Page 109 of As the World Falls

“I know you know. James would have all security on deck when bringing someone here while I was. Who was he, and why did James do…what he did to him?”

Marco closes the lid on his water and walks past me out of the kitchen. “I’m not at liberty to say.”

I chase after him, not letting him off the hook. “Was he a bad person? He had to have done something bad for James to do that, right?”

Marco stops in the hallway and faces me, his eyes scanning my face. “Why do you want to know so bad? He’s just your brother’s boss, right?”

I shrug. “And his best friend.”

“Still shouldn’t matter so much.”

I sigh and stare down at my feet, unable to face him. “I just… I need to know he’s not all bad. I need to know there’s a reason that I—” I couldn’t say it. Couldn’t admit out loud that I loved him. What kind of person would that make me? I was scared to find out.

Marco smirks and walks past me again. I stand frozen where I’m at when he stops and gestures with his head for me to follow him. I move, following behind until we stop at a room at the end of the hall across from the gym. He unlocks the door with a key, and I’m met with what looks to be a security room. There were dozens of screens showing every inch of the property, including where a few other security details were based. Marco walked to the desk inside, pulled out a file, and handed it to me.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a file that you found on your own after picking the lock on the door,” he replies sternly. “I was warned how nosey you were.”

I can’t help but grin as I open the file and read the name Flavio Amato. I realized he was someone from Dante’s family who was public enemy number one. A small white envelope was attached to the file, and I glanced at Marco before opening it. “Do you know what’s inside here?”

He presses his lips together in indifference. “We were instructed not to look inside.”

“Great. That totally makes this way less daunting,” I say as I pull out the envelope. I carefully peeled it open and realized it was a small stack of photographs. I realize this must have been what he showed James last night before he lost his ever-loving mind, and I pull one out to finally see what was pictured on it, but when I do, my blood runs cold.

I flip through each photograph, my hands shaking as I look at James and myself on the patio, kissing each other, his handup my dress, my breasts exposed. Pictures of me with my head thrown back in pleasure and James’s hands on me everywhere. Such an intimate moment, captured and made into something dirty.

I swallow the nausea rising in my throat as I slide the pictures back inside and mindlessly hand Marco the entire file back. He gently takes it from me and puts it away before pausing and looking back at me. “Are you alright?”

“Do you know what those pictures were?” I ask slowly.

“We were told not to look.”

“Yes, but do you know what they are?”

He pauses again, then nods his head. “We were briefed on the situation. It seems that James is being watched closely by some dangerous people.”

I wasn’t dumb, or maybe I was getting a little too used to this lifestyle. “He tried to blackmail James, didn’t he?” Marco nods his head again, and I find myself nodding along. “Why did you show me this?” I finally ask, meeting his gaze. “You could be fired.”

“I’ve been watching you for a while now. I have two daughters. I wouldn’t want them to feel the way you do.”

“And how is it I feel?”

“Crazy. For seeing the good in someone who is bad on paper but loving them anyway. You wouldn’t see it if it wasn’t there. I promise you that.”

I press my hand to my eyes, hoping the pressure eases off the building tears. “I think I’m going to go to bed,” I murmur, ignoring what he said and pretending it didn’t feel like a stupid cupid’s arrow in my chest.

He nods understandably and thankfully doesn’t press the issue. “Goodnight. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” I mutter before traipsing back to my room. I lay flat on my back in bed, staring up at the ceiling, willing my heart to feel any other way than it did right now.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Cecilia

Anxiety strangles me like a rope around my throat as I linger outside, possibly the most extravagant event I’ve ever attended. I feel out of place here, like I don’t belong, and the bigger part of me wants to go back home. I don’t know why I am here anyway. I snuck out to be here without Marco on my heels, but suddenly felt ridiculous. I’d see James, and then what? We’d live happily ever after? I kept stopping that from happening, but here I was, walking into damnation.

I tied my mask around my face, hoping it did a decent job hiding my identity. I didn’t want James to recognize me right away. I wanted to linger around and get a feel for things. Maybe I could watch all his interactions with his date—you know, those kinds of things stalkers do.

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