Page 26 of The Veiling

“My brother is dead!” I snapped. “I watched him die!”

“You watched him take his last breath?”

“No, I stepped out of the room right before he—” I shook my head rapidly, lifting my gaze. “Fuck off! He’s dead! His organs were donated.”

“Okay, okay, sorry.” He exhaled. “Now, what about the safe house? Think hard.”

I inhaled the cigarette deeply, then threw my hands out to the side. “I have no fucking idea.”

“Is there a place you would consider a safe place?”

Closing my eyes, I went over the information once again before my eyelids sprung open. “Merda!”

“What?” He took a step closer. “The sun is almost up.”

“It’s notsafe,as in a safe place!” I spat. “He meant locked up like a safe. I know where she is!” I shoved my vice into the ashtray and sprinted out the door.

…I will stop at nothing until she is back where she belongs.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as Marco switched the television off. I drew my legs into my chest on the couch, burying my face. “I just want to go home.”

Marco sighed, laying the remote down on the coffee table. “I’m going to get you back to him, but now it’s going to be harder, and I have a fucking target on my back.”

“What do you mean?” I laid sideways on the sofa, resting my head on a pillow.

“Well, now everyone’s going to be looking for you, which means any chance of sneaking you back to him is now gone.” He roamed the room. “The world is going to go insane trying to find you, which is going to make killing Felipe and Jesse next to impossible. It’s going to drive them further into hiding, which means they might surprise attack.”

“Hayden, is your ears there anyway. Maybe he will warn you.”

He came to a stop in front of me, peering down at me. “I haven’t been able to get a hold of him.”

“Maybe it’s just too risky right now.”

“Let’s hope that’s all it is.” Suddenly, he stopped, taking his phone from his pocket.

“What’s wrong?”

“Cameras.” He gasped. “Oh, shit!” He spun to me.

I jumped off the couch. “What’s wrong?”

“How the fuck did he find us so easily?!”

“Who?”

Ignoring me, he marched to the door and yanked it open. “Valentino,” he breathed.

“MARCO?!” Valentino shouted.

My blood ran cold.Marco! My brother. My dead brother!“How?” The word forced its way from my lips. Blinking rapidly, the world spun around me. My airway constricted and my heart wrung itself out like a wet rag.

Breaking eye contact, he glanced back and forth at the surroundings as if he suspected he was being watched. “Come in.” He stepped to the side, extending his arm to the open foyer.

My feet would not move. I only stared straight ahead, processing the reality before me.

Noah laid a hand on my shoulder. “Boss, let’s go in.”

Broken from my trance, I mindlessly wandered into the mansion, confused, shattered, and forgetting why I was there. That is until my gaze landed on her. “Isabelle,” I exhaled her name with relief but still scared she was not real.

---