Page 54 of KAI Tortured

“That’s your masseuse, boss.” Rob proudly informs her.

“My masseuse? Can’t you tell, you idiots? That’s my sister! And you two just let her waltz in here. She could’ve killed me!” She pulls her gun and aims at them. “You’re lucky I need people right now. Make one more mistake and you’re dead!”

“I’m sorry, Rosey,” the other one mutters.

Rob just lowers his head. “Won’t happen again, boss.”

“Don’t apologize to me – go outside, see who she came with, idiots!”

She hits Rob on the head, then sends them away. Then, she aims her gun at me and comes closer. Each step she takes makes that muzzle closer and bigger. I’m so scared I can barely move.

She presses the tip firmly against my forehead, making me take an instinctive step back. The back of my head hits the door of her office.

“Inside, now!” she orders.

I’m staring at her, terrified, as my hand scrambles blindly behind me for the handle of the door. Upon finding it, I press down; the door swings open and I tumble to the floor.

“Get up!” She points the gun across the room. I stagger to my feet and follow where she’s gesturing. “Over there. Sit.”

I turn around in search of a chair, and quickly find the one I sat in the last time I was here. The large desk is here too, but there aren’t boxes everywhere anymore. No paperwork either. The office has been completely cleared. All of Milan’s boxes that stood for years in this office are gone.

After closing the door, Rosey sits down behind the desk and leans back in her chair.

She despises me, and I think she’s close to killing me, but I don’t hold it against her. I would never let her get hurt. I know what happened to her. This is not the Rosey I knew. Milan brainwashed her. If I had saved her in time, we would be fighting on the same side now. It’s all my fault. And if I can make it right, I will. Even if it costs me my life.

“Why do you keep coming back?” Rosey sounds resigned, her shoulders slump, and her voice is… softer?

I clear my throat. “For you. For you, Rosey. You’re my sister, no matter what you’ve done to me, or what you’re gonna do to me.”

She shakes her head, dismissive.

“And for your children,” I add. “Maxim, Luca, Damien, and Mila.”

She raises her eyebrows at me. Yes, I remember their names.

“Why are you surprised? I have no one in this world who’s family, and you had only me before you had children. I want to be part of your family. I want your kids to know who I am.”

“I don’t see the point in thinking about the future,” she says indifferently. “Things are gonna fall apart, like they always do.”

“Rosey, please, there is a way out,” I urge. “I can connect you with Christopher and he can put you in witness protection, with your children. You can have a new life, far away from here.”

“Oh, fuck off!” she shouts abruptly, as if she thinks I’m mocking her. “Shut the fuck up. Who do you think you are, Mother Teresa? I don’t need anyone. No one! You hear me?! Milan’s dead, and I’m free. Do you even have any idea what that means? Have you ever been free in your life? Well, I have. I am. And it’s fucking amazing. I make my own destiny!” She suddenly fires a shot at the ceiling, making me duck. I cover my head as the ear-splitting sound is followed by dust and debris falling from the damaged tile.

“After all the sacrifices I made, I get no thanks, Maisy. So why bother? Why run, when you could stay and kill as many fuckers as you can?”

She aims her gun at me.

“Don’t shoot, Rosey. It would break Mom’s heart.” I’m still shaking inside from that gunshot, but I have to try a different approach. One last try. “If she could see you now, she wouldn’t approve of what you’re doing.”

“And she would of you?” she sneers. “You shot someone point-blank, Maisy! Point-blank, in the face! Like an assassin! I saw the video.”

“Yeah, but she would’ve–”

“She would’ve what?! She was a human being, too!” Rosey’s humanity is just about eking through the façade she’s putting up. That, there, is my real sister who I love and cherish. And for that, I will not let any harm come to her.

“Rosey, you don’t understand…”

“I don’t understand?” She yells. “You know, I’ve had it with you, and everyone else here. I’m sending you straight to prison. That’s where you belong. To live the kind of life I lived while you were free. Up! On your feet! I’m taking you to the police myself!”

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