Page 31 of The Veiling

“I still have to call our parents.”

“No!” Valentino and Marco barked together.

“Why?!” Alessandro snapped back.

“Close the door,” Valentino ordered. “We need to talk.”

Hesitantly, Alessandro entered the room, shutting the door behind him. Sliding his hands in his pockets, he leaned on the wall next to it. “So, you think it’s okay just to come back and—”

“Alessio,” I sighed, “he saved my life.”

He shot Marco an angry glare before his expression softened.

“As I was trying to say,” Valentino continued, “no one else is allowed on the property unless they’re security leads, medical staff, or estate management. I don’t want my men on the property, either. I need to keep as many people away from Isabelle as possible. I don’t want anyone slipping up.” He lumbered to his desk and propped on the edge, gripping it with his hands as he skimmed the room. “No one is to be alone from this moment forward. Laura,” he turned to his sister, “you are staying here with us until it’s over. I’m sure Noah won’t protest.”

The usually witty comments Noah spat were gone and replaced with a curt nod.

Marco grumbled something incoherent from the corner of the room. The moment I met his gaze, he rolled his eyes and looked away. The three brothers were protective of their sister, regardless of her age. Valentino loved Noah and respected him, but sometimes he still struggled with accepting Noah and Laura being a couple.

Laura shifted on the couch’s cushion. “I need to get some things from my place, if that’s okay at least?”

Noah bowed his head. “I’ll take you there in a bit.”

“Now that that’s settled,” Valentino resumed, “Isabelle, until Felipe and Jesse are dead, you’re not allowed in any other part of the estate grounds than the west garden and greenhouse. Anything else might be visible from the road surrounding the property.”

“I hate being tra—”

“You’re not trapped, you’re being protected. There’s a difference. I’m not calling off the search for you.”

“Why?!”

“While it would be ideal, I don’t want Felipe and Jesse to know we have you home yet.”

Suddenly, Marco slid his phone from his pocket, checking the screen. He looked up. “Uh, I need to take this.”

“Who the fuck is it?” William asked.

“It’s Hayden, my point of contact I told you guys about.”

“Take it,” Valentino commanded, “and put him on speaker.”

With a single nod, Marco answered the phone but before he could get a word out a haunting, deep voice came through the speaker.

Did you think hiring someone to spy on me wouldn’t get him killed?Felipe rumbled into the phone, causing me to feel instantly ill.

You killed Hayden?Marco spat.

Killed?Felipe chuckled.No, I didn’t do anything. His father did. Mutilated him until he finally bled out and stopped screaming.

Marco darted his eyes around the room, then back at the phone.

How is my niece doing? Tell her when I get ahold of you both, I’m going to enjoy watching you guys die more than anything. Maybe I’ll force your brother to watch you and her fuck before I kill you all.

I jumped off the chair, ready to scream at him, but William lunged forward, grabbing me, holding me against him with his palm pressing hard to my mouth. I fought him, but he only secured me tighter.

Mr. Ayala, your plane is ready. A voice in the background on his end echoed into the phone.

Shut the fuck up,Felipe barked,I told you not—The call went dead.

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