Chapter 6
Hunter
I slip back into the street the moment her head turns my way. I lean against the wall, arms crossed.
She’s finally come out after a week. Logan went to her house that same day at the assigned time, but the guards said she didn’t want to see anyone.
Later that evening, a woman came to her room. They talked for hours, then she left. I shoved her picture at Logan, and he figured out it was her therapist. The same woman has visited her daily since.
Logan jokes that meeting me sent her into a state where she needs her therapist daily, even after I told the bastard to knock it off.
Her condition isn’t a joke. I’ve spent the past week trying to dig up anything on Salvario, but the man’s a ghost. He doesn’t exist for the world.
There’s no record of him in any database anywhere.
Even Logan couldn’t turn up a thing about him.
A dog bounds up to me, barking. I straighten. He sniffs me over and starts jumping up at me. I recognize him, it’s her dog, the silver-gray husky. I pat his head. He barks and claws at my pants and jacket. Soon after, the silver-black one comes too, and repeats the same behaviour.
“Bruno. Rosie.” Her sweet voice reaches the alley before she does. I turn my head just as she steps into it.
Her eyes meet mine, and she freezes. I know it isn’t fear she feels, like everyone else does when they look into my eyes. It’s a despair that seems to suffocate her every time she looks at me. It’s because my eyes remind her of his, I figured that out from that day.
She blinks, looks away. “I’m sorry. They must have mistaken you for someone else,” she mutters, stepping closer.
“Like you did,” I say when she reaches me.
Her eyes find mine again. I shove my hands in my pockets—keep them fisted—so I don’t act on the urge to touch her.
“You look a lot like Salvario.”
“Who is Salvario?” I don’t know if she’ll answer or not, but I still ask, even if the chance is low. Any more information about this man would be good.
“My boyfriend,” she quavers.
“Can I see him?”
She nods, then pulls out her phone and extends it to me. There’s a photo of her with a man on the wallpaper. Her arm is wrapped around his neck, her face pressed to his.
“Okay, now smile.”
“Come on, Salvario, this isn’t a smile. It looks like I’m forcing you to take the selfie.”
“But you are forcing me.”
She laughs. And that brings a smile to his face.
I blink, coming out of the paralyzing trance my mind played for itself. My brain is making up a story behind a happy photo of two people who clearly love each other in a way they can’t live without each other.
She’s shining in this photo just like I’ve seen her in my dreams, unlike how she looks now.
As for this man being similar to me, I can’t find anything similar apart from his eyes and the look in them for this woman.
Our foreheads, hairlines, and hair also look the same, but those could belong to countless other people.
The much larger part of our faces looks different.
I hand the phone back to her. I have no interest in watching her love for another man longer than necessary. She takes it and slides it into the pocket of her purple down jacket.
“Where is he?”
“He was kidnapped and never found.”
I frown. “Who kidnapped him?”
“I don’t know.”
Her face falls deeper into that pale shade. I see her hands trembling as she picks up her dogs’ leashes from the ground and turns.
“I can help you find him.”
She turns around instantly. A glint shines in her eyes. This is exactly why I said it. I’m not sure if I want to find the man she loves, but I’m very much sure I want to see this depression leave her. And besides, there won’t be another chance to get close to her.
“Why would you?”
What do I tell her? That I hate seeing you like this when I’ve only known you a few weeks?
“I want something in return.”
“What?”
You.
“This city. I want you to give me this city in exchange for finding that man.”
The shine in her eyes brightens. Now she’ll see me as an opportunist who wants something huge from her, and she’ll trust me more easily.
She nods without hesitation. “I agree. If you can find Salvario, I’ll give you Naples, but you can’t harm the people of this city.”
“I won’t.”
A smile touches her lips for a small fraction of a second. Still enough time for it to imprint on my skull, for me to long to see it again.
“How will you do that?”
“My brother and I can find anyone. We just need as much information as you can give about him.”
“I’ll give you all the information you need.” Her eyes turn glassy. “Please find him.”
I nod.
Behind her, her bodyguard appears.
“Any trouble, miss?”
She turns to him. “Everything is fine, Remi.”
He nods, eyeing me with suspicion.
“Where would you like to meet with us?”
“My house. It’s the sixth house on the block.” She points behind us, then adds, “If you don’t mind.”
I want to laugh at her statement.
“I have no issue. At what time?”
“First thing in the morning. Or any time you find suitable.”
“Alright. I’ll have the documents prepared. You can review them tomorrow.”
She nods. “See you.”
“See you,” I murmur.
She watches me for a second longer, maybe finding the way I’m watching her strange. I can’t help it. She’s leaving, and I need to take my fill of her face for the night. Especially since she’s looking a lot less dull. I school my expression so as not to raise her suspicion.
She turns and leaves, giving me one backward glance, and that small smile again.
Salvario. A lucky motherfucker.
I want to kill him as much as I need him alive.