Page 250 of Dante

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I push off the door and walk to the shower. My fingers fumble with the faucet. The water comes on cold. I don't wait for it to warm.

I step in fully clothed.

The cold hits me like a slap. Like Marina's hand across my face.

Alejandro is going to pay.

For what he did to my family. For what he made me do. The manipulation. The impossible choices.

He thought he could use me.

He thought he could turn me against the only family I have left.

He was wrong.

I brace my hands against the tile. The water runs over my head. Down my face. Mixing with tears I can't control.

I'm going to destroy him.

Not just kill him. Destroy him. Take apart everything he's built. Make him watch it crumble before I put a bullet in his skull.

He's going to regret the moment he walked into that warehouse. The moment he showed me those photos. The moment he thought he could make me betray the people I love.

The water turns warm.

Then hot.

I don't move.

I let it burn.

Maybe it can wash away some of this. The guilt. The shame. The weight of watching Sophia scream over an empty grave.

Maybe—

The bathroom door opens.

I don't turn around.

I hear her footsteps. Soft. Careful.

Then arms wrap around me from behind.

Marina.

She's still dressed. Her clothes soak through instantly. She doesn't seem to care.

She just holds me.

Her cheek presses against my back. Her hands flatten over my chest. Over my heart.

I turn.

The water streams down between us. Her hair plasters to her face. Her eyes find mine.

I kiss her.

Not gentle. Not careful.

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