Page 157 of Vengeful Princess

The images bore enough of a resemblance to Thea to flag in my AI image detector. And when I read deeper, there was mention of a sister who’d also been admitted with suspicious fractures as a baby. According to the notes, the sister’s name was Verity di Luca. A note from a pediatrician recommended further investigation by the Department for Family Policies.

The file notes were in Italian, but my AI translator was usually accurate, so I trusted what it told me.

Di Luca was the family name of a prominent mafia family in that part of the world, and I didn’t believe in coincidences. My research on Dario Peretti had revealed his father, Fausto Peretti, worked for Francesco di Luca.

Dario knew Thea, which meant there was a link between Francesco di Luca and Thea di Luca, and also a sister. I’d overheard Thea talking to someone called Verity. It had to be the same Verity mentioned in the hospital report.

Whether Thea was Francesco’s daughter or some other female relative remained unclear. Nothing I’d seen suggested there was a wife.

I added a new search parameter to include deceased members of the di Luca family and waited.

84

Thea

Since arriving back in Scotland, my phone had been worryingly silent. No messages or calls. The failed drugs bust had been all over the press, with Lucian threatening to sue the police for causing his son ‘pain and suffering’.

Thankfully, there had been no photos of the three of us together. But what concerned me more was the lack of contact from Torrance or my father. Surely they’d want an explanation for my failure?

Not that I had one. The simple fact was I’d chosen not to do as they asked, and sooner or later, I’d be punished for my small rebellion.

College work was the only thing keeping me sane. Our presentation had gone well. Cassian had done most of the talking, but he’d let me discuss how we adjusted our product to better fit the market and also my marketing ideas. To my surprise, the professor seemed impressed.

It gave me a small thrill to know I wasn’t a lost cause, academically-speaking. Not that I had any plans to continue my studies, but at least I’d held my own while I was here. Nobodycould look at me and say I was dumb, which had been a legitimate fear.

Cassian grinned at me as we left the classroom. “You did good!”

“Ha, it was mostly you,” I scoffed, but my cheeks still turned pink.

“Thank you,” he continued, steering me toward the cafeteria. “Your ideas made the difference between a pass and a fail.”

“I seriously doubt that, but OK.” The guy was delusional. He would have passed with or without my input. Cassian was a future business mogul in the making.

“Let’s get coffee,” he suggested, touching my arm. He’d been different since London. Warmer.

Whereas I’d chosen to push what we’d done out of my head, fully expecting him to do the same, he’d gone out of his way to find me outside of the classes we shared.

Just as I was about to refuse his offer of sharing a coffee, on the basis he messed with my head, he grimaced. I watched as he checked his phone. “Sorry, gotta take this.”

I nodded and walked off, grateful for some time away from Cassian’s overpowering charisma. The semester ended in a week, and I needed to get a handle on my emotions. I’d already let my guard down too many times.

Falling into bed with Landon and Cassian had been a mistake. One I vowed not to repeat. Kyril had been curiously absent since my London trip, but I wasn’t complaining. Of all of them, he was the pushiest. Whereas Landon listened when I said I needed alone time, Kyril bulldozed over me and did what he wanted.

Milo hadn’t been around much either, although I’d woken up this morning to find a Milo-shaped indent in the pillow next to my head.

My burner phone buzzed just as I reached the entrance to the cafeteria, where Eden was waiting with coffee and cake.

Kyril: I’ll be back tonight.

Was that his idea of a romantic text? I almost snorted.

Me: And?

Kyril: Your pussy is mine. Tell Milo to fuck off and sleep in his own bed.

Me: How about you fuck off?

Kyril: Does my little kotenok want punishing for her sass?

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