Page 204 of I See You

Ariel nodded, nervous but trying to seem firm. “He’s my child’s father. I know I was wrong... but I love him.”

Dorian bit her tongue before something sharp slipped. Ariel pulled out two wine glasses, as if they were two old friends trying to patch things up.

“You love a man who was your best friend’s first,” Dorian muttered, the venom hard to mask.

Ariel froze but forced a shrug, trying to hold on to her fake peace.“I thought you came to talk, not throw punches. Or... did you really show up at four in the morning to finish what you started at the bank?”

Dorian chuckled coolly, softening her voice. “No. I came to apologize.”

Ariel blinked, clearly not expecting that. “Want some wine?”

“Sure.”

WhileArielturnedtopour,Dorianmovedcalmlytotheisland.

The minute Ariel stepped away to grab her phone ringing in the other room,Dorianpulledthenearlyemptymelatoninbottlefromher purse and dumped the rest in Ariel’s glass without hesitation. By the time Ariel came back, Dorian was sipping hers like nothing happened.

Ariel’s face looked tenser than before, her brows furrowed with whatever she’d just seen or heard.

“Everything good?” Dorian asked.

“Yeah,”Arielbreathed,thendownedtheentireglasslikeshe needed it to breathe. “You ever love a man so much you’d do anything for him—even when he keeps showing you he doesn’t love you back?”

Tearswelledinhereyes.Dorianwatchedthemfallwithoutblinking.

“No,”shesaidflatly.“Ileaveniggasrightwheretheyhadme fucked up.”

Ariel flinched, like she expected sympathy and got a blade instead.

Good.

Dorian listened as Ariel spilled her heart out—crying over how much she loved Braxton, how much he didn’t love her back. Every word made Dorian’s skin crawl. Her ears burned from the desperation in Ariel’s voice, but she nodded, played the part, let her vent.

So when Ariel yawned wide, her head starting to bob from the heavy hit of melatonin kicking in, Dorian finally felt peace return to her bones.

“Ouu, I’m getting sleepy. It was good seeing you, really, Dorian,” Ariel slurred, her eyes glassy.

Dorian stood and casually walked toward the sink with her empty wine glass in hand. “Yeah... can’t say the same.”

She slipped on her brass knuckles without hesitation.

Ariel squinted at her, confusion painted across her sleepy face. “What are those—”

Before she could finish the sentence, Dorian swung, cracking her across the face with enough force to rattle the cabinets. Blood gushed from Ariel’s nose instantly, her body going limp.

Dorian caught her before her skull cracked against the tile and gently laid her across the kitchen island. Her breathing was shallow, knocked out cold, just like Dorian planned.

She opened the front door—Hassan was already waiting.

He walked in without saying a word and scooped Ariel’s unconscious body into his arms like she weighed nothing. Dorian snatched the keys to Ariel’s Jeep from the counter.

“She ain’t gonna fit in your trunk,” she said, following him out.

Hassan laid Ariel across the backseat of the Jeep while Dorian climbed into the driver's seat. As they pulled out the gate, her headlights swept across the guard shack—and Dorian caught sight of the fat security guard slumped forward in his chair, his throat sliced clean, blood sprayed across the glass like a horror movie.

Cleanup crew was already there, zipping the body into a black bag while wiping down the window like it was just another Tuesday.

“Damn, San,” Dorian muttered, gripping the wheel tighter as she followed behind Hassan. There was no turning back now.

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