Page 6 of Room Twenty-Three: Tangled & Teased

Dad nods. “I know.” He sighs as he scrunches his eyebrows as tightly as his eyes. Opening them wide again, his eyes lock on my stare. “You’re going away... I don’t know... for a week, maybe a month. Until I know you’re safe.”

“Me?” I wait for him to elaborate.

He sighs, places his glass on the table and takes my hand in his, stroking the top and looking at me strangely. “I know it was Lia, and not Lydia, who was talking with Nicolai Bianchi before he died. I saw her walking to the river when I came out of a meeting.” Father groans. “And I saw the moment he grabbed her wrist.”

I gasp. Surprised my father knows.

“I never told you Erin. But I was listening to you when you mentioned it after the party, but I didn’t want to get involved. But now, we have to keep it quiet because soon the Mafia will work out that it was Lia, or think it was you who was with Nicolai before he died that night. Because unfortunately, when a Mafia heir dies, they’ll never stop until they find the killer.”

“I didn’t kill him,” I murmur. And I know Lia didn’t.

The door opens.

Marco enters the room and hands my father a document. “I can take her here.”

I try to look at the address on the real estate information. Father exhales deeply as he scrubs his hand over his unusually stubbled chin. “We need to hide you, Erin. I know what those people are capable of. I’ve worked for them long enough. These people will stop at nothing to get revenge, even if it means killing innocent people to get the one they want.”

I swallow as I blink out my tears. They sting as they slide down my cheeks. “They’re going to kill me because I was at a party?” My voice is barely audible.

Dad blinks hard and sighs, then he turns and says, “Thanks, Marco. Wait outside, please.”

Marco glances from my father to the document to me before his shoulders drop, and he turns. My gaze returns to focus on my father.

Waiting.

Wondering.

I jump at the click on the door as it closes.

Father takes a seat and nods to the chair in front of his desk. I drag out the chair and slump my ass on the soft fabric. “We both know Lia is the actual target. She was the one with Nicolai Bianchi that night.” He scrubs his palm over his face and sighs, before saying. “But the Mafia don’t know that yet.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “And now I have to hide there?” My finger stabs at the modern detached house in... “In Milton Keynes? I’m safer here. I enjoy living here.”

Father places his finger over his lips before shaking his head. “You need to trust me, Erin. What I’m about to do is for your benefit. Because it’s tragic that we’ve lost Lydia, and I hope they think they’ve got the right girl when they killed your cousin and that is the end of the killings.”

“But?” I know there’s more.

“You’re my child, and it’s my fault we’re involved with these people. And I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. I’ve arranged for you to be protected away from here... not there,” he says, jabbing at the real estate document.

I shake my head. “Why do I have to go away?”

“Because if they realize they’ve made a mistake. They will connect the dots, and you were there the night Lydia died.”

“Along with lots of other girls,” I say.

Dad shakes his head. “But only you and Lia were also there the night Nicolai died.”

Tears coat my eyes. “They might think Lydia is the right girl, because Lia used Lydia’s identification on the night of the party.”

“Erin!” my father yells. “You’re not listening.”

I am listening, but I shake my head. “They could have killed me the same night as Lydia if they thought I was a threat.”

I need some space.

Lydia is dead.

Dad pushes out his chair, stands and walks away. There’s a tenseness in his shoulders and back as he tops his glass with whiskey again. His shoulders rise with a deep inhale before he slowly turns to me. Unshed tears lace his eyes. “I don’t want to tell you what Lydia went through that night, but she didn’t die quickly.”

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