Chapter 3 - Someone Was Waiting in My Apartment
My apartment door was open.
Dante stopped me before I could enter.
“Stay behind me.”
“My apartment.”
“My rules.”
“You don’t own everything.”
He glanced at me.
“Actually, I own this building too.”
I stared at him.
“You’re kidding.”
“No.”
“I hate rich people.”
“I’m beginning to notice.”
Two Moretti men entered first.
Thirty seconds later one returned.
“Clear.”
The apartment had been destroyed.
Drawers emptied.
Mattress slashed.
Cupboards opened.
My photographs were scattered across the floor.
I dropped to my knees.
“Why would they do this?”
Dante crouched carefully beside me.
“Looking for something.”
“I don’t have anything.”
“Maybe they think you do.”
I picked up a photograph of my mother.
The glass was cracked.
Dante watched me wipe it clean.
Then his phone rang.
Marco.
Dante answered.
“What?”
His expression darkened.
“When?”
He ended the call.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Bellini’s security footage was deleted.”
“Julian?”
“Probably.”
“So there’s no proof.”
“Not anymore.”
I stood.
“Then Vanessa gets away with it?”
“No.”
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
“She made one mistake.”
“What?”
“She failed.”
A noise came from the hallway.
Dante immediately pushed me behind him.
One of his guards entered.
“Boss, we found someone downstairs.”
“Who?”
“Bellini’s bartender.”
My eyes widened.
“Eddie?”
Minutes later Eddie Ramirez was brought upstairs.
He looked terrified.
“Cara.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you.”
Dante stepped forward.
“Why?”
Eddie swallowed.
“Because I saw them.”
Everyone went silent.
“Vanessa and Julian?”
He nodded.
“I heard part of it too.”
Hope hit me.
“You can testify.”
Eddie laughed bitterly.
“To who? The police?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t understand.”
He looked at Dante.
“Julian has cops.”
Dante’s expression changed.
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
Eddie pulled something from his jacket.
A tiny memory card.
“But I copied the security footage before it disappeared.”
Marco took it.
“Why?”
Eddie looked at me.
“Because Cara ran out of Bellini’s like the building was burning. I checked the cameras.”
Dante stared at the card.
There it was.
Proof.
Then gunshots erupted downstairs.
I flinched.
Dante grabbed me.
“Stay down.”
Marco rushed toward the window.
“Three vehicles.”
“Julian?”
“Looks like it.”
Dante’s men moved instantly.
He turned to Eddie.
“You brought them here?”
“No!”
“How else did they find us?”
“I swear—”
Dante suddenly looked at me.
“My phone.”
“What?”
“Your phone.”
I pulled it out.
He examined the case.
Then ripped something from beneath it.
A tiny tracking device.
My stomach dropped.
“They were at Bellini’s before you left,” he said.
“They tagged you.”
Another crash sounded downstairs.
Marco turned.
“We need to move.”
Dante handed him the memory card.
“Get Eddie out.”
“What about you?”
“I’m taking Cara.”
“Where?”
Dante looked at me.
May you like
“Somewhere my wife doesn’t know exists.”
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