AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I wish I’d been there,” Lorenzo growls, his eyes narrowing. Then he glances at me. “I’m sorry. You know what I mean.”
I do know what he means. It would have been an opportunity to take a good look at anyone who fits this description. “It’s a creepy thought, that the killer might have been in the house that day, eating finger sandwiches and hiding in plain sight.”
Lorenzo helps me down from the table. “I wish I could make you stop thinking about this stuff. You’re having a baby. You’re supposed to be radiant with sunshine and rainbows and shit.”
Instead, I’m thinking about death and murky basements. I reach up and touch his cheek. “Thank you for talking to me about this. I needed to tell someone my theory and now I can move forward with the next part of my plan, if you’ll let me use one of your computers. I want to go through newspaper articles about Dad since he became mayor and compile a list of everyone he’s been connected with who is either artistic or medical.”
He kisses my forehead. “No problem, princess. As long as you’re where I can see you, I’ll bear with it. But if I see your blood pressure going up, I’m changing my passwords and you can sit and knit.”
I smile up at him. “Thank you for taking good care of me and the little bean.”
He can’t resist it when I’m grateful for his overprotectiveness, and the corner of his mouth twitches. “Damn you, woman. You’ve got us all wrapped around your little finger.”
I blink my lashes at him, “Who, me?”
Lorenzo’s phone rings and he answers it. “What?” He frowns and puts the caller on speakerphone. “Talk. She can hear you.”
I stare at Lorenzo’s phone, wondering who it is, and a female voice speaks. “Chiara? It’s Alecta. How are you doing?”
I haven’t seen Alecta since she fake-crumpled to the ground at the cage fighting match. She was a better actor than I was. “Alecta! I’m great, thank you. It’s lovely to hear from you.”
Her tone is serious. “I already reported this to Zagreus, but he thought you might like to hear this from me personally. I’ve been keeping an eye on the De Luca home under Mr. Scava’s orders, waiting to see if De Luca appeared or if anything suspicious went down.”
I exchange looks with Lorenzo. “And has he? Are Nicole and her mom all right?”
“They’re absolutely fine,” she assures me and then hesitates. “De Luca is back.”
So he is alive. “When did he arrive?”
“Ten minutes ago. He pulled into the driveway, walked up to the front door and let himself in like it was a normal goddamn day and he hasn’t been missing for eight months.”
“Where is he now?” Lorenzo asks.
“Still inside the house, but I can’t tell what’s going on because the curtains are closed. We’ve got another hunter watching the backyard in case he sneaks out that way.”
“Thank you Alecta, I appreciate the call,” I tell her.
“No problem. How’s the baby?”
“It’s absolutely fine. I think this one is already competing in cage fights the way it’s kicking me.”
Alecta laughs. “I bet Mr. Ferragamo is thrilled. Talk later.”
Lorenzo hangs up and he takes my hand, his eyes hard and glittering. “I think it’s time we paid a visit to your old school friend and her father, don’t you?”
I call the others to tell them what’s happened and they agree to meet us at the De Luca family home right away.
Thirty minutes later, I’m standing on the front doorstep at Nicole’s house, and I ring the bell.
Nicole answers the door and her eyes widen as she sees the four men standing behind me, stony expressions on their faces. They widen even more as I shift on my feet and she catches sight of my bump.
“Oh, Chiara, you’re—” Her smile is delighted for a split second, and then reality crashes down on her. “I guess you’re all here to see Dad. You won’t hurt him, will you?”
“No, we just want to talk to him,” I assure her. “No one here is going to hurt him in his own home, I promise you.”
Nicole gazes at each of my men. None of them laid a finger on her while she was at the compound. They kept her safe and then let her go when she asked. She steps back. “You’d better come in.”
We file into the house, one by one, and Lorenzo calls out, “Tell De Luca that there are armed hunters surrounding this house. There’s nowhere to run.”
