Page 94 of Liberated By Sin
He was dead.
The pop of a bullet filled the air in the exact second I launched my knife at his face. I ducked, expecting more gunfire, but the room was silent, apart from Luca’s low gurgling and shallow pants.
I crawled toward him, guided by the faint light of a nearby outlet and a growing puddle of blood below the knife protruding from the side of his throat.
“Where is she?”
Blood sprayed my face when he purposely spit and grabbed for my neck but fisted a handful of hair instead. “Fuck…y-you.”
I pried open his fingers. “Tell me what you did with Cambri, or I’ll cut off your dick.”
Laughter bubbled from his reddened mouth, pushing more liquid out of his neck. “He knows…”
Despite being at death’s door, this bastard was playing games. I pounded his chest, and his body jerked inward.
“Who?”
Bloody gurgles muffled his words, but he kept attempting to speak until one word became shockingly clear.
“A-Athena.”
The last syllable was whispered on the breath of a death rattle. I fell on my ass, my eyes wide and unfocused as I processed the name I hadn’t heard spoken out loud in years.
No.
She’s dead. Athena is dead.
“How do you know that?” I crawled toward a lifeless Luca and pounded on his chest. “Who told you?” His face twisted against my backhanded slap. “Tell me!” I cried as I throttled his limp body by the shoulders, head crashing against the hardwood.
Over and over until it was all red.
Everything was red.
Tears filled my eyes, distorting the mangled man in front of me. I hung my head against his still chest and cried, gripping his soaked shirt as emotions ravaged my heart.
Luca had no way of knowing who I was unless he’d been in contact with someone from my past. I patted his front pockets, looking for his cell phone, then flipped him over but came up empty.
“We need to get out of here, Phoenix.” My breath was caught in my throat. “I need Santino.”
Staggering to my feet, I ran to the bathroom and ripped off my shirt, tossing it under the cold spray and wiping down my arms. Pink tinged the sink and splashed against the vanity and mirror. But I kept scrubbing until the water ran clear.
The mirror called to me, taunting me to look, to catch a glimpse of her. I shook my head and squeezed my eyes shut.
“No. Pull it together.”
I bolted out the door, threw on a sweater, and scooped up Phoenix.The hallway was quiet. Vacant.
Good.
I sprinted past Detective Braga’s door, hoping against hope he hadn’t heard the chaos from my unit. I half-expected him to pop his head out and catch me with blood still caked in my hair. There would be no escaping his accusations then, and I’d be left with only one option. It was one thing to dispose of predators, men who didn’t deserve the air they breathed, but another to kill an innocent. How could I condemn his little boy to a life without his father when he’d already lost his mom? I’d been left alone in the world, and if my story was anything to go by…I’d be no better than Ronan.
Ronan.
Could he be Luca’s contact?
The stairwell was dimly lit, and I raced down each flight. Pulling my hoodie over my face, I reached the lobby and quickly spilled into the parking garage.
Just a few more steps.