Page 60 of Lily

A woman with dark wavy hair came in through the back door and hurried toward them. She scanned the room before settling her gaze on Roselia. “I’m so glad you’re safe. I was so worried about you. Oh.” She hurried forward, holding out a hand. “I’m Ella.”

Roselia shook the kind woman’s hand.

Ella was dressed in a pencil skirt, pink blouse, and a suit jacket. She had on black pumps. She’d obviously come from an office.

“Ella’s a lawyer,” Kally told her. “As well as owning Roses and Thorns with Robert, of course.”

“What is Roses and Thorns?” Roselia asked. There were so many things she didn’t know. Half the time, it seemed everyone was speaking a foreign language.

Ella took a seat on the coffee table in front of Roselia. “It’s a club. Well, several clubs. Robert has owned them for many years. An exclusive private fetish club.”

Roselia nodded slowly. She’d never been to that kind of club, of course.

Ella continued. “The tattoo on your thigh is our exact club logo. We’ve known for a while that the seller wanted to frame Robert for the crime, we just didn’t know why. I’m sure we’ll understand better when the men show up.”

“You’re a lawyer?” That was the important part Roselia honed in on.

“Yes.”

“Can you help Stefano?”

Her brow furrowed. “Does he need a lawyer?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. He seemed to think he would be arrested after he came forward.” Roselia didn’t know enough about the law or everything that Stefano had done to believe he was in so much trouble.

Ella frowned. “I don’t know enough about the situation to hazard a guess, but Robert would let me know if Stefano was arrested.”

That made Roselia feel marginally better. She nodded.

Ella glanced around. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be here earlier. I was in court today. Can someone give me the CliffsNotes?”

Kally was the one to retell the story, at least what the six of them collectively knew.

When she finished, Ella moved over to sit next to Roselia and took her hand. “Eighteen years is a long time to be off the grid, but let me ease your mind on a few things.”

Roselia held her breath as she nodded.

“It’s not inherently a crime to fake one’s death. Now, if he’d done so to avoid prosecution for a crime or to fraudulently allow his relatives to collect his death benefits or to avoid paying a large fine he owed, that would be different, but it doesn’t sound like he did any of those things.”

Roselia shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

Gemma joined them. “I think he did it solely so he could get revenge on my mother’s killer without anyone stopping him.”

Ella nodded. “And do we know how he planned to get revenge?”

Roselia shook her head.

“He obviously didn’t kill Santo. Do you suppose he killed anyone else?”

“No.” Roselia shook her head with more certainty. “He told me he’s never killed anyone.”

Khai perched on one arm of the sofa. “If I set out to destroy someone and intended to take eighteen years to do it, I would ruin them financially. Did you ever notice Santo being stressed or suddenly unhinged?”

“No. I never noticed him being any different. I worked there for three years.”

Ella slapped her hands on her knees. “Let’s stop speculating. When the men get here, we’ll know. Until then, let’s talk about something more cheerful. Did anyone make dessert? I didn’t get anything for dinner. I’m starving.”

The tension was thick for the next few hours. It was almost midnight when Bridger and Colter decided to take Summer home. They would come back in the morning. Khai would stay all night, so there would be a man in the house. Kally had her own bedroom, of course.

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