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“Chiara, are you all right?” Nicole is staring at me, her brow wrinkled in concern.
The urge to run is almost overpowering. I clench my fists at my sides. “I just need to…”
Without another word, I hurry out of the room. A window. I need fresh air. I head for the window at the end of the hall and fumble with the lock.
“Bambina, are you all right?”
I jump as a hand lands on my shoulder. It’s Cassius, and he’s gazing down at me with concern. I realize I’m still holding my cake fork like a weapon, brandished in my fist.
“I don’t know. I just got the strangest feeling.”
“Lorenzo!” he calls over his shoulder, and the blond man appears by my side. He feels my brow and presses his fingers to the side of my neck.
“Princess, what’s wrong? Christ, why is your heart rate so high?”
A holiday house. A basement. I never saw the videos, but I can hear their screams echoing off concrete walls. Screams of terror and pain that dissipate on the damp air and are blown to nothing in the wind.
“I just remembered something. A place I saw years and years ago.”
I can barely see my two men. The memory in my mind’s eye is blinding. I know where that basement is. I could be there within forty minutes. This time of year, the house is probably empty.
“A basement. Maybe it’s nothing, but I have to know for sure. Will the two of you drive me?”
They stare at me and then exchange glances. Lorenzo speaks first. “If you want to check something out, sure, but are you sure you want to leave your party?”
I glance toward the living room, feeling guilty for running out on my guests. I couldn’t even relax for half an hour without thinking about the killer. “This isn’t like my idea about Christian Galloway. This feelsreal. I have to know if I’m right.”
Cassius clasps my shoulder. “Of course,bambina. Just tell us where and we’ll take you.”
“Thank you.” I turn to Lorenzo. “Do you have lockpicks? Or something to break down doors, like an axe? We’ll have to break in. If I’m wrong then I’ll just have to find some way to pay for the damage.”
The sick feeling in my stomach doubles. Please, let me be wrong.
Lorenzo takes hold of my upper arms. “Princess, we’ll do this, but are you sure you’re all right? What’s come over you?”
I shake my head. “I can’t explain it. It’s a feeling. A horrible feeling. Maybe this is hormones or indigestion, and I will be more than happy to laugh about it later and you can make fun of me, but right now I’m not going to calm down until I’m in a car and we’re on our way.” I wipe sweat from my top lip and entreat him with my eyes.
Lorenzo nods. “All right, we’ll take my car.”
Salvatore is coming toward me and Vinicius is hovering behind him. I need them, too. This is about more than the five of us.
I reach for Salvatore’s hand. “Salvatore, I need you and Vinicius to do something for me, and it’s really, really important. I think it might be life and death.”
“Of course, we will,” he assures me. “Just tell me what you need us to do.”
I tell them what I told Lorenzo and Cassius, and ask if they’ll take all our guests to the compound.
Vinicius nods, and adds, “Sure, we can. But it might sound better if the request was coming from you.”
He means Nicole might be unwilling to go anywhere under their orders, which is a fair assumption. I head back into the lounge where the women are sitting up with worried expressions on their faces.
“I’m so sorry to do this, but I have to cancel the party.”
Ginevra gives a cry of dismay. “You’re not unwell, are you?”
I shake my head. “You all remember the Black Orchid Murders. Nicole, you have first-hand experience at pretending to be one of the victims. I’ve remembered something that might lead us to the killer, and I have to go now and see if I’m right. It’s all I can think about.”
Ginevra’s expression changes from worried to fearful, and she nods.
