Page 170 of Vega

His truth had caused me to hyperventilate again. I started to breathe so hard that my chest visibly rose and fell. “Tell her who Sonnet is, Roman,” I seethed.

He stared at me, blinking owlishly. “Celeste, I don’t know what somebody told you, but—”

“Tell her!” I shrieked.

“Who is Sonnet, daddy?”

I scoffed with an evil laugh. Then I told Promise, “She’s the woman who watched your father kill his son.”

Promise released a short laugh, but there was no humor in it. “Ma, that’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?” I kept my eyes on Roman. “No wonder there wasn’t a camera in this city that caught anything that night. You killed him behind Lakefront Medical, the company you use to wash your money. I’m sure the footage from every camera on that building disappeared before the police even arrived.”

Roman’s face had lost its color.

“The Street Kings found evidence anyway,” I continued. “They found the only witness too. You hired Vega Moretti to kidnap her and bring her to you, but he knew something wasn’t right. He kept her away from you because he realized you planned to kill her.”

Promise shook her head, but her movements had become uncertain. “This can’t be true. Daddy, tell her this isn’t true.”

Roman didn’t answer.

Her voice trembled. “Daddy?”

I picked up my phone. “Vega sent me everything an hour ago.”

I opened the audio file and pressed play.

Cedric’s voice filled the kitchen first. “We still ain’t found the girl.”

Then Roman answered. “Because Vega has her. I know he does. Sonnet didn’t have the means to disappear off the face of the fucking earth.”

“We don’t know that she told him anything. As long as Sonnet Ellison is breathing, everything I built is at risk.”

Promise’s hand covered her mouth.

Cedric spoke again. “Vega ain’t handing her over.”

“Then we find both of them. Nobody can learn what happened to Donovan. It will ruin me.”

Cedric asked, “You sure killing him was the only option?”

Roman’s recorded voice came back without regret. “What the fuck does it matter now? He’s dead! Donovan was never capable of running my organization. He was impulsive, entitled, and too stupid to realize that I wasn’t giving up my throne until I was dead and buried.”

“He was still your blood.”

“He was a thief. He tried to steal this organization from under me. If he had taken control, everything would’ve fallen apart within a year.”

I ended the recording.

Promise was crying now.

“I have the location records, photographs, messages, and Sonnet’s account of what happened,” I told Roman. “She heard every word Donovan said before you shot him.”

Promise stared at her father, sobbing. “How could you do this?”

Roman’s jaw flexed, but no answer came.

“Why?!” she screamed. “Why would you kill him?!”