Chapter 38
DANTE
I left the penthouse as fast as I could.
Seeing Leigh completely fall apart like that.. I couldn’t stand there and watch her do it.
She was breaking into pieces over something I set into motion.
She wouldn’t even let me touch her.
The distance she kept between us felt intentional, like her instincts were screaming at her to stay away from me.
Almost as if she knew I had a hand in it.
But I knew she didn’t.
I just never imagined hurting the person I love would feel this fucking unbearable.
But before Leigh, I’d never actually been in love with anyone before.
This all weighs heavily on my mind on the drive to Queens, which is easily the worst fucking drive I’ve ever had to make. Every second behind the wheel feels heavier than the last, because no matter how much I try to justify it in my own head, the truth never changes.
I put the hit on Marco.
The guilt sits in the back of my mind the entire drive there, clawing harder every time I think about Leigh collapsing in Viktor’s arms this morning.
I’m responsible for the reason she’s falling apart right now.
Leigh can never find out the truth. She’ll never look at me the same way again.
She’ll never.. touch me the same, nor trust me ever again.
The thought alone makes my chest tighten hard enough to hurt.
So whatever happens after this, I need to make damn sure the truth stays buried with Marco.
When I arrive, the smoke still lingers heavily in the air.
It clings to the apartment complex while the people outside watch the aftermath unfold.
Fire trucks crowd the street with their lights flashing endlessly against the cloudy morning sky while tenants stand near the sidewalk wrapped in blankets, talking quietly amongst themselves.
I park half a block away and sit there staring through the windshield for a few seconds.
My hands tighten around the steering wheel hard enough that my knuckles ache.
This wasn’t how this was supposed to go.
I push the thought away and force myself out of the SUV anyway.
The closer I get to the building, the stronger the smell becomes.
And underneath all of it is that unmistakable scent that immediately twists my stomach.
A firefighter near the entrance tries stopping me at first, but Faris spots me from farther down the sidewalk and waves him off.
He surprisingly looks exhausted.
His tie hangs loose around his neck, ash stains part of his sleeve, and there’s a layer of smoke dusting his dark hair, most likely from him standing out here for the last few hours.
“They finally got everything under control,” he mutters while meeting me near the yellow tape. “Place is completely fucked.”
I glance up toward the upper floor where black smoke stains spread around the apartment windows.
Marco’s windows.
“What happened?”
Faris exhales through his nose while starting toward the entrance. “Looks accidental right now.” He steps over broken glass scattered near the hallway doorway before continuing. “Fire department thinks he left a cigarette burning somewhere.”
My jaw immediately tightens.
“With the amount of alcohol in there?” he adds while motioning around us vaguely. “And whatever other shit he had lying around? It didn’t take long for the entire apartment to go up fast.”
The stairway reeks so badly of smoke it burns going down my throat.
Parts of the ceiling collapsed inward and the walls are stained almost entirely black now. Water drips steadily somewhere deeper inside the building while ash crunches underneath my boots with every step.
Then we finally reach Marco’s apartment. Or what’s left of it.
The place is destroyed. Furniture is melted together, glass blown out. There are sections of the floor that are charred beyond recognition.
I stand there staring at the wreckage while my chest slowly starts tightening harder.
Faris keeps talking beside me while investigators move around the apartment taking pictures, but I barely hear any of it anymore.
All I can see now is Leigh collapsed against Viktor, crying so hard she could barely breathe.
Eventually Faris lightly grabs my shoulder to pull my attention back toward him. “They moved the body outside.”
My stomach aches at the thought of him in a body bag, but I follow Faris anyway.
Outside near the ambulance, a black body bag sits on a stretcher while two EMTs quietly talk nearby.
Everything inside me immediately tells me not to walk over there, but I force myself forward anyway.
Faris walks up beside the stretcher and grips the zipper. “I have to have you confirm the body since you’ve seen him up close and personal before. You ready?”
I’m not even fucking remotely ready for this.
Because this will confirm my greatest mistake.
But I nod anyway and he pulls the zipper back slowly.
It’s burned so badly that it’s almost impossible to recognize anymore.
The smell hits next. I automatically turn my head away while my jaw locks painfully tight.
Fuck. I didn’t even like Marco most of the time.
He was always so fucking reckless. Pathetic even.
A complete fucking liability waiting to happen.
But he was still someone I knew for years.
He was still Viktor’s family.
Still Leigh’s brother.
Faris slowly zips the body bag back up afterward while studying me carefully. “You alright?”
“Yeah.” The lie comes out automatically.
I immediately turn away because if I stare at that fucking stretcher any longer, I might actually lose my shit.
By the time I finish things up with Faris and climb back inside my vehicle, my hands are shaking.
The second the door shuts, I slam my fist into the steering wheel hard enough that the horn explodes through the street. “Fuck!”
I hit it again.
“Motherfucker.”
Then again.
Pain shoots through my hand, but I barely even feel it.
Anger burns through me so violently, I can’t fucking think straight.
I betrayed both of them.
I lean forward against the steering wheel, trying to get my thoughts under control while my breathing slowly evens back out.
I quickly grab my phone and dial the number so aggressively I almost crack the screen.
The second somebody answers, I snap.
“What the fuck?” I bark immediately. “Finnic Lawson was supposed to take the fall for this. It was intended to look like a fucking murder.” I drag a hand down my face before exhaling heavily.
“Two birds, one stone. Instead, now it just looks like Marco accidentally blew himself up in some crackhead apartment.”
Silence hangs briefly on the other end before the guy finally answers. “The apartment was already on fire before we got there, boss.”
I freeze at his words. “What?”
“We never touched the place,” he says quickly. “Flames were already blasting through the windows by the time we pulled up.”
My grip tightens harder around the phone.
A cold feeling slowly moves across my chest.
“So what?” I snap. “I’m supposed to believe his apartment just conveniently fucking exploded on the night I sent you guys there to take him out?”
“I’m just saying, boss,” he says carefully. “This might actually be a blessing in disguise.” He pauses briefly. “Now there’s no chance of this tracing back to you.”
I know he’s right, but it doesn’t change anything.
At the end of the day, I still sent thugs to kill him.
And no matter how this ended or who actually murdered him, I know this guilt is going to stay with me for the rest of my fucking life.