Chapter 38
“Okay. But Antonella, I didn’t lie.”
“I didn’t say you did.” And I added, “Let’s do this better. Let’s start at the beginning. Why the fuck did you go on a couples’ trip with her? You don’t like her, you’re not coworkers, nothing. So why? Or did you become friends?”
She sank into the armchair.
“No. I don’t like her. Actually, she means nothing to me one way or the other. I only did it because Eric asked me to. You know we were on shaky ground… He and I reached an agreement after that time you overheard us at the mansion.”
“Agreement?” Pietra asked, interested in the conversation.
“It’s no secret to either of you that our relationship was falling apart because he wanted to interfere in my friendship with Antonella.
After Antonella overheard one of our arguments at the mansion”—she turned to me—“like you told me, I went to talk to him the next day. We fought again, but unlike the other times, in the end we reached an agreement. I asked him to give you a chance and get to know you better, and in exchange, he asked the same of me with Norah. We had lunch together days later. It was her boyfriend’s birthday, and the trip came up. ”
“Let me guess. She suggested it?”
“Well, yes. I didn’t see anything wrong with it.
Eric and I had an agreement, and I had to give my part, show him I was trying before demanding the same from him.
I know you don’t like her because of what she’s already done to you and Thor, but Norah never did anything concrete to me, even though I don’t like her. ”
“I never asked you to hate her for me. Any of you. That bitch and I would never get along, even if Castellammare weren’t in the middle.”
“It’s not because of Thor that I don’t like her,” Pietra commented. “It’s just that she has something, I don’t know, I look at her and get chills. There’s something about her that repels me.”
“I know. I don’t like her for the same reason Pietra doesn’t.
She repels us. Maybe the fact that we”—she gestured among the three of us—“are friends and she was awful to you influenced it… At least for me, I admit it did. The point is, because of the agreement, I tried to give Norah a chance. After all, I could have been wrong in my judgment of her.”
“You’re too good, Josie. Actually, too innocent,” Pietra needled with a little laugh, and I held back my own.
Josie glared daggers at her.
“Well, if Eric was willing to try, why wouldn’t I do the same? Just like me, he also wanted to prove to me that his friend wasn’t a bad person. It was fair for me to try, wasn’t it?”
Pietra said nothing, and I went straight to the point.
“Who planned the trip? Norah? Eric? Her boyfriend?”
“Neither.”
“What do you mean?”
“First, we decided together that we would travel two weeks before the birth, but there were a few schedule conflicts. Eric had to take a short trip, her boyfriend Jason had problems with his business, I ended up having to cover the pharmacy for Dad because of a virus he caught—anyway, a few setbacks. I think in the end one thing led to another. I remember Eric called me at night to tell me we’d travel two days later, four days before Lucca was born. ”
Eric as her accomplice?
I knew he didn’t like me, but plotting against Heithor, against an innocent child who could have died, and even against me, was too much.
Eric was Heithor’s friend, like a brother, according to him. He didn’t like me precisely because of how I treated Heithor in the beginning.
Norah was his friend, and she was a venomous snake.
But God, there was more hatred there than I had thought, if that was really it. And to think I hadn’t even considered the possibility that he truly hated me.
I stared at Josie with sorrow.
It would be easy to distract her.
But how would Norah get into the mansion without anyone noticing? Without the cameras catching her? Eric had no control over the mansion. They would have to have someone on the inside, the thought insinuated into my mind.
An accomplice.
I shook my head, stunned.
Of course they had someone there. Money changed people. A lot of it could buy anything, even the loyalty of those with crooked morals.
I fixed my gaze on Josie. “Did you go together?”
“Yes. Eric chartered a jet. We didn’t lose sight of one another until we came back.”
I asked her to tell me everything, from the arrival to the return. And by the end of her account, I felt my hopes slipping through my fingers while I could do nothing. She gave me nothing relevant, nothing that could give me a clue. All I had was my hypothesis. Still, there was this feeling.
It couldn’t have been that simple, that normal.
Norah had been at the mansion and caused the fall. I wasn’t crazy.
“Are you sure? You’re not forgetting anything, anything at all?”
Josie sighed, giving me a sorrowful, frustrated look.
“Antonella, I imagine you must be going through hell, but I would never do anything to hurt you. Everything I know, I told you. I swear on my life.”
“Try, Josie. Just try. It’s very important… She must have slipped out of your sight at some point. I know she did. I didn’t imagine her at the mansion.”
“I wasn’t sleeping with her. From morning until night, we were together, and that boyfriend of hers was clingy as hell. If Norah had left him alone even for a minute, he would have come to us…”
She stopped suddenly, her eyes narrowing.
“What is it?”
Josie looked at me, still thoughtful, digging her teeth into her lip, and I wanted to shake her by the shoulders. Then she finally spoke:
“I don’t know if this is relevant…”
“Let me decide that. Tell me, what did you remember?”
“There was one time, if I’m not mistaken it was on the day…”
She stopped again, and my patience went straight to hell.
“Josie, if you don’t tell me right now, I’m going to fucking hit you. Just spit it out and let me decide if it matters or not.”
“Okay. We found out the resort had some cabins on a nearby mountain for people who wanted to disconnect from the world, anyway… The guys managed to get two so we could spend three days there. The morning we were supposed to go up the trail, we waited for Jason and Norah, but they didn’t come down for breakfast…
God, this is really crazy, Antonella. I don’t even know why I’m saying it. ”
“Fuck! Just talk… Please.”
“When they didn’t come down and we’d agreed to go up together, Eric asked them to call the room, but no one answered, so we decided to go up, thinking they had overslept.
After a few knocks on the door, Norah opened it, and we got a glimpse of Jason tied to the bed, with a few…
um… toys on it. They were, you know, having a good time. ”
“Norah is a Domme? Jesus Christ, what kind of gossip is this? What do you mean she loves a little devil whip? Did she tame Thor too?”
I ignored Pietra and focused on Josie.
“Then?”
She shrugged, blushing.
“We apologized and told them we were already going up to the cabins. She said we could go ahead. Two hours later, they showed up.”
My body prickled as I sat on that sofa. Too anxious to stay still, I got up and started pacing back and forth.
“Two hours,” I repeated with a nervous laugh.
It was enough time for her to come to Malibu, do her shit, and go back, protected by the perfect alibi. Sex. Unbelievable.
But then that made Jason her accomplice and took Eric out, didn’t it?
I stopped with one hand on my waist and fixed my gaze on Josie. My whole body was tense, holding back barely contained rage, my heart beating hard.
“What day was that?”
“The day Lucca was born.”
I heard Pietra exclaim something while I let out a puffed laugh of pure nerves, turning on my feet. My fingers tangled in my hair.
My eyes glittered with tears.
“Did you tell Thor that, Josie?”
“No, Pietra. I didn’t even remember, okay? It didn’t seem relevant.”
“It’s relevant when that was the time she used to go to the mansion and push me down the stairs,” I snarled, furious.
“I can’t say for sure,” Josie said. “Understand, Antonella, I’m not saying I don’t believe you, only that I can’t state Norah left the resort. They were hooking up. And besides, he’s the one who slept with her every day, not me. The only person who can confirm whether she left or not is Jason.”
My lips tightened, and I sucked them into my mouth.
I focused on her through my heavy breathing.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to kill someone.
And nothing, absolutely nothing, came from my lips. I only felt disbelieving rage bubbling inside me, corroding my bones. I grabbed the bottle of water with a sharp gesture and emptied it under both their gazes, trying to calm down.
The hypothesis that she had an accomplice became certainty.
But who?
“Do you have that guy’s address?”
I didn’t have much hope that this Jason could give me anything, especially if he was involved, but I had to at least try.
“No, but I can get it for you.”
“Do it… Better yet, call Eric and get it. I believe he must have the address to that guy’s house or restaurant, since he’s the bitch’s friend.”
She shrugged.
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean, you can’t? Call your boyfriend and get it.”
“We’re not together anymore, Antonella. We’re not speaking.”
I blinked, stunned by the news. And that was when I noticed the sadness and exhaustion overlaying the happy spark that had once reigned in her eyes.
“I’m sorry.” And I added, not wanting to be rude, “But honestly, I think it was best for you. He’s an asshole.”
“Antonella!” Pietra protested.
“I’m sorry, I know you like him,” I said gently. “I’m upset for you. I know it isn’t easy, even with him being an asshole, but he was your asshole.”
“No, it’s okay. You have no reason to like him, especially after what you heard that day. It’s just that it still hurts.” She attempted a smile that didn’t reach her tearful eyes. I understood her so well. “Either way, I’ll find a way to get Jason’s address. I promise.”
I nodded and smiled without much conviction.
“I’m sorry, Ella,” Josie murmured after a while.