Page 58 of Dead to Me

A tear ran down his face. I brushed it away with my thumb.

“I’m sorry.”

I smiled and pushed the knife up under his jaw. Malcolm jerked and grabbed my arms. Blood ran over my fingers. I kept holding him. I wanted him to look at me. I wanted my face to be the last thing he saw.

His grip loosened. Something shifted in his eyes. Then Malcolm Banks stopped breathing. I sat next to his body and listened to the silence for a few seconds.

My face ached. My ribs hurt. My shoulder throbbed. Both of our blood covered my hands. I glanced at the bedroom. His tuxedo was still hanging by the window.

China was probably upstairs having her makeup done. Maybe she wondered why Malcolm hadn’t called back. Maybe she was smiling at herself in the mirror.

I stood up. Before he died, Malcolm gave me something. It wasn’t an apology. It was the truth. China hadn’t betrayed me because Malcolm tricked her after Jeremy died.

She had already been sleeping with him. She had even been pregnant by him. When they needed someone to take the fall, my twin sister offered me instead.

That changed what I wanted for her. I had planned to kill China quickly, but not anymore. I wanted her in her wedding dress, her veil pinned just right. I wanted her standing in front of the mirror when she found out Malcolm was dead.

Then I wanted to see her realize that I was the one who did it. I cleaned myself up as fast as I could.

Malcolm's bathroom looked like a slaughterhouse. There was no way to hide what happened. That shit didn’t matter anymore. Time was running out.

I needed a few hours. Nothing more.

I pulled Malcolm into the shower and closed the glass door.

Blood streaked the tile. His eyes stayed open. I left them like that. I had to hurry back to my room and change. This wasn’t how I meant to deal with Malcolm, but at least I had another pair of these pajamas.

I shoved the bloody clothes into a plastic bag.

Before I left, I went back to the bathroom. Malcolm was slumped over in the shower.

I glanced at him one last time.

“You should’ve married me,” I laughed.

I left his room. I took the stairs up to eight and slipped into my room. I changed into the pajamas, then checked the mirror and fixed my hair, smoothing the curls and tightening the ponytail. Once I was satisfied, I went back out.

When I walked into China’s suite, everyone was still in the same spot. Someone curled Sierra’s hair. China sat in front of the mirror as the makeup artist put on her lipstick.

She looked at me.

“Where the hell have you been?”

I smiled.

“The bathroom.”

“For almost forty minutes?”

“It was serious, and I had to take another shower.”

Sierra burst out laughing. China rolled her eyes.

“You’re disgusting.”

I walked over to her. She turned to face the mirror again. Her lipstick was a deep red. It was almost the same shade as Malcolm’s blood.

“Have you heard from him?” China asked.