I hid my surprise behind a smirk. There was time for everything. “I’ll only say this once, Cassius, so listen up. When I’m done with all the fuckers that called themselves my husband’s partners, no one and trust me when I say this, no one will dare to cross my path. Not even you father dearest. You finally got your wish, a daughter with balls. So, deal with it.” Not giving him a chance to respond, I climbed into the back of the SUV. When Julian slid in next to me, I turned to him. “About the Malik woman?”
He gave me a small smile. “Someone’s looking into the case again.”
“Why? I thought we put that to rest.”
“There’s a child involved.”
Cupping my neck, I rolled my neck from side to side. “What child?”
“Marco and Tony carried out your order like you asked and the woman was killed. Unfortunately, she had a baby in the car with her. Tony couldn’t get hold of you to find out what he should do and called your father. He instructed Tony to take the child to him. Tony did. The child’s aunt has some private investigator working on the case and he identified Tony’s tattoo with the Salvatore crest.
“Wait, back up a second. My father asked Tony to bring the child to him,” I asked, my curiosity piqued. Julian nodded. “Why would he do that?” Julian shrugged, looking just as baffled as me. “Do we know anything about this investigator, can he be bought?” I hated complications. Blowing out a frustrated breath, I glanced out the window.
“I had the guys take some photographs and do a background on him. So far, we’ve turned up nothing. It’s like he’s a ghost. Goes by the name Zayne Morrone.”
I froze. My head swinging to Julian. Taking in my shocked expression, he frowned. “Who?” the word came out as a breathless whisper.
“Zayne Morrone.”
“Do you...” my voice broke and I swallowed hard. “Picture?”
Julian searched his phone and held it out to me. Before I took the phone, I accepted that the name could be anyone. There were lots of Peters, Pauls, and Zaynes in the world. Surely, there wasn’t just one Zayne Morrone. With my hand on the phone, I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath, almost like a little child when getting ready to make that birthday wish and blow out the candles. Only I wasn’t making a wish, I was petrified how my body would react.
One more inhale and as I brought the phone close to my face, I opened my eyes. The whimper slipped out before I could stop it. As Gabriel’s...my Zayne’s face taunted my vision. He hadn’t changed much. Same longish hair, same mischievous smile and...I glanced away, my heart on kick start mode as I tried to breathe. Tried to shut down the emotions I’d long forgotten. Tried to blank out the past. But it stared me right in the face and I could do nothing but stare right back.
“Gianna? Are you okay?”
I looked up at Julian and slowly shook my head and then the tears fell and I was right back to being that innocent seventeen-year-old who fell in love with a man...not a boy.
“Come here, sweetheart.” Julian pulled me against his chest and I went, seeking the comfort I needed, the comfort I deserved.
Twenty minutes later when I could carry myself like a lady once more and not a child, I had Julian take us to Zayne’s apartment. While I waited in the car, Julian went up to scope the place. Another ten minutes and he was letting me into Zayne’s apartment after having bribed the building super with a wad of cash.
The inside of the apartment was typically Zayne. Clean, neat, everything perfectly set in its place and not a speck of dust to be found anywhere. The furniture was ultra-modern with black, white, and silver being the predominant colors. My heels clicked against the dark wooden floors as I crossed to the bedroom. Black satin sheets beneath charcoal covers with large windows overlooking the beach. Nothing out of the ordinary for a man who was typically black and white.
There were no photos or anything that would make the place look lived in and I figure it was just a temporary rental. In the bathroom, I ran a hand over his toiletries, sniffing the familiar scent of his cologne and aftershave and recalling how I loved the way he smelled in the morning when he’d snuggle close to me, after a shower when he’d shake his wet hair in my face.
What the fuck?
This isn’t a trip down memory lane. Remembering Julian’s instructions not to touch anything, I quickly wiped down the bottles with a tissue and stuffed it in my jacket pocket. I then pulled out the note, Julian had typed out at some random place to keep it untraceable, and stood it against the cologne bottle, figuring it would be the one place he would see it. At the front door, I paused to run a glance around the place before walking out.
Maybe I’d see him again, maybe not. Now to find out about this child before investigators hit my door looking for the woman’s killer and open up all kinds of shit.
