AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I sigh. “If I don’t end up in prison for life first.”
He holds me tighter, and I bury my head against his chest. “I would go to prison myself before I let you spend a single day in one,” he says softly.
What does he mean by that? He’d take the blame for Brad’s death? “No! I would never let you do that.”
“Neither of us are going to prison, sunshine.” He brushes my hair back from my face. “Trust me.”
“I do trust you, but I killed him, Lorenzo,” I whisper.
His dark eyes narrow. “You protected yourself, Mia.”
The elevator comes to a stop and the doors open with a soft ping, signaling the end of our conversation.
Drake James’s office is bigger than my first apartment. Floor-to-ceiling windows, shelves upon shelves of journals and awards. There’s an enormous glass desk in the center that could easily accommodate six people but is currently home to Drake and his brother.
Nathan and Drake welcome us both and we take a seat on the comfortable sofas in the corner of the room.
Nathan pours us all a glass of water. “I’m sorry we couldn’t meet yesterday. But I’m here for today and I can fly back any time you need me to.”
“I appreciate you doing this on such short notice, compagno,” Lorenzo says.
“You know I’d do anything for you, buddy,” Nathan replies, and if I wasn’t feeling so nervous and desperately trying not to babble, I might ask what that was about.
Nathan leans forward in his seat, hands steepled beneath his chin. “Tell me everything. From the start.”
Lorenzo squeezes my hand in his. “Tell them, sunshine. Anything you say in here is completely confidential.”
I sip my water and take a deep breath, my hands trembling. Lorenzo squeezes again, his solid presence calm and reassuring, but I’m about to confess a murder to two men I barely know.
Nathan and Drake listen intently while I tell them about leaving Boston and the events that led to that awful day in Iowa.
“And you disposed of the body?” Nathan asks Lorenzo without even a flicker of discomfort, as though they’re talking about disposing of some trash, which I guess isn’t entirely inaccurate.
“Yes.”
“No trace?” Drake asks.
“The body was incinerated. His ashes were dumped in the Chicago River. There’s nothing left to trace,” Lorenzo replies confidently.
Nathan bobs his head. “And the knife? The house? Mia’s clothes?”
“The knife was melted down and recycled. Mia’s clothes were incinerated too. And the house was forensically cleaned by my best men. Max oversaw it all.”
Nathan licks his bottom lip, his brow furrowed. Then he glances at his brother who nods back at him. What was that nod for? My gut swirls with so much anxiety that I feel like I might throw up. Do they think I’m evil?
Nathan fixes his eyes on mine. “Well, it’s difficult to have a murder trial when there’s no body or other DNA evidence to prove that a murder took place, but I doubt that this guy is going to stop digging into this, so I think we need to focus our efforts on—”
“Wait,” I interrupt him. “What about other evidence?”
Nathan regards me with curiosity. “Such as?”
“Maybe somebody saw him drive to my house? I used a different name, but what if they put me in a lineup and one of my customers can identify me? What if—”
“Mia?” Lorenzo lifts my hand to his lips and kisses my knuckles.
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath.
“All that would prove is that you lived in Iowa for a few months. You’ve never officially denied that. Even if there was absolute proof that your ex-husband visited you at your house—”
