Page 84 of Forever Fake

I lift a brow, for once interested in what he has to say.

“You can’t touch me because I know what happened to your father. I know how he died, and it wasn’t an accident. Yve and I did it together.”

Silence fills the room for a split second before Yve cries out, “You fucking idiot! Keep your goddamn mouth closed.”

Oz snarls at her. “Fuck you, you back stabbing bitch. How does it feel?”

“I’m going to murder you, you little shit!” She charges at him, but the agents capture her again, cuffing her this time.

Oz holds out his hands, wrists together. “I’m confessing to murder. Arrest me.” As the FBI agents do just that, he tosses a smirk my way. Slippery fucker. We both know now that he’s in the system, I can’t touch him, at least not easily.

Gin’s vengeance will have to wait—again.Goddamn it. I can’t fail my wife any more if I try. Worse, I now need to stay here and make sure neither of these two are granted bail. I have to keep a close eye on them until this is truly well and done. If they get out, Gin won’t be safe.

Thank fuck she’s all the way in Italy, out of harm's way.

CHAPTER 38

Ginevra

Elena’s been living with her second cousin’s great aunt Antonia since she left New York three years ago. Parma’s in the northern part of Italy, about sixty miles from Milan where I flew in. The city is chock full of art, architecture, and music, it’s stunningly gorgeous and the people are so nice.

Aunt Antonia’s of an advanced age. She spends most of her days and nights in her chair, while her caretaker tends to her needs. Most of the times I’ve seen her, she’s been asleep. She looks so peaceful.

Elena really has been alone here. While she has beautiful surroundings, the loneliness must get to her after so many years. To think she spends most of her time inside, when that vibrant city is just out the door. That needs to change.

“I have an idea,” I tell Elena.

She peeks up from the book she’s been reading for like an hour. “What’s that?”

“Pack your suitcase, we’re going to get out of here for a while.” I’ve been here for less than a week, but the solitude is already driving me up the walls. There’s too much quiet, too much time to think. Right now, I really don’t want to have space for my thoughts.

“What? We can’t just…leave.”

“Why not?”

“Aunt Antonia needs me here.”

“For what? You’re not taking care of her, and she’s never awake. I doubt she’ll notice you’re gone.”

Elena closes her book. “You’re right. But I don’t have any money.”

“I do.” I’ve been trying to keep my disappointment and anger at bay, but the fact that I’ve been here for days and Blake hasn’t texted once, hasn’t called, nothing. It pisses me off. To realize that I mean so little to him, that I can fly to an entirely different continent and he just doesn’t care at all? It hurts. Call me petty, but it’s time for some revenge.

I pull out the matte black credit card from my purse. “This should get us to wherever we want to go.”

Elena looks doubtful. “Isn’t that Mr. Baron’s card?”

“It has my name on it.”

“I thought you two were done. Why would you spend his money?”

“Because he thinks I’m a gold-digger, so why not prove him right? Since all he cares about is money, then I want to hit him where it will count. He might not have noticed that I’m gone from his life, but I guarantee he’ll pay attention once I knock a few zeros off his bank account balance.”

Elena laughs, a rare smile on her lips. “You’re scary sometimes. Remind me not to ever get on your bad side.”

“So, are you in?”

“Yeah, let’s do this. I’ll pack my bag, but I don’t have much.”

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