Stoic. Horrified.
Jessica lifts her chin and glares past me—directly at Alicia.
She looks at Alicia like she’s something beneath contempt, and I might as well not be in the room.
“You ruin everything. You always have.” Her tear-blurred eyes lock on Alicia. “People see you and they just—choose you. You ruin lives.”
Her voice cracks. Visible tears cascade. “All perfect. So untouchable. He loved me. Me!”
The cadence is manic.
Almost childlike.
Mentally unstable.
“He wouldn’t move forward while you were still in the picture. He said once you were gone, everything would fall into place.”
Once she was gone?
Fury detonates in my chest. Gone? She believed that—actually believed removing Alicia would fix her life.
I shift back, taking her in.
“Stella is happy with us. I’m good for her. She’s good with me. But you…you wouldn’t stay out of the way. A miserable, fucking gatekeeper.”
What’s terrifying is that this woman seriously believes every word she’s spewing.
Her eyes snap wide.
She pushes up.
I react. Arm over her shoulders.
“Richard was supposed to be mine!”
Hair sticks to the side of her face.
Alicia’s frozen, one hand pressed to her chest. Shocked.
Jessica struggles—but it’s half-hearted.
Fast, heavy steps grow louder.
Gabriel bursts in.
Gun drawn.
“Don’t move.” His voice is ice.
I’m still.
But that icy voice is what Jessica needs.
She stills too.
Gabriel steps forward. Cuffs her.
She slumps onto the ground.