Chapter 9
The Flame
I screamed.
The phone fell from my cold fingers, crashing to the floor, cracking the screen, and I screamed.
I fell to my knees and screamed until my voice was hoarse. Until my breath felt like fire.
Until two pairs of hands clutched at me, pulling me back to my feet.
And then I screamed some more, fighting against the figures, pushing away the hands that grabbed at me.
“Isabelle, get yourself under control right this instant!”
A loud slap clapped against my cheek, silencing me immediately.
My screaming stopped, and I clutched my stinging face, my eyes focusing, seeing the concerned faces of my mother and Frank frowning down at me.
“Honey, I am so sorry. I didn’t know what else to do, you were hysterical. Let Mummy see your cheek, darling.”
She was babbling. Her words were barely registering.
“Ma’am, why were you screaming?” Frank asked me, his voice hard and gruff. He wasn’t wearing his usual black jacket, but still had on his fitted grey tank top and gun holder.
“The cameras…” I whispered. “He’s here, Mum. He’s watching me. He’s always fucking watching me.”
What?
That wasn’t right.
Silas wasn’t watching me on the cameras, Luca was. Luca was helping me. And Silas…
Oh God, where was he?
The hysteria started bubbling again, rising up inside me, threatening to take control completely.
My mum’s tinkling laugh brought me back to reality.
“Sweetheart… did you really lose control over a few cameras?” she laughed again. “Of course there are cameras. Your daddy has them everywhere. There’s a lot of valuables in this house, you know?”
She knew there were cameras.
Of course she knew there were cameras.
Had I really thought Luca installed them all? Of course my dad had his own that Luca likely hacked into.
But there were more. My dad certainly hadn’t installed cameras in my bedroom and shower.
Or had he? The man had sold me off like cattle. I didn’t know what to believe anymore.
“Who are you talking about?” Frank asked me, taking this much more seriously than my mother was.
Which was hardly surprising, to be fair. He spent much more time with me lately than she did. He knew I wasn’t prone to bouts of hysterical screaming.
“Silas,” I whispered, the mere mention of his name on my lips having me shivering uncontrollably.
Frank was alert immediately, grabbing my arm and pulling me close.
“Sir, we’ve had a breach. All units to Carbone office, stat!”
“Is that really necessary?” My mother protested as Frank swung into action, hauling me out of the office.
“Mrs Carbone, please return to your quarters and activate the safety procedures.”
“This is nonsense! I think I would know if—” she stumbled over the word, her face paling. “If Silas Falcone was in my house,” she finally finished, swallowing heavily.
“Roger that,” Frank said, speaking into his earpiece. “Isabelle, can you tell me why you were in your father’s office tonight?”
“No,” I said quickly.
“How did you get past the lock?”
Shouldn’t we be asking why the password was changed?
“The password is her birthday, Frank,” Mum rolled her eyes. “Honestly, you know all of this. Leave the girl alone.”
So Mum didn’t know. Interesting.
Frank scoffed under his breath and shot her a nasty look.
“Isabelle, what did you hear?” he asked, spinning me around until I was facing him. I kept my eyes on the floor, staring at my bare feet, refusing to meet his eyes. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t feel them. I could feel my face burning from the sheer force of his glare.
“I didn’t hear anything. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I went in there because I heard noises and the door was open. I thought my father would be in there.”
I don’t know what compelled me to lie. Frank was here to protect me. That was his entire job. But instinct told me to keep this to myself.
I lifted my gaze and met his eyes with my own steady glare.
Frank watched me for a moment, sussing me out, gauging my reaction, and then nodded. Whatever he saw reflected in my eyes must have satisfied him enough, because he released my arm and continued walking.
“The Falcones had a meeting with Mr Carbone not too long ago. If you saw Silas in the house, he was meant to be here. He left with Mr Falcone when the meeting was finished.”
But…
Luca saw him. He told me that he was still in the house.
“Okay,” I whispered.
Someone was lying to me. But for what purpose?
Clearly, we all knew that Silas was a dangerous man. If he were in this house, if he had outstayed his welcome, why was no one talking about it? Why was he being protected?
“Isabelle, honestly,” my mother tutted. “Your father had a business meeting, and you lost your mind over it?”
“But why did he have a business meeting with the Falcones, Mum? Why? What possible reason could a real estate manager have to be having secret meetings in the middle of the night with psychotic gang members?”
She simply laughed in response. “Oh, your imagination! Everyone needs a home, Isabelle. Even the mob. They keep strange hours. We have to cater to the client, sweetheart, not the other way around!”
And with that, she walked away, still chuckling to herself and shaking her head.
Was she really that ignorant, or did she know more than she was letting on as well?
With a dozen questions spiralling in my mind, I allowed Frank to lead me back to my bedroom silently, knowing I wasn’t getting any answers tonight.
At my bedroom door, I turned to him to say goodnight, only to see his hand extended.
“You dropped this. I picked it up right as your mum slapped you. I would have stopped her if—”
“Thanks, Frank,” I interrupted, accepting the phone.
“I’m sorry, Miss. I’ll do better next time. Adrien won’t be happy that you’ve been hurt.”
“I wasn’t hurt. She shocked me. Which was exactly what I needed,” I said, offering him a shaky smile.
He studied me a moment. “Hm.”
He turned to leave, and before I could stop myself, I called out to him.
“Frank?”
“Yes, Miss?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.
“I’m not crazy. Silas was here. He was watching me.”
“We checked the cameras. He wasn’t seen anywhere.”
“I know what I saw.”
He turned then to fully look at me. “You would do well to keep your guard up, Isabelle. The only person you can trust is yourself.”
And then he walked to his room, directly opposite mine, leaving me stumped.
Well. That didn’t sound ominous at all.
I walked into my room and unlocked my phone, half expecting a tonne of messages from Luca.
Instead, there was only one.
Unknown: Luca isn’t the only one who can play with cameras. Night, night, little bird.