Page 55 of Lily

“My entire world came to a halt. I shifted my focus. I would’ve left that very week, disappeared, never to be found. I had a fourth identity already set up. I never would’ve set foot in the United States again. But the moment I found out Santo had taken that sweet, innocent woman and sold her into slavery, I saw red. Taking him down financially no longer mattered to me. To be honest, taking him down at all didn’t matter to me. I wanted to find Roselia.”

“And she felt the same way about you?” Damon asked.

“Yes. Though I didn’t know that until last week, but yes. When she disappeared, I started digging. I hacked into Santo’s emails. I broke into every single file cabinet and drawer in that man’s life, but he was clever about hiding his trafficking venture, even from me. It took months. Finally, he came to me one day and asked if I could program six dog chips to say Property of Roberto Moretti on them. I couldn’t fathom what the fuck he intended to do with the chips, but in the back of my mind, I figured the man was just fucked up enough to plant them in humans.”

“You knew who I was,” Robert pointed out.

“Yes. I knew exactly who you were. So, I knew those chips were meant to be some kind of revenge. The man still had a hard-on for your father. You were living a clean life and making good money. I believe Santo stuck those chips in all the women as a safeguard. If anyone ever found one, Robert would be framed for the crime.”

“Why didn’t he come after me?” Damon asked. “He murdered my father, too. The same fucking week.”

“You, he believed, were at least attempting to be a part of the mob scene. He’d known you were working for Salinardi Romano. He found it comical that you weren’t at home when he wiped out all but Gemma, so he left you alone. The man is a weird sick fuck whose mind is not always logical.”

“And he told you all of this?” Diane asked, brow furrowed.

“God, no. I discovered all this while tediously digging through emails every day of the week in search of the six women. I knew there had to be a trail—conversations, transactions, and actual sales. But I couldn’t work on it during the day. I had to work on it late at night. I didn’t sleep much for months.”

Jagger drew in a breath. “So, you were watching those chips after they were set up?”

“Yes. It was wishful thinking. A serious longshot, but I set up the system to alert me if anyone ever tampered with one or unlocked it. I’d never been so fucking ecstatic in my life as I was the day you hacked those damn chips.”

“Why didn’t you come clean then?” Robert asked.

Stefano shook his head. “Too risky. I wasn’t going anywhere until I found Roselia. My only hope was to keep my head down and continue the ruse. I was out of my mind when the other five had been located and Roselia was still out there somewhere.”

“But you eventually found her,” Jagger pointed out. “Last week, and then you left us hanging.”

“No. She found me. She got her hands on a cell phone and dialed my number.”

“I assume she’s linked to the suicide victim found eight days ago in his home?” Diane asked.

“That’s the one. Fucker was one very crazy bastard. I’m glad he won’t clog the system with his prosecution. I’m equally glad Roselia won’t have to sit in front of a jury and tell them what that motherfucker did to her. It would destroy her.”

“We have an excellent counselor,” Diane stated. “Dr. Carol Langston. She’s working with all five of the women.”

“Good. Roselia needs more than I can do for her.” He stiffened as he spoke. He had no idea if he would be walking out of this room a free man. Probably not. His hands were not clean in all of this. He looked at everyone around the table. “I know you have a million more questions, and I’ll gladly answer all of them. Just please promise me Roselia will be taken care of. Promise me you’ll make sure she’s safe.”

He sat back as everyone around the table nodded their reassurances. That was the most important thing right now. Roselia. She would be devastated if he was arrested and then lost his trial and went to prison, but at least she would be alive. She was young. She had her entire life ahead of her.

His throat tightened as the next round of questions began. It was going to be a long day.

Chapter Nineteen

Roselia was overwhelmed by both stress and emotion as the agent led her into the room where she would be reunited with the other women she’d been trained with.

The first thing she noticed was that it was not a cold conference room. It was a warm and inviting room with sofas, loveseats, and armchairs. As she stepped fully inside, her breath hitched.

There they were—all five of them. They rose from their seats and smiled at her. She’d only known for a few hours that they’d been freed and reunited with each other. She hadn’t had time to process that fact because she’d been more concerned with what coming here meant for her and Stefano.

A sixth woman Roselia did not know rose from an armchair after the others. She was older and spoke first, “Please, come in. I’m a psychologist. Carol Langston. Call me Carol. I’ve been working with everyone as they were found.”

Daffodil broke away from the others and approached. When she got close, she pulled Roselia into a hug. “You’re safe now.”

Roselia let her shoulders relax and returned the hug as the others gathered.

“We don’t want to overwhelm you,” Marigold said. “It’s jarring at first. We were never permitted to speak to each other, and we didn’t even know each other’s names.”

Roselia nodded.

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