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She huffed as if my question was ridiculous. “To throw the scent off us, of course. People readily assume you’re dead when you’re missing a body part. I didn’t want to lose any of mine—” She shrugged like it was no big deal. "—so I chose Asher’s foot. He didn’t miss it much.”
My heart stopped. White noise buzzed in my ears, filling my head with static. Shock rendered me speechless. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I had no words. Nothing. I was numb all over.
Ry wailed, and from the corner of my eye, I saw him turn to our guys for comfort, burying his face in Flynn’s hair and clutching Tristan tightly.
"People assume you're dead because no one can fathom the kind of evil it takes to chop up a defenceless child,” Tristan gritted out through clenched teeth, his tone murderous.
“Who was the friend you had on board?” Ezra asked, his voice hard.
She smiled serenely as if she was thinking about a loved one. “He was the same man who delivered the death threats to your professor here.” She gestured to Tristan and her lip curled in disgust before she sighed, the sound almost happy. “The Martinelli family really came through with him and the liquidator.”
Fuck me. She was… I didn’t even have the words to describe her. She hadn’t been accidentally caught up in them and suffered the consequences. She’d been the one directing their moves.
“How did Ash fall? Where?” I demanded, anger and agony tightening my chest.
“Oh.” She waved me off with a small laugh. “The roof. I have a deck up there. I wanted him to see the view standing on the top of the wall.” Her smile fell, her eyes turning cold and that evil glint reappearing. “But he slipped.”
Fifteen
Ezra
Fuck me, this woman was unhinged. Looks-wise, she was so familiar—the resemblance between Rosa and Zali was remarkable, and I’d heard so many stories about her that I should have felt like I’d known her for years—but she was a stranger.
I didn’t see a single iota of the warm, loving woman Zali and Roe described.
She was monologuing like a nineties supervillain, and that suited me fine. She’d all but confessed to everything except Asher’s murder. That was the one thing I wanted though. It was the most important charge to make stick. Without even realizing it, Zali was building the case against her mother with every question she asked.
“You’re lying,” Zali replied. “Asher didn’t slip.”
“He climbed on the wall with a prosthetic foot, and he lost his balance.”
“You said yourself you wanted him to see the view. You put him up there, didn’t you? He was scared of heights. You talked him into getting on that ledge where he didn’t want to be, and you pushed him,” she growled. Taunting her, Zali added, “Say it. Own it. Be proud of your achievements. Don’t be a coward now.”
Rosa sneered and lifted her chin defiantly. “Fine, you want the truth? I did exactly that. I got him onto the ledge, and then I shoved him off. I watched him fall—and I liked it. I liked being free of him and his whining.”
Zali’s pained cry was agonizing, but it changed something in Rosa. Like the flip of a switch, the laid-back woman reclining in the chair was no more. She was on her feet, gun in hand and pointed at Zali in an instant. I didn’t even have time to blink. Chaos erupted around me. I heard shouts and frantic scrambling.
But my focus zeroed in on my target.
No one—no-fucking-one—pointed a gun at my girl.
I let go of Zali, then pushed her down and behind me, using my body as a shield. Whip fast, I brought my hand up, steadying my grip, and shouted, “Drop the gun.”
The safety was off, a round already chambered.
Each beat of my heart was like a gong being struck, loud and reverberating through me. My pulse rushed through my veins. My lungs expanded with my breath, and I held it.
I didn’t wait for her to comply.
Time slowed to a crawl.
I fired.
It was only a warning shot. I didn’t want to kill her, just slow her down.
Everything moved in slow motion, the kickback from the gun taking an hour.
The bullet ejected the chamber, firing in a straight line to Rosa.
