Page 49 of Vow of Desire

“Enzo,” I call out. “I need help.” I knock more frantically on Alexandra’s door but she still doesn’t get up. When Enzo reaches my side, I point at the window and he looks through. With a cuss, he tries battering the door in.

When that doesn’t work, he uses his gun and hits it against the doorknob until it breaks. He opens the door, keeping me back a step.

But with the door open, I can see Alexandra much more clearly.

And it’s clear that she’s dead.

A bullet hole right through her forehead. She’s pale. Like death. Because she’s dead. Oh my god.

I stumble back and vomit before I know what I’m doing.

“Shit,” Enzo says. “I need to get you out of here.”

“Did she kill herself?” I whisper. A glance at her body shows no gun around. “What happened?”

“It looks like murder to me. Which is why I need to get you out of here. If the person who killed her is lurking around, we don’t need you getting hurt too. Come on.” He ushers me into the car and drives away before I can process what just happened.

“Who would want to kill her? Alexandra was annoying, yes. But for someone to kill her? I don’t understand. Is it because of her husband? Was he in debt or something?”

“I have no idea. But I’m sure Matteo will look into it. Your vomit is inside of her house. We’ll send someone to clean up the body so no one asks any questions.”

“But I didn’t do anything wrong.” A sudden, cold shock runs up my spine. “Did Matteo do this? Did he kill Alexandra… for me?”

“No. Matteo didn’t do this. He would have told me.”

That only makes me relax slightly. So if Matteo didn’t do this… then who did?

Enzo gets me back home and all I can do is pace around the house until Matteo returns.

“Did he tell you?” I demand the moment Matteo steps through the front door. “That Alexandra is dead?”

“Yes. He immediately called me and I sent someone to take care of the body.”

“We have to find out who killed her. Whoever did it can’t just get away with murder.”

A look of iciness covers Matteo’s face. “I had my man look into it while he cleaned up the body. Someone left a note. A warning. It said that she wasn’t the real Alexandra Ricci. At least, not the one this person had met. There was nothing in the note to denote gender. This person said they were upset by that and killed her for impersonating the real Alexandra Ricci. I have no idea what this note was about. It’s all we can go off of.”

“Shouldn’t we give this case to the police?”

“Not when it comes to mafia business. It’s better if we handle this.”

I frown. “Not the real Alexandra Ricci? What does that even mean? Alexandra is who she says she is. She was always bragging about herself to other people. I don’t understand.”

“I don’t know. But we’ll look into it. For now, you should stay inside the house and not leave. You were at her house. If her killer saw you, they might come for you. So to be safe, stay here. I made a vow to protect you and I intend on doing that.”

Matteo’s words hit me right in the heart. “You really do want to protect me, don’t you?”

He offers me a soft smile. “I do.”

I’m starting to believe that my husband might not be as much of a monster as I once thought. And clearly, there’s another monster on the loose.

“You didn’t kill her, did you?” I ask.

His smile immediately disappears. “Do you honestly think I would?”

“I know you’ve done bad things. I need to hear it in your own words. Please.”

“No. I did not kill her. What point would I have for killing Alexandra? I never even really knew her.”