Page 28 of Take A Chance

“What’s wrong?” I sat up in the bath, my heart suddenly racing. “What happened?”

“My God, Emma, they came here. They asked for you.”

“Who? What!” My hand shook, and I had to hold the phone with both hands. “Who came there?”

“One of your father’s guys. I think your father was in the car. They were looking for you. They threatened me.” She sniffled, and I could tell she was crying. “They’re coming after you.”

“Wait. How do you know it was my father’s men?” I suddenly felt ice cold despite the bathwater being hot.

“They used your real name, okay? They asked for Amelia Bonetti.” She sobbed, and I felt my own tears welling up. They had no right to threaten her. She had nothing to do with me or my life now. I had put space between us so she would be safe.

I sank down into the water, trying to warm myself, and listened as she recounted how they not only entered her apartment by force but tossed the place looking for clues that I had been there. She cried harder with each part of the story.

“Did you leave? Where are you?”

“I’m at my mom’s house.”

That was good. The farther she got from this mess, the better. “What did he say, specifically?”

“He said he was looking for Amelia Bonetti and knew she’d been here.” Allegra blew her nose and sniffled more.

“Don’t go home, okay? Just stay at your mom’s house. I don’t know how to fix this, but I don’t want you to be in danger... Look, I can’t talk right now. Thank you for letting me know about this. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

I hung up and dropped my phone on the floor beside the bath as shock set in. If they had come looking for me at Allegra’s, it meant they knew more about me than I thought. That confirmed every fear I had about the man who had been following me lately. I was putting Blake and Katelyn in danger, and if he found out, he’d never speak to me again, but how did I tell him that without making him run away?

My father, the Don of the Bonetti family, would stop at nothing to bring me back home, only I didn’t want to go home. I had escaped after what happened with my ex just to be away from them—as far away as possible. Now, my past was catching up with me and colliding with what I hoped was a very bright future.

When the tears came, they came hard. I had to cover my mouth with my towel to stifle the sobs. If Blake heard me crying, he’d ask why and I’d have no choice but to tell him. I needed to talk to Greta. Joseph Bonetti, my father, could not find me. Not ever.

16

Blake

Iwalked toward the security gate, an uneasiness heavy in my chest. The light drizzle had grown persistent in the past hour, dampening the high grass and giving everything an air of late-night secrecy. I felt a strange tension in the air, one I wasn't used to.

When I reached the gate, Wilem was already waiting there, his face tense and strained. Wordlessly, he pointed beyond the fence and down the street.

"Do you see that? It's been driving past slowly all morning," he said in a low voice. "Some strange vehicle, all black. No headlights or anything."

I squinted into the early morning light and saw a car parked some distance away. It wasn't a car I recognized, but it had a menacing feel about it, as if it were a harbinger of bad news. I felt a chill run down my spine.

Wilem's voice brought me back. "It's been parked there for the past hour. Just sitting there."

I sighed and turned away. If they were parked there observing, chances were they were targeting me for some reason, and for me to give them his attention might be to encourage their antics. After what had happened with Emma when we were out for ice cream, I didn’t doubt the two things were connected.

“Look, Wilem, I had to chase a guy off the other day. Emma and I were out. We stopped for ice cream, and this man with a camera around his neck was standing there staring at us. He had a dark ballcap, dark clothes, aviator glasses, and a very expensive professional camera. Emma looked like she’d seen a ghost, and I brought her straight home.” I stopped there, no need to give him the intimate details of how I comforted her, though the way her body felt around mine would be something I never forgot.

“You want me to look into it, boss?” Wilem pulled his notepad out and started jotting notes.

“Yeah, see what you can find out. Get this guy’s plates and run them. I need to know everything about him. In the meantime, beef up security. I want two guards at every station for now. I also think I was followed to work one day a few weeks ago, and I saw some strange lights over the back fence that same night. Something is going on, and I want to make sure Katelyn and the staff are safe.”

“Of course, sir.” He scribbled more notes onto his notepad and looked up at me.

“Anything else fishy going on? Have any of the guys noticed anything?” My curiosity piqued the moment Wilem called me this morning to ask me to come to the security house. Now I felt like there could be no rock left unturned. Whatever was happening seemed very focused and direct. This wasn’t a coincidence.

“Well, two of the guys saw a light over the back fence just as you described, so perhaps I should talk to them to confirm the time and day. When did you say it was?” He held his pen poised to take notes.

“The thirteenth, nearing eleven p.m., maybe? Maybe a little after that.” I tried to recall the facts of that night, but the only thing I remembered was Emma spread wide on that chaise in the theater room, and I scolded myself. If I hadn’t been so preoccupied with my attraction to her, maybe I’d have seen this coming. Maybe it was one of my clients these people were targeting, and by getting to me they would get to them.

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