CHAPTER FIVE
Luca
Fragments and Fury
The security footage from the club was useless.
I'd spent hours going through it, frame by frame, and found exactly nothing. Whoever had dumped Liana in that alley had known where the cameras were and had avoided them perfectly.
Which meant this wasn't random. This was planned.
"Anything?" Deangelo asked, leaning against my desk.
"No. Whoever did this knew what they were doing."
"Professional?"
"Maybe. Or just smart." I rubbed my eyes, exhausted. "I need to know who she is. Where she came from. Why someone would do this to her."
"She still doesn't remember?"
"No. Bassi says it could take weeks. Maybe longer."
Deangelo was quiet for a moment. "You're getting attached."
"I'm not—"
"Luca. You haven't left her side in five days."
"She's vulnerable. Someone tried to kill her."
"And you're going to protect her. I get it. But this is more than that."
I didn't answer because he was right.
I barely knew Liana. Didn't know her history, her family, her life before I found her broken and bleeding in that alley.
But something about her had gotten under my skin.
Maybe it was the way she looked at me—like she was trying to figure out if I was safe. Like she wanted to trust me but didn't know how.
Maybe it was the strength I saw in her, even through the pain. The way she forced herself to eat, to move, to keep going even when I could see how much it hurt.
Or maybe it was simpler than that.
Maybe I just couldn't stand the thought of her being hurt again.
"I'm going to find who did this," I said. "And I'm going to make them suffer."
"I know you will." Deangelo straightened. "What do you need from me?"
"Put the word out. Someone knows something. Someone saw something. I want every piece of information you can find."
"Done."
He left, and I sat there in the silence, staring at the frozen frame on my computer screen.
The alley. Empty except for shadows.
Somewhere out there, the person who'd hurt Liana was walking around free.
Not for long.