All the color drains from Dad’s face when the elevator door opens into the penthouse apartment Enzo owns.
Stepping into the living room, his gaze quickly shifts from me to Frankie.
“Nothing to say, commissioner?” Frankie asks, raising his gun.
He looks past Frankie, straight at me.
“Zara, sweetheart. This is all a misunderstanding. I can explain.”
I let out a malicious laugh. I can’t wait to unleash hell on him for everything he’s done. This is the least he deserves.
“A misunderstanding, Dad?” I step closer and Frankie falls behind me. He has my back, he always has. Unlike this asshole I call my father.
“You put me in a burning building. You killed your own fucking grandchild.”
My fist shakes by my side, and my grip tightens around the gun in my right hand.
He takes a step forward, and Frankie clears his throat behind me. “Go any closer to her and I’ll shoot you, George.”
Dad shakes his head, running a trembling hand through his greasy gray hair. He’s a damn mess.
“It wasn’t me! I tried to get Alex to keep you away. I didn’t have a clue.” His voice shakes. “Don’t do this Zara. It isn’t you. You didn’t mean to kill Ash. You aren’t anything like him.”
I follow his line of vision straight back to Frankie and my blood boils.
How fucking dare he.
My arm raises on its own, aiming my weapon at his forehead.
“You can’t even apologize for what you’ve done to me? Can you?” It hurts to say out loud.
His palms show in a sign of surrender. “You’re alive, aren’t you?”
I hear Frankie tutting behind me. The sound amplifies the pounding in my ears.
“I am, but my baby isn’t. Your grandchild,” I spit with venom, and he starts to back away from me.
He can’t escape us this time.
“Zara, be real here. It isn’t the worst thing in the world to happen. You don’t want to have a kid with him. You should be thanking me for giving you your freedom again.”
All I can see is a blinding, white rage as my blood boils with anger.
“How fucking dare you!” I scream and lunge at him. The butt of my pistol connects to his cheek and sends his head flying back. I keep hitting him. Every blow that connects just fuels me further.
“I hate you!” I cry out.
“That’s enough, baby.” Frankie pulls me back to him by the waist.
“Fuck you.” George looks up with blood dripping down his cheek and spits at Frankie’s leg.
I look down in disgust and shake my head.
Without a word, Frankie bends and removes the knife from my boot and places it in my hand. I watch in awe as Frankie grabs Dad by the throat to pin him in place against the wall.
“How about you show him some of the pain you felt?” Frankie says, looking only at me.
I look at the blade in my palm, then back up to Frankie.
“You can do this, baby.” A fire burns in his eyes as he watches me.
We both deserve this. We need this.
“Zara.” Dad addresses me in a stern tone as I approach him.
“I meant what I said before, you’re dead to me, Dad,” I grit out, and drive the steel into his stomach. He grunts, looking down at the black handle sticking out with shock on his face.
Frankie edges behind me and covers my hands over the hilt and twists it. The guttural sounds of my father’s cries fill the room.
“Anyone who hurts my family dies, George. Don’t worry, I’ll do the one thing you failed to do as a father. I will protect your daughter with my life.”
Dad trembles as Frankie shoves the knife in deeper.
I look at my father, the tears streaming down his face, and bile rises up my throat. How has it come to this?
He went against us. He took away my future. That is what I’m grieving. Not him.
“Please, Frankie. We can fix this,” he begs.
“You’re pleading with the wrong person here, Commissioner. It’s your daughter that holds your life in her hands, not me.”
“You’re pathetic, Dad. You really think you can beg for your life now? You’re not only a useless father, you’re also a useless husband. Mom is better off without you.”
“I-I love your mother. It was all for her, Zara,” he sobs. His words provide a stark reminder of why we’re doing this.
I tug the knife out of his stomach and press it under his jaw, above Frankie’s grasp.
“You think I don’t know you haven’t paid a single one of her medical bills? That you’ve been off fucking some whore while you sit back and watch my mom die? You two might have thought you would have it all, I’ll make sure you both burn,” I whisper against his cheek. My hand holding the blade starts to tremble.
The weight of what I’m about to do is taking over.
He’s my dad.
“He’s lying.” He glares at me as his hands cling to his stomach, trying to stem the flow of blood spilling onto the floor. “You know what he’s like. You’ve seen he’s a monster. He’s brainwashed you, Zara. It’s all a lie. I was protecting you this whole time.”
“Your call, baby,” Frankie says next to me.
My eyes narrow in disgust as I take my father.
Letting out a shaky breath, I lower the knife and step back. Tipping my head to the ground, I can’t look at him. Tears sting my eyes. With everything that’s happened. I’m a mess.
“End this, Frankie. I can’t listen to it anymore,” I say quietly.
Without a word, Frankie reaches out and strokes my cheek, tracing along my skin. “Go back down with the guys. I’ll meet you there.”
It isn’t a question, it’s an order.
I nod, taking one last look at my piece-of-shit dad. We are better off without him. So is Mom.
“You did this to yourself. I hope you fucking rot.” I keep my head held high as I reach the elevator. Once safely inside, I slump back against the wall and cover my face in my hands.
