing we need is for them to give my people a hard time because of one person’s negligence.
Soren and I leave them to their vigil, heading to the small room that has apparently been deemed as a holding cell.
James and Rose are waiting for us. My best friend’s face is grim, he knows how devastating this is for me.
“How is he?” Rose asks, her eyes bright and shiny, cheeks stained with tears.
“He’ll live, no thanks to you.”
“This was not my fault!” she argues. “I didn’t give him the glass and leave him to have fun! You cannot put this on me.”
“You were supposed to be the one sitting with them,” I hiss. “It was your task to be with them both.”
“They were sleeping! Do you know how fucking boring it can be sitting around, waiting for someone to wake up? Oh wait, you don’t because you have us to do it for you! You and Dr. Ranlen got to take a break, leaving the rest of us to pick up the slack.”
“It’s part of your job. When I say sit with the patient, I mean fucking sit with them.”
“They were sleeping. It was the middle of the night!” Tears fill her eyes. “I didn’t think a quick break would matter.”
“You’re right,” I say, my tone level once more as I pull myself together. “You didn’t think. Instead, you let me down. I assured Tennant and Hollis that both Roman and Emilio would be fine, that someone would stay with them. You let me down, Rose. Itrusted you, and you fucked up. If it was anything else, any other instance, maybe we could have worked on you earning that trust back, but this…” I shake my head, sorrow filling me as I hold my hand out and James places his gun in it.
“Doc, please…”
“No. This was your one and only chance. If Leandro wasn’t such a nosy, obsessive bastard…things could have ended very differently.”
“I’m sorry,” she sobs.
“Me too, Rose. Me too.”
Adjusting my grip on the gun, I take a deep breath, and then another.
The sound of the gun is loud in such tight quarters, but it drowns out the sound of my heart breaking, so I’ll take it.
Two shots to the chest, and one to the head as she crumples to the ground, because I’m not taking any chances here. I need her dead, and the least I can do is put her out of her misery.
The gun almost drops to the floor as violent tremors take over my body.
James takes the weapon from me while Daddy wraps his strong arms around me. I don’t look away from the body as I sob. Not until James checks her pulse to call time of death, and then steps into my line of sight.
I gasp big, heaving breaths as my best friend and my Daddy hold me between them. It’s not that I haven’t killed before…but never did I think I’d ever have to put one of my own down.
What happened with Emilio is devastating enough, but having such a violation of trust from someone I handpicked… Knowing I put my family’s lives in her hands for so many years…
I don’t know how to recover from this. I’m not sure such a thing is even possible.
Glancing around the hallway where everyone is gathered, I press my lips together tightly. The level of pain, worry, and fear…it can’t even be expressed. It’s not just that Lio is one of the Bosses—although that’s certainly a concern—it’s how vital he is to everyone.
He may have been crowned Death by Il Padrone, and he embraces it, but he’s been the life source of the Martelli Family for as long as I’ve been here. Him stepping into his own has not diminished that. If anything, it’s strengthened it. This…this is gutting. But there are two faces not in the crowd…two who very much need to know what is going on.
