Night fell a few hours ago and darkness swept across Gia’s property, but there’s enough light coming from the house to showcase the motorbike screeching out of the underground garage and down the long driveway.
I have to strain to see out of my window that overlooks the side of the property, but I don’t miss the convoy of black SUVs that trail behind it.
My breath catches in my throat.
Nobody said anything about Gia going out tonight, but why the hell would they? It’s absolutely none of my business, especially considering that she has no intention of ever handing me her fortune. I race to my door, peering around the massive upstairs area. I never see anyone up here apart from Zeke and Gia, so I assume the guards aren’t permitted on Gia’s private levels, but I’m not stupid enough to not check first.
The coast is clear, and I break out across the upstairs area, dashing toward the window that overlooks the front of the property. I keep myself hidden behind the big pillars so that if Gia takes a look behind her, she won’t be able to see my silhouette standing front and center, watching her leave.
At some point, she’s going to make her move. She’ll tell me that my boys are dead and then expect me to fight back. The longer I can delay that, the better. I don’t want to give her any reason to doubt me, especially not now.
The convoy of SUVs take off through the iron gates, and Zeke waits behind on his bike, probably in charge of securing the gate after they leave. Once the last SUV is out of the way, I watch as Zeke enters the code into the keypad and as the gate slowly closes, I swear he looks back at the house, his eyes finding me hidden behind the pillar, but he’s too far away for me to be sure.
The motorbike roars, and not wasting another second, he takes off after the SUVs just as the gate finishes closing. But just as the heavy iron closes the final gap, it bounces back as though something was blocking its locking mechanism.
My brows furrow as I watch the gate, waiting for someone to come back and secure it, but they never do. The remaining guards in the house don’t race out to fix it, and the two guards who usually stand by the front gate day and night aren’t even there.
Realization hits me like a wrecking ball. Plausible deniability.
Zeke did this to give me a way out, and when Gia has her men go over the records, they’ll see that Zeke put in the code just as normal. Just like down in the training room when Zeke all but handed me those keys without the camera ever catching it.
Fuck me. Maybe I should trust him after all.
All I know is the gate isn’t going to stay open like that for long. This is my shot, and fuck it all to hell, I’m taking it.
My gaze drops to the level below me, skimming over the two massive sets of stairs and lower into the foyer. I don’t see any guards, but Gia would never leave her home without protection. The guards are here, it’s just a question of finding out where.
Needing nothing but the key in my hand, I make my way down the steps, taking long, shallow breaths to keep as quiet as possible. I don’t hear anyone, but I have to assume that anyone hired by Gia Moretti would be ready to strike at a moment’s notice.
My feet hit the marble floor at the bottom of the steps and I pause. Gia’s private garage is to the right, but the main garage where the black SUVs park is to the left. My gaze drops down to the key. It has a symbol on it that I don’t recognize, but I’m not exactly a car person. What I do know is that there’s nothing fancy about this key. It’s just a regular car key, and I have to assume that anything parked in Gia’s personal garage would be a little fancier than this.
I go to the left.
My feet barely brush the ground as I walk, stealthy and silent like the boys trained me to be, like a lion preparing to pounce. There are three rooms I need to go through to reach the garage—a formal living area, the help’s kitchen, and a library. This shouldn’t be too hard. If anything, the remaining guards should be held up in the security room, wondering why the fuck the front gates haven’t closed properly.
Nerves flush through my body as I cross through the opening of the first room, and I do everything I can not to flip the keys around in my hand like I’d been doing up in my room. That bullshit isn’t going to do me any favors. The room is dead quiet just as I expected, and I turn my gaze, quickly scanning everything in sight.
Safe.
I move toward the help’s kitchen and my anxiety doubles. If anyone is going to catch me, this is probably where it’d be. There’s a soft whirring sound, and my eyes go wide as I spy the microwave across the kitchen. Someone’s cooking their dinner, but there’s no sign of that someone.
I keep creeping, my eyes darting from left to right when a voice cracks out behind me. “And where the fuck do you think you’re going?”
I whirl around, the key immediately slipping inside the small pocket at the back of my workout shorts. A guard stands before me, covered head to toe in tattoos, and if I weren’t madly in love with three psychotic devils, this might even be the kind of guy I’d let rock my world.
Arching a brow at him, I indicate around the kitchen. “Getting a glass of water,” I tell him, crossing my arms over my chest. “I was under the impression that I had free rein of this place. Am I wrong to assume that, or shall I give my mother a call to let her know her guards are interrogating me in my own home?”
The guard steps toward me, his eyes raking up and down my body. “Come on, baby, ain’t no need for hostility. I was just asking a question. This is the guard’s kitchen. If you’re hungry, you should be using your private kitchen.”
“Forgive me,” I say, an idea sparking as I lower my voice to a seductive whisper. “Would it be bad if I admitted that I don’t actually know where that kitchen is? This is just the first one I found.”
The guard watches me for a minute and takes a step toward me. I roll my tongue over my bottom lip, backing up and putting a nice sway into my hips as I do. His lips twist into a wicked smirk, seeing the hunger in my eyes. “Not gonna lie, this place is a fucking maze. Took me a minute to find my feet when I first started.”
“Yeah?” I question, my eyes lighting up as I move another step back until the cool stone counter brushes against my skin. I suck in a gasp, letting him see me as an innocent young woman with big doe eyes, the perfect damsel in distress. A soft giggle slips from between my lips. “You know, I think you’re the first person here who’s bothered to say a single word to me that wasn’t an order.”
He moves in even closer and there’s no doubt in my mind that out in the normal world, this guy is nothing but a predator. He shrugs his shoulders, that cocky smirk spreading wider. “What can I say?” he questions. “I’m here to serve.”
“Really, now?” I purr, my hand coming up to his chest. “A big man like you … I don’t know. You seem like trouble, and I’m not sure if you’ve been paying attention, but I’ve been in a little too much trouble lately.”