Page 148 of Sixth Sin

I’m pulled out of my thoughts as my phone chimes with an incoming text. Grabbing it off my desk, I read the one word staring back at me.

Goodbye.

Before I can change my mind, I’m in my car driving to Bel Air. It’s not smart. The last thing I need to be seen doing is driving onto Romanov property on the damn anniversary of the murders.

Fucking stupid, Luciano. Real fucking stupid.

But I don’t even get close to the gate before I see it swing open, and an Audi tears through it like a bat out of hell. It’s too dark to see who’s behind the wheel, so I follow it.

Again, stupid, but I’m too far in to turn back now.

“The fuck are you doing, boy?” I mutter under my breath as I floor the gas pedal, hitting ridiculous speeds trying to keep up with him as he takes sharp turns like a suicidal moron.

Finally, he slams on the brakes at the end of Beechwood and flings the driver’s side door open. Only it’s not Dominic. It’s Alexandra.

She’s dressed in a thin, flowing nightgown and—what the fuck? Is she barefooted?

Pulling off the side of the road behind her, I throw the car in park and take off running as she heads toward the Hollywood Reservoir hiking trail.

Shit!

How in the hell is she running on unpaved dirt so fast without shoes? I can’t keep up with her as she disappears down the winding trail, the overhanging branches swallowing her along with the night.

“Alexandra!” I growl, but I have no idea if she hears me. I’ve lost sight of her.

Jesus Christ, I’m out of shape.

The hiking trail is long, and by the time I wedge myself through a newly-cut opening in the chain link fence and make it to the bridge, I’m gasping for air and my chest feels like it’s been beat with a branding iron. I stop for just a minute and rest my hands on my thighs to catch my breath.

That’s when I hear her. I look up, and my heart slams against my chest. Alexandra is standing on the other side of the railing, one hand wrapped around the top and the other clutching something against her chest. I want to run and jerk her the hell back over, but there’s too much space between us. I’d never make it in time.

“Remember what you always used to say?” she says, and there’s something different in her voice. “You can’t drown in the rain as long as you run from the storm. I don’t need to run anymore, Angel. The storm is over.”

The storm?

She speaks again, “What are you saying, Alexandra?”

Angel. Alexandra.

Oh fuck.

Her chin turns to the side as she answers herself again. “I’m saying you were right all along. Some people are just meant to drown.”

Son of a bitch. She’s going to jump.

After all I’ve done for fifteen goddamn years, she’s going to jump in this fucking water. I don’t think anymore. I run like hell, and the sound of my dress shoes slamming against the concrete causes her to turn. “Alexandra, no! Stop!”

She narrows her eyes, peering through the darkness, and when she sees it’s me, she smiles. “I knew you’d come. Still following me, huh, Luciano?”

“What the hell are you doing?” I yell, pacing while running a hand through my hair. “Climb back over that rail! Are you crazy?”

“That question is a little inappropriate considering the circumstances, don’t you think?” she says, giggling as she glances over at the invisible fucking person apparently standing beside her.

I stop where I am and glare at her. She thinks this is funny? “Come on, kid. I’ve watched you grow up. I know you can’t swim.” I think of Dominic. How it will kill him when they pull her body from the bottom of the reservoir. Taking a calming breath, I hold out my hand. “You don’t want to do this. I helped you once, and I can do it again.”

Alexandra shakes her head. “I can’t stay here anymore. You know this is the way it has to be.” She motions between us. “This has to end with me. We both know if you keep knocking on the devil’s door, eventually, he’ll answer.”

I can’t look at her, so I turn my head just as something sails through the air and lands by my feet. Glancing down, I see it’s a large envelope.

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