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Scava, I’m disappointed in you.
A few minutes later, we hear the purr of an engine. It cuts out and car doors slam. There are quick footsteps and Chiara hurries through the door as I get to my feet. Her eyes are wide and bewildered and she grasps my shoulder and touches my cheek as I pull her into my arms.
“Bambina, are you all right? Did they hurt you?”
“I’m absolutely fine. Where’s Nicole?”
I step aside and point to the kitchen cabinet, and Chiara drops to her knees and calls softly through the wood.
“Nicole? It’s me. Nicole, please come out.”
I turn to Scava and say under my breath, “What happened at Strife?”
“I’ll explain later,” he says through clenched teeth. Salvatore is standing in the doorway and gazing at Chiara. The only person who could stop these men from doing what they set out to do is the small blonde woman who’s currently sitting on the floor with her hands pressed against a cabinet door.
“Nicole? Please talk to me.”
A hesitant voice carries through the wood. “Chiara?”
Chiara’s eyes widen and fill with tears. “Itisyou. You’re alive. Oh, my God, you’re alive. Please come out. I promise no one is going to hurt you.”
Slowly, the cabinet door creaks open. A head with dark hair appears, and a tear-streaked face. Nicole’s eyes lock with Chiara’s, and both girls throw their arms around each other, shoulders shaking with sobs.
“You’realive.”
Nicole buries her face in Chiara’s shoulder and cries, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
The four of us stand over the girls and exchange glances. TheI’m sorriesbother me. What does Nicole have to be sorry about?
“I tried to stop them, but they wouldn’t listen to me.” Nicole pulls away from Chiara and her petrified gaze darts from one of us to the next. “I never wanted to do it. Please don’t kill me.”
5
Chiara
“No one’s going to hurt you,” I assure my friend. “You’re safe now. Come on, we’ve got to get you out of here. We’ll take you somewhere safe. Lorenzo?”
I look to the blond man for permission to bring her to the compound. His jaw is tight, and it looks like he’s tempted to put his gun to Nicole’s head and demand she tell us what the fuck is going on right this second, but he nods.
Cassius steps forward and helps me to my feet. “Chiara, you and Nicole come with me. Scava, lead the way, and the two of you follow behind. Keep your weapons handy. He’s still out there, somewhere.”
A shiver goes down my spine. The Black Orchid Killer. He was here tonight. He nearly took Lorenzo prisoner, and Salvatore was going to kill his friend rather than let him be tortured to death like his sister. If Nicole had a part in this plan then I don’t know what I’m going to do.
We have to know what she knows. It could be the answer to everything.
The men walk in lockstep around Nicole and me as we head for the cars. I sit with Nicole in the back of Cassius’ white SUV, my arm around her shaking body. Her skin feels frozen and her face is sickly and washed out.
As soon as we pull into the garage at the compound and get out of the cars, I turn to Lorenzo. “Can you please check Nicole over to make sure she’s okay? I think she’s been drugged.”
Irritation suffuses his handsome face. He looks ready to interrogate her rather than examine her, but he nods. “Bring her through.”
I take Nicole’s hand and lead her down the concrete hallway. At the door to Lorenzo’s operating-room-slash-doctor’s-office-slash-morgue, she freezes in her tracks, her eyes wide.
“I know it looks scary. I hated this room the first time I saw it, too, but I promise that you’re safe here. Lorenzo is a doctor.”
“I’m not a doctor,” he replies, and I shoot him a look as Nicole turns even paler. Now is not the time to split hairs.
He pats one of the metal tables. “Come on. Up here.” Then he stands back and folds his arms. I can practically hear him counting to ten. If she doesn’t do as he orders, quickly, he’s going to walk out.
