Deadly Nightshade

Chapter 12: The Investigation

I head towards Enzo, and got surprised to see him holding a cup of coffee, since I didn't notice him preparing it. "You haven't eaten that much all night. I made you coffee so you could feel less tired. It is the way you like it, by the way." he offer me the cup of coffee, I took the cup thanking him in the process. As soon as I taste the coffee I felt a little bit better, a small smile appeared on my face at the fact that he knows I like more milk than coffee and it also has the right amount of sugar. I guess he studied well my profile before starting working for me.

Once we go down to the lobby, I dispose the cup on the nearest trashcan. Max gets up from were he was seated and heads toward me "Let's go to the hotel." I tell him. Max gives my order to the rest of them.

My bodyguards will ride with the Surveillance Team to the hotel, to keep tabs on them since I don't trust them at all.

"I will ride with Lea. Take my car with you and follow my sister." Max orders his bodyguards handing them his car keys.

"See you guys at the hotel." Isabella says, giving me a smile, putting a hand on my shoulder "Drive safely." I tell her.

Max wraps an arm around my waist and we both walk out of the building, Enzo following behind us "You look exhausted," Max whispers to me, "I am okay." I say putting my head on his shoulder, "You have been under a lot of stress, Lea." he says, I just hum at him in agreement not wanting to further comment on the topic.

Once we reach my car, Max opens the backseat door for me, from the corner of my eyes I see Enzo getting on the driver seat silently.

Max gets inside the backseat with me and he takes off his suit jacket, adjusting his dress shirt sleeves and opening two buttons of it. Once he is settled on the seat I put my head on his shoulder, he puts his suit jacket on me as a blanket and he rests his head on top of mine. From the corner of my eyes I notice Enzo's suit jacket farther away from me and on instinct my eyes search for his on the internal rear view mirror, his eyes already looking at me, we stare into each other's eyes until he breaks eye contact and continues driving silently, the only noise in the car is the background music playing softly from the radio.

I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was sleep, although I was really comfortable with Max, I didn't allow myself to fall asleep.

The ride to the hotel was fast, within a few minutes we were there.

The Surveillance Team was already waiting for us. All of us made our way to the lobby of the hotel and then we head to the room that contains all of the equipment to monitor the surveillance cameras.

"Only Isabella and Enzo will enter the room with me, the rest of you stay here," I order them, "Max, stay here with them." I command him and he nods his head.

Isabella, Enzo and I enter the room full of monitors that allows us to have a view of the section of the ballroom on this hotel.

"Isabella, take a look at the footage of the cameras outside of the girl's bathroom. It should be between 9:30PM to 10PM." I order her since this type of thing is within her field, plus I trust her the most with this.

"On it," she says, taking a seat in front of the monitor working her magic, within seconds she found the footage. "Here it is! These are all the angles that the cameras recorded from 9:30PM." she says to me.

I take a step closer to were she is seated, "There is nothing..." I whisper as the recording keeps playing, "Can you play the video slowly?" I ask her and she nods her head.

On the footage you can see people going in and out of the bathroom's, but none of them are Enzo, The Morozov's or me.

"Pause," I tell her and she does so immediately, I stare at the different screens that are playing the footage when something caught my eye, "Replay it, but slower." I say and she does as I order. On the video you can see a man walking, it may seemed normal, but it looks like he knows exactly were the cameras are, since he doesn't show his face, and something about him seems familiar, he is also caring a device on his hand, he raises it subtlety and in that moment there is a glitch in the cameras. The glitch lasted for like 20 minutes, the image was not blank, it was the exact image of the hallway with people going in and out, but it is clearly a set up because suddenly you see the Morozov's running out of the girl's bathroom, the time reading 10:25PM on the screen. This is when the Surveillance Team alerted the bodyguards on what was going on in the girl's bathroom, because a few minutes later you can see Max, Damiano and a few bodyguards running towards the bathroom. This means that what all of them said at the Code BION Meeting was true.

"Thank you, Isabella. Please send a copy of this footage to my dad and I." I tell her, "Of course, right away." she says politely, typing on the keyboard.

"Done, I send a copy of this to both of you." Isabella tells me and I thank her.

The three of us make our way out of the room "I have the evidence I need. You can go home." I order the Surveillance Team, they bow their head at me and leave. My bodyguards stayed behind with me. I turn to Isabella and say, "Thank you for helping me with this. Go home and get some rest." I give her a small smile, she hugs me and whispers in my ear, "You need to rest as well. Whatever you need, I am always at your disposition." I thank her and she leaves.

I turn to Max, he gives me a small smile and I say to him, "Go home and get some rest." he hugs me and places a kiss on my temple, he then turns to Enzo and offers him his hand for a handshake, Enzo takes his hand and they shake it with a firm grip. "Thank you for protecting my best friend." Max says to him, Enzo bows politely to him.

"Let me know when you get home." Max says to me and I nod my head at him with a small smile on my face.

"Let's go." I tell Enzo, my other bodyguards following suit.

We make our way to the car and Enzo opens the backseat door for me, I get inside the car and Enzo gets in the driver seat. The rest of my bodyguards drive in another car.

"Did Damiano gave you the keys to your condo at the Cattani Tower?" I ask Enzo once we were on the road.

The Cattani Tower is a building of condominiums, it has a gym, a pool area, a spa, an underground parking lot and a lobby reception. The Cattani Tower consist of 18 condos, 7 of them are for each one of our clan. That means that Damiano, Max, Luca, Francesco, Niccolo, my dad and I own one in that building, although we don't use it that much. So, I told Damiano to give my condo to Enzo since it was brought to my attention that the apartment he used to live in was not in its best condition and the rent was a bit expensive, so I wanted to give him a proper place to live comfortably without any cost. Plus I don't use my condo at all.

"Yes, Ms. Cattani. Thank you." he smiles at me from the internal rear mirror, a genuine one, the one that make his eyes sparkle, "I hope it has everything you need." I comment, "It is definitely more than I ever had, so thank you for giving me a place to live in." he says, gratitude showing in his tone of voice, "My pleasure," I say to him, "We also prepared a room just for you in the Cattani Residence, in case that going to the Cattani Tower is not possible." I add, "I appreciate your hospitality, Ms. Cattani." he says and I just smile at him.

A few minutes later we arrived at the Cattani Residence, it is currently 2:57AM, the guards open the gates for us, Enzo drives around the fountain and parks the car in front of the entrance of my house. The rest of the bodyguards park in the garage, they will also go home and rest.

"Take the car and go get some rest. Be here tomorrow at 7AM." I instruct Enzo "Thank you, Ms. Cattani." he says in regards of me lending him the Chevy so he could get to his place, I nod my head at him, he gets out of the car and opens the door for me "Goodnight." he whispers and bows politely "Goodnight, Enzo." I whisper back and walk up the stairs to get inside my house. Enzo waits until I am inside before driving away.

Such a gentleman...

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