| 18+ |
A grieving student-detective and her bilingual Italian heir.
𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐑𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐲 - She is a hard-working college student studying to become a detective after her mother's unexpected death. The cops labeled it a suicide, but she knew be...
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I couldn't get that stupid note out of my head.
The entire night I stayed up thinking about who sent the number, and then when morning came back around I thought about it some more. The only suspect my mind kept running toward...was Alan Ashford. Well, either that or one of the men working for him.
It was obvious it was done by that idiot if you can remember the horrible choices he's chosen from in the past. And mailing a note to the mansion? That had to be the most ridiculous choice by far. What if someone else was there to grab the mail that day and not me?
I have so many questions to ask him and with this number in my hand, maybe I could. The only issue is that you can't call a phone without having one of your own. And where would a girl like me, in my situation, get a cellular device at?
I'm still trying to figure that part out.
"What are you looking at?" Mayla's voice brought me back from my thoughts and forced me to look at her. I quickly revisited the place we were at, seeing Sage, Nova, and her sitting nearby in the family room as their discussion had just stopped.
She glanced down at the paper and I hurried in crinkling it, presenting a smile when she switched her gaze to my face. I shoved the balled-up note in my pocket and gave my attention to the girls sitting across from my couch.
"Nothing, just a dumb little reminder to go to the interrogation room and investigate some more." The lie evaded my lips but the three women in front of me didn't seem to notice. Perhaps my acting skills were good enough and I just didn't see it at first.
"Okay but before you go we have to talk, it's urgent!" Nova said cutely with a book on her lap, Sage petting Norman in hers while expressing a curious canvas. I crossed my arms and my legs, staring at her with a 'go on' type of look.
"So Christian decided to go driving last night and do..donut..donut holes? Whatever the name is beside the point, he went driving without bringing me!" She huffed at the end of her complaint before starting a new one. "And when I argued with him about it, he said 'I'm sorry I thought you wanted to read your small books before bed.' Then dared to smile."
A giggle escaped, not just from me but from the others too.
"Since when did you go driving with him late at night?" I asked the angelic woman.
"All the time, you guys just aren't there when we go. And you know at first I thought Mr. Santoro would get mad since us girls aren't supposed to leave, but he didn't mind and said as long as Christian is there then it's fine." She explained and grabbed the book on her lap, pointing it in my direction while she rambled on and on.
"Anyways back to him, I couldn't believe what he called my books..like is it a crime to love short stories? No! So I said, 'I will not fall for a charming smile when you have a brain the size of a walnut!" Mayla snorted along with the redhead and I following. Imagining Nova insulting someone was absolutely hilarious. She's a snack-sized woman who tries to act like a big dog when actually, she looks like a small poodle who isn't scaring or intimidating anyone.
