Page 46 of Symphony for Lies (Tangled Truths #2)

Zane's POV

Amelia’s beautiful, brown eyes gleamed faintly under the glow of the hospital monitors. They were hazy and weak but alive.

For one agonizing second, I thought I was hallucinating. That my exhausted, desperate mind was playing one last cruel trick on me.

But she blinked. She was awake.

A soft tremble ran through her fingers. My grip tightened instinctively. I couldn’t let her go. Not ever again.

A ragged breath shuddered out of me as I leaned closer. My free hand reached up to cradle her cheek, and my fingertips ghosted over her warm skin.

“Amelia…” Her name left my lips in a rasp, cracked and raw.

She was awake. She was safe.

I softly laid my forehead against hers, inhaling sharply, trying to convince myself it was real.

“Thank God.”

I kissed her slowly as if I could anchor myself to the moment, feeling her life pulsing against my lips.

Her heartbeat stuttered. I felt it. Heard it. And fucking loved it.

A harsh ache surged through my chest, and I could barely breathe past it. She was reacting to me. My Amelia.

My fingers trailed down her throat, brushing against the delicate flutter of her pulse. It was displayed on the monitors, steady and reassuring, but I needed to touch it. Needed to confirm it was real.

She parted her lips, her voice barely whispering, “Zane. I need to talk to Spencer.”

Everything inside me went cold. What?

The relief that had nearly drowned me seconds prior vanished in an instant, sucked into a void of ice and fury.

My jaw clenched so tight it ached. My fingers flexed against her skin, fighting the vicious possessiveness tearing through my veins.

She was thinking about him! She was thinking about the fucking case!

She’d just woken up. Just barely crawled back from the edge of death. And that was what she cared about?

“Please,” she whispered, her voice fragile.

“No.”

Her breath hitched.

She knew. She knew I wasn’t just joking.

I leaned in close, my face mere inches from hers. I didn’t let my fury bleed into my words, but my control was slipping. “I won’t let you put yourself in danger again.”

Her trembling fingers pressed against my chest. A pathetic, useless attempt to push me away.“Zane…”

I shook my head.

Amelia still didn’t understand.

She tried to sit up, but I caught her instantly, forcing her back down before she could struggle. “Amelia, don’t.”

Clutching at her stomach, she sucked in a sharp, pained breath, and something inside me snapped.

Fuck .

Red-hot fury detonated in my chest, a violent storm of rage and helplessness.“Damn it!” I pinned her to the bed, my hands on her shoulders.“You’re still fucking injured! You can’t move!”

Her lips trembled, but I didn’t release her. I refused to.

I leaned in close until our noses brushed. She had no choice but to see me, to feel how fucking desperate I was.“Your only job is to get better.”

Her eyes locked onto mine. I knew exactly what she was thinking. She wanted to throw herself back into the chaos and danger like she always did. I wouldn’t let her.

“Zane, this is important—”

“No. You’re important, dammit!” Burning tears spilled over, dripping onto her cheek.

She stilled beneath my touch.

“I don’t care. I don’t care about any of it. None of it matters. Nothing but you. So, please… no more talk about this case.”

I couldn’t hear about it anymore.

Not the details about the case. Not the names of the people who tried to destroy her. Not the danger she seemed so damn willing to throw herself back into.

For once, for just one goddamn moment, I needed her to just be mine. I needed to hold her without the weight of the world pressing down on us.

Moisture welled in her exhausted, beautiful eyes.Her finger brushed against my cheek, wiping away the tears I hadn’t even realized were still falling.

Her touch was so soft. So careful.

But her gaze was still so damn determined.

“Zane… Rita. She’s the killer. Mr. Watson… he was just her accomplice. And not just him.” She swallowed hard. “Jeffrey. The janitor at our clinic.”

A weight dropped into my heart.

No.

No, that didn’t make any damn sense.

But Amelia’s gaze didn’t waver.

She knew.

“If she’s still out there…” She sucked in a sharp breath as pain rippled through her body, but she held my gaze, refusing to back down. “…she’s not going to stop… Please, Zane.” Her fingers curled around mine, clinging to me like I was her anchor. “We have to tell Spencer.”

I could feel the urgency in her words. She knew the nightmare wasn’t over.

But my mind struggled to catch up.

Rita. Jeffrey?

What the hell?

I glanced down as Amelia lifted my hand to her lips, pressing the faintest, weakest kiss against my knuckle.

A plea. A silent request.

I had barely survived losing her once. I couldn’t bear it again.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t stand the thought of her suffering. Knowing the truth and being unable to act.

My throat was dry, and I ran my tongue over my suddenly parched lips.“I’m not leaving you alone,” I murmured, my gaze locked onto hers, hypnotized by the quiet storm within them.

“I don’t have my phone.” I swallowed hard.“Give me a second.”

She nodded, her breath warm against my cheek.

It took everything in me to pull away.

Everything.

Every cell in my body screamed at me to stay, keep holding her, and never let go.

But I had to for her sake .

Slowly, I pushed myself upright, my fingers lingering against her cheek, catching a stray tear before it could fall.

“I’ll be right back,” I whispered.

It wasn’t just a promise.

It was a vow.

A goddamn oath.

Each step toward the door felt impossibly heavy, my chest constricting tighter with every second that passed.

I reached for the handle, opened the door, and froze.

“Hello, Zane.” The voice was high-pitched, syrupy-sweet, and completely out of place.

Rita.

She stood right there in front of me, smiling as if we were having the most casual encounter in the world.

Something cold and hard pressed against my side.

A gun.

“Do me a favor?” she whispered, her voice soft. “Come with me to the rooftop. No fuss, no theatrics, okay?”

That was a command. Not a request.

Rita’s smile widened, a finger resting lightly on the trigger. “Don’t even think about trying something. Even if you go for the gun—” Her eyes flickered to the side, then back to me. “I won’t just kill you. I’ll shoot everyone in this hallway.”

The irony.

I almost laughed.

If I hadn’t gotten up when I did, Rita would have walked right into Amelia’s room. Would have pulled the trigger right there in front of me.

Thank you, God.

I reached behind me and pulled the door shut.

Rita grinned. “Good boy. Now, walk. Elevator. ”

I shook my head. “So you can slip inside and finish what you started?”

She tilted her head, pretending to think. “Don’t worry. I keep my promises.”

Lies.

The woman hadn’t spent years hiding in the shadows just to give up.

She pouted when I didn’t move an inch. “You don’t believe me?”

My jaw clenched.

“Aww… Don’t be a fool. We can get this over with the easy way by making Amelia lose the love of her life. It might break her heart enough to make her feel just a bit of what I’ve felt my whole cursed existence.”

I stared at her, not feeling anything but rage.

“Amelia thinks my father liked her? The bitch just reminded him of the daughter he lost! The one he cried for! And I was just a fucking shadow. A mistake. Forgotten.” She laughed in a very unhinged way. Her words didn’t make any sense.

“You know what it feels like to be invisible, Zane? To grow up knowing you were born from shame?” She shook her head.

“I gave him everything! The music, the art, the kills. I made each death a performance, a masterpiece. Art! Like he used to say, ‘True art speaks without words.’ I followed his rules. And he still… still… looked at Amelia. He even hesitated to kill her in the end!”

Rita pressed the weapon harder against my stomach as if it were my fault, but I still didn’t budge. “He even wanted to make one special song for her. A goodbye melody…” She sighed with no sign of regret in her eyes. “Well, he’s dead now.”

Her expression darkened, turning almost feral.

I still didn’t react, staying calm.

“So, I have to make her suffer. I’ll take everything she loves—”

“ Zane?”

Shit. Stacy was coming toward us.

“Stay back.” I couldn’t let her get involved.

I felt Rita’s finger twitch slightly on the trigger.

“Let’s go. Just the two of us. I won’t run.”

It was a game. But I was playing along for the moment.

Rita hesitated, scrutinizing my face, my body, and my reactions. She started chewing on her lower lip, then she cracked her knuckles.

A slow, deliberate sound.

“Maybe I should just end this right here.” Tension coiled in every muscle of my body. Why the sudden change of heart?

“I said I’d—”

“I don’t like your reaction. I expected more… fear. More desperation.”

The gun pressed harder into my ribs.

My breathing remained steady.

No fear. Only anticipation.

She was right in front of me. I could end the chaos.No waiting for Spencer. No relying on anyone else.

Just me and her.

“Fine. Let’s go.” She nudged me forward.

“Freeze!” Stacy’s voice rang through the hallway like a gunshot.

There was a sharp inhale. A single panicked movement. And Rita tensed up for just a second, but that was all I needed.

I lunged, grabbing her wrist and shoving the gun upward.

A vicious curse ripped from her lips. Her knee slammed into my thigh, and her elbow struck my ribs, causing pain to detonate in my already injured body, but I didn’t let go.

I had endured worse.

Her grip weakened, and the gun slipped. Taking the chance, I twisted her wrist sharply, making her shriek.

In the struggle, she fired a shot.

The bullet buried in the ceiling above us.

Screams erupted down the hall, but I didn’t flinch. Didn’t let it rattle me.

With a sharp kick, I sent the gun skidding across the floor. Grabbing Rita’s arms, I wrenched them behind her back.

“Stacy!”