Page 21 of Titan

He didn’t say anything further as he left me to continue looking for any clues, shutting the door behind him. I stared at the screen, skipping through the tape to see if anything happened. It was about three in the morning when people appeared in the shot. I let it play out, watching as they brought the body to the side door. One of the men had picked the lock. They took the body in, shut the door, and left. I watched it twice more for good measure. It explained how they’d got in, but they were all in black and wearing masks, so I had no idea who the fuck they were. Not to mention it was dark. We didn’t have lights around that side of the building.

Sitting back, I rubbed my face in frustration. This was shit. I didn’t have time to wallow in it, though. I made a copy of the footage before doctoring it. No one else needed to find out about this. It wasn’t the first time I’d had to cover up dead bodies and erase the evidence. However, it was my first time as a leader. I’d been doing this job for a week and things were already fucked.

Stuffing the memory stick I’d put the footage on into my pocket, I walked out to speak to the security guy and get him to have the men install more external lights on the sides of the building along with cameras directed at all the side doors. He didn’t question it, but I could see he was surprised by my request. I wasn’t going to take any chances with this. If one body had turned up here, who was to say another wouldn’t.

I went up to my office, shut the door and walked over to the safe where I deposited the memory stick. Taking a seat behind my desk, I tipped my head back as my eyes went to the ceiling.

“What the fuck is my life coming to?” I muttered and rubbed my temples with my fingers, feeling a headache building behind them.

I’d have to take the memory stick home with me. It was safer there than here. In fact, anything related to this incident was safer away from the building. We didn’t know who was behind this or why. It didn’t make any sense to me.

Why would anyone want to sow discord between me and my cousins? Did they know there was already an issue? How could they? Only me, Gian, Dino, and Zayn had been in the room when we told them about the new arrangement.

I wasn’t going to call my brother and tell him about this. He’d expect me to deal with it. This was my house now. I was the boss, even if I didn’t feel much like one.

Sheappeared in my thoughts again. I shook myself, rubbing my head harder to dissipate the memory of her telling me to let her make it better. Being in Theia’s presence made me feel calmer. I wanted to be near her. To be her friend.

Dropping my hands, I reached into my pocket and dug out my phone. I sent a text before I could think too hard about what I was doing. A few minutes later, I had a response. It made me smile despite myself. This was a bad fucking idea. All of it was, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. For once in my life, I was following my desires rather than allowing someone else to dictate everything.

He’s gone. You don’t have to be the man he tried to mould you into if you don’t want to. You can be your own person.

I didn’t know how to be me when I was unsure of who I was inside. Maybe she could help me with it. Something drew me to her as if a part of me recognised a fellow lost soul. I wanted to tug on that thread. Unravel it. Dissect it. Learn all the secrets hiding underneath. And maybe talking about my life would help me in return.

I needed to find out who Gilberto Villetti really was. No doubt it was the only way I’d survive this. I could feel something brewing. A cold sense of dread wormed its way underneath my skin. This body turning up was only the beginning. Zayn’s takeover and the subsequent death of our father had consequences no one could predict. I was unsure which ones would come knocking at my door. Unless I could get a handle on this quickly, we’d all be going down together. And I couldn’t afford to allow that to happen under any circumstances.

It was time to do some digging, find out who the fuck had the audacity to drop the dead body of one of my cousin’s men at my doorstep, and stop them from ruining everything.

Eight

Theia

My head was stuck in my locker as I’d just got into work when I heard a voice calling my name. I pulled back and looked over at Gael, who was standing a few feet away. His wavy auburn hair was swept back into a bun and his blue eyes were shining as he smiled at me.

“Hey, you okay?”

He gave me a quick nod before coming closer.

“This was left for you.”

I took the envelope he offered to me, trying not to frown at it. My stage name was on the front in swirly handwriting along with the address of Desecration.

“Who gave it to you?”

“Morgan.”

Morgan was one of the security men who kept clients in order. He was a big fucker with a tattooed scalp who intimidated everyone who didn’t know him. In reality, Morgan was the kindest soul I’d ever met, and never got violent. He merely kept the peace.

“Oh.” I stuffed the envelope in my locker, not wanting to open it in front of Gael. “Did you see that client has requested another foursome scene? The same one as the last time.”

“Uh-huh. You ready for it?”

It was scheduled for the weekend. The client had been very specific in their requests last time we performed for them a few months ago. It was one of those cases where we never saw who was watching us, but it never bothered me and the boys. It was our job to cater to their desires. To create the perfect scene for their pleasure.

“As I’ll ever be.”

He nudged my shoulder before planting a kiss on my forehead.

“You were magnificent. Will and Cas said as much.”

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