Page 20 of Ruthless Vengeance
In such a short space of time, I’ve come to view myself as a sort of big sister to Rosa, and I hate that I worried her.
“Are you okay?”
Rosa nods, though the tears continue to pour down her cheeks. She wipes her eyes. “I was so worried. I thought you were dead.”
“I know, I’m sorry. But everything is fine now, I promise.”
Lila sniffs. “Now I’m going to cry.”
Holly looks at all of us with a slight panicked expression before her bottom lip starts to tremble.
Zoe starts to whine in my arms.
I shake my head. “No more tears. We don’t want to set the babies off.”
Lila jumps to her feet. “I’ll make you some food, Rosa.”
Even though I don’t want to let go of Zoe, I hand her over to Rosa in the hopes that some cuddles will make her feel better.
“Is Andre okay?” I ask when Lila sits back down at the table and hands Rosa a plate of food.
She gives me a tired smile. “He’s fine. He’s barely slept since you got back but other than that, he’s his usual self.”
Rosa lets out a laugh, which morphs into a sob.
I squeeze her hand.
Sometimes, I forget how young she is, and to have gone through what she has… She’s a hell of a lot stronger than I am, that’s for sure.
The three of us sit around the table, using the babies as a welcome distraction. Their infectious laughter and smiles lift all of our spirits, and I find myself feeling almost normal, as if the past twenty-four hours never happened.
For now, I let myself believe it.
After I’ve eaten, Rosa offers to watch Zoe while I go and take a much-needed shower. The smell of the cell still clings to my hair and skin, and I desperately want to scrub my body until it’s red raw.
But before that there’s one thing I need to do.
Once I’m alone in my room, I sit on the bed and pull my phone from the charging dock on the nightstand where it’s been since we left for the cabin.
There are dozens of messages and missed calls from Sam, but I can’t face her yet. I’m not sure I have the strength to lie through my teeth if she asks where I’ve been. I’m sure she’ll find out the truth eventually, but now is not that time.
I quickly delete all the message notifications before opening up the internet browser, hesitating for only a second before typingBen Peterson prison escapeinto the search bar.
I hold my breath as dozens of articles pop up, and I cringe as my brother’s mugshot stares back at me from every headline.
Escaped convict still at large.
State-wide manhunt continues for Benjamin Peterson.
Public has been warned as dangerous felon evades arrest.
My stomach twists.
As I feared, every cop in the state is looking for him, and yet he hasn’t been found. How the hell is Ben managing to stay hidden now that Tommaso is dead?
Someone else must be helping him, someone just as dangerous as Tommaso.
Ben has gotten himself caught up in a dangerous web and if I’m not careful, Marco might just be dragged into it too.
