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“He tried to hurt her best friend. He might have lost Elenora and is losing it, but I’d say it’s a race to the finish line.”
“Well, I guess it’s good she’s pregnant, then.” He got to his feet and left me. I needed to shower and change.
Once cleaned up, I headed to the bar to pour myself a stiff one. I found Wyatt there with his laptop. He’d set up shop in a corner of the room.
“What are you working on?” I asked as I made myself a drink.
“Your wedding.” He shrugged like it was nothing. “Your mother and I were thinking springtime, early afternoon for the ceremony, and a dusk reception.”
“I see.” I gave him a lopsided grin. I should’ve known Mama and Wyatt would have started planning as soon as I’d even entertained the idea of asking Sienna to marry me. But who were we kidding? Everyone knew the end game. It was written in the stars for us to be together. I was just so happy that everything was finally settled, and we were here together and now had a little heartbeat on the way.
“So, I’ll take it you won’t budge from your classic black and white suits?” He held the tip of the pen between his teeth, and I shot him a shocked look. “Yeah, I didn’t think so. Fine,” he sighed, but I could tell he loved getting a rise out of me. “Your mother already made up a guest list of about a hundred and fifty of, as she calls it,must haves, but who do you want to invite?”
“Vinni and Niccola.” I smirked into my glass and watched him roll his eyes. “I’ll get you a list,” I promised as I glanced at my watch. It was getting late, and I was beat after the stress of getting everyone home in one piece.
“I’m tired, so I’m going to turn in. We’ll talk in the morning?” Wyatt asked as he scooped up his computer and stuffed a notepad into a briefcase.
“See you in the morning.” I waved and downed the rest of my drink and went upstairs.
It was still dark when something woke me, I glanced at the clock. Three a.m. I reached for her and realized the bed was empty. A sliver of light came from the doorway, so I pulled on some pajama pants, skipped the top, and quietly went downstairs to find her in the kitchen.
“Hey,” I ran my hands over shoulders and gave her a neck rub, “what are you doing up?”
“I couldn’t sleep.” She rubbed her head. “Something’s bothering me.”
“What’s that?” I moved to the seat next to her, and she slid over an envelope. I emptied the contents of it on the table and sifted through the papers.
“It was some things I found in Rosa’s office before the house burned down.”
“Is that you?” I studied the photo and smiled at her as a child. The soft smile on her small face was the picture of the one she turned on me now. Then her face turned serious.
“Yes,thisone is of me.” The way she said it made me glance up at her. “But there were two photos in that folder. This one,” she pointed, “and another one that was dated two years after I was born.”
“You don’t think it was you as well? Who do you think it was?”
“I’m not sure, and now I might never know, because it’s gone. I know someone was in our room, and I think they went through my things. This was taped up, and I know someone opened it, and now I’m sure I know who was in the house yesterday.”
“Noemi?” I asked, and she nodded. Once again, I stared at the papers.
“Have you ever,” she paused like she was trying to find the right words, “had a strong feeling about someone, yet you never really knew them? She came into my life and seemed to know more about me than I ever knew about her. She certainly had strong enough feelings about me to want me dead, and burned, no less.”
“We certainly need to find out what is going on with her.”
“That’s for certain. It was on the day of the fire she set that I found this stuff.” She pointed to the papers. “But there’s something else I just remembered. I think it’s what’s bothering me. After my encounter with Noemi, I remember it was pure chaos. People were running in all directions. Anyway, I almost bumped into this woman. She had a bag filled with valuables from the house. She looked like she saw a ghost when she locked eyes with me and even called me by my birth name.” She rubbed her fingers over her mouth as she thought. “At the time, it didn’t mean much to me. I just figured she was someone who worked there or something, but when we announced our engagement at the castle, I saw the same woman outside on the phone just before Mariano showed up. The way she looked at me. I don’t know, but I feel like she might know something about this whole thing. Something we don’t. My gut is telling me to find her.”
My inclination was to sweep her worries aside. She didn’t need anything else to add to her stress. But I also knew Sienna, and if I didn’t help her figure this out, she’d find a way to discover who this woman was without me.
“All right,” I said thoughtfully, “why don’t you write down her description, and I’ll get Vinni to see what he can find out? But until then,” I leaned over and kissed her forehead, “promise me you’ll just focus on you and the little heartbeat.”
“Okay, I will. Did you know Wyatt’s already got websites lined up for me to pick a wedding dress?”
“Good.” Perfect. I hoped Wyatt’s over-the-top planning would be just the distraction she needed. “Can we go back to bed now?”
“Yes, but what do we do about Noemi?” she whispered as I pulled her to her feet.
“We need more proof of what she’s about before we flip Niccola’s and Vinni’s lives upside down. It’s not something I look forward to.” I shook my head with worry for my cousins. “So, for now, we stay as is. I’ll have Gain tail her for a while. The fact that she’s a danger to you and for our little heartbeat here is my main concern. I’ll make sure Gain doesn’t let her out of his sight.”
“And let me guess, Harris is my shadow?”
