Page 14 of Fatal Love

“It’s up to the District Attorney’s office to ensure she is protected—but the DA just painted a huge target on their backs. I tried calling Miss Hill, but she didn’t answer. I’ll keep trying, but this just became bigger than Riley. Be ready.” The phone went black, making my phone fell like a dead weight in my palm.

Without thinking, I tried calling Rachel. “Fuck.”

“This is fucked up, Michael. Why'd she do this?”

“She knows Riley is innocent, and maybe she thought this was the only way to clear her name.”

“Call her again.” Just like before, her voicemail picked up.

A couple of hours had past and the sky was dimming into darkness, there was no way she was still driving. "Surely she's made it home by now. Why is she still not answering?” Antonio paced the floor. “What if something happened? Dmitri moves fast.”

“Calm down. Let’s give her a little more time and try again. If she hasn’t answered called us back in a bit, we’ll do something.”

Antonio continued to pace the floor like a wild animal. “This is fucked up.”

The pain of today was taking its toll on him, making him act irrational. Hell, even I was starting to feel the stress of today's events. The Anastasi family was one of the most powerful families in Vegas and Italy. If they hadn’t been able to bring Dmitri down yet, Rachel didn’t stand a chance.

Seven

Rachel

The moment I pulled into my driveway I knew something was wrong. It wasn’t an obvious thing, more like a gut feeling. You know the one. The sensation you get right before the scary moment in the movie happens. Every hair on my neck was standing at attention, warning me to stay in the car—but I didn’t. My door was ajar, and the lights were on inside my house. With as much sleuth as I could muster, I pushed open the front door and stepped inside. Everything appeared to be in its place, making me wonder if I'd just forgotten to pull the door shut all the way when I'd left earlier. After inspecting every room, I headed upstairs to investigate the rest of the house. Much like the bottom floor, it was untouched. Maybe the wind pushed it open—if only there had been wind today. Someone was trying to scare me, and I had my suspicions about who.

Because of the brief press conference my boss held, a giant target was now aimed at my head. And if I was right, Dmitri Ivanov was to blame for this entire mess—Riley was a victim of circumstance. I wasn’t about to put her in jail if that was true. As I was searching my room for anything missing, a loud crash outside made me jump. Just as I tiptoed to the window to peer out, my power went out, bathing the house in darkness. Someone was in my driveway, tampering with my car. My cell phone vibrated in my pocket, jerking my attention from the window. It was Michael again. He'd tried calling many times, but I hadn’t wanted to talk to him.

“Michael?” I whispered into the phone, my eyes searching outside again.

“Rachel.” Michael’s voice filtered through the device. “You’re in danger.”

“Obviously. Someone’s outside my house.”

“Don’t move. Antonio is headed your way. Why didn’t your boss put a detail on your house? Doesn’t he know what trouble he's brought to you both?”

“I—” My breath caught as the distinct sound of my front door being kicked in made me freeze.

“Rachel… what’s wrong?”

I whispered into the phone, sliding down onto the floor as I spoke. “Someone’s inside.” I eased myself under my bed, flattening my body as much as I could. “I shouldn’t have come inside. The door was open… I—I think someone had already been in here.”

“I’m calling the police.” Michael's voice was bordering on panicked.

“No. Please. Don’t hang up." I closed my eyes and tried to calm my breathing. "Isn’t Antonio coming?” As if on cue, I heard shouting and scuffling downstairs. “I hear shouting. What if—” A gunshot rang out, making me whimper.

“Rachel?” Michael barked into the phone. “Talk to me, Rach. Was that a gunshot?”

“Yes.” I couldn’t control the sobs any longer. If someone were here, there was no way they wouldn’t hear me. “Why is this happening to me? Oh god, they’re coming up the stairs.”

“Rachel.” My bedroom door burst in, revealing a very pissed off Antonio inside the doorway.

“Antonio!” I cried out, pushing myself from under my hiding spot. “He’s here.”

I sobbed harder as Antonio wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close.

He pulled the phone from my hand and spoke. “Call Massimo. There’s a body I need removed. Yes she's fine. We’ll be there soon.” He pocketed my phone and held my shoulders as he looked me over.

“What do you mean, there’s a body?”

He turned from me and went into my closet, returning with my suitcase. “I shot a man downstairs. Pack in this. We've gotta go.”

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