Page 105 of Tony

“No. Fuck you, Tony. You ripped my life apart. You stole my memories. Hell, you stole my identity. And you come here, calling me Rosalinda? Fuck. You. I haven’t been Rosalie for a long time now. I am Belinda. And you can accept that or not, it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m not confused about who I am, you are. You call me Rosalinda like this is some great big joke. Some funny ha-ha shit that makes a good story that you and your brother can laugh about. And you know what the really fucked-up part is? I believed your lie. For almost a year after I got here, I believed that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time when I saw your little smuggling job go down and lost my life as I knew it. But not anymore.” I shake my head. “It wasn’t bad luck. I wasn’t in the wrong place at the wrong time. Because I’m right where I’m supposed to be. Here. In Fort Collins, Colorado. With Vann Vaughn. And you… you’re the lost one here, Tony. You’re the one out of place. You’re the one who has no idea who he is, not me.”

No one says anything for almost a full minute. We just stare at each other as the echo of my words becomes real and the truth of what I just said sinks in.

I let out a long, tired breath. But you know what? There are no more angry tears running down my cheeks. Because I feel just fine.

Tony Dumas will never ever steal my tears the way he stole my life.

Never again.

Vann looks at me and nods. “I think we’re done here.”

And then he takes me by the hand and leads me to the door.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE - TONY

I just stand there in the ensuing silence after her final words. I know Soshee is looking at me. I want to believe that she understands that there are two sides to every story and that she will not let Belinda’s outburst cloud what we just started building together.

But one look at her… that’s all it takes to see the disappointment.

“Soshee,” I say. Belinda and Vann are nearly through the apartment door.

But Belinda turns back. “Are you fucking serious right now? You’re going to plead your case to Soshee?” Belinda huffs. “Why am I not surprised?”

“What are you talking—“ But I stop. I stop because it feels like I’ve been using this same, lame excuse on repeat since Belinda reappeared. And there has to be a reason for that, doesn’t there?

Belinda is looking at me like I just strangled a puppy. Like I am filth on the bottom of her shoe. Like I am a truly horrible person.

And when I look at Soshee, I can tell she’s falling for it.

It’s probably not even what Belinda just said to me, either. It’s probably just… true.

Belinda certainly thinks it to be true. She hates me. That’s hate in her eyes.

I wasn’t saving her, I realize. That’s not why I had her sent away.

I was saving me. Not even from the FBI or anything so dramatic like what we have going on right now.

I was saving me from… her.

I wanted Rosalie gone. She was a pest. An inconvenience. A reminder of that weird tear fetish thing—that, turns out, wasn’t about me to begin with.

I feel sick over that misunderstanding. Like maybe I am a truly horrible person.

I made Rosalie disappear.

Literally.

She’s right. I stole her life. And then when… oh, shit. Madam Ameci’s words come back to me. I hear them in my head like she’s standing right in front of me. It’s not what has been said, Mr. Dumas. It’s what hasn’t been said.

And suddenly the past three months of sleepless nights makes sense.

I know why I’m here and I know what I’m doing.

I turn back to Belinda and hold up a finger. “Give me one minute.”

“What?” she sneers.

“I’m not done. But before I get to you, I need to say something to her.”