Chapter 92

CESARE

Of all the women I could be obsessed with, why did she have to be an avoidant? Rosalind has been hurt so many times she keeps her heart in an iron safe.

The scraps of information I get from her puts together a picture of a girl whose neglectful mother exposed her to a predator. I think Britt was her only friend because it sounds like her colleagues at the Moirai treated her with contempt. Then there's Miranda, who still believes Rosalind is her sister who murdered their parents.

Each time I press for more, she retreats behind her walls or distracts me with sex. It's frustrating, but she's right about one thing: whether she forgives me or not, I'm still technically her captor.

We spend the next few days observing the hospital in shifts from the guest house window, logging the times Tommy and his men come to visit his brother.

Sofia really did shoot Matty in the stomach the morning he tried to stab her in the Parisii Cemetery. His men brought him here for an emergency exploratory laparotomy to repair the damage to his intestines and spleen.

Rosalind bribed the orderlies working in Matty's ward to keep her informed of the movements in and out of the old bastard's hospital room. According to them, there are two guards stationed inside the room to keep him company and another pair patrolling the hallway.

The guard change takes place precisely at 6:00 AM, and again at 6:00 PM. A local hooker visits after the evening change and stays in the room for an hour, and then Tommy visits at 7:00 AM and then 8:00 PM to bring a home-cooked meal.

I wake up in the late afternoon to find Rosalind stationed at the window with a pair of binoculars. Sunlight streams through the glass, turning the ends of her hair a rich shade of mahogany.

Her face, concentrated and serious, is bathed in a golden hue. I can't even bask in her beauty because I'm lovesick. It's entirely my fault for treating such a brilliant woman like a mere pet.

She's so busy sending rapid text messages she doesn't even notice that I'm awake. When she finally turns from the window and our gazes meet, her features harden.

My heart sinks at her coldness. It's confirmation that she's counting the days before she can walk out of my life. Every time I ask about the future, she changes the subject to our mission.

I pick up my phone from the bedside table and check the time, finding that it's already five. "Anything out of the ordinary happen while I was asleep?"

Her gaze darts back to the window. "They're discharging him tomorrow morning, which means we will strike tonight."

I sit up in bed, my heart pounding. "Finally."

She turns back to give me a sharp nod. "I acquired an orderly uniform and some ID. That will allow you to enter and exit the hospital without raising suspicion."

The formality in her words grates on my nerves. "And you?"

"I've canceled today's hooker so I can take her place. That gives us ample time to kill him slowly, then take out Tommy when he comes to visit."

"And afterward?"

"I already made arrangements with Xero," she replies, turning her attention back to her phone.

A burst of anger propels me out of the bed. I stalk toward her, my fists clenched, mind in utter turmoil as I grapple with rejection and confusion.

"What does that mean?" I say through clenched teeth.

Rosalind halts, her fingers pausing mid-text, and gazes at me as if I'm the lunatic. "We need a decoy to help you get past the guards. I also asked Xero to station a car at each exit with a driver. Black sedans with sequential registrations driven by men wearing black baseball caps."

"Isn't that overkill?"

"Probably, but we could get separated. That way, both of us have a surefire escape route."

It's too early to feel relief because it sounds like she's already planning our breakup. "And after that?"

She flashes me a smile. "Then we celebrate."

"And after we celebrate?"

She inhales a deep breath and sighs. "Tonight will be complicated enough. We need to take out one set of guards without alerting the other. Once we've dealt with the first brother, we only have a short window of time before it's time to take out the other."

"Alright," I say, my voice tight. "But you don't get to disappear in one of those sedans."

She closes the distance between us and places a palm on my chest. "There's no chance of that happening."

"Until you get your money," I add, trying not to sound bitter.

"Will giving you an answer help you focus better on the mission?" she asks, her voice soft.

I give her a sharp nod, the muscles of my stomach tightening in anticipation of her rejection.

"There's no such thing as love. Before you protest, I believe in filial love, platonic love, and any other kind of affection that's built up over years of sacrifices and trust. But romantic love is nothing more than an extreme chemical reaction."

"Are you comparing what we have to a drug?"

She raises a shoulder. "Maybe. Drugs fade, just like romantic love."

"Give me a chance to prove to you I'm not fickle."

Her eyes soften. "After tonight."

I nod. "Deal."

It's not the answer I was hoping for, but it's the sliver of hope I need to get through tonight's confrontation with Matty Galliano.

I need to stay alert. Rosalind is likely to escape me the moment the Galliano brothers are dead. I'll have to move quickly before she slips away.