Serendipity

Chapter 4

Raffaele

"Listen, Elodie, you're cold, you don't want to be here and my fight is not with you. All I want is to get my things back. The sooner you cooperate and help me, the sooner you're free to go," I finally tell her, trying the good cop approach.

Usually, I pride myself on being able to read people well but this woman remains a very confusing mystery so far. She looks small in her cell, her face a little ashen and almost glowing surrounded by her ebony hair. She's crying and shaking.

If she's saying the truth and really is clueless about any of this, I guess I'd feel bad. She came here looking for her father and ended up locked in a cell, talking to some stranger. It's understandable she's freaking out and I take no pleasure in scaring innocents.

Then again, I'm not sure that's what she is. Maybe it's the deep-rooted issues I have with her old man for betraying my trust, maybe it's the faint interest in her eyes as she takes me in so closely. Either way, my instincts are telling me to stay wary of her.

"I just want to go home," she whispers.

"I'll make sure you get there after what I'm looking for has been found and returned to me," I tell her smoothly even as the angel on my shoulder scolds me for saying something I'm not sure I can do. Truth be told, she intrigues me.

I want to know how Andre had kept her a secret. Want to figure out what's going on behind those pretty eyes of hers. She said her father didn't talk about work with her, yet she's here.

Besides, chances are enough evidence to put me in prison for good is hidden in her house. What if she knows. What if she has copies. Perhaps she has an ulterior motive to be here. She's a loose end, a risk I'm not yet sure I can take.

My mind is racing at a dizzying pace.

"Think about it. I'll be back when you're ready to cooperate," I tell her, already heading down the hall and toward the elevator. "And, Elodie, the more you remember to tell me, the faster you'll be home," I add over my shoulder.

"No, wait! Where are you going? Please, don't leave me here!" she yells after me but I keep my gaze ahead and keep walking, not allowing myself to feel anything. This is my job. She came to me. Besides, she's only here because she's too stubborn to cooperate.

Her choice. She'll be fine.

On my elevator ride up to the 36th floor, I ring one of my guards with the orders to stay with her, specifying he shouldn't talk to her or pull any shit. On second thought, I tell him to get her a blanket too. Both because I can't have my one lead be harmed or freeze to death if I want her to be useful, of course.

Once I'm in my office, I drop my head on the edge of my desk and let out a heavy sigh. It's about four pm now which means I've been awake for eleven hours. Yet I feel like it's been days since I last got a good night's sleep.

Months, really. This whole mole drama has been sitting on my chest like a heavy creature, suffocating and gnawing at me. It's fine when I stay busy but as soon as I get the smallest amount of spare time, I start spiraling. The walls draw closer and the air grows thinner.

I'm having anxiety attacks like I did when I was fucking seven years old and this time, I don't have my father to beat me out of it. I have no one. Well... no one I can burden with my problems, that is.

That's part of why I'm not sleeping. The other part consists of a certain someone who won't shut up all night.

I take a short breath, rubbing at my chest as I roll my forehead back and forth on the edge of my desk.

"It's all in your head! Breathe!" SMACK

"You're fine! Stop it!" SMACK

"Good. That's my son."

I pinch my skin and sit up straight in my chair, pushing my memories back and burying the feeling of dying somewhere in the back of my mind. I focus on the burning skin between my fingers. That's all there is. Physical pain. The rest is just in my head. I'm fine.

With that, I pull out my laptop and get back to work, looking up Elodie Chevalier on every possible site. I have very capable hackers for this sort of thing, sure. Still, I feel the urge to do it myself. I need to stay busy.

The first result on google is a link to a school paper featuring the girl in my basement. She graduated last year, with honors even though she's a year younger than most of her classmates. I briefly scan the article but it says nothing more than that she's a smartass.

Doesn't seem so smart now that she's locked up... just saying.

Anyway, I go through several more links, then her social media accounts to find anything on her family. She said she was an only child but I want that as a fact. So far, nothing has proven her wrong on that matter but I'll have to talk to my hackers eventually and dive a little deeper.

For now, I'll take the scraps I can get my hands on, which turn out to interest me more than I'd like.

I don't mean to notice that she looks like a different person on one of her classmates' highlights. While Elodie's account is private and reveals nothing, the people surrounding her aren't as mindful.

In the article earlier, I saw the girl from downstairs. Sweet, innocent eyes, and conservative clothes. On the highlights?

Well, in the back of one shot taken at a party, I can see her arm wrestling a guy three times her size, her face drawn up in a deep scowl as they glare at each other.

The next thing I see her in is a video. Again, she's only barely visible as she dances amongst the many other people but I find myself unable to look at anyone but her. Her closed eyes and tilted head, her hands in the air and the way her hips sway to the beat-

I shut my laptop hard enough to make me wince. Fuck, I'm getting distracted.

I take a calming breath and run a hand through my hair before getting to my feet and finding my way back to her cell once again. Ignoring the way my heart seems to beat a little faster, I tell my guard to leave us alone before finally looking at her.

Blotchy cheeks, puffy eyes and red nose. No hint of the girl that stared down a guy at a party. She's wrapped in a blanket though and has stopped shaking.

Not that I care.

"Ready to stop wasting my time?" I ask, harsher than intended. Truth is, my patience is wearing thin and having her here is just one more thing to lose sleep over. I want her gone.

She blinks at me for a few beats. That's all she does, looking up from the place she's curled up against the wall and blink.

"I asked you a question!" I snap, grabbing the bars to her cell with both hands and shaking them like some fucking nutcase, making her flinch and scoot impossibly closer to the wall behind her.

My outburst shocks me but I can't allow myself to step away now. She's watching me intently. Any little crack in my façade and she'd know I'm losing my shit.

I can't let them see I'm losing my shit.

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Love giving my characters all sorts of issues lmaoo

Anyway, hopef u liked this part and have a good day<3