Page 152 of Rosetti Family New York
The blade glints under the dim light, a cruel slash against her skin. I freeze. Rafe freezes. Adrian stands, dragging her up with him and out of the chair.
“Where did he get that?” I growl, the question like fire in my throat. I’m ready to kill Rafe for being so reckless with his tools.
“Stay back!” Adrian shouts, dragging her up and out of the chair. He’s moving, backing toward the exit with Besiana held tight.
Rafe’s face is like stone, unreadable. “This your plan, old man? You won’t get a hundred yards.”
“Baba, please—”
“Silence!” Adrian’s voice is cold and steady. The blood’s stopped pouring from his nose, but it’s still smeared down his chin. The blade presses tighter against her skin.
I clench my fists, taking a step forward. I can see Besiana swallow hard, her throat moving against the knife’s edge.
“You think you’re stronger than me?” Adrian’s words slice through the room. “You’re just a girl, Besiana.”
I want to reach for her, to rip her out of his grasp, but I know how this plays. Any wrong move and the bastard will cut her. Besiana’s eyes meet mine.
Adrian jerks her closer and laughs—not a loud sound, but biting and full of contempt.
“You should have killed me when you had that gun in my face, girl,” he spits out. “But you were too weak. You do belong with the Rosettis, after all. But me? I’m strong. And, as you know, I have no compunction about killing my closest family members.”
Rafe shifts beside me, tense and ready, but we both know we’re walking a tightrope here.
Every word from Adrian is like a poison, seeping into the room. “You have nothing, Besiana. No power. No strength. You’re as useless to them as you are to me.”
She doesn’t flinch, not visibly, but I know it hits her hard.
We stop, the whole world holding its breath. Adrian’s gray eyes are sharp as ice.
“This is why you should never trust anyone,” he tells Besiana, starting to move again.
Besiana doesn’t flinch. She doesn’t move. I can see the fury building behind her eyes, an intensity even Adrian hasn’t calculated.
In a blur, I see her hand go to her leg.
She pulls her mother’s knife from a sheath on her thigh and stabs him, plunges that dagger to the hilt into her father’s chest.
Adrian’s eyes go wide. The shock freezes him. His hand loosens around the blade.
Besiana pulls back, the look on her face cold and clear as frost.
The bastard didn’t see it coming.
Adrian’s pale eyes are wide, staring at her like he’s seeing her for the first time. His body jerks back. Besiana takes her chance, ripping herself away as he gasps for air. The knife is still in him, deep, as he stumbles and falls.
Rafe and I lunge forward, moving fast while he’s down. I grab Besiana, pulling her to me as Rafe reaches Adrian with fury in his eyes. Adrian chokes, his breath coming out wet, blood blooming across his shirt like a stain spreading.
“You’re the only one I can’t trust,” Besiana says, breathing hard.
Adrian is bleeding out, fast. I watch the life leaving him, those pale eyes going dim.
“Dom,” Besiana whispers. Her voice trembles. She stands frozen, her eyes wide and unfocused, like she can't quite believe what she’s done. She’s in shock, I can see it.
“Are you hurt?” I demand.
I search her face, her body, terrified of finding blood that isn’t Adrian's. She doesn't answer right away, just keeps staring at Adrian's body, motionless on the ground.
“I— I killed him,” she finally says, as if testing the truth of it, struggling to make herself believe the words escaping her lips.
