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“Well, that’s great.” Skully stands to his feet, I’m guessing, since I can see his boots in my view. “So you kept it from me that she had a twin and didn’t think to tell me all these years?” Skully’s back is to me. “Why?”
“Because I knew this day would come.”
“But your jobs had to be completed or I would have killed Poppy? Poppy is everything to you. You would really risk her life for a girl who you simply only saw being carried into the asylum?”
I don’t want to hear his answer. I roll into a ball and cradle my knees to my chest.
“For her, I’d risk it all.”
“Interesting,” Skully whispers, clapping his hands. “As you are aware. I’ve had some time to play around with my projects.” His words die out. “And for some time, I always wanted you, Ruby. Do you know why?” I don’t, and I’m not sure I want to. I want to scream and cut his body into little pieces, but instead, Iroll tighter against my body, unable to move. “Because you’re the cure for me. A perfect match, since I’m dying.”
“Now you have a replacement. Take your other daughter.”
Ican’t bear looking at her little body curled up in a ball. My blood boils to a breaking point, but I know what I need to do to make sure we all get out of here alive. Give the girl back that I saved all those years ago…
We all knew why Skully did what he did. Why he ordered me to kill off the ones who weren’t viable. Whether he took from them after for the black market or passed them to K Diamond, who knew, but we knew why he was doing it.
A piece of paper slid beneath my door. Rolling up from my bed, I snatched it and unfolded the piece.
444
I didn’t know who was in 444, but whoever it was, was just another victim to Skully, and it was my job to fulfill that or Poppy would be next.
I grabbed the machete that was leaning against the wall and made my way down the long, dark corridor. Door after door passed when I finally squeezed the handle and pushed it open.
My eyes flew between the girl tucked into the bed sheets and the woman standing beside her bed. I knew she was too old to be a member here, but also too young to be an elder. She wore dark black pants, and a black hoodie, with the hood drawn to cover her face.
She jumped when I closed the door behind myself, stepping back from the young girl curled in the bed. “I’m—”
“—who are you?”
She shook her head. “Please don’t hurt her.”
“Who are you?” I repeated myself, tilting my head to search her body, looking for any kind of familiarity. I took another step and she dropped down onto the sleeping girl on the bed. “Answer me or I’ll kill you.”
Her head shook from side to side as she stood from the bed and came straight to me desperately, her hands on my cheeks. “Please spare her.”
“Why should I do that?” I snapped, looking over my shoulder. This could get Poppy hurt, especially if I was seen talking with someone I should have killed the second I stepped foot in this room.
“Because she’s his daughter too. Please. Free her. Let her go.”
I stifled a laugh. “Not happening, lady.” I went to step backward, my hand on the door handle when her words stopped me in my tracks.
“It’s her sister. They’re both his daughters, but he doesn’t know about this one. I know you know who I’m talking about because I know that Victor has been here. I know what he is doing with Ruby.” Her name was Ruby?
“I don’t give a fuck about her,” I said honestly, and it was partially the truth. I was definitely interested in her.
“Lie.” She lowered herself onto the bed, and for some fucking reason, I stopped what I was doing and turned back to her. “Your real name is Vittorio Amante.” My brows tugged closer, but she had my attention. I never knew shit about my parents, only that they dumped me here when I was four. The woman lowered her hoodie to the sides of her neck, and I felt my shoulders relax. Something about her felt warm. I had never been near anyone of this kind of goodness, except her. “Your father was the capo of the Amante Cosa Nostra, and a standing member of the committee. When you were a child, my husband killed him and your mother, and framed the Russians, started a decade long war.” Her eyes traveled up to me. “You are drawn to my girl Ruby because you knew her. You spent every day around one another right up until your parents murder. Slept in the same crib. Shared the same breast milk at one point because your mother’s stubbornness refused to put you on bottle milk.”
“Ehh…”
“Sorry.” She folded her hands on her lap. “I guess you won’t remember and maybe not believe me.” She stood and pulled out something from her back pocket, handing it to me.
I switched hands with the machete, taking the photo from her and looking down at it. Two babies wrapped tight in their own little blankets but facing each other during sleep. One was larger and a little older than the other, and to the side of the smaller baby was a single rose.
“Her middle name is Rose, but she doesn’t know that. I’ve always told her it was just Ruby La Rosa, but it’s actually Ruby Rose La Rosa.” Tears fell from her eyes. “Like me.”
Flipping the photo, it readsRuby Rose & Vittorio.
