Milan
China locked the door behind her. I almost laughed. Maybe she thought she was keeping everyone else out. Or maybe she thought she was keeping me in.
Either way, I was glad for the privacy. She leaned against the door, breathing hard. The bottom of her wedding dress was dirty from running through the hotel, and one side of her veil had come loose and vanished somewhere between the eighth floor and the lobby.
She still looked beautiful, and that annoyed me. Even scared, crying, and barefoot, China looked like she could be in a bridal magazine.
I sat by the window with her phone in my lap. My ivory maid-of-honor dress was spread out around my legs.
“Give me my phone.”
Her voice shook. I looked down at it.
“You have twenty-three missed calls.”
“I said give it to me.”
“Malcolm's mother called six times.”
China flinched. I smiled.
“His father called twice.”
“Milan.”
“Someone named Brianna keeps calling too.”
“Give me my fucking phone.”
I tossed it onto the bed. China stared at it. She didn’t move.
“You wanted it.”
“I want you to leave.”
“Nah, not a good idea.”
“The police are downstairs.”
“I know.”
“They know about Malcolm and Warren.”
“I know.”
Her expression changed.
“You killed them.”
This time, I didn’t deny it.
“Yes.”
China opened her mouth, but nothing came out. I saw her realize the truth. Maybe a part of her had still hoped she was wrong, but that hope was gone now. She shook her head.
“Oh my God.”
“I would leave God out of this.”
She covered her mouth as new tears filled her eyes. I thought I would enjoy seeing her cry, but I didn't. Maybe I had already gotten what I wanted from Malcolm. His death was mine.
China's grief belonged to her.
“You're sick,” she whispered.
I tilted my head.
“Interesting diagnosis, coming from you.”
“He loved you.”
I laughed, and China stared at me.
“No, Malcolm loved himself.”
“He regretted what happened.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
She hesitated.
“Over the years.”
I nodded.
“That must have been comforting while you were sleeping beside him.”
China looked away. When I stood up, she quickly moved back against the door. I smiled at that.
“You’re afraid of me.”
“You just murdered two people.”
“You helped murder one.”
“I never killed anybody.”
“Jeremy Voss.”
“I didn’t touch Jeremy.”
“But you knew.”
China stayed silent as I stepped closer.
“You knew Malcolm killed him.”
“I found out afterward.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not.”
“You were at the motel.”
Her expression shifted. I kept going.
“You were at the parking garage. You wore my coat. You drove my car. You wore Grandma's ring.”
China looked surprised.
“You lost that ring years ago, remember?”
“Milan.”
“I saw the pictures.”
“What pictures?”
“The ones nobody thought existed.”
She swallowed. I noticed something in her face that wasn’t just fear.
She was calculating, trying to guess how much I knew. I almost hated that as much as everything else.
“You were sleeping with Malcolm before Jeremy died,” I said.
China closed her eyes.
“You were pregnant.”
She opened her eyes. That one stung.
“Malcolm told me.”
China stared at me.
“He told you?”
“Before he died.”
Her knees looked like they might give out. She reached for the door handle behind her.
“You talked to him?”
“We had a very long conversation.”
“What did you do to him?”
I gave her a small smile.
“You don’t want to know.”
China let out a shaky sound. I walked over to the table and picked up a champagne glass.
“Do you remember when we were seventeen, and you slept with Andre?”
China's brow furrowed.
“What?”
“My boyfriend.”
“That was high school.”
“I know.”
“Why are you talking about Andre?”
“Because I remember asking you why.”
China looked straight at me.
“You told me you wanted to know whether he would do it.”
“I was seventeen.”
“You said you were testing him for me.”
“I was stupid.”
“I forgave you.”
Her face tightened. I took a sip of champagne.
“You cried. Mama made us sit at the kitchen table. You promised you would never do anything like that again.”
“Milan.”
“I believed you.”
“We were children.”
“Yes.”
I put the glass down.
“Then you did it again.”
China's eyes filled with tears.
“This was different.”
“You’re right. This time you sent me to prison afterward.”
“I didn’t send you anywhere.”
I laughed, surprising both of us. China stepped away from the door.
“I didn’t plan for you to go to prison.”
“You testified.”
“Because Warren told me I had to.”
“You lied.”
“I was scared.”
“So was I.”
“I was pregnant.”
“So?”
China stared at me. I moved closer.
“You keep saying that like your pregnancy was supposed to matter more than my life.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then make me understand.”
China wiped her cheeks.
“Everything happened so fast.”
“No, you had an affair slowly.”
“Milan.”
“You had plenty of time to take your clothes off.”
“Stop.”
“You had plenty of time to get pregnant.”
“Stop.”
“You had plenty of time to put mine on.”
“Stop!”
Her scream echoed through the suite.
I smiled. China was breathing hard.
“You want the truth?”
“I have wanted it for six years.”
“Fine.”
She walked away from the door, her wedding dress trailing behind her.
“I loved him.”
Those words should have hurt me, but they didn’t.
“I loved Malcolm before you knew I did,” she continued.
“How romantic.”
“I tried to stop.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“You don’t know what happened between us.”
“I know enough.”
“No, you don’t.”
China turned around.
“You and Malcolm were miserable.”
I let out a laugh.
“According to who?”
“According to him.”
“Of course.”
“He said you were controlling.”
“Did he?”
“He said you checked his phone.”
“After I caught him lying.”
“He said you accused him of cheating constantly.”
“He was cheating.”
China stopped walking, and I smiled.
“That makes those accusations slightly less crazy, does it not?”
She looked away.
“He was going to leave you.”
“Then why didn't he?”
“Because Jeremy died.”
China sat on the edge of the bed, looking worn out.
“Malcolm called me that night,” she said. “He was panicking.”
I stayed on my feet.
“What did he say?”
“He said he and Jeremy got into a fight.”
“And?”
“He said Jeremy fell.”
“You mean Malcolm pushed him.”
“I wasn’t there.”
“You helped afterward.”
China wiped her eyes.
“I went to him.”
“Of course you did.”
“He was terrified.”
I gave a nod.
“Keep going.”
“Malcolm said Warren could help.”
I felt my stomach clench.
“Warren was already involved with their business.”
“How?”
“I don’t know everything.”
“Try harder.”
“They were moving money through properties. Malcolm said Warren had connections and could keep certain things from being investigated.”
“Jeremy found out.”
“Yes.”
“And threatened to expose them.”
“Yes.”
I crossed my arms.
“It was an accident.”
“Stop protecting a dead man.”
China flinched, but I pressed on.
“What happened next?”
She glanced down at her dress.
“Warren said Malcolm needed an alibi.”
“And they needed a killer.”
China didn’t answer.
“Say it.”
“Milan.”
“Say it.”
Her voice grew softer.
“They needed somebody else to be there.”
I stared at her.
“So you volunteered me. You wore my clothes and everything.”
“Warren told me to.”
“And you did everything Warren told you?”
“I was scared.”
I walked toward her. China got up fast.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I was.”
“You know what I did when I was scared?”
She shook her head.
“I told the truth.”
“Milan.”
“I told every cop who questioned me that I didn't kill Jeremy. I told Warren. I told my lawyer. I told the judge. I told the jury. I screamed it until my throat hurt.”
China cried silently.
“Nobody believed me because my own sister stood in front of twelve strangers and told them I was unstable.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
“I am.”
“You’re only sorry because Malcolm is dead.”
“That’s not true.”
“You weren’t sorry yesterday.”
“I invited you here.”
I laughed.
“You think that was an apology?”
“I was trying to fix things.”
“You invited me to watch you marry him.”
China's face fell.
“I wanted my sister back.”
“You wanted absolution.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
I stepped close enough to smell her perfume.
“You wanted me smiling in those wedding pictures so every time you looked at them, you could tell yourself that Milan forgave you.”
China shook her head.
“You wanted me standing beside you so you could stop feeling guilty about climbing into my life.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Neither was six years.”
She slapped me. The sound echoed in the room. My head jerked to the side.
My cheek burned. China stared at her hand.
I slowly turned back to face her. She looked terrified.
“Milan, I..I”
I swung and hit her even harder. China stumbled back and crashed into the table. Champagne glasses fell over. One broke on the floor. China grabbed the table’s edge. Blood showed at the corner of her mouth.
I smiled.
“You have wanted to do that for six years, haven’t you?” she asked.
“Longer.”
She lunged at me. I didn’t see that coming. China hit me around the waist and slammed me into the wall. The back of my head hit hard enough to blur my vision. She grabbed my hair. I grabbed hers.
For a few seconds, we fought just like we did when we were kids. Then China drove her elbow into my ribs. Pain shot through the same spot Malcolm had hit earlier. I lost my grip. China pushed me away.
“You killed him!”
She came at me again. I caught her wrist.
“You didn’t have to kill him!”
“He sent me to prison!”
“So did I!”
She blurted out the words. We both froze. China stared at me. I gave her a slow smile.
“You get it now.”
She shook her head.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Milan.”
“You finally said it.”
I pushed her. China fell onto the bed, her wedding gown twisting underneath her. I reached into the hidden pocket of my maid-of-honor dress. When China saw the knife, her expression changed.
“Milan.”
I opened the blade. She scrambled back across the bed.
“No.”
I walked toward her.
“Milan, listen to me.”
“I listened.”
“We’re sisters.”
“I know.”
“I’m all you have.”
That made me pause. China noticed and moved off the other side of the bed.
“Mama is gone. Daddy is gone. Malcolm is gone.”
“Whose fault is Malcolm?”
She flinched.
“You and me are all that’s left.”