Chapter 12 - THE LAST WEDDING GUEST
At 11:58 p.m., Rosalie entered Pinecrest alone.
At least that was what Emmett believed.
She wore jeans.
A dark coat.
No wedding dress.
No diamonds.
No veil.
Nothing chosen by him.
Manuel watched through a camera hidden in her coat button.
Federal agents surrounded the estate.
Maya monitored audio from a command vehicle.
Lorelei remained somewhere Emmett could never reach.
Rosalie entered the ballroom.
One chair stood beneath the chandelier.
Her childhood bracelet rested on it.
Emmett stepped from the shadows.
He looked older.
Only three days had passed since the wedding.
But his empire was gone.
“You look like your mother.”
Rosalie didn’t answer.
“You always hated when people said that.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“You hated it.”
Emmett smiled.
“You think you’ve won.”
“I think you’re talking because you need me to believe you’re still in control.”
His smile faded.
Rosalie continued.
“You’re not.”
“You have no idea what your mother did.”
“Then tell me.”
“She betrayed this family.”
“You mean you.”
“She was going to destroy everything.”
“She was trying to save me.”
Emmett laughed.
“From what?”
Rosalie lifted her wrists.
“From you.”
For the first time, his eyes went to the scars.
No guilt.
Only irritation.
“You were difficult.”
Rosalie almost smiled.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The sentence I waited twenty years to hear.”
Emmett frowned.
“You did it.”
“You’re admitting it.”
“I disciplined you.”
“You restrained an eleven-year-old.”
“You were hysterical.”
“Because I saw you hurting my mother.”
Silence.
Emmett’s jaw tightened.
“You remember nothing.”
“I remember the garage.”
That was a bluff.
Mostly.
But Emmett reacted.
His eyes shifted.
Rosalie saw it.
“So she was in the garage.”
Emmett realized his mistake.
Too late.
Rosalie stepped closer.
“Did you kill Daniel there too?”
“No.”
Another mistake.
Rosalie had never said Daniel died in the garage.
Maya whispered through the hidden earpiece.
“Keep him talking.”
Rosalie looked at her father.
“Where did you kill him?”
Emmett laughed.
“You think that little microphone will save you?”
Rosalie froze.
He knew.
Emmett reached beneath the chair.
He lifted a small electronic device.
A signal detector.
Then he crushed Rosalie’s hidden camera beneath his shoe.
The command feed went black.
“Rosalie?”
Manuel stood.
“Rosalie!”
No answer.
Inside the ballroom, Emmett locked the doors.
Then he looked at his daughter.
“Now.”
May you like
He removed a pistol from beneath his coat.
“We can finally have a private conversation.”
