Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
AURORA
I have to wait a few more days before Andrew comes over again for dinner, and during that time, I itched for answers. I kept my distance from Nico, lest he figure something was off with me.
But now that Andrew is coming over, I’ll hopefully get the answers I’m looking for.
“Aurora,” Andrew says stiffly, taking his seat at the dining table.
“Hello,” I reply kindly. I won’t give Andrew anything to use on me. I already fainted in front of him, which I’m sure made him wonder about me. I can’t slip up again, and I can’t let him get under my skin.
He’s looking into me, and Nico gave him permission. I’m alone in this house, and I need to remember that.
“Let’s dig in,” Nico says, sitting all the way on the other end of the table. A part of me wishes he were right next to me. I’ve found myself liking Nico more and more over the past week. But then I remind myself— he’s still a stranger. I can’t like him. I can’t care for him.
If I get into Andrew’s briefcase tonight and find out that Nico murdered my father, then I definitely cannot care for him. I’ll have to do my duty and kill him.
Thankfully, Nico and Andrew talk about work, so I don’t have to pretend to be nice to Andrew. I do pay attention in case either of them slips up and says something about my father, but neither does. Of course not. Nico and Andrew are smart men. They wouldn’t admit to a crime in front of me, not when I’m still a stranger to them.
I can feel Enzo watching me. God, I wish I could slap him and get him to stop. He’s making it so much harder to find out information on Nico when he’s watching my every step.
When Andrew arrived tonight, I saw the briefcase in his hands. It’s resting in the foyer at this very moment. I need to get to it before Andrew or Enzo spot me. I tried once before. I’ll have to do it again.
“Aurora has been lovely,” Nico says, drawing me out of my head. “She knows when to give me space and when to be there.”
Andrew gives me a condescending look. “She sounds perfect.”
I smile tightly back at him and don’t say a word. If I don’t speak, then nothing can be used against me.
“Tell me, Aurora,” Andrew says, “how have you been finding married life with Nico?”
“Nico is … kind,” I answer honestly.
“You sound surprised,” Nico teases, making me blush.
“I just wasn’t sure,” I admit. “But it’s been a pleasant surprise.”
Nico raises his glass to me. “Thank you. I do like surprising people.” He takes a sip of his wine, never taking his eyes off me. Goosebumps break out on my skin. Despite being unsure of Nico, I can’t deny he makes me feel … things. Things I shouldn’t be feeling for the man who possibly killed my father.
“That’s good,” Andrew says, not sounding like it’s “good” at all. “So, Nico, tell me about …” He goes on to discuss more work that’s vague and doesn’t make any sense to me. I try to listen, but it all sounds like gibberish.
Now is my time.
I excuse myself from the table and take my plate into the kitchen. As usual, Enzo follows.
“Privacy,” I remind him.
“You’re my job now, Mrs. Mancini. I have to keep an eye on you.”
“Are you going to do that while I go pee?”
He has the decency to look embarrassed. “Understood.” He walks back into the dining room, and I rush out the backdoor of the kitchen. I pass the bathroom along the way and make sure to turn on the light and shut the door so if Enzo walks by, he’ll assume I’m in there. He’s not bold enough to open the door if he thinks I’m using the bathroom. Nico would have his head if he did that.
I only have minutes as I sprint to the foyer. I can just barely see Andrew in the dining room from here. Backing up to the other side of the foyer so I can’t be spotted, I kneel and use the combination Beatrice gave me.
The briefcase opens right up.
Her spies gave her good intel. Too bad they couldn’t have figured out if Nico killed my father so I wouldn’t have to do this.
I find a stack of papers, which I quickly go through. I scan the pages and read about more financial planning.
Then my eyes stop on something. There’s a charge for a plane ticket to LA the day before my father’s murder and a charge or another plane ticket back to New York the day after my father’s murder.
Either Nico or Andrew were in LA the day my dad was killed. It’s not enough to go on. It could be utter coincidence. But it’s something. Between this and Nico telling me he sometimes travels to LA, it’s starting to look like Nico may have been involved.
I dig through the papers faster, then stop. At the bottom of the stack of papers is a picture.
A picture of my house. In the photo, my father is walking up the drive to the front door. The date on the picture is the same date my father died.
This is the proof I was looking for. Someone took a photo of my dad, then went inside to kill him. I was gone, having been out shopping, when my father returned alone.
But why would Andrew keep a picture of this? Why print it out?
Is this evidence he gave to Nico to prove the job was taken care of?
And if there’s evidence that someone was watching my father the day he died, then did the same man who killed my father also take pictures of him after he got a bullet to his brain?
Does Andrew have those photos somewhere? On his phone perhaps.
No. I instantly brush that aside. If Andrew killed my father, then he wouldn’t keep the evidence on his phone. That must be way he printed this photo. Don’t take any pictures with a phone—anyone could hack it. But an old fashioned photo from an old fashioned camera couldn’t be traced back to anyone.
Except for this photo right here.
Now the question becomes: Did Nico order the hit on my father? Or did Nico kill my father himself?
Either way, if Andrew was involved, then Nico must have been involved as well.
Meaning, Nico in some way or another is responsible for my father’s death. And here I was starting to like him. That’s the last thing I can do. I have to find a way to kill him now.
And escape with my own life intact.
When I hear footsteps, I quickly close the briefcase and run back down the hallway. I go into the bathroom and wait a moment before stepping out of the room.
Enzo is walking by right at that moment. “You done?”
“I am now,” I snap.
He scoffs and keeps on walking down the hallway. I can hear Nico and Andrew talking in the foyer. After letting my heart quiet down, I join them.
“There you are,” Nico says.
“I was in the bathroom.”
“Andrew was leaving.”
I give Andrew a nod. “Have a good night.”
“You as well, Aurora.” He says the words, but it’s obvious he doesn’t mean them. My heart almost plummets to my feet as Andrew turns to his briefcase and picks it up. He eyes the briefcase for a second.
Oh no. Did I do something wrong? Did I put it back incorrectly.
But then Andrew turns back to Nico and shakes his hand before leaving the house. He doesn’t bother sparing me a glance.
“Andrew doesn’t like me,” I say to Nico.
“He doesn’t trust easily.”
“Neither do you, yet you’re kind to me.”
Nico smiles at me as he runs the back of his hand down my cheek. “That’s because you’re my wife now. I want to be kind to you. Now, I have more work to attend to.” He drops his hand, and I instantly feel colder. “I’ll be at if for a while. I might not see you until tomorrow morning.”
“That’s fine.” It really is. Nico’s absence gives me a chance to calm down after what I just did.
After what I just found out.
Nico was involved in my father’s murder. I doubt Andrew did it without Nico’s approval.
Miraculously, neither knows who I am. If Andrew did recognize me, I probably would have been killed that first day I stepped through the door.
So, no. They don’t know Giovanni Costa is my father. But I don’t think it’ll take Andrew long to find out that information. I’m dying to ask him and Nico why they did it.
Why they killed my father.
But I won’t get those answers because if I ask them, I’ll be dead before I can kill Nico.
The only problem is—I don’t want to kill him. I don’t want him to be involved. I just want to feel safe, and it’s obvious I’m in the most dangerous setting I’ve ever been in my entire life.
There’s no more safety in my life, if there ever was to begin with.
I need a weapon to kill Nico. There’s no way I can do it with my bare hands, but getting a weapon won’t be easy.
Over breakfast the next morning, I can’t stop eyeing the knife by my plate. I could stab Nico in the neck with it when he’s sleeping. It would be easy to do.
If I had the courage to do it.
I glance at Nico across the table from me, looking handsome in his suit. He has this ability to simultaneously look like an angel and a demon.
Nico is not a good man, I remind myself. He was involved in my father’s death. The papers and photo in Andrew’s briefcase proved that.
So, I shouldn’t care if he lives or dies. I should be happy to kill him.
But, of course, I’m not because nothing can ever go that simply.
I take a peek at Enzo, and unsurprisingly, his gaze is glued onto me, meaning I can’t grab the knife from the table without rousing his suspicion. I need him to look away, just for a moment.
“So, Nico,” I say, “what’s on the agenda for today?”
Nico looks up from his phone. “More work.” Enzo happens to look at Nico as he speaks, which is great.
But there’s another problem—now, Nico is looking right at me.
I put my hands on the table in a causal way, then slowly place my fingers on the end of the knife.
“How have you been doing?” Nico asks.
“I’ve been … good. Enough.”
“I’m sorry I’m working so hard. That we don’t have a conventional marriage.”
“It’s what I signed up for.”
Nico sighs. “Still. I’m glad you’re doing well.” With that, he turns back to his phone. I glance at Enzo and see him watching Nico.
That gives me the chance to grab the knife and slip it into the napkin on my lap. Enzo turns back to me. I just hope he doesn’t notice the missing knife. He’s not the one who does the dishes—the maid does.
I get up from the table and bring my plate and napkin into the kitchen. Before Enzo can come in, I shove the knife into the waistband of my skirt. My top covers the top of the knife.
Enzo walks in. I did it. I grabbed the knife without him noticing.
Without talking to him, I walk right past him and head to the bedroom. At least he won’t look in here. He’s not allowed because this is Nico’s and my private space.
I shove the knife under the pillow. The maid doesn’t clean the sheets until the weekend, so no one will be looking under my pillow until then, which means I only have a couple of days to kill Nico.
I still need an escape plan, and Beatrice has stubbornly refused to help me with that.
I need to talk to her again.
But when I reenter the dining room to ask Nico if I can leave, the doorbell rings.
Nico frowns and walks into the foyer to answer it. I follow behind. Judging by Nico’s expression, he wasn’t expecting anyone to come over, which means it isn’t Andrew.
After he opens the door, Nico tenses. I lean around him to look who’s here.
Two men stand in the doorway, both in suits—though not expensive like Nico’s. They hold out police badges.
“I’m Detective Chase,” the man with a buzz cut says. He nods at the man beside him, who has intense blue eyes that make me feel like he could stare right into your soul. “This is Detective Morgan.”
“Officers,” Nico says. “How did you get past my gate?”
“Your guards let us in once we showed them our badges.”
“Of course.” Nico sounds at ease, but the tension radiating off him is obvious. “What can I do for you, officers?”
“We’re here investigating the disappearance of Giovanni Costa,” Chase says.
The sound of my father’s name makes me stand ramrod straight. Morgan glances at me, his eyes narrowing.
“I’ve never heard of the man,” Nico says. Is he telling the truth?
“That’s interesting because we’ve been digging into some of his business deals leading up to the day he died, and your name was in one of his reports,” Chase says. It seems like he’s the talkative one of the two of them.
Why are they investigating my father? There’s no way his body was found. Someone must have put in a missing person’s report. But who?
“I do a lot of business deals,” Nico replies. “Still, I’ve never heard of this man. Now, you can leave. Or I’ll get one of my guards to make you leave.”
Chase narrows his eyes. “Is that a threat?”
“Do you have a warrant?”
When Chase doesn’t answer, Nico nods. “Exactly. So, you have nothing on me. You have no reason to question to me. You come to my house and disrupt my breakfast with my wife? I don’t think so. You can leave now.”
Morgan slams his hand against the door. “You have a wife?” He nods at me. “That her?”
Nico places himself in front of me. “It is. Now, you can leave.”
“We didn’t find any marriage certificates when searching you,” Chase says.
“That’s because you won’t find anything on me. Now, leave.”
“Mrs. Mancini,” Morgan says, ignoring Nico. “May I have a word with you?”
“No, you may not,” Nico says.
“I was talking to your wife, Mr. Mancini. Not you.”
Should I talk to these men? Beatrice would say no. But maybe they know something—something that would help me go after Nico.
“It’s ok,” I say to Nico. “I can speak with them.”
Nico stares down at me for a long moment before nodding. “All right.”
“Alone,” Morgan adds.
I step outside, and the detectives shut the door, separating me from Nico.
“Mrs. Mancini,” Chase begins. “How long have you and Nico been married?”
“Just a little over a week.”
“Newlyweds. How long have you known each other.”
“Just a little over a week. It was an arranged marriage.”
Both detectives raise their eyebrows at this.
“I didn’t know arranged marriages were still a thing,” Chase says.
“I guess so,” I say.
“Do you know what your husband does for work?”
“Not really. No. He doesn’t tell me much.”
“So, you’ve never heard the name Giovanni Costa before?”
Suddenly, I’m hit in the stomach with the memory of my father, and before I can stop it, tears spill from my eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I say, wiping them away.
“Have you heard the name Giovanni Costa before?” Chase reiterates.
“No,” I blurt out. “I haven’t.”
“So, then, why are you crying?”
Think, Aurora, think. “I’m just thinking of my own father. He passed away a few years ago. I don’t know why it hit me. It just did.”
“Who’s your father?” Chase asks, taking out a notepad.
“John Keller.”
It won’t matter if they look into me. Beatrice did a good job creating my fake past. She also scrubbed Aurora Costa from the earth so no one will know I’m Giovanni’s daughter.
“Why do you think my husband is involved in … What did you say his name was?”
“Giovanni Costa,” Morgan says, never taking his eyes from me.
“Yes, him.”
“A coworker of Giovanni’s reported him missing. Said his daughter went missing, too. But when he looked him up, there was no sign he ever had a daughter. We’re looking into it. So far, Nico is our main suspect.”
“There’s no one else?”
Chase shakes his head. “Afraid not. So, is there anything you know you can tell us?”
Honestly, no. Because I know Nico was involved, but I’m not sure how, and I’m not going to turn Nico in because then that will make the police look at me, and I can’t say what I’m doing here because then I could get arrested for attempted murder.
“No. I’m sorry. I don’t know anything.”
“Well, if you realize anything, give us a call.” Chase hands over a business card. “Have a nice day, Mrs. Mancini.”
“You, too.”
Morgan gives me one more long look before following his partner to their car. I head back inside.
“What did they ask you?” Nico demands.
“They asked me if I knew the name Giovanni Costa. Seeing as I don’t, then …” I pause. “Why did you have me speak to them? You’re a private man.”
“Because I know you don’t know anything.” He hesitates before asking, “You don’t know anything, do you, Aurora?”
I know a lot, but I can’t let Nico suspect me. These detectives showing up just changed everything. If I’m going to hurt Nico, then I need to get him to trust me fast.
So, without hesitating, I grab the front of his jacket and lean up and kiss him. Nico is still for a moment before he kisses me back. It’s deep and simple and honestly, amazing.
I pull back before the kiss can go on too long.
“What was that for?” Nico asks.
“I just wanted to do it.” That’s not a lie, and it terrifies me.
Nico smiles slightly before he takes a step back. “Well, I’m not complaining. Just be careful with the police. For me.”
“Of course.”
He nods once then heads into his office. I can feel my own smile spread across my face before I turn around and find Enzo in the foyer, watching me.
Instantly, I frown.
Everything is closing in around me. If I’m going to kill Nico, then I need to act fast.