POV: Hunter
"But what did they find in a burnt house?!" Jewel asked, being oddly excited.
"I don't know...Jewel, are you all right?" Hayley asked, being in the driver's seat. Dona and I were forced to sit in the back on our way to the mansion.
"But-"
"You're hungry, aren't you?" I said, leaning forward to her. She eye-rolled and grumped. I let out a chuckle as Hayley did too. I pulled out a small bag of sandwiches and gave it to Jewel. She soon became a happy kid and ate her food.
"The cop said the pieces of evidence were restored as they were a little damaged...It must be important." Dona said and looked through his phone. I nodded to him. An hour or so before we got in the car, he told me that the police called.
He has been acting a little weird by not looking at me in the eyes that often. "She didn't by any chance call us at the station, right? That would be a mess-Jewel!" Hayley said as Jewel started coughing.
Hayley pulled over near a tree, letting Jewel out and she ran towards the tree, soon puking her guts out. I got out and helped her with it. We both got back to the car after she was finished. "Dona, get in the front," I said to him.
"Pregnant women puke a lot it seems." He said and made a weird face, wait no! That's his normal face. I eye-rolled and sat in the back seat with Jewel.
"You feel ok now?" I asked her before she laid her head on my lap.
"I feel tired and...nauseous...morning sickness it must be." She said and I caressed her head.
"Sleep then, we still have an hour's drive left," Hayley said.
Jewel nodded and snuggled in my stomach, resting herself. Pregnancy has been taking a toll on her, her body is already weak. I rubbed her back as she drifted to slumber.
POV: Hayley
I pulled over at the mansion's gate and saw two security guards. I got out of the car with Donato and Hunter as Jewel still slept in the backseat. They asked to check us and they did, I was so grateful my shoes didn't have hidden knives today.
"Mr. Armani?" A female cop approached her and shook hands with Donato. "Officer Gilbert here, this way." She said. Hunter and I looked at each other as we followed Donato, who followed the cop.
"You're not like your friend right?" Hunter asked.
"Why do you ask?" I replied.
"Because you are looking too closely at Donato and that lady." He said.
"I'm not jealous."
"I never said you were." He said.
I eye-rolled and stood beside them near a tall table. "She said she is bringing the proofs." I nodded and whispered to Hunter.
"It's horrible to be jealous when you don't want to be."
"Told ya, just like Jewel. Wait, I'm just going to get her here." He said and left to bring Jewel.
"What were you two talking about?" Donato asked me, grabbing my arm.
"Nothing...just weird stuff." I chuckled and grabbed his hand. "Why are you so tensed?" I asked him.
"Aren't you? Coming back at the house you once lived in...and lost everything in one moment." He said and sighed as I frowned.
"I just don't look at the main door...it makes things come back." He nodded and grabbed my chin before pecking and pulling onto my lips. I pecked him back and the cop came back. She placed a plastic bag on the table and wore her gloves.
Then she pulled out some pieces of glass, a broken wristlet, and a small coin-like thing. "We found these pieces of glass near the bar table, this bracelet near the couch, almost under it, and this small coin-like thing at the lamp table near the couch."
We both took a look at all of the shreds of proof in front of us. "This bracelet...can it be identified?" Donato asked.
"I can give it to the forensics. Can one of you identify this coin?" The cop said looking at me.
I took the coin in my hand and tried to take a look through the plastic bag it was kept in. "I don't think it belongs to Marcus...I don't know what this is or who this belongs to." I said, looking at both of them.
"Give it to me..." Donato said and I gave it to him.
POV: Donato
I took a long look at the strange coin and as soon as I turned it around to see the other side, I knew exactly who this belonged to. The symbol on the back of it...God! Why-Why would they do this?
"Dona?" Hayley said, patting my shoulder. "What happened?" She asked.
"Nothing...I don't know this..." I said. I felt Hayley's hand reach down and intertwine with mine as I avoided looking at her. I was afraid she might question me right here.
Officer Gilbert nodded and put those pieces of evidence back in a bag. "That's all, thank you for your cooperation, have a nice day." She said and went away. I turned around and walked to the car.
"Do-"
"Amore, not here," I said to her and walked her to the main exit/entrance. "Hunter didn't come back after he left to get Jewel."
"Maybe they got busy." She said as we reached the car.
Hayley went to the backseat and Hunter's whisper's reached my ears. "She didn't let me come back...sit in front, mate," Hunter said and Hayley sat in the passenger's seat. I sat in and drove off.
We stopped at a general store as Jewel wanted to pee and all of us were in a mood for a snack. I just wanted some drink to get that bizarre symbol on that coin out of my head. "I think we are gonna take off from here, Mate...she is not feeling good, the morning sickness, I swear. " Hunter said to me.
"I'm sorry for all the mess...I just can't bear to stand here anymore, I need my bed." Jewel said. I nodded at them.
"You guys can take off...I have some work to do." I said to them and went to Hunter.
"Then you take the car, Buddy." He said before I could hand him the keys. "I'll tell Stefano to bring my car." He said.
I nodded and looked at Hayley. "You should go too." She turned to face me.
"No, I'll come with you." God, damn you, Hayley. I nodded and got in the car. We waited inside until Hunter's car arrived and they both took off.
I went back to my car's driver's door and was stopped by Hayley as she stood in my way, staring at me. "Dona? Why are you so tensed?" She asked, putting her left hand on my chest, keeping me from moving away.
"Hay-" Before I could say that everything is fine, she softly put her lips on mine, leaving small kisses, and cupped my face. I pulled her closer by the waist, returning her kiss. She pulled away and looked at me, still cupping my face.
"Let's go somewhere peaceful, you're tensed." She turned around and sat in the passenger's seat. I sat in the driver's seat and drove off, not knowing where I would find peace.
POV: Hayley
He stopped the car in the middle of a long road. I was waiting to see which place he would eventually consider peaceful but he just stopped in the middle of nowhere. I looked over at him as he turned off the engine and pulled out the key.
"Why here?" I asked, putting my hand over his which rested on his thigh. He pulled out weed from his pocket and lit it up, soon he started smoking it. I held his hand in mine, waiting for him to speak.
"I don't think I have a place where I would find peace now..." He said and interlocked his fingers with mine.
"Why do you think that?" I asked, I found it funny how I related to that.
"I'm sorry, Hayley..." He said, throwing out his weed and turning to look at me.
"What happened?" I said and caressed the back of his neck, keeping his eyes on me.
"I know someone who could have killed Marcus..." He said and I went blank for a few short seconds.
"What do you mean?" I noticed small tears emerge in his eyes as I asked him.
"I recognized the symbol on that coin...it's an heirloom..."
"Whose heirloom?" I asked.
"It belongs to a woman...I grew up with her...for a brief time." He said then looked away, sighing. I pulled his face back to me.
"Who?" I asked again.
"I can't describe it like this...I need to show you everything..." I sighed and stared at him as he looked distressed.
"Calm down, please..." I said to him and pulled him in a hug. His hands gripped onto my shoulders as he snuggled his head in my neck. We soon headed home after he calmed down. Who could it be? Why is he so distressed about it?
We reached the mansion and I went upstairs as he parked the car. I waited in his room after I met with Jewel and chatted with her for a while. He came in and hurriedly locked the door. Then he went to his closet and I heard him throw stuff around.
So I went after him and saw him searching for something. "Donato? What are you looking for??" I asked him.
"Help me, don't question right now. Look for a navy blue file, it's a big document file." I nodded and searched up the order drawers.
"Hayls, I found it." He said after a few minutes and I went to him.
"What is it?" I said looking at that dark navy blue bulky folder, it looked like it was a decade old or some.
"Answers...let's go sit down, I'll explain..." I nodded and went out then sat on the bed.
He sat beside me and opened the file. "You know Ezio and me...we both were from Italy...We didn't have this vast empire back there. Ezio and my father, the real one...they both worked with this man." I nodded, listening to him quietly.
He took out a photo and gave it to me. "His name is Edward Giordano...he is or was the biggest arm hoarder and trafficker in Florence..." I took a look at the photo.
"Who is that?" I said, pointing to the photo which was on the left of the one he held.
"That's my father..." He sighed.
"I don't have much idea about this but Ezio talked about having a deal with him...He has a daughter, his only child." He continued. "She and I were together whenever I was in Florence."
"Together?" I lost control of my mouth.
"As friends...for one of her birthdays, I don't remember for which one but Edward gifted her two things. Specifically, I remember him giving her a silver coin and gold pistol statue." He said and looked at me.
"She was very elated about her gifts...The coin we saw today...it was her coin."
"What? I don't understand...she must be living in Florence right?" I said.
"Hayley, did you look closely at the symbol on one side of the coin?" I nodded saying yes. "It was a serpent ring..."
"Like this one." He said and showed me a picture of the same symbol I saw on that coin.
"I...how is this possible? Dona, are you sure?" I said.
"I don't know but I would recognize that symbol anywhere...Ezio recommended it to Edward...it symbolizes eternity or eternal love or some shit like that." He said.
I looked away and sighed. "You think she burned...killed Marcus?" I asked him. He put away the file and held one of my hands into his.
"Why would that coin be there if she didn't have a connection?" He rested his head on mine. "At least we have a lead, someone to follow up to." He said.
"What was her name?" I asked, looking down at the floor.
"Tissaia Giordano..." He replied.
"What does she look like?" I asked yet another question.
"Amore, I know what you are planning to do...you won't go after her alone." I sighed and the door opened.
"Dona, a word?" Hunter said. He pulled away from me and looked at Hunter. Then he left a kiss on my cheek before going out of the room with Hunter.
I went to Jewel's room, I need her to lighten up my spirits. Unfortunately for me, she was fast asleep so I sat beside her for a few minutes and went back to my room. The image in my head was now bothering me.
Jewel and Hunter both were excited for their baby...and after how that bastard woman killed Marcus, I don't have a good feeling keeping so many lives involved in this mess. Guess, I will need to ask Donato a favor.
POV: Donato
I came back to the room to find her in her nightwear, just arranging the bed for the night. I went to the closet and changed into my nightwear and sat beside her in bed. She snuggled in my chest soon after and roamed her fingers along with my arm tattoo.
"What is it you are thinking?" I said, caressing through her hair.
"If Tissaia truly killed papa...it becomes our issue now...a very dangerous one." She said.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm thinking about something...Why do we have to danger Jewel's, Hunter's, or the baby's life in this mess?" She replied.
I sat up looking at her. "Speak freely, Hayley."
"I think we should convince them both to move away...from this mess so that they don't get threatened..." I sighed.
"Come here," I said and she came closer to me. I pulled her on my lap and rested my hands on her waist.
"What happened?" I asked her.
"I just observed Hunter and Jewel be happy and worried for their pregnancy...and now this woman you told me about...I don't want three of them to get caught in the crossfire."
"Hayley, why the sudden thought?" I asked her out of curiosity.
"Because it's not fair...Jewel was kidnapped before and now there is an unborn life involved. Tissaia killed Marcus in cold blood, what guarantees us their safety? Hunter will also be invested in this, it's not his fight anymore, it's our mess."
I was going to disagree on that but can I though? "Hunter wouldn't agree to walk out on me, I know that," I replied to her.
"Donato, Jewel trusted me and she still got kidnapped, beaten...she trusts me with her child now, it's scary to take that responsibility when I don't know what is our near future...in this mess." I sighed and held her hands.
"What are you suggesting?"
"What if we send them away?"
"Hayley..." I sighed saying her name.
"Marcus suggested this to me too...before I left that day. Donato, we should send them away, we need to keep them safe." She said.
"Ok ok..." I rubbed her back and cupped her face. "Let's talk about it more in the morning." She nodded and left a kiss on my shoulder before pushing me down on the bed. Then she laid on top of me.
I wrapped my arms around her waist and caressed her skin. "I'm going to search potential hiding spots tomorrow..." She said.
"What spots?" I asked.
"I mean those abandoned streets or old suburbs that I think can give any clue..." I nodded and kissed her head.
"I'll send some guards with-"
"Goodnight, Amore." She let out a soft chuckle after cutting me off and I eye-rolled. Then we closed our eyes.
I guess tomorrow will be eventful after telling Hunter to go away.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
END OF CHAPTER 40, SEE YOU IN THE NEXT ONE. PLEASE VOTE, SHARE AND COMMENT. LOVE YOU, BYE.