I walked slowly back toward the apartment, not sure at all what the hell I wanted to do. The only thing I knew for sure was that I wanted to see Emma.

I unlocked the door and pushed through. I found her sitting on the couch, wrapped in a big, comfortable-looking white robe and staring at the television absently.

“Hey,” I said. “You look comfortable.”

She looked up at me. “Oh, Brooks. I didn’t hear you come in.”

She had this faraway look on her face that I’d never seen before. I narrowed my eyes and sat down on a chair across from her. “Been having fun without me?”

“Sure,” she said absently.

“Have you gone exploring yet?”

“Not yet.”

I stretched my legs out. “Been too busy thinking about my thick cock between your legs, I’m sure. Can’t muster up the energy to leave.”

“Not exactly. Louisa visited me.”

“Did she?”

She nodded. “Had some interesting things to say.”

I sighed. I’d been expecting this, or at least something like this.

Louisa didn’t do anything for no reason. Sure, she helped people, but I couldn’t imagine her just helping us and expecting nothing in return. Whatever Emma was about to tell me was going to be the beginning of whatever Louisa actually wanted.

“What was that then?” I asked finally, taking the bait.

“She talked about her organization, about how it started.”

“Did she mention locking herself away in her room?”

“She did, actually,” Emma said. “She told me that it was dumb and childish, but she used that time to build her empire.”

“I’m sure she did.” I frowned, not sure where this was going. Emma seemed distant somehow, angry for some reason I couldn’t understand. There was another game happening here, and I didn’t know what it was yet.

“Brooks, did you get a promotion?”

I raised my eyebrow. “How do you know about that?”

“Louisa told me,” she admitted. “Are they putting you in charge of some territory?”

I nodded slowly. “Gian wants me to take over for Dante.”

Emma’s face fell, and I wasn’t sure why, but I knew it had to do with whatever Louisa had told her.

“I see,” she said. “That’s really great, Brooks.”

“I never said I was taking it.”

She smiled. “Isn’t this something you’ve always wanted?”

“Yes,” I admitted. “I always thought I wanted to be a big boss.”

“Well, here it is, your dream come true. And you won’t need to hide me anymore.”

“That’s right,” I said softly. “You’re free to do whatever you want.”

“What do you think I want to do, Brooks?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted, “but I suspect Louisa said something to you.”

“She might have.”

“And you trust her?”

“I think that I do.”

“Okay then,” I said. “Emma, something bigger is happening here.”

“You’re right,” she said. “It is. And you seem to be at the center of it.”

“What are you talking about?”

She stood up, suddenly serious. “Why have we been running around like this?”

I cocked my head at her. “What did Louisa say to you?”

“You’re important, Brooks. You’re getting a serious promotion in the mafia. Why did we need to run around like this? You could have just told them what was happening and I bet they would have forgiven you.”

“I’m not so sure,” I said, but part of me realized she might be right.

“You wanted to drag me around. You wanted to keep me prisoner.”

“That’s not true at all,” I said, feeling myself getting angry.

“I don’t understand why any of this happened, Brooks. I don’t understand why you saved me. But you got what you wanted, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess I fucking did.” Anger welled up inside me.

Fucking Louisa had said something to her, fucking poisoned her against me. After everything we’d been through, Emma thought she knew the truth about me or some shit. Clearly Louisa had told her something, probably one of the many fucking bad things from my past.

That was who I was. I was a fucking killer and I’d never pretended otherwise. If Emma forgot about that, well I couldn’t fucking help it.

“So I guess you can go take your promotion.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know what bullshit Louisa fed you about me, but she doesn’t know me. She’s a smart person and she watches people, but she doesn’t know everything.”

“What doesn’t she know?” Emma asked, and I heard a hint of desperation in her voice.

But I couldn’t grab on to it. “She doesn’t fucking know a damn thing.” I walked over to the door. After everything that had happened between us, Emma thought I was betraying her. She thought that I’d kept her around just because I wanted to use her like some sort of slave.

After all the death and the danger, after getting shot, she still didn’t trust me.

That pissed me off the most. I had holes in my body. I had killed for her. And now Louisa comes along, poisoning her against me.

“I’m leaving,” I said.

“Fine,” she answered. “Do what you need to do.”

“You’re making a mistake,” I said to her, “but I can’t stop you anymore. You’re free, Emma. You’re totally free.”

I turned the doorknob and left the room.

As I stormed through the hallways, walking without direction, I had a deep, sinking feeling in my chest.

I’d made the wrong choice back there.

Somehow something had just happened, some pivotal moment. Emma had seemed like she needed something from me, but I just wasn’t able to give it to her, not in that moment. I didn’t have it within me.

But I also needed something from her. I needed her trust. She’d seen enough, heard enough. She fucking knew me well enough to know that I wasn’t just going to throw her under the bus for some fucking bullshit promotion.

Too late for all this now, though. I had already left, and she had already made up her mind. Whatever Louisa had offered her was better than what I could give, and that had to be the end of that.

I felt like I was losing something, and I didn’t really understand why. I could turn back and explain to her. I could tell her that everything I’d done since meeting her was only to keep her safe, and that I’d never betray her no matter what. I could tell her that I wasn’t even sure I wanted to take the damn promotion.

But the farther away from the room I got, the further away from Emma I felt. And I was just too damn far away now, too fucking far away to turn back.

I was a killer. I would always be a killer. Emma wanted to be free, and she couldn’t be free with a man like me keeping her down. For her sake, for my own sake, I had to just keep walking, keep walking through these halls. I had to keep moving forward.