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“It’s a long story. I feel like my life has been on fast forward the past few days, and this short amount of time feels so long. I really just want to sleep.”
Autumn waits patiently, her brows drawn in with concern as her eyes watch my face.
“Vicente offered to have one of his…co-workers…stay near me for a while after my run-in with that guy who chased me into the casino.”
“Co-workers?” she questions with skepticism.
I shrug, but remember I have to put the focus on my stalkers and not on the fact that I saw the aftermath of Vicente’s homicidal act and now he wants me to be watched so I don’t tell anyone what I witnessed.
“There’s just been too many incidents, Autumn. I don’t know why I keep seeing these guys. However, I was with this man earlier when I came home, but on our way back to the casino, we had another guy rush us. He tried grabbing me and Vicente’s co-worker attempted to fight him off. Vicente showed up right after the guy left, but as we were all leaving, he came back with something in his hand. He was yelling at me and running in my direction. The bodyguard guy pulled me away as Vicente stepped in front of the crazed man. I don’t even know what happened, but it’s actually really scary.”
“Oh my god, Ella,” she says, grabbing my knee. “What is going on? Who would be after you and why? No offense, but you’re pretty under the radar. You’re a good person, you know?”
I shake my head. “Vicente wants me to stay with him. He says he’s looking into Theo.”
“Theo? You think he’s behind this?”
“Not really, but who else?”
“Why does Vicente care so much? Again, no offense, but isn’t it weird for him to be so protective of you all of a sudden?”
I can’t tell her he’s not protecting me, or at least not just that. He’s definitely more concerned about my threat to him, his family, and business. But I have to protect her and Noah, and in order to do that, I can’t say anything about Vicente’s criminal empire or murderous ways.
“Well, we kinda messed around,” I admit.
Her eyes bulge. “Excuse me? What did you just say? You did what?”
My smile grows as I duck my head and pull on a stray thread from the couch. “You know, just some touching.”
She shoves me back, a smile on her lips “You hussy! I’m over here thinking you’re having near-death experiences, and instead you’re playing pet the pussy with a fucking mob boss?”
“He’s not a mob boss,” I say, trying to pull her away from that narrative.
“We both saw the articles.”
“I think he might be going legit. I haven’t talked to him about it, obviously, but he just seems to be a business owner.”
She gives me an incredulous look. “So, he’s gone all alpha because he wants to protect his little pussy cat.”
“Would you stop?” I say with a laugh, getting up from the couch and walking to my room. “It’s really for safety reasons.”
“Sure. Make sure you safely have sex with condoms, because the last thing you need is a little mob baby running around.”
“Don’t even think that,” I say. “I will not be having any babies.”
I yank my suitcase from the back of my closet and start throwing things in.
“Seriously, though,” she says. “You think this is a good idea? He may seem like a decent guy, but he’s been in jail, Ella. For serious crimes, not to mention the fact that he belongs to a crime family that’s probably under investigation.”
“This isn’t making me feel any better,” I say, dropping my arms to my side. “I’m scared, Autumn. I have people after me for some unknown reason. He has money and power and plenty of strings to pull. He’s offering to keep me safe and look into this so I can go back to living my life like normal.”
Her shoulders drop with a sigh. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how you must be feeling. We can still talk and get together and have dinner?”
“I’m not leaving forever,” I say with a laugh. I don’t tell her I’m not sure he’ll even let me out of his sight for dinner. “Of course we’ll still talk.”
A knock on the door has Autumn leaving my room to answer it. I keep tossing stuff in the suitcase, not knowing how much I’ll actually need.
“Can I speak with Mariella?” Vicente’s voice carries through the small apartment and slithers down my spine making me shiver.
