Roses

Chapter 21

Adam

"She deserves to die, just like her whore mother."

That had been the last words of this motherfucker called Vinny, who lies in a pool of blood at my feet right now. Interestingly, I hadn't decided he wouldn't live to see another day till he uttered those words.

I wonder why he said that. Could he not see where my priority lies in that fateful moment?

Anyways, it doesn't matter now. His reasons can die with him.

I look up and meet the eyes of my reason. What the hell is she doing here? How much did she see?

From the look in her eyes that keep going back and forth between me and the body at my feet, I guess she knows I killed him. I take a step towards her and she immediately takes one back. I hate it.

"Zo-" Her name isn't even out of my mouth before she turns around and takes off running.

"Fuck," I hiss as I go after her.

She is a decent runner, I'll give her that. Before I'm at the end of the back alley where she had stood, she is already running away on the other side of the road. But I'm better than her.

She doesn't look back once, running frantically back the way she must have come. I am able to reach out and grab her T-shirt a minute into our chase, ripping it in the process.

"GET OFF ME!" She shrieks, fighting my hold on her. I grab both her wrists in one of my hands and slam her body against the wall with the other. She is not going anywhere.

"Calm the fuck down, Zoey," I growl, pushing against her body with mine so she has no space to move. I may be able to force her to stop fighting me but she's still able to do the one thing that pisses me off the most--shut me out. She twists her head to the side and squeezes her eyes shut.

I bend her arms so her wrists are against my chest, shackled by my hand and I cup her chin with the other, fingers digging into her cheeks. I can see them leaving angry red marks on her flawless face as I twist her head back to face me. I don't want to hurt her but she's giving me no other choice.

"Look at me, sweetheart," I say softly. Even the idea of her running away from me because she thinks I'll hurt her is funny to me. I know for a fact I would rather die than hurt a single hair on her head. But she doesn't know that. And I need her to understand.

"Zoey," I whisper as she still hides from me. "Please." That seems to bring her back to me. She slowly lifts her eyelids and her electric blues pierce my soul.

"I won't tell anyone what I saw. Please don't kill me," she whispers. What the actual fuck? She thinks I want to kill her?!

"Baby-"

"I promise," she cuts me off. "I'll abandon the stupid investigation with your dad. Hell, I'll leave town, okay? Just don't kill me." Her words incite many emotions in me but I push them down to deal with later and just focus on one word. Investigation.

She thinks I'm the killer. Fucking amazing.

"I'm not the killer, Zoey," I say with as much conviction as I can manage.

"I know what I saw," she whispers as if she wants to put across her point without angering me.

"I did kill that guy," I say calmly. There's no point in denying it. "But only him. I'm not the serial killer."

She stares back at me, opening and closing her mouth, unable to decide what to say.

"Look, I'll explain everything to you," I say, pleading with my eyes. I need her to comply with me right now. "Just let me make a phone call first." She still can't find any words to say so I take her silence as agreement.