My voice rings out loudly, and silence prevails as I hiss, “We wait. Call your contact at the convent. Call off the instructions regarding Sister Agatha. Call off your family and stand down the Monza mafia, and then we will talk.”
I reach down and retrieve Morgan’s phone from the table.
“Call them, you bitch.”
I accessed her phone by flashing it in front of her face and scroll through her contacts. “Sister Agatha first.”
I note the three numbers she called and hiss, “Which one?”
“The third one.”
I press call and hold the phone to her ear and as she hears the voice, she says firmly, “I’m calling this off. Stand down.”
I place the call on speaker and a woman’s voice says huffily, “You could have called earlier, ma’am, she’s already on her way.”
“Where is she?”
Morgan snaps, and Charlotte sighs. “Leave it with me. I’ll call Guiseppe. He’ll head back, but you do realize my cover is now blown.”
“It’s fine. Head back to your family.”
“And my money?”
“For fuck’s sake, you’ll be paid. Just, I’ve got to go.”
“Who was that?” I hiss as I cut the call, and Morgan’s voice is slower as she sighs, “Sister Charlotte to you.”
Alice gasps, “No way. Sister Charlotte! I don’t believe you.”
She cries, “But she helped me to escape.”
“It’s no wonder I consider you dumb.”
Morgan laughs softly. “She was working for me and only the stupid fucking gardener ruined our plan. Raphael had someone waiting and when you jumped in Stefan’s car, it changed everything.”
Alice sobs as Simeon comforts her, and Morgan groans. “This is hurting like fuck. If you can’t get me a doctor, at least give me some pain relief.”
Joseph interrupts. “No pain relief. You suffer, and just so you know, there is more where that came from.”
“I’m giving you what you want, you dumb prick. Answers, safety, and an ending. Just let me go, and I’ll give you the final piece. You would be fools to walk away from.”
I share a glance with my sisters because this could relate to the mysterious keys?
Joseph steps forward and glares into her pain-wrecked face.
“Tell us.”
“Only if you agree to let me go.”
“No.”
Joseph turns and says to one of the guards, “String her up.”
Simeon pulls him to one side, and I note their tense conversation and I say loudly, “Joseph’s right. Morgan has nothing. She is unaware of the keys.”
“Keys?”
Morgan’s instant reaction tells us I’m right. She attempts to disguise the confusion with a loud, “The keys. Yes, the keys. I have them.”
