~ Lilliana's POV
My breath hitched as I stared at the blood-stained message in the mirror. I quickly snapped photos of everything as evidence. Something I could use to get Alessandro to trust me fully.
I didn't scream, didn't even cry. I grabbed a towel and soaked it in cold water before removing the message from the mirror until it looked crystal clear. Despite the ache in my body, I vacuumed up every feather from the floor and fixed the closet door before stuffing the ruined pillows under the bed and taking out the spare ones from the closet.
By the time Christian knocked on the door, the room looked untouched.
"Everything okay?" he asked, stepping inside with the same calculating gleam in his eyes.
"Fine," I lied smoothly. "I was just resting for a second before taking a shower."
He stared at me for a moment before he walked away without another.
~ The Next Morning
I wrapped my coat tightly around me and told Christian that I was going to hang out with Bianca for the day, already telling her beforehand to confirm my story in case he calls. He didn't argue and simply handed me a burner phone and said, "Keep your location on. You go dark, I hunt you."
I smiled like an innocent wife and kissed his cheek before turning towards the door and getting out.
I first went to Bianca's to drop off the burner phone and ignored her questions when she asked me where I was going.
Alessandro's black SUV was waiting right at the location we agreed on---in an alley two blocks away from a coffee shop. I slipped inside quickly.
"You're late," he said. "I don't like waiting."
"I had to get Christian off my back," I said and turned to him. "And I also had to clean up a death threat someone left in my bedroom yesterday night."
He gave me a slide glance before tossing me an energy bar. "You're going to need energy."
We drove for an hour on an unrecognized road. Just when I was going to ask him if he planned to kill me, the car halted.
"A monastery?" I stepped out, looking at the old rustic gates and ivy-covered walls.
"Don't speak unless spoken to," Alessandro warned me, his tone suddenly sharp. "The nuns protect her like a saint."
Her.
My heart sank into the pits of my stomach.
We walked through the cold halls. A nun gave Alessandro a tight nod and led us through a silent corridor. At the end of it was a small room lit up with stained-glass windows.
And right in the center of it, sitting on the floor with a paintbrush gripped in her tiny fingers, was a six-year-old girl.
She was painting a garden on the floor with flowers and everything. Around her neck was a thin silver chain, and a pendant hung from it.
My breath hitched when I realized that it was the family heirloom---shaped into a black teardrop.
I walked inside as she turned and looked up at me. "My mom said you'd come," she said softly. "You'll keep me safe like her."
My phone fell from my hand as I knelt in front of her, unable to breathe anymore. My hands were hovering over her, shaking, like I was afraid she'd disappear if I touched her.
"What's your name?"
"Mia," she said.
"Mia," I breathed out. "God, you look just like her."
She reached out to me and placed her small hand over mine. "I know you. You're Mommy's sister. She showed me your pictures."
Tears burned my eyes, but I blinked them away. "Yes, I'm your aunt."
"I kept the secret," she moved closer and whispered in my ear. "Like Mommy told me."
Alessandro gave me five minutes and no more than that before the nun came to collect Mia, I stood and turned to him.
"I want to take her back."
"No."
"She's my blood."
"And she's her legacy," he said, cold in his every word. "You think Christian won't sniff her out the second she sets foot near you? You think the Espositos won't gut her just to make a point? You'll kill her faster than Eva ever could."
I clenched my fists tightly, rage burning inside me. "Then what was the point of this? Why show me?"
"To remind you what's at stake," he snapped at me. "You want to protect her? Stay inside the lion's den until I say otherwise."
Alessandro moved me to another chair before sitting me down and sitting in front of me. "Christian didn't kill Eva."
I turned to him slowly. "What?"
He pulled out a USB and plugged it into a nearby laptop, playing security footage. I recognized the place---it was our family's safehouse---where Eva was found dead. The footage was glitchy, but clear enough to see a man in black slip inside the apartment.
"Watch closely," Alessandro said, fast-forwarding.
I watched the man move throughout the place, and suddenly, Eva appeared, a gun in her hand. She was shouting, but there was no audio in the file.
The man suddenly lunged, and the screen flickered as Eva collapsed on the ground.
The man turned, walking past the camera. I leaned forward. "Stop. Right there."
Alessandro zoomed in.
When my eyes landed on the face, my breath hitched.
I couldn't breathe.
It wasn't Christian.
"No," My voice broke out. "That's not possible."
He played the footage again, and there it was---the same face.
"Your father," Alessandro whispered. "He killed your sister."
