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“Can we track them?”
Anger flickers in his eyes. “No. These people, they’re…” He shakes his head. “They’re ghosts. Just like they have been for the past six years.”
That anger in his eyes lights the burning rage in mine as well.
At first, this was just supposed to be a temporary solution. Because of how easily these people had managed to get through the security at our house and all the way into our bedrooms, we knew that they might succeed if they realized that I was still alive and came back to finish the job. So Federico decided that I should keep pretending to be dead and stay with the Hunters. Just until they could catch the people who did it.
But then weeks turned into months and months turned into years, and there was still no trace of them. They just appeared one night, killed my parents, and then vanished like ghosts. Federico has had his people searching for them for six years, but it’s as if they never existed. So my temporary identity as Rico Hunter became semi-permanent as the years went by.
But I’m not a Hunter. And at this point, I’m not even sure if I’m a Morelli anymore either.
“It’s time, Enrico,” he says. “It’s time to stop pretending.”
An unexpected flash of panic crackles through my veins. And I can’t even identify why. All I know is that I’m not ready to come back yet.
“They already know that you’re alive,” Federico continues. “So it’s time for you to return home as Enrico Morelli and take your rightful place as my heir.”
“No.” The word is out of my mouth before I can even think it through properly.
My grandfather raises his eyebrows in surprise.
I desperately scramble for something to say. For some kind of explanation that will make sense to him. That will make sense to me too.
“I want to finish out my senior year,” is the absolutely ridiculous explanation that I at last manage to blurt out.
He narrows his eyes in disapproval. “You are not an assassin. You are Enrico Morelli, sole heir to the Morelli empire. You do not need to finish anything at Blackwater University.”
“No, I know,” I confirm while frantically trying to figure out a better explanation for why I need to stay. One that does not involve telling him about Isabella or about my own jumbled emotions or the strange rootlessness I feel. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“They might know that I’m still alive, but they don’t know where I am.” Relief floods my chest when the words are out of my mouth. Yes, that was a much better reason. One that he will accept. “If I come back to live here, they will find me straight away. But they’ll never even consider that I might be staying at Blackwater. So then you and your people will be able to find them while they’re searching through the city.”
He runs a hand over his jaw, a considering look on his face. “Hmm.”
I wait in silence, not wanting to push too much.
“That’s an excellent point,” he says at last.
I resist the urge to heave a sigh of relief and instead just nod.
He nods too, but more to himself than to me. “Yes, you will stay at Blackwater for now. I will keep you updated on the progress of finding these people, via the Hunters, so as to not draw attention. And you will do the same.” His gaze locks on mine again. “If you see or hear anything that indicates that they might have found you, contact me straight away using the emergency number.”
“I will.”
Guilt twists inside me. It’s so potent that I could almost taste it on my tongue when those two words rolled over it.
But I won’t tell him about Isabella untilIget the answers that I need. And besides, I know that she is not here to finish the job. She has been living at Blackwater for weeks. If she wanted me dead, I would be already. In fact, if she wanted me dead, I would have been dead six years ago. But for some reason, she spared my life.
And I need to know why.
5
ISABELLA
Loud bangs echo across my apartment. I’m on my feet and reaching for a gun before I have even fully registered the noise. But my fingers only meet an empty nightstand. I panic for a second before remembering that I left all of my guns in my go-bag. Students at Blackwater are not allowed to bring their own guns to campus. For obvious reasons. But it’s still irritating. Especially when someone is pounding on my door at five o’clock on a Saturday morning.
I’m pretty sure that I already know who it is, but I stay alert anyway as I sneak up to the door and look through the peephole.
