For the Empire - Inganno

Chapter 47

My Uncle runs a hand through his hair and sighs deeply. "Stella..."

I look over at him, not used to hearing him use my real name, but he shakes his head, realizing his mistake, "Sorry, Charmaine...Maybe you should stay home tomorrow."

"No, I'm going. Even if I don't go with JP, seeing as I don't like him much at the moment. Annalisa was going with her parents, so I'll tag along with her. And Enzo said he'd be there to look out for me; then you can see for yourself that he's honest."

He stands and pulls me up into a hug. "I'm sorry for not listening to you earlier. But you do realize I have to tell the men, especially those in the security detail."

"But what about what he said about having a mole?"

Uncle Timo looks at me for a moment. "For now, I'll just let Tobias know, with being head of security, it's best if he knows out of everyone." He assures me. "We'll do our day trip another day, yes?"

I nod in response, "I'm sorry for my disrespect earlier, too, Uncle."

He smiles kindly as he cups my face before he hugs me and kisses my head. "I've got to run to a meeting. Oh, I had a dress ordered for you. It will arrive tomorrow." He winks back at me before leaving me alone in his office.

Later that night, I decide to text Enzo.

Me: *Sorry, you had to leave in such a hurry today. But we'll talk more tomorrow?*

E: * I'd rather you didn't go, but since I can see there's no changing your mind, then yes, we'll talk there.*

I include a happy face and the thumbs-up emoji. Enzo responds with an annoyed emoji face, which makes me laugh.

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I wake up gasping; my room is dark. I haven't had that dreamlike flashback of when Enzo left in a while. I take deep breaths to calm my racing heart and roll over to check my phone.

2:20 a.m.

I shake my head, running my hands through my hair, and I close my eyes taking deep breaths hoping to settle back into sleep.

But I sit up alarmed when my door swings open, and I gasp when I see a shadow of a person stumbling in, followed by cursing and a loud thud on the floor.

It freaks me out enough to pull one of my guns out of my nightstand. "Who's there?" I shout, my heart beating out of my chest.

I fumble for the switch on the lamp with my other hand and blink my eyes, trying to adjust to the light.

I climb out of bed and walk over to the other side of my bed and see JP on the ground.

His dress shirt is unbuttoned and hanging off one shoulder. His legs are tangled in his pants that are around his ankles.

He groans when he looks over at me. "Don't shoot... officer...don-shoot," He slurs.

"JP, you scared the crap out of me. Do you realize I could have shot you?" I put my gun on the bed and help him up, grunting with the effort it takes to sit him on the bed, and that's when I get a strong whiff of alcohol on him and scrunch my nose.

"Are you drunk?"

JP laughs, shaking his head. He's in worse shape than that night I found him in the kitchen. When I finally have him seated on the bed, he leans forward and starts nuzzling my chest, with which he's at eye level with as I stand in front of him.

"JP, stop it. You're drunk. I thought you were working or in a meeting; but, you were out, getting drunk?" I push him off of me, and he falls back on the bed.