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She doesn’t need to know what her father was really doing at that club. Who that man was. It doesn’t matter in the long run. But the rest of his shady dealings do.
One day, she is going to find out, but it should be him that tells her.
There is no way that will happen, though. Her father is a coward.
Zoe looks up at me with a smile and tucks her pencil back into the messy bun on top of her head. “You’re staring at me.”
“You’re a hard person not to stare at.”
I lean back against the cushioned lounger and raise my glass to her.
The amber liquid sloshes around inside before I take a sip.
Zoe rolls her eyes at me before beginning to strum one of my favorite songs. She hums as she plays, her fingers moving over the frets and sliding down the strings.
“Well, now you’re just showing off,” I tease as she switches back to the song she was working on. “You really are talented, Zoe. You’re going to make it in music. I bet you’re going to be going on your world tour in no time.”
The smile curving her full lips drops. “You won’t be going on that trip with me, though.”
“I will fly out as much as I can.” Guilt claws at me, shredding apart the broken heart that’s finally starting to piece itself back together. “I’ll be there for you as much as I can.”
The corner of her mouth twitches. “I know you will. I just wish that it would be something we could do together. Although, by the time I finally get signed to a label and start touring, you could be done with this all.”
“I could be.”
Loud cracks like fireworks shatter the peace around us.
Gunshots. From behind the pool house.
Zoe dives into the dark water, abandoning her guitar on the pool deck as I drop to the ground.
I pull the gun from my waistband before looking up.
A tall person dressed in black stalks across the far end of the pool, looking down into the water.
I aim and shoot, hitting the person in the thigh. A deep voice swears, and the man aims his gun at me and fires. He moves closer as I crawl back behind the side table to take cover.
Zoe stays beneath the water, hiding in the dark.
My heart pounds as the man looks back down at the water before circling the far edge of the pool.
Even though Zoe is out here, it’s now clear that the man is here for me.
He stalks closer to my hiding spot.
I glance over at the pool as Zoe surfaces slowly, her nose just barely peeking above the water.
The man turns his back to me to look at her.
I take my chance and stand, my finger wrapping around the trigger and pulling.
The bullet burrows into the man’s back, just behind where his heart should be. He stumbles and looks over his shoulder before dropping to his knees as blood runs down to the pool deck.
Zoe scrambles out of the water and races over to me. She is dripping wet, her eyes wide as she glances over at the body.
She squeezes her eyes shut and rubs them with the heels of her palms.
“I’m so tired of this,” she says as she opens her eyes. Her hands drop to her side, her eyes shining with tears. “Don’t you ever get tired of watching people die all the time? Of having to kill people?”
