Page 71 of Venomous Desires

The man’s gaze hardened. “You expect me to believe that? We’ve got witnesses, Miss Rosewood. “One of the students saw you with the man a few nights ago in the hotel room. He said there were some other people too, and you came crying out ofthe room.”

Panic clawed at me, and my thoughts raced. I felt a chill run down my spine. “What… are you talking about?”

He smirked and pulled out a few photographs from his jacket before handing them to me. I looked horrified at the pictures.

They were of me. Coming out of the hotel room, wiping away my tears. The second picture was of a man clad in a large brown fur coat as he left the hotel room. And I recognized him.

Dontello.

He was there when Judas brought me with him.

The face was so pale and unrecognizable I couldn’t see it in the haze of my fear. But if—

“You can keep denying it, but the witness was pretty clear.”

My throat tightened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“That’s not helping you,” he said. “If you were involved, now’s the time to say it. We can work with you—but only if you cooperate.”

“I didn’t do anything,” I shook my head. “I don’t even know who he was.”

He leaned back against the car, tapping his fingers on the hood like he had all the time in the world.

“Then tell me this,” he said. “Were you just in the wrong place at the wrong time… or did you see something you’re not saying?”

My vision blurred. “No. Please. I was there, but I didn’t kill anyone.”

His expression shifted. “Then you’ll need to come with us,” he said simply. “Until we sort this out.”

The words didn’t register at first. I just stood there, frozen, trying to process what I was hearing. Two more officers appeared beside me.

One of them took my bag before I could even react.

“No—please, there’s a mistake,” I said, panic rising in my voice. “I didn’t do anything.”

Cold metal snapped around my wrists. My breath hitched. Around us, people had started watching.

“Please,” I tried again, my voice breaking. “You have the wrong person.”

They started walking me forward. I stumbled trying to keep up.

The noise of the dorm faded behind me, replaced by the sound of my own breathing and the rush in my ears.

I couldn’t think properly. I’d been so close to leaving. And now… this.

They shoved me into the police car, and I huddled in the backseat, my tears falling. The world outside blurred as the car sped away, my hope of freedom slipping further out of reach.

The cuffs cut into my wrists, and each turn made my heart sink deeper into despair.

I knew then that I was truly trapped, caught in a web of fear and danger from which there seemed to be no escape.

Chapter 25

The Prey

He was a drug dealer. Donatello Maroni, a wanted criminal. And you’re the one who killed him,” the officer said, his tone calm.

“I didn’t kill anyone,” I said, my voice shaking.