Chapter 94

Marabella’s POV

Luca dressed in record time. We both had an apple on our way out the front door to his car. The ride to the compound was quiet and tense. Luca is beyond pissed off right now. I can feel it in the air. I placed my hand on his leg to try and calm him some. He grabbed the apple but didn’t even touch it. And I know that he won’t.

His stomach is too messed up at the moment to eat. I can’t blame him. More than one of his own people are against him. He can’t have that, in order to have a successful rulership. If there are any weak links, his enemies will use them against him. “Let me do the talking, bambina”, Luca said tenderly. “Yes daddy”, I answered, as we climbed from the vehicle.

I held my head high, as I laced my fingers with Luca’s and walked next to him. The soldatos had sorrow written on their faces, for what I assume is, failing to do their duties. The anger was palpable flowing off of Luca. So much so, that it spread to me. I was angry with him.

Luca led me straight down to the dungeon. We passed each cell with trepidation. The guard and Cal stood at the end of the narrow hall waiting for us. Luca’s shoulders were straight and rigid, as he approached with elegance. Brianna’s body came into view. Blood was the first noticeable thing about her. All the blood in her body must have been on the surrounding floor.

I stepped closer to the body, examining her. She had two slices going vertical up her arms, but what really caught my attention was the bruises around her wrists. They seemed to be finger marks, as if someone held her down to do this. Luca stood next to me, doing the same as I.

“Do you see what I do?”, Luca whispered, brushing his thumb across my wrists. “Yes”, I answered. Upon closer examination, I could also faintly see marks on her neck as well. “Who worked the night shift last night?”, Luca asked, as he turned around and faced the guard. The guard stuttered, “Uh, Praxton, sir”, he answered. “Who found the body?”, Luca inquired. “I did, sir”, the guard answered.

“What time did you find her?”, Luca asked, looking up at the guard. “Approximately 6:30am, sir”, he answered. “It’s almost 8 o’clock”, Luca pointed out. This made my eyebrows crinkle in confusion, but my ears perked in curiosity. “Why did you wait so long to inform me then?”, Luca demanded.

“Well, sir, we did not want to disturb you”, the guard answered. “You are my head guard. A suicide happened in my dungeons and on my compound, and you didn’t want to disturb me?”, Luca’s voice dropped in tempo, making the hairs on my arms and neck stand up.

The unadulterated fear on the guard’s face was unmistakable. “Sir, my apologies. I assumed because she was thrown down here that she was not cared about”, he stuttered. “Yet you put her in this particular cell because she worked for me as a maid, and you wanted her to be comfortable”, Luca countered, hissing through gritted teeth.

This guy is lying to cover up for either himself or someone else. I know Luca can tell as well, because of his questioning. I continued to look at Brianna, trying to figure out the secret in the clues she left behind. “I want you in a holding cell until this is all figured out”, Luca said to the guard.

The guard’s face fell. “What? Why?”, he asked, panic lacing his voice. Luca gave Cal a look, telling him what needed to be done. I watched as Cal nodded and took hold of the guard. “Wait,” he called out. “It’s temporary”, Luca’s deep voice carried after him. “He’s lying to me”, Luca said to me, as he crouched down next to Brianna’s body.

“Yes he is”, I agreed. “What do you think?”, he asked, looking up at me. “I think the problem on your hands is bigger than originally thought”, I answered. Luca sighed as he looked around the cell. The mirror caught both of our eyes. It was only cracked, not broken. Meaning to missing shards. So how did she really get her wrists cut?

“I have a coroner who helps me out from time to time. I will give him a call”, Luca said, standing and pulling his phone from his pocket. I nodded as I carefully stepped around the room towards the mirror. There was some blood on the glass and around the sink, but no shards of glass for her to have cut herself with.

Luca spoke on the phone for only a few minutes before he hung up. “He will be here soon”, he informed me. Cal walked up to the cell door. “He is secure sir”, Cal said. “Have only your most trusted soldatos look after him”, Luca commanded. “Yes, boss”, Cal nodded before turning and walking back out.

“She was a spy. And someone had to silence her. For good”, I said softly, mainly thinking out loud. “Which explains how so many bugs were able to be placed in the house. Now the million-dollar question is, for whom?”, he added to my statement. “This isn’t all a coincidence, or separate events. This is all one person’s doing”, I said.

As if realization hit him, he turned and looked at me with a stunned look. “You think Franky made his way through my compound walls?”, he asked in disbelief. “Who else would it possibly be, Luca? Honestly?”, I asked, confused about how hard it was to see that. Luca crinkled his eyebrows, as he stood in thought. He began to slowly shake his head.

“Okay, then that means one of my people works for him and can get me close”, Luca finally said. “I’m willing to bet that it is your head guard”, I said. Luca nodded, “Do you think Brianna was that female voice that you heard?”, Luca asked, referring to my abduction.

I shook my head, “No, definitely not”, I answered. “You have a coroner on the way?”, I asked for confirmation. “Yes, bambina. He should be here soon”, Luca answered, walking towards me. “Are you okay?”, he asked softly, wrapping his arms around me. I nodded as I hugged him back. “Yeah, I’m good”, I replied.

“You’re shaking”, Luca whispered in my ear, as he held me tighter. “Am I?”, I asked, surprised. I did not notice that I was shaking until he mentioned it. “Yes, you are”, he said deeply. “Must be the adrenaline”, I shrugged it off. Luca held onto me, refusing to let up on his grip or his support.

I stopped mentally fighting him, and melted into his embrace. This is all really starting to catch up with me. So, having him to fall back on is a relief. I had just begun to fully relax when I heard heavy footsteps headed in our direction. I tensed instantly at the sound, unsure why.

Luca gripped the back of my neck, “It’s okay, piccola”, he whispered. “Mr. Barello”, a deep voice spoke from the doorway. “Mr. Mitchell, thank you for coming on such short notice”, Luca said, as I stepped to his side. Luca shook the tall, blonde-haired man’s hand. His green eyes found me, “This is my wife, Marabella”, Luca introduced us.

“It’s nice to meet you”, I said cooly, reaching my hand out to shake his. “The pleasure is all mine, unfortunately it’s under such grim circumstances”, Mr. Mitchell said, looking around the cell. “I suppose you want a full investigation launched, otherwise you wouldn’t have called me”, Mr. Mitchell assumed. “You are correct. I will loan you a few men. You keep this between us for now, though”, Luca warned. “Always, Mr. Barello”, Mr. Mitchell said, dipping his head towards Luca.

Luca turned towards me and reached his hand out for mine. “We have business to attend to”, Luca said, his eyes locking with mine. I nodded as I took his hand and followed him out. We must be going to interrogate the head guard.