“A cleanup? We don’t got shit on the schedule. I’m in the middle of—”
“This time Katie hit Georgie. I got her here. We need a cleanup. Now.”
“Fuck, man. Bastian know?”
“I guess I’ll be the one telling him.”
“Maybe call Mario first.”
“Mario’s not the one we answer to anymore.”
“Don’t be a fool, Rome. You and Katie answer to no one. That’s the problem. It’s about to be our whole family’s problem.” The line went dead.
We stared at Georgie. His voice was gone as he writhed on the ground, struggling to breathe.
“I’m certain he deserves more pain than this, but I don’t enjoy seeing anyone grapple for one last breath. Is there a way to . . .?” Her voice trailed off as she lifted a shaky hand to her mouth.
I nodded without needing her to finish. I knelt in front of him and snapped his neck swiftly.
Katie hissed at the sound, and her chin shuddered. One lone tear rolled down her cheek. “I’m not sad to have lost him or that I took his life. I’m just . . .” She let out a breath and closed her eyes. More tears escaped, and I wondered if there was a way to capture them in a jar, sell them to the highest bidder. Katie didn’t cry.
The Katie I knew didn’t care enough to cry, not about a single thing.
“I’m just more lost than I ever thought I could be, and I’ve always been okay with that, been okay with being empty. Now, there’s you. And I figured that was good, right? We were doing good in your apartment, Rome.”
“We are good, Katalina.”
“No! No. This is all a lie.” She motioned between us. “You built this on a lie, Rome. And now, I’m mad and empty all over again, except that this asshole plants a seed of purpose here.” She pounded her chest. “My heart all of sudden doesn’t feel so lost. It feels full. Full of anger and revenge and longing to know what the hell happened to my mother, to my father, to get the real story beneath it all.”
“Katie, stay fucking lost,” I growled. “We can be happy with that.”
“It’d be easier that way. But we’re just scraping by, Rome. What’s a life without a purpose?”
“A carefree one?” I tried.
She shook her head and went to pick up her knife.
“You need to get rid of that knife, not keep it.”
“It’s mine. It doesn’t really matter anyway. I’m done hiding.”
“Katie, you’re staying with me. We’ll figure things out—”
She spun around and pointed the blade my way. “I’m staying where I want. I’m going out in the light of day. I’m tired of this bullshit. You’ll help me, and so will the family. If you won’t, I’ll climb over both you and Bastian, or—”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll die trying. My blood is your blood, right? You’re either with me or you’re against me, Rome.”
The line had been drawn, and she stood there with blood splattered on her neck, red dots around the gold Cleopatra necklace she wore, the one I’d fetched for her because she couldn’t bear to be without it. She’d become her now. I knew it. It was her time. And my time to stand by her.
I stalked up to her and took her mouth in mine. I tasted her power and gave her my surrender.
After this, I wanted to help her. After this, I was taking her.
Katalina, in the light and the darkest of the dark, was mine.
And there went that bomb.