Page 111 of Morally Corrupt

"Are you all right?" Enzo finally asks me, and I wave away his concern.

"Bianca?"

"Do you know who did it?" I ask as I go towards the body and crouch next to it.

"No. I called the tech guy, and the cameras were out all evening in this wing." Yeah, probably because of us, I mentally add.

"He's still hot to the touch; it couldn't have been too long since it happened."

"Yeah. I gathered that when I saw the heart still leaking blood when I came here."

"Who found him?"

"One of my staff. She said she saw a shadow in the hallway and wanted to check. She found the door to the study half-open and then, you know. Poor woman, she's likely traumatized for life…" he says and regards me. "But you're not," he adds curiously, and I stand to give him an honest look.

"How well did you know Martin?"

"Not that well, he was mostly acquainted with my father… and my wife."

"Don't worry, you didn't miss much. To be honest, anyone could have done this to him." I point towards the T on his forehead. "He's always been involved in shady dealings. They finally bit him in the ass."

"Whoever did this, however, wanted an audience. Likely to make an example of him."

"You're right. Which means… Martin wasn't the only one involved with whoever branded him."

"It's a long shot to draw that conclusion," Adrian counters Enzo's argument, but he isn't deterred.

"Maybe, but why my house to send a message? When there are so many people present involved inmydealings. We won't know, though, until we find who killed Martin."

"Did your wife hear?" I ask, curious about how tight her relationship with my father was.

"Not yet. I'll take care of her later."

"What are you going to do with the body?" I hope he doesn't say I'll have to deal with it.

"I already sent for a crew. They'll clean everything nicely, and I'll forward you the details for the funeral home," Enzo says, his eyes still on the corpse. "You're going to have a funeral, no?" He raises his head towards me to ask.

I turn towards Adrian and see the same understanding in his eyes. We need to.

"Yes. Thank you for doing this."

"Don't worry about it."

I take one last look at the scene, and with a sigh, I head towards the door. Just as I open it, I see a hysterical Allegra rushing towards the study. The other people who'd been waiting around for the spectacle had likely dissipated thanks to Enzo's security. But now, there's no one to stop Allegra from seeing Martin in the study. Well, technically, I could. But I don't want to. Instead, I kick the door wide open with my foot so she can make her way inside.

She stops in the doorway, her wild eyes assessing. A moment passes before she screams. I look back and see Enzo casually shake his head as if this were the last thing he would have liked to deal with.

Allegra collapses to her knees, still focused on Martin's lifeless body. Slowly, she crawls towards his heart and cradles it to her chest, murmuring some crazy shit.

I quickly look up to see both Adrian and Enzo's shocked expressions.

"Allegra…" Enzo starts, almost exasperated. "You need to put that down."

"No." She shakes her head vehemently, her hands holding the heart reverently.

"Now we can be together forever," she whispers to the heart as she holds it next to her face, smearing blood on her skin.

Enzo rolls his eyes and takes his phone out to dial his security. Soon, a few men step forward and try to take the heart out of Allegra's hands without doing much damage. She holds onto it even tighter, her fingers digging into the organ's muscles and denting it a little.

---