Page 105 of Avenging Azalea

I was baffled and wanted to be angry at him for doing this, and yet…my emotions were a jumbled mess. This showed the level with which he cared, and before last night, I would’ve been livid, but now his overprotectiveness made a lot more sense.

“Thank you,” I said, taking the pile that was significantly slimmer from his hands. “And you don’t have to pay. I can take care of it myself.”

“Oh? How? I thought the clinic didn’t pay that much, because half the hours were a school placement.”

“That’s true, but um…”

This was my chance to tell him, but I looked down as my phone vibrated, and I tapped the news bulletin. My coffee cup fell from my hands and shattered on the floor.

“Oh my god, Fawn. Don’t move or you’ll slice open your feet.”

I barely felt Titus grabbing me and sitting me on the counter as he cleaned up the ceramic shards.

My mind raced with fear even as my body froze in disbelief. I stared at the crime scene photo of a black body bag. There were officers with yellow tape surrounding the scene, and an ambulance in the background. But it was the picture of the girl in the corner that caused my panic. The same girl who had stormed up to the table last night and dumped the ice water on Dimitri’s lap.

The headline read.

Twenty-Four-Year-Old Woman Found Murdered.

Crystal Woods, affectionally known as Crissy to her friends, was found murdered this morning. Officers are looking for any eyewitnesses who could explain the brutal and senseless killing. Preliminary reports say she was found naked with bruises covering her body, a wire wrapped around her throat, and a gunshot wound between the eyes. Speculation is that this is a professional hit.

“Hey?” Titus gave my shoulders a little shake, and my eyes snapped up to his. “What’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He took my phone when I didn’t answer and read the article. “Do you know her?”

My brain was finally firing again, and it felt like a sign to keep my mouth shut. It was too much of a coincidence that just as I was about to spill everything that Dimitri had said, this news article arrived. It felt like this dead girl was trying to warn me, or maybe Dimitri was sending a reinforcement message. If he killed her for dumping water on him in public, what the hell would he do to my little brother if I threw his deal in his face and told Titus the truth?

All of Titus’s warnings, the red flags, and the fear I’d seen in his eyes last night threw me back in time. It felt like a lifetime ago that I needed to keep my mouth shut to stay alive, to save my family, to be the whore who got the job done, but here I was all over again.

“Fawn, you’re starting to scare me. Who is this woman?”

Titus obviously didn’t know her, so I licked my lips.

“I met her at the parties I’ve been to with Steph and the football team,” I lied. “She was always so nice. I just can’t believe this,” I said, and Titus stepped in close and wrapped his arms around me, holding my head to his heart.

“I’m so sorry,” he tried comforting me, but nothing would make me feel better.

Not even the warm embrace of the man I loved and trusted with my whole being. No matter who sent the message, I heard the universe loud and clear.

Dimitri Mikhailov was not a man to trifle with, and I was going to get everyone I cared about killed, or worse, if I spoke up. I’d never felt more alone than I did right now, and the sharks swimming in the water had just gotten a lot bigger.

Chapter

Thirty-Four

TITUS

TWO WEEKS LATER – NATHANIEL’S WEDDING

The wedding had been beautiful despite Ronan and Father showing up when they were not invited. Savannah—trying to keep the peace— had said they could stay, but Nathaniel looked like he was ready to pull his gun and kill them both. Father, in his usual, ‘I do whatever the hell I want’ fashion, had invited the whole Vilanova family. So an entirely new table had been set up to accommodate them.

Humiliation did not begin to describe what I felt on my mother’s behalf. She looked like she would’ve left if this occasion had been anything other than her son’s wedding.

The reception had been stunning but not overdone, and the meal had been out of this world. Father had wisely decided not to get up and speak, and left that to Mother. The entire time, all I could think about was how I wanted to do this with Fawn, but she was sitting at home alone while I was here with someone else. How had I gotten myself into this mess?

Vera grabbed my hand on the table. I stared at it and then at her as she laughed and chatted with her sister. She was acting like any other couple would, and yet her touch made me want to recoil.

“It won’t be long until we are celebrating your wedding,” Mr. Vilanova said from beside me.

“Yes, not long now,” I said, parroting his statement.