Page 74 of Hired By the Consigliere

“She left him. She ran away. Men like that, they just want to control everyone around them and when anyone shows a hint of defiance, they destroy them because they can't bear the thought of not having that control.”

“Why would he leave her here?Howdid he leave her here? How did he get in?” Panic shot through me as the realization set in. “Someone was able to get her into the apartment. Yourwell-protectedapartment. This is the second time that someone managed to get past security.”

“I know,” Enzo said calmly but I was reeling.

“The first guy posed as a caterer so that made more sense but there was no way to hide having a dead body with you. How did someone get up here?” I asked Enzo again.

He looked at me from deep in thought. “I'm not sure but I plan to find out. I need to call Matteo and the others. An attack on me is an attack on our family. They need to be on alert. Then, I need to question my security guard downstairs.”

“I think that's a good idea.” My trembling had calmed some with his arms wrapped around me.

“Let's get you dressed, and I'll make some phone calls.”

“I'm okay. I can get dressed on my own. You go make your calls.”

“Are you sure?”

“I'll be fine.”

“Okay. I'm just going to step out onto the balcony but if you need me, just call for me and I'll be there.”

“I'll be okay. Go.”

“Okay,” Enzo said hesitantly.

I hurried to the bedroom to get dressed. The moment I closed the door, I slid down to the floor and sobbed. I cried out of fear because if someone could get to Luna and get into this apartment, they could have gotten to us. I cried because I had finally found my father and realized he was a monster. But most of all I cried for Luna. She had finally found freedom from the cage she had been kept in all that time, only to have her life cut so short. I thought of the joy in her voice when we drove out of the gate of the compound and started down the road.

'We did it. We really did it. I can't believe we just drove right out of the gate like it was nothing.'she had said to me with excitement twinkling in her eyes.

' I told you it would be okay. We just had to act confident, and they believed us.'The two of us had practically giggled at our escape. There was so much hope in her words as she talked about going home to find her family and reconnecting with old friends. Maybe that's how he found her. Maybe he knew who she would go looking for.Had she made it to her family? Did she have a chance to reconnect before being torn away again?Those were answers I would never know. What I did know was that my father was a monster. I couldn't believe that I had ever seen him as anything other than that.

A knock on the door startled me and I held my breath to keep from crying.

"Aurora? Are you okay in there?” Enzo asked through the door.

I choked down a sob and tried my best to steady my voice. "I'm fine. I'll be out in just a minute.” I took a deep breath and forced myself to stop crying.

“Okay. The guys are going to be here in about ten minutes. I just wanted to give you a heads up.”

“Okay. I'll be out shortly.” I picked myself up off the floor and went to the bathroom to wash my face. I still looked like I had been crying, but I did what I could to help it not be quite so noticeable. I threw on a casual pair of black pants and a flowy top before brushing my hair and trying to make myself look presentable.

There was a knock at the door just as I walked out of the bedroom. I avoided the living room by cutting through the kitchen and dining room to make it to the entryway where Enzo was already opening the front door. Alessandro and Luca were the first to arrive.

“Where's the body?” Alessandro said, all business from the very beginning.

“In the living room,” Enzo answered.

“Do you have any extra sheets? A tarp?”

“There are sheets in the linen closet. I can grab them,” I offered, and Enzo gave a nod.

I hurried to the linen closet and found a flat white sheet. It was good to feel useful and stay busy instead of thinking about what was going on.

“We're going to get her out of here. I have a guy at the coroner’s office who's going to look over the body to see if we can get any proof of who was involved. If so, we might be able to give some tips to the police and let them take care of the issue,” Luca said.

“He probably has bribes set up already.” Alessandro moved the coffee table with Luca’s help.

“Yeah but if he thinks that we're going the police route he won't be looking for anything else.”

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