Black Rose

Chapter 21

She's smart – I'll give her that.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, a blank look on her face.

I laughed bitterly, the scene playing over and over in my head. "You know, I was wondering how you knew that Oli was back home on that day. It's funny because Fabio told me that no one can be threatened by you, and yet you almost took everything away from me."

"Are you feeling fine?" she feigned concern.

I rolled my eyes at her and turned to my fiancé instead. "Did you happen to get the footage from the security on the day of my injury?"

"I did, but I haven't had a chance to look at it. I asked for footage from that day and three days before. Why?" he asked. Valerie was visibly panicked next to him, which was going unnoticed by him.

"Because, you might want to hold on tight to Valerie."

She tried to make a run for it, and I can only pin it down to trusting me that Olivier actually went after her. He caught her just as she was dashing for the door, wrapping his arms around her.

She was thrashing and screaming. "Let go of me!"

"How quickly can you get here?" I asked into the phone.

He chuckled. "I just left. You miss me that much already?"

"Just get here," I said before hanging up.

My fiancé was looking at me with confusion as I called the second person. "Rose?"

"I saw your missed calls. I know we haven't spoken since, but I need your help with something," I requested.

"And does he know you're calling me of all people?" he questioned."

"Where's the fun in telling him? Besides, I think you really want to be around for what's about to happen," I told him.

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

Olivier was still looking at me weirdly, though I'd applaud him for his calmness considering the crazy woman in his arms. "Not that I'm not enjoying holding onto a crazy woman like this, but do you mind sharing why we can't let her go?"

"Because Oli, she tried to kill me and our babies."

She stilled, dread clear on her face. "I did no such thing."

"What do you mean she tried to kill you and our babies?" Olivier asked me just as the front door opened.

Fabio was five minutes away from us, which is the only thing I can think of to explain how quickly he arrived. "What's going on? Why are you holding onto Valerie like that?"

"She's the reason I ended up in hospital," I told him.

His eyes widened. "What?"

"I'm just waiting for one more person before I explain. In the meantime, is there a place we can go to watch the tapes where she won't be able to get away as easily?" I asked.

"My office," my fiancé suggested.

It was then that I learnt that he has two offices in the house – one upstairs, and one downstairs. The one upstairs is smaller than the downstairs one. In fact, the one downstairs resembles the one at work.

"Why would you need such a big office space at home, let alone two offices?" I asked him.

He put Valerie down as Fabio locked the door. "I can't explain it, but I need my spaces to look the same for me to function efficiently. If I'm working from home, I need to not feel the difference."