9. Dante
DANTE
“Cazzo!” I shout into the void of my empty entryway after watching Rose and Luca drive away, then slam my fist into the nearest wall.
It’s taking all my training and patience not to follow Rose and Luca to see what they’re doing.
I don’t care what she does in her free time, and that is the lie I am sticking with.
It’s the only way to keep my initial feelings separate and get the job done.
Besides, I don’t have time to watch them.
I have to fix the gaping fist-sized hole in the drywall before Rose arrives in the morning, or I’ll have to tell her yet another lie about why there is fresh drywall and paint that wasn’t there before.
It shouldn’t bother me as much as it does, but I don’t want Rose spending time with Luca when I’m not within earshot.
I don’t trust him, especially because he managed to hide their relationship from me.
I need to go back to my research on him, see where the gaps in his story are, and get to the bottom of it.
I don’t like not knowing who I’m dealing with.
Though my initial impression of Luca was that he is harmless, I’m beginning to suspect otherwise.
The first step is to grab the extra drywall and supplies from the basement and fix the hole so I have time to at least get one coat of paint before the morning.
Second, I'll cross-reference all the information I have on Luca. If there are lies and deception there, I’ll find them.
I’m a master of lies and deception after all.
Walking into the great room, I step into the fireplace and press firmly against a stone concealed in the left corner that will give me access to the security panel.
Using the fingerprint scanner that slides out to unlock the door to the basement, I press into the stone wall to expose the entrance and stairs.
I could tell during our walkthrough that Luca was looking for the door to the basement that was originally marked on the blueprints, but in that place is a solid wall.
I needed to ensure no one but me knew where the entrance was.
The fact that Luca and his crew even know there is a basement was already a risk.
I half expected him to ask for a tour, but thankfully, he didn’t.
I don’t need Rose asking questions I can’t answer.
As I walk down the stairs, the red security lights near the floorboards flick on with the motion of my steps.
Each light then extinguishes once my motion has passed.
With the dark walls of the room bathed in a low red cast of light, it presents as a sultry seduction of debauchery.
In reality, this is the safest place in the house and purely utilitarian.
The reinforced steel walls could withstand an explosion, if necessary, with top-of-the-line soundproofing throughout, and two points of entry and exit: one being the fireplace, which can only be accessed using my fingerprint, and the other through an abandoned railroad tunnel that I connected to underground.
Luckily, the old tunnel has been decommissioned for so many years that I don’t think even the residents in town are aware of its existence.
Taking a seat on my black leather office chair, I press the master power button to turn on my monitors, twenty in total.
Five of which show different locations throughout my property, while the others capture different locations of the most important subject of my surveillance, my ticket out of the life I’m in, the most beautiful flower, my reason for breathing…
Rose Lusso. Currently, I can see her empty loft in the city and the interior of her vehicle as she drives to meet Luca for dinner.
I’m assuming her phone is in her purse because the camera feed is dark, but I can tell from the GPS location it is also in her vehicle.
Knowing Rose is safe for the time being, I focus on the files of information I’ve gathered on Luca.
I need to find where the thread of his past was altered and uncover his true history.
This will likely take all night, but if he is going to be around Rose, I need to know everything there is to know about their shared past. After one last check of Rose’s location, I turn my attention to Luca and start from the beginning.