Five Dates with the Billionaire - Alyssa J. Montgomery Page 0,58

distance between them, she couldn’t resist the comfort of his arms.

‘I get the picture,’ he murmured against her temple as one hand shifted from her waist to smooth down her hair. ‘You don’t need to go into the details.’

But now she’d started, she needed to tell him everything. Resting her head against the exposed flesh at the vee of his shirt, she closed her eyes. ‘I was so frightened, I froze. Finally, Giovanni let her go and she slumped down the wall, coughing hard.’ Without conscious thought, Mia raised her own hand to her throat and rubbed it. ‘I was about to back away to call the police when Mum spoke. Her voice was so hoarse, I could barely make out what she said.’

Connor’s lips pressed against the top of her head and he hugged Mia tighter.

‘She said something about incriminating files she’d copied onto a USB. Then she demanded he buy us plane tickets back to the UK or she’d go to the police.’

‘Shit! What was she thinking threatening him?’

‘I had no idea she was that desperate to leave.’ Mia sniffled.

‘Giovanni wouldn’t let her go?’

‘No. He demanded to know where the USB was and she told him he’d never find it.’ With a shudder she forced herself to continue. ‘Giovanni pushed her down the stairs and I watched her tumble.’ She shook her head trying to dispel the vision. ‘I saw it happen and I couldn’t do anything to save her.’ Lifting one hand to her face, she felt dampness on her cheeks and wiped away the silent tears.

‘Let it out, sweetheart. I’m here for you.’

‘Her head was… bleeding and her neck was… It was at an awkward angle. I… I saw her eyes. Lifeless. It was too late to call for help.’ Mia’s breaths grew shallow as she relived her panic and could only sob out the rest. ‘I shrank back further into the hallway as I heard Giovanni coming down the stairs. I hid in the laundry before he could see me.’

‘He didn’t find you?’

Mia didn’t look up at him. ‘No.’ Another sob escaped from her throat. She’d been so scared of discovery, so terrified he’d kill her too. Every breath she’d taken had sounded horrendously loud to her own ears. ‘He would’ve assumed I was at the party.’

Connor rubbed her back in reassuring, circular movements. ‘It was a damned good thing you had the presence of mind to hide instead of screaming.’

Mia closed her mind against the last images she had of her mother. ‘Survival instincts are powerful things and screaming wouldn’t have helped. The coroner said Mum died instantly from a broken neck.’

‘Giovanni would’ve killed you if he’d known you were there.’

‘Yes.’ She finally looked up at him as she confessed, ‘But by staying out of sight, I allowed Giovanni to set up his alibi.’ Bitter anger rose up and supplanted her grief. ‘While I was hiding, he sent a text to his own phone from hers and that text helped him avoid prosecution.’

One of his dark eyebrows rose in question and his hand stilled against her back.

‘The text said she was feeling giddy and off-colour and would he please come over straight away.’

‘So, the coroner thought your Mum had just fallen down the stairs.’

She nodded and swallowed down on the bitterness that filled her mouth. ‘All the coroner could say was that the fall had killed her. Giovanni was clever, texting her phone to say he was on his way. He made sure his thugs backed up his alibi that he’d been at a card game when Mum texted. He had one of them send a text to another guy to ask if he could come and take Giovanni’s place at the game.’

‘It’s not hard to figure the rest out,’ Connor said. ‘He waited a decent amount of time—the time it would’ve taken for him to travel from the card game to your home—before calling for emergency services, backing up that he’d arrived after the fall.’

‘Yes, and he played the devastated lover.’ She sniffled again and pulled away from him. ‘Sorry, I need a tissue.’

‘When did you come out of hiding?’

Sniffles taken care of she said, ‘When the police and ambulance officers arrived, I told the police what I’d seen.’

‘Which Giovanni denied, of course.’

‘He said I was in shock, but Giovanni was a known criminal. The police charged him with murder based on my testimony.’

‘But he avoided prosecution?’

‘Yes.’ She scorned the so-called justice system. ‘Giovanni had a solid alibi. The coroner found bruising around