Page 72 of Deception

As I'm creeping down the stairs, I hear Aless talking quietly in his office.

“You think you can make it?” he says.

“Yeah, I should be able to get up the drive once they finish plowing the road.” The response is garbled over the radio, but clearly Adriano.

“Which will be …”

“Later today sometime.”

“Alright. Just take it slow. As much as I want to get back, we don’t need you sliding off the side of a mountain.”

“Wasn’t planning on it.” The tone shifts lower, back to business. “We’ve got a lot to discuss.”

Thoughts of Adriano’s return brings back the outside world. The real reason I came here which I haven’t made any progress on in days.

Time is zipping by.

And it’s tearing at me, splitting me in two between the idea of needing more time to find evidence, to discover some clue that will answer my questions, and needing more time with him.

Seeing me pass the door in clothing, Alessandro follows suit, joining me in the kitchen a while later, wearing pants and a shirt. It feels out of place.

“You look better without,” he grumbles in my ear, kissing my neck.

Shivers make my eyelids flutter.

“No! I need to be productive today, accomplish something.”

“I can think of a few things we can accomplish.”

“Our accomplishments have destroyed the house from top to bottom.”

“I like to think of it as interpretive decorating.”

“Your brother might disagree when he gets back.”

“Fine. But only so we can destroy it all over again.” He smirks.

So we spend the morning straightening, sweeping up the disasters of our passion from the library down to the gym to the kitchen. It’s amazing, the mess we made, knocking over an entire bookshelf upstairs, broken vases in the foyer, blankets and clothing strewn across the floor in various rooms.

Throughout the endeavor, I look for anything I can find, having a great excuse to be digging through drawers and cabinets.

I need to get more information.

But I've searched his office. I've searched through Adriano's things, and aside from the stack of papers that I found before—which are still hiding underneath the sheet in the east wing—there's not much else. I haven't had time to really examine the list of names to figure out what they mean.

I need some frame of reference to give the numbers purpose.

The benefit of Adriano returning is that they will talk. And I can record their plans.

They have to discuss family affairs, and maybe I can get some usable intel.

Cleaning up the house gives me the opportunity to really set my cameras, recorders. Particularly in Alessandro’s office and in Adriano’s bedroom.

I manage to get it all done in the time it takes Alessandro to finish the dishes.

Relocating power from the generator, we decide to do a few loads of laundry, and just as I'm taking the clothing back up the stairs to sort them, I hear the door open.

Blustering wind sends flakes across the floor, backlighting a figure in the doorway.

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