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I could only imagine what this group looked like to her. Enzo with his tall frame and handsome face. Rex with his piercing blue eyes and wide shoulders. Luca with his beautiful face and raw, intense energy. Santino was the only one who had decided that devilish charm was the way to go here.
“And you already met Santino. What’s your name?”
“Lisa.” She let out a breath. “How do you know Ava? I’ve never seen you here before.”
“How about a drink first?” I turned to Santino, who was already pouring whiskey into six tumblers. “Here.” I reached for her hand and pulled her toward one of the leather club chairs in the lounge area. As if Santino and I seduced women together all the time, the minute I settled her in her seat, he placed a glass in her hand. I smiled at her. “Drink up.”
“I don’t want any trouble, please.”
“Is that what you told Nathan?” Luca sat across from her.
“What?” She looked at me then Luca. “I don’t know.”
She was scared. If we were going to gain her trust, we had to show her we were Ava’s friends. Or at least, we were here to do right by her. “Okay, we’ll go first.” I looked to Luca.
If things went sideways after telling her everything we knew and suspected, one of us was going to have to deal with Lisa. As if Luca understood what was at stake, he nodded and gestured for me to continue.
“When was the last time you saw Ava?”
Her eyes watered as she sipped from her glass. Shaking her head, she glanced up at me.
“Do you know what happened to her?” I asked.
“I’m so tired. It’s been so long. I can’t stand it anymore.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Why are you asking about her?”
“Because we think she was killed,” I blurted out.
I was done beating around the bush. Lisa looked like she was about to crumble into tiny pieces, but I didn’t know how much time we had left with her. I was sure there was a manager out there looking for their missing server.
“Omigod.” She covered her mouth. “I didn’t want to think about it. When I saw the news in the paper, I couldn’t believe it. It was all too coincidental.”
“What was?” I asked.
“We’re here to help, Lisa.” Luca gave her one of his calming, teacher looks. “The night that Ava died, she had a stamp on her wrist. Like hers.” He pointed at me.
“Have you seen this?” I showed Lisa.
“Yeah. I know what it means.” She fisted her hands and pressed them to her forehead. Was she reliving some bad memory?
“Why did she agree to play in the hunt?”
“She never agreed. I saw her that night. She didn’t have the stamp when she left the ballroom floor.”
“What the fuck?” I furrowed my brows at Luca. “Nathan said he saw her with the stamp. We know he was telling the truth because we saw the pictures. The photos in the medical examiner’s report showed it very clearly.”
“That’s clever.” Santino sat on the armrest of the sofa. “Clearly, Ava was in trouble. Is it possible that she stamped herself on her way out to leave a clue behind.” He looked to Luca. “You know. In case she didn’t make it? She wanted the cops to know exactly where to start digging.”
“Yeah, except the cops swept it under the rug within days of her death,” he said, shaking his head.
“You think someone made her crash into that tree?” Lisa asked.
“I believe,” Luca cleared his throat, “that she was killed, then put behind the wheel in that car.”
“How did you figure that out?” Lisa wiped her face. I swore there was a speck of hope in her eyes.
“She was killed days before the accident happened.” Luca scoffed. “The case was ruled accidental so fast, the medical examiner didn’t even bother to change the time of death to match the accident. The police report simply states that Ava died at the scene.”
“Yeah, that whole report is a shitshow.” I reached for Luca’s hand. “Someone with influence made the whole thing go away fast. We can only assume it was one of the members here. Dead girls tend to be bad PR for rich people.” I squeezed Luca’s fingers. “This has nothing to do with you.”
