Born in Blood Collection Volume 1 - Cora Reilly Page 0,275

eyes and posture alert as we approached. Sandro had probably warned him of us. That reminded me of something I’d wanted to ask Aria ever since I’d run off. I waited until she’d finished her call with her hairdresser and fixed us a salad before I bridged the topic.

“Did you get into a lot of trouble with Luca for helping me?” I asked quietly. I didn’t want Romero to overhear us. He seemed busy enough talking on his phone, probably to Matteo or Luca who were checking up on us.

Aria’s face tightened. “He was angry at first, but he’s forgiven me. I think he realized that I would never leave him.”

She and Luca seemed happy enough but sometimes outward appearances were deceiving, and I wasn’t entirely sure if Aria was telling the truth. She wouldn’t say something that might make me feel guilty.

“You sure?”

“Isn’t that my line?” she asked teasingly.

I grinned. “You taught me a thing or two.”

“Good to know.”

“There’s something else I’ve been wondering about,” I said quietly. “How did Matteo find me?”

“Luca didn’t really talk to me about the search. He knew I’d warn you. Do you think it could have been the blog? I think Luca checked my laptop. I tried to warn you.”

“I tried not to mention locations in my blog posts. But maybe they could track my location through my blog. Who knows?”

The bell rang. Romero walked toward the elevator before either Aria or I could move. “Will he ever leave us alone?” I asked when he was out of earshot.

“Not anytime soon,” Aria said with a shrug. She rose from her chair to greet the woman in her mid-forties who entered the penthouse with two huge bags. Aria introduced me to her hairdresser and five minutes later we’d set up a chair in the bathroom and my hair was being smothered in cream that was supposed to turn my hair to its original color, not immediately but after several treatments.

Luckily I was allowed to walk around while the color reacted with my hair. Aria lent me her laptop and I settled at the dining room table. With dread, I searched the German websites for any homicide news in Munich. It didn’t take me long to see the article mentioning Sid’s death. The police didn’t have any leads. My former roommates had to move for the time being, and I doubted they’d return to an apartment where Sid had found his end. The newspaper mentioned me, or rather my pseudonym Gwen, and that the police were looking for her because she was a witness. There wasn’t a photo of me, thank God. I’d always been careful that I didn’t appear in any pictures. But there was a photo of Sid with his guitar.

My stomach tightened with sadness and regret. Aria put a hand on my shoulder. “You shouldn’t read that. There’s nothing you can do, Gianna.”

I shut the laptop slowly. There was one thing I could have done. I could have told the police who was responsible for Sid’s death, so his family could find peace, but that was something I would never do. There were certain rules even I wasn’t going to break. I wasn’t stupid, or suicidal.

Aria’s worried gaze didn’t leave me as I returned to the bathroom to wash my hair. “I’m fine,” I whispered, but she didn’t seem to buy it, neither did I. The last twenty-four hours had been a whirlwind of emotions and change. I’d hardly had any time to reflect on everything that had happened, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. Maybe Aria was right and I should try to move on and leave the past behind. The problem was I wasn’t sure I could. Didn’t I owe it to my conscience and Sid that I showed some defiance, that I didn’t just settle in my new life with Matteo as if nothing had happened?

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Matteo

When Luca and I returned to his penthouse that night, I felt like a fucking train had run me over. I hadn’t gotten more than four hours of sleep in the last three days. The moment I spotted Gianna any thought of tiredness vanished into thin air. Her hair wasn’t brown anymore. It wasn’t the red she’d had before she’d run away but it was close and she looked fucking amazing even with her swollen lip.

I sensed something was off though. After dinner with Aria and Luca, we returned to our own apartment. Gianna hurried into the bedroom as if she couldn’t