I let her go.
I let her stand there and cry. I let her walk to the edge of the water and wipe the tears away. I really felt like I had no choice right now. My head and heart were in a tailspin that left me wondering just what in the fuck I was trying to prove.
When Rose turned to face me again, there was a slight look of defeat in her face.
“Are you going to ask me about it?”
“No,” I said. “But you’re going to tell me what actually happened.”
“I went to meet Roc. He had everything worked out. I’d be under a new name. A new passport. A new everything. A clean start for me. Roc was the best at it. I could quickly jump the country and disappear. I was thinking about going to Italy. Or Spain. I had some extra money so I figured why not.” Rose flickered a smile. “Roc wouldn’t let me pay. He said it was a final debt payment to the Dragman. To my father. We argued for a few minutes about it. I insisted he take the money and he fought back. He ended up with a hand at my waist and then there was a weird pause. He looked down at me and… shit… he tried to kiss me. Our noses touched but nothing else. He confessed he had a thing for me.”
A low rumble echoed in my throat.
Someone else touching Rose? Someone else trying to kiss her? Someone else confessing a thing for her?
“What happened?” I asked, trying to play my jealousy off.
“I wasn’t sure what was going to happen between us. Honestly. I was so fragile. So desperate.”
“Yeah, I get that. What happened with the murder?”
“Are you jealous, Wes?”
“I’m not in the fucking mood for games.”
I saw Rose smile. She liked that I was jealous. And, fuck me, I liked that she liked that I was jealous. Round and round we go.
“I stepped back from Roc. I was going to say something rational about the situation. Then Roc’s face dropped. A hand touched my right hand. Then something was in my hand. My hand lifted. Before I could understand what was happening… A finger touched my finger and my finger touched the trigger of the gun…”
“It was Luke.”
Rose nodded. “He followed me. He knew all about it. He had guys watching me. He knew I had talked to Roc. He knew I had set things up. Everything. And he was wearing gloves. The gun went off. I bounced back against Luke. He covered my mouth and told me to be quiet. Roc fell to his knees, death in his eyes. He reached for me and collapsed to the ground. Dead. Then Luke backed away. I stood there, Wes, holding the gun. Then Luke did something even worse. He called the police. He left me standing there with a smoking gun and a dead body in front of me. He set me up for murder.”
“Jesus Christ,” I whispered. Man, I couldn’t wait to face off with the Assassin before all this was said and done. I was going to rip his heart out with my bare hand.
“Luke managed to get me out of there,” Rose said. “He saved me after setting me up.”
“So you’d be locked to him forever,” I said.
“Yes. If I did anything, he’d go to the police. Or he’d go to Roc’s crew. That was worse. The police eventually didn’t care. They had other things. But Roc’s guys…”
Now I saw the pain flooding Rose’s body. That and fear. Intense, cold fear. She started shivering.
I stepped toward her.
She threw a hand out at me, damn near punching me in the chest.
“Don’t.”
“Why?”
“Why do you even want it?” she asked. “Because I’m pretty?”
“Yeah,” I said. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”
“You know how many people have said that to me?”
“I don’t give a shit. I’m saying it.”
“Everyone says it. Luke forced me into professional modeling contracts. Easy money for him. My father made me walk around and collect bets. I had offers from every businessman and politician in the state. You know what that feels like?”
“I don’t. I’m not beautiful.”
“Yeah, you kind of are, Wes.”
“So what do you want me to do right now?” I asked. “You’re fucking terrified and I’m trying to help you. I’m putting my life on the line for you. So, fine, you’re ugly. You’re a disgusting, ugly woman.”
“No… Wes…”
“Yeah, you are. Absolutely ugly. The ugliest… woman…”
Rose laughed. She covered her mouth and laughed at me.
I tried to hold back but I couldn’t help but laugh either. Christ, we were in such hell. Death waiting around the corner. A bullet could fly at any second and tear my brain to pieces.
So we stood there and laughed.
It felt good.
Rose had me at arms length.
She caught her breath and said, “I didn’t mean anything against you, okay? It’s just that my entire life…”
“Shut up, Rose,” I said.
“Excuse me?”
I was done talking about being beautiful. She wanted to feel ugly? Fine. I could make that happen. There was one logical thing to do.
I reached down and scooped up a handful of mud and dirt and wiped it across her face.
31.
(Rose)
Wes threw mud at me.