Until Death Shall We Part

Chapter Nineteen

Another long day at the office. Events on events and what made it worse was that Taylor was completely ignoring my existence, which was my fault, but it needed to be done. I couldn't focus on my mission if it meant getting all lovey dovey with royalty. I mean look at me. Yes I am gorgeous but not fit for royalty, we should never have fucked in the first place. The butler's words popped in my mind.

She finds her partners somewhat...replaceable.

Shit. How could I forget? I was just but another fling to her. I sighed, cursing myself under my breath. I was just... forgettable, wasn't I?

Just like she iced me out and forgot me. Just like Adam did. Just like my birth parents did. Just like everyone did. Taylor's no different.

After getting back from the last event of the day, I went to the office to get my laptop and locked up then headed to my room. I was gonna do some thorough research with Austin that night. I WAS going to find some major clue whatever it took. I was both mentally and physically exhausted so I opted to soak in the Jacuzzi. Yes, it's posh enough to have a Jacuzzi. I threw in some provided bath bombs and lowered myself in the sweet smelling bath.

I sank into my whirlwind of thoughts.

//FLASHBACK//

Dirty dishes, dirty laundry, dirty house. Expected to be cleaned by me. Living in that house was a terror by itself, I always swore it was haunted. I was even lucky my 'parents' paid for my tuition because anytime I was at home, I was treated worse than shit. My foster dad was a drunkard, day in day out and my foster mom was just as bad. Every evening when they would come home from work, they would gang up on me and beat the living shit out of me. Scars on my body each told their own story. I was forced to wear turtlenecks half the time to hide my scars. Some would heal and disappear and some permanently scarred. I needed to leave. For the sake of my wellbeing and sanity.

That fateful morning when I left for school, I looked back and realized I was saying goodbye to this place forever. Having just turned 18, I was eligible for all the legal documents that could get me out of the country. I had packed a few clothes the previous night and robbed my parents of any cash or valuable item they had. Biking to school, I felt like a heavy burden was lifted off my shoulders. I would finally be free. After school, I pedaled as fast as I could to the nearest train station. To Canada I went. I didn't have to care about my 'parents' anymore. They could go fuck themselves for all I cared.

Being a young adult and having to fend for yourself in a new country is hard as fuck. I was practically helpless but I didn't give up. I did odd jobs, anything really, to make ends meet. I did everything to make me forget my past. But was it enough?

//END OF FLASHBACK//

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"Come in." I answered to the knock on my door.

Austin walked in with bags of food.

"Got some takeout, as you requested." He said, placing the bags on the bed and removing their contents.

Sweet! I'd been craving some Thai food.

"So why am I here again?" Austin asked, stuffing his face with food.

"We are going to make a breakthrough on this case, we are NOT sleeping until we find something, understood?" I clarified, also stuffing my face with food.

"Yes ma'am."

As we satisfied our famished souls, we were typing away on our laptops searching everything there could be on the internet, this time using a secret weapon. The agency's software that allows one to access any form of information, private or public, deleted or hidden. I had called Cora and one of the perks of being best friends with a research manager is getting access to cool shit like this. After surfing the software for a bit, there was nothing of interest or anything that we didn't already know of. We checked practically everything. Blogs, vlogs, social media profiles, nothing. Or at least what I thought. I came across a feed with a bunch of pics.

"Austin, look! It's that same lady again,with Alexander yet again. I'm sure of it. Let's compare the two pictures." I exclaimed, searching for the screenshots of the article I had saved on my laptop and it was a perfect match!

"Holy shit! It is her! But her face is always masked, how the fuck do we track her down?" He asked.

"Don't worry, this software has got it covered." I said and hit the enter button, leaving the software to surf the internet.

"Her name is Denise Dalmonte, one of the leaders of one of the deadliest mafia gangs around. The Bloody Terror..." I stopped in my tracks.

My face went pale.

Denise Dalmonte. Leader of a mafia?

My thoughts were spiraling out of control, my breathing becoming heavy, I never thought I would come across that name again.

Denise.

Denise.

That name rang in my mind for two fucking years.

No, this can't be happening.

This is not fucking happening.

And before I knew it, everything went black.