Ruth’s POV
The basement smells like damp stone and rust. I stayed at the top of the stairs for a second too long, but Emmett didn’t look back.
He was already moving, his boots solid against the concrete. I forced myself to follow. Each step felt like it cost something. The space opened wider than I expected. One corner had a small workbench, the other held a rusted drain, and in the middle was the tarp. He didn’t speak until he reached it.
He crouched and pulled it back, slow, like he wanted to give me time to stop him. I didn’t. I just stared as the corner peeled down, revealing what lay beneath. Lorenzo.
His skin looked pale and waxy, one eye was slightly swollen. Dried blood crusted near the corner of his mouth. His coat was open at the collar, silver chain still around his neck. I remembered that chain, he had worn it the night he kissed my hand. I had wiped that memory away until now. My legs gave slightly, and I stepped back until I felt the cold wall behind me. My breath came shallow.
“What did you do?” I asked, barely hearing my own voice.
Emmett didn’t flinch. “He was watching the house.”
I shook my head. “That’s not a reason.”
“It is if you know what he wanted,” he said. “He left things. The pen wasn’t the first.”
“This is murder.”
“No,” he said firmly. “It’s protection. You just don’t want to call it that.”
He took a step forward, and I pressed my hand to the wall behind me to keep from sliding down. His face was unreadable, but his voice held no apology.
“He touched what wasn’t his. He looked at you like something he could take. I told you what that meant.”
“You said he was dangerous,” I whispered.
“And I was right,” he replied. “I saw him outside your window the night before you brought up his name. He stood by the porch like he belonged there. He wasn’t going to stop.”
“You can’t decide things like this.”
“Yes, I can,” he said. “I did.”
Another step, he was close enough now that I could see the light hit the scar on his face. It ran along his cheekbone and dipped toward his jaw. The part of him he usually kept hidden was exposed, and it didn’t shake him.
“This is the worst thing I’ve done,” he said, voice low. “And I’d do it again.”
I couldn’t tell if the tears had reached my face or stayed in my throat. My body shook. My mind couldn’t settle. Lorenzo was dead. He was right in front of me. The man who made my skin crawl had been silenced. By Emmett.
“You didn’t have to kill him,” I said. “You could’ve called the police. You could’ve told me.”
“And what would that have done?” he asked. “He wasn’t going to stop because of a report. He had money. He had connections. You think a warning would’ve scared him?” He waited, but I didn’t answer. I couldn’t, I didn’t know what I believed.
“He saw you as property,” he said. “I don’t. I never will. But I’ll protect you like you matter. Because you do.”
I looked at him. His jaw was tight. His hands hung loose at his sides, but I could see tension in every line of his body. He wasn’t proud. He wasn’t asking me to forgive him. He only wanted me to see it the way he did, as necessary.
“You’re not scared of me,” he said. “You’re scared of what it means to need someone like me.”
I leaned against the wall. My knees wouldn’t hold much longer. I didn’t know what I was feeling. Horror, shock., maybe some part of me knew he was capable of this. Maybe some part of me had even expected it. He stepped closer, and I didn’t move away.
“You don’t need to be afraid of me,” he said. “Everything else has already been destroyed.”