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“I understand, but you need to do this. I’m not going to hold you back.”
I could be snide now. I could make a comment about my child giving her extra strength and fierceness, but that would be disingenuous. She was already fierce, strong, and willing to stand up to me time and again. What once frustrated me most of all about her now fills me with pride.
Rather than take her here and now, I give her a firm nod. “Let’s go.”
27
ALICIA
“You know if anything happens to her, I’ll fucking kill you.” Enzo stands face-to-face with Prince after they load Elena into the back seat of the car. She’s awake but still a little groggy. I remember that feeling. This is bringing everything back to me in vivid and almost sickening detail.
Right down to being dragged into a meeting with Josef Alvarez. The first time, that meeting never happened, and Prince was nearly killed. This time, somebody Alvarez actually cares about is involved, so I doubt things will go exactly that way.
But I don’t doubt he’ll try to throw a curveball somehow.
It’s no secret Enzo feels the same way, which is why it’s killing him to have me along for this.
Prince doesn’t back down, merely nodding at Enzo’s threat. “I know. She’ll be fine. You have my word on that.” I’m not sure it’s enough for me, but it seems to be enough for Enzo. I’m going to have to trust him on this.
Now to get over the final hurdle, the one last thing I was dreading: having to get in the car and face my so-called friend. I have to remind myself there’s nothing for me to feel guilty about. In the end, she’s going to be fine—nobody wants to hurt her. She’s only leverage. I don’t feel quite as bad when I remind myself of that.
And when she hits me with an absolutely filthy stare, all I have to do is remember how obvious she was about trying to seduce my husband right in front of me. That helps a lot, too.
She’s staring daggers at me by the time I buckle myself in. “How could you do this to me?” she hisses as the men get in the front seat.
“I didn’t do anything to you,” I whisper back. “So don’t blame this on me.”
“You didn’t do anything?” she asks with a harsh laugh. “Are you serious? You’re the reason I’m in this mess.”
“No,” I counter. “You’re the reason you’re in this mess. Don’t put this on me.” I fold my arms and stare straight ahead as Prince takes us out of the development.
“How is any of this my fault?” she whispers. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” I am not going to engage. I refuse to engage. Enzo and Prince are silent, but of course, they’re listening. I don’t know why I care, but I would rather not have this fight in front of them.
Clearly, she doesn’t care. “What did I do to you? All I’ve ever tried to do is be your friend.”
That’s it. That’s the last straw. “Oh, really? For one thing, that’s bullshit. A friend doesn’t walk into another friend’s house and flirt with their husband.”
“Please. You’re that insecure?” Suddenly, the car swerves, and she falls against the door because she can’t balance herself with her hands and ankles tied. There was no reason for Prince to swerve. I think he did it on purpose.
“You admit that’s what you were doing. And I was just supposed to sit there and take it?”
“So you set me up like this? Because I can’t help but respond to somebody I think is hot?”
“That’s not what this is about.” And if she wasn’t such a thirsty slut, she wouldn’t have come to my house with the intention of fucking my husband. “Are you really that self-absorbed that you think anybody would go to this kind of trouble for something like that?”
“Then why? How could you lie to my face and pretend we were friends?”
“Are you serious? I mean that. Do you honestly have to ask me why? Are you that clueless?” When all she does is gape at me, I can’t help but growl my disgust. “You got me into this mess. You sent me to that damn warehouse and left me for dead. Or have you forgotten all about that? Because you never once asked me. You never once texted, you didn’t call, and you never followed up in any way. And when I finally saw you at school, what did you do? You deliberately avoided me. You ran away from me before I could catch up with you after class. That’s not how somebody acts when they’re someone’s friend. So stop pretending.”
“I figured you were fine. What, you couldn’t even handle a simple job like that?” The car swerves again, more sharply this time, and Elena cries out in pain when her shoulder hits the door. I should be ashamed of the satisfaction that ripples through me, shouldn’t I? Yet I’m not. I like the sound. I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
“Do you honestly believe what’s coming out of your mouth? Or are you only telling yourself that to feel better? Because that was not a simple job. And when I didn’t show back up at school, you should have known something went wrong. A friend would’ve cared enough to reach out. But no, because we aren’t actually friends. You don’t care about anybody but yourself. So drop the act.”
“Is that really what this is about?” She jerks her chin toward the front seat. “Are you even married?”
“Yeah, I am, and that’s your fault, too. This is all your fault. You thoughtlessly sent me into that warehouse and acted like it was no big deal, then you don’t even have the nerve to check and make sure I’m okay? No, you would much rather try to steal my husband from me. And you’re sitting there acting like a victim? It’s pathetic.”
