once.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I’m a fucking asshole.
That stops today.
I can’t change what happened to Roxanne. I can’t undo the hurt she endured, but I can ensure it won’t happen again. I’ve just got to play the game as I’ve been taught, show my enemies I’m not to be messed with, and I must do it without Roxanne by my side because, as far as my enemies are concerned, the only way you can teach a bird how to fly is by pushing her out of the nest.
29
Roxanne
“It isn’t as it seems. I swear to God, I have no clue what happened back there.”
“It’s okay,” Rocco assures me, his pace lowering so he can rub my arm reassuringly. “I don’t give a fuck what the Doc said. We know the truth.”
I want to believe his ‘we’ is referring to him and Dimitri, but regretfully, the knot in my gut won’t allow me to portray a brainless bimbo. He was referencing Smith, who has done everything in his power to discredit Dr. Klein’s integrity for the past two hours. He combed through decades of records, sought any insurance claims that may have been settled out of court, and he even reached out to his ex-wife. All avenues were extinguished without the slightest spark being ignited. Unlike Dr. Bates, Dr. Klein’s records are as clean as a whistle.
Smith said he would continue scouring for evidence. Fien is back, so he has nothing else to fill his time, but I told him not to bother. There’s only one person I want to believe me, and he’s been ignoring Rocco’s calls as often as he would mine if I knew his cell phone number.
“Do you know how long we’re planning to camp out here for?” I ask Rocco just as we reach my room.
He scrubs at the fine hairs on his chin. “First plan was for three or four days. That’s about how quickly the media would move on to another story. When the public interest shifts, so do the Feds.”
It sucks to agree with him, but I do.
“But things are a little muddled now.” He opens my door before gesturing for me to enter before him. “No one was expecting to find Audrey alive.” I’m surprised he sounds more annoyed than relieved. Although he works for Dimitri, he is also his best friend, so shouldn’t he be happy he got his little family back? “Since she’s not fit to fly, we could be here a little longer.”
“Great.”
After flopping onto the mattress, I throw a hand over my eyes. I’m not tired, I just want to hide the tears the ruffling of Dimitri and my combined scents caused my eyes.
I’m so damn emotional lately. Take my exchange with India when Dimitri raced out of the room like his ass was on fire. She called me a homewrecking whore, and I just stood there and took it. I didn’t slap her. I didn’t put her in her place. I just stared at her with enough fire in my eyes, the tears welling in them didn’t have a chance in hell of falling.
That killed me. I wouldn’t hold back my retaliation if Audrey called me that, so a stranger who doesn’t know me has no right to speak to me in such a manner. Yet, I let her.
I scold myself for a couple of minutes before I roll onto my hip to face Rocco. I’m not surprised to spot his unhidden watch. He has barely taken his eyes off me since Dimitri rocketed out of the room like he had a jetpack strapped to his back. “What’s the story with India? I get she’s standing up for her best friend, but something about her rubs me the wrong way.”
“You’re not the only one,” Rocco mutters under his breath before he joins me in lying on his side. He stares at me for a couple of moments, pondering on what to say before he comes right out with it. “Dimitri and India were almost a thing a couple of years ago.”
I hate thinking about Dimitri with anyone but me, but as they say, curiosity killed the cat. “Almost?”
Rocco boinks my nose, wordlessly advising he heard the jealousy in my one word. “Almost. They had a handful of dates. One night, they were heading back to her apartment to… you know—”
“I get it. You don’t need to spell it out for me,” I interrupt, fighting the urge not to gag.
He throws his head