Page 145 of Explosive Prejudice

I stared at her with wide eyes. “He what?”

“Don’t worry, Shay-Lee. I know Señor Rogers is treating the boy well.” Her efforts to calm me down were useless.

Never in his life did my father treat anyone well, and there was no reason for him to start now. Was this his plan all along? To bring Jordan back and use him as bait to lure me in?

Grabbing my phone from where it was tossed on the bed, I quickly dialed Camilo. I had to tell him we needed to get Jordan out of my house immediately, but he wasn’t answering.

“Damn you,” I hissed and tried again. After being sent to voicemail for the second time, I tried reaching someone else.

“Shay-Lee?” He sounded surprised and out of breath as he picked up.

Right before I could speak, the doorbell rang. Checking the time, I saw there was still an hour before Dion was supposed to arrive, so what the fuck?

“Hold on just a second,” I said to the other line, placed my phone on the dresser, and looked at Rosa. “Wait here, okay?”

She nodded.

The bell rang once more, so I increased my pace. With a grunt, I reached for the handle. “Jesus Christ,” I said while opening the door. “We said we’d meet in an hour—Orson?” My lips twisted in a snarl as I hissed his name and placed my hand on the doorframe, forbidding him from stepping in. “What are you doing here?”

“Is that how you greet your guests?” he tsked.

“Is my father here?” My brows pulled close. “If so, tell him I won’t see him until later. As we scheduled.” For my plan to work, my father needed to be here only after I was with Dion, or else what was the point?

Orson made that awful sound with his tongue while rubbing his jaw with a gloved hand. “You see… there was a change of plan.” He smiled and then pushed me into the apartment, forcing his way in.

“Get out,” I snapped as he closed the door behind him.

“Now, why would I do that?” He smirked.

My body tensed as my panic rose, yet I wasn’t about to back down. Assuming Orson was probably just trying to mess with me like he often did, I straightened my posture. “I’m not alone,” I warned.

“Is that so?” Still standing by the door, he flicked his suit jacket open, revealing the black shirt underneath.

“Yes, so you better leave.”

“I don’t mind the company.”

He didn’t react the way I wanted him to, and it rubbed me the wrong way. There was something different about his attitude today, but I couldn’t tell what, so I tried the method that usually worked.

“You better get out, or I’ll tell my father.” I pointed at him, but Orson remained unfazed with a smile still glued to his face.

What’s going on?

The bedroom door opened, and Rosa walked out.

“Is everything okay, niño?” she asked, and I turned around to tell her to go back inside and wait when a popping sound pierced the air, and in what seemed to be like a split second, Rosa’s head was thrown back, blood splattering on the wall behind her as her body dropped to the floor like a rock.

My eyes widened with shock, and my mouth opened as I continued to stare at the blood covering the walls and then down at Rosa’s body. Slowly peeling my eyes away, I moved my horrified stare to meet Orson. He was standing with his gun pulled out, the silencer still pointed at where Rosa had stood just a few seconds ago.

“W-what have you done?” I swallowed hard.

“I told you I didn’t mind the company.”

“R-Rosa?” I whispered, my voice cracking. Too afraid to look back, I did anyway, only to see she was really dead.

My mouth opened in a voiceless cry as I stepped back, trying to get away from Orson, only to stumble on my feet and fall inches away from Rosa’s head. Her eyes were wide open while blood was pouring out of the bullet hole between them.

“Oh God.” It felt like I was kicked in the chest. “Oh God,” I cried, unable to breathe.

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