Casanova In Love

Chapter 20

Both him and Dana stood by the elevator door as the detective and his team arrived, accompanied with an elevator man who nodded at Ethan before the doors shut.

"Folks, I apologize for what happened tonight. He was alerted by his driver though a distress signal. He knew we were coming. None of my agents were injured but we did end up taking his men down. We'll be getting as much information from them as possible."

They settled down in Ethan's living room as the detective continued, "I highly recommend that both of you have a bodyguard on you at all times. I also suggest moving to a private, more secure location. He knows about where both of you live."

"Yes, I think those are good ideas." Ethan agreed, looking at Dana to make sure she was with him. A nod from her let him know that she felt the same way.

"I have another suggestion that you may not like. But please have an open mind. I suggest separating for a little while. Live in two different locations. It'll decrease the chances of both of you getting compromised at once."

"I'm not comfortable with that."

"I know, Mr. Salvay but-"

"Not happening. We'll leave the city tonight, if you want. But she stays with me."

Dana placed a hand on his arm to get his attention. "Can we talk about this for a second?" She asked, implying that they talk in private.

He grabbed her hand and held it between his hands. "Dana. I'm sorry. But this topic has no room for discussion." Even though it sounded like he wasn't giving her a choice, his eyes looked at him pleadingly, willing her to listen.

With that, it was decided. All that was left to discuss was how they'd leave New York without alerting William.

They had all night to let their families know that they had to leave. Bianca and Luke were highly alarmed and spoke with the detective for what seemed like hours, trying to get on the same page.

Dana called her mom to let her know that she needs to cancel her weekend trip to come see her. Rather than telling her the truth, she told her that she had a work trip scheduled. The less people knew, the better. She also wanted to keep her mom out of it for her own safety.

They were given secure phones that weren't supposed to be used for anything else but communicating with each other or someone on Detective Ross's team. This also meant that Dana would have to stop all interactions with Jake. She knew he'd be hurt, but understood that it had to be done.

She hadn't been in frequent touch with him ever since he was hospitalized. She had a lot of questions for him about where he'd been and the details on William's attack on him. Detective Ross confirmed that he would be getting in touch with him about it. Every little detail helps, he said.

Maybe it's best that he stays away. It'll keep him safe, she thought to herself. She opted for dropping a quick goodbye text to him without giving any details.

The next day, they used two agents to double as Dana and Ethan and make it seem like they left together to go to his office.

An hour later, they left his place separately, dressed up as building security.

All of their belongings were going to be brought over to a safe house in Poconos, Pennsylvania, over the next couple of days.

Dana was the first one to arrive at the house. She cracked her knuckles as she paced, waiting for Ethan to join her.

When she saw him walk through the front door, she took a deep breath and smiled at him. She was nervous about sneaking out and successfully "disappearing". There was so much that could go wrong, she thought. She knew that even though Ethan didn't show it, he was on the edge too.