“What’s the Syndicate?” Morana asked, her confusion mounting. “Is it involved in why the girls went missing so many years ago?”
“You’re very smart,” the man complimented her, straightening. “Follow that lead. This is where I leave you. When you have information, contact me.”
Morana shook her head, her questions unanswered. “Are you the reaper guy? How did you get past my security?”
The man paused. She had a sense he was surprised. “No, Ms. Vitalio. I’m not. But thank you for what you just told me. It put quite a few things in place.”
Mo
rana waited for a beat, her heart slowly starting to pick up the pace. “What did I just tell you?”
“That he’s alive.”
Before Morana could ask anything else, the spot beside her was empty. She turned around in a circle, trying to find his retreating form but there were too many men in dark clothes and too many people milling about for her to place a man she’d not even seen properly. Shaking her head at herself, she gazed out at the river again, her heart settling with the one question that had been answered.
The girls who had gone missing were a much bigger problem than she’d anticipated. Whatever this Syndicate was, she needed to uncover it. And whoever this Reaper was, she needed to find him.
The sun was setting by the time Morana sat in the Range Rover Vin had driven her in. While she’d told Dante she could drive herself, the fact that it was a new city and she was an unwelcome Maroni guest had made her gladly accept the help she was getting. Vin was a nice guy so far, quiet but alert, and she liked his company.
In fact, she had told him about wanting to train a little more, especially in self-defense and surprisingly, he had offered to help her out “if you so wish”. She wished very much indeed. If nothing else, the hit on her had made her realize she couldn’t always rely on her luck to get her out of a hairy situation. Next time, there might not be a house she could run to, a safe space she could take refuge in. Starting tomorrow, she was going to make her muscles scream curses at her.
She watched as Vin navigated through the city traffic, through the honking cabs and pedestrian crossings, her eyes taking in a city so different from the one she grew up in, and not just weather-wise. Shadow Port was more laid back where Tenebrae was all hustle and bustle. They finally moved out of the central city area and headed towards the plush green hills where the Maroni mansion was nestled.
Bringing her phone out of the pocket, Morana opened the text she’d sent Tristan about the meeting, seeing it still hadn’t been read. After the night they’d spent together, the morning they’d had, she had expected him to have checked up on her at least once. That he hadn’t told her he was either too busy doing whatever he was doing or he simply hadn’t processed that he was now in a committed relationship. They’d have to talk about it.
The car ascended, turning with the curves of the hill as the city slowly dropped below, the river snaking through it in the distance. She had missed observing all of this the first time in her nervousness, her brain being focused only on its anxiety. This time, being more relaxed, she could take in the beauty and the spirit of this city and see why it had been a crown jewel for so many decades.
The wrought iron gates of the mansion opened automatically as they got closer to the top of the hill. Vin nodded at one of the guards at his station and in they went, the long driveway stretching, the huge rock-cut mansion as always reminding her of a castle buried in the woods of Scotland.
“Your luggage and packages have been moved to Mr. Caine’s wing,” Vin informed her as he stopped the car in front of the mansion. “You’ll find everything in the living room.”
Morana smiled, her heart warming at the thought. Though this didn’t feel like home to her yet, she was glad she was going to be with him. Thanking Vin for her time, she alighted from the car and saw Lorenzo Maroni watching her from his study window. She didn’t know if it was him who had tried to kill her or not but whatever the case, she wasn’t under his protection anymore.
Knowing it would piss him off, she gave him a cheerful wave and watched him frown. Lips curving, she turned and headed to the small cottage beside the lake in the distance, to the house of the man who had been kept to the fringes of this world.
It was dark and the lake seemed quiet, serene. The single-story cottage, built of stone and wood, was lit up. Walking up the porch steps, Morana twisted the knob and entered, the scent of cooking tomatoes and basil leaves wafting from the kitchen.
With a smile, she shrugged out of her jacket and entered the open living room to check on her stuff, only to come to a halt to find the pissed off man sitting on the couch, in his white shirt unbuttoned at the collar, his blue eyes on her. Why the hell was he angry?
“Well, hello to you too, my dear,” Morana said sweetly, draping her jacket on the arm of a chair, looking at her one suitcase and many boxes of her new wardrobe. “Thank you for checking up on me today, especially after last night.” Opening one box, Morana saw her unpacked accessories and kept talking. “It was so sweet of you. This morning was special to me too, and I’m so happy that it was special to you as well. My heart was warmed by-”
“Who was he?”
The soft question from right behind her broke her ramble. Morana turned around, to find him so close his exhale warmed her forehead. His eyes locked on hers, the fury in them a fire. But it wasn’t the anger that gave her pause. It was the slight hurt she could see in them, the one he was trying to hide by the clench of his jaw, which simmered down her own immediate anger.
Placing her hand over his heart, she felt the slightly escalated heartbeat under his palm.
“Are you jealous, Mr. Caine?” she asked softly, a slight smile on her lips.
Just as she’d expected, he closed the space between them. His hand went to the back of her head, wrapping her ponytail around his fist, tilting her head back. Tingles shot from her scalp down her spine, her nipples standing to attention as her pussy clenched. It amazed her how this man could simply breathe on her and her body would ready itself for him.
“Don’t fucking push me,” he muttered softly over her lips, his eyes still completely holding her captive. “You went to meet a strange man in a strange city without telling anyone about it. You talked to him and you came back in a fucking good mood. Who is he?”
“You do know you have nothing to be jealous about, right?” Morana asked reasonably.
He tugged her ponytail in answer, his other hand going to her ass and pulling her closer. “Who. Is. He?”
“I don’t know,” Morana replied honestly.