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She gave a rueful shake of her head. “Either way, I have to leave soon. Bad enough I missed my classes this morning, I can’t miss the afternoon ones too.”
“I’m sure you’ll be able to get the notes off one of the other students.” Dear God, Mia was astudent, sixteen years his junior, with all of her life before her. Whereas he… His life had gone irredeemably to hell ten years ago when he wasn’t much older than Mia was now.
Besides, what the hell was the universe doing presenting him with a beautiful soul mate who was almost half his age? A young woman with an optimistic outlook on life, despite her past, that had deserted him long ago?
It had to be a mistake. A fuckup on the part of whoever decided these things.
His jaw tightened. “We don’t know yet who’s responsible for killing Fletcher.”
“Or if he’s really dead,” Mia reminded.
“Someone definitely bled out in that apartment this morning, and no one seems to know where Fletcher is right now,” Darius stated flatly. “In the circumstances, it’s logical to assume he was the one who was murdered, and his body removed. Again, normal burglars, even if he’d disturbed them while they were carrying out the robbery, wouldn’t have done that. Which is why I’m convinced this was a professional hit.”
He hated having to be so blunt that it caused Mia’s cheeks to pale again. But he also knew that until they were aware of all the circumstances, primarily exactly who had murdered Fletcher and why, Mia could be in great danger. Just the thought of that was enough to make Darius want to hit something or someone.
“You’ll be safer staying here for the foreseeable future,” he added firmly.
“Safe from what?” Mia’s green eyes were wide, the pupils dilated.
“Whom,” he corrected. “I’m sure whoever instructed those men to kill Fletcher, once the situation has been reported to them, would prefer that there be no witnesses to the act.” He needed Mia to understand just how dire her current situation was.
She might not have seen the actual murder, but she had definitely disturbed the men responsible. Men who would have reported back to their employer by now and might have received further instruction regarding the fate of that witness.
“Simply by being in the apartment at that time, whether you saw anything or not, your life could now be in danger,” Darius insisted.
She gave a shudder. “Why didn’t they just kill me at the time and take my body out with them too if they thought I was any sort of threat to them?”
“Difficult enough to remove one body, let alone two,” Darius explained practically. “Besides, they were only paid for one murder. There’s also the point that Honey was barking so loudly by that time, she’d alerted all the other residents on that floor to her presence. I’m pretty sure that spurred those men on to remove Fletcher’s body as quickly as possible and leave the apartment looking as if you had disturbed them during a robbery. The place was in too much of a mess to deny that part of the situation. In fact, they’re probably scanning the police wavebands right now wondering why no one has called in the burglary and attack on you, at least.”
Mia winced. “Criminals really do that?”
He snorted. “And more.”
“Whyhaven’twe reported it to the police?”
“I want our forensic teams to go through the place before the police have a chance to go in and remove any evidence.”
She frowned. “Evidence of what?”
“Whatever those men were sent there to look for.”
“You think it was something specific?”
“It certainly appears that way.”
“Do you think they found it?”
“I have no idea,” Darius answered honestly.
Mia breathed out shakily. “But surely Giles’s body is going to be found at some stage, and then I’ll be guilty of not reporting that a crime had taken place?”
“If those men really are the professionals I think they are, then I doubt the body will ever be found.”
Mia looked at him searchingly. “Because disappearing dead bodies is something people in the criminal underworld do all the time?” she said slowly.
“Sometimes they aren’t even dead. Sorry.” He winced at the look of horror on her face. “Mia, keeping you safe is the reason I need you to stay here with me for now.” That, and he was likely to lose all control if someone harmed so much as a single glossy black hair on Mia’s head.
“Because this is your apartment building and you feel responsible?” she reasoned.
