Chapter 3

Two whole weeks passed after that afternoon at the bridal shop before Massimo finally set foot inside the coastal house we used to call home.

I was bound to his side, an invisible ghost anchored to his dark shadow, forced to follow every step he took. He kicked the front entrance wide open with a brutal crack that rattled the wooden frame and sent the oil paintings in the foyer shaking against the walls.

"Tess!" His voice exploded through the silent house, raw and thunderous. "Get your ass out here right now!"

He stormed past the entry hall, throwing open one room after another. He slammed open the master bedroom, checked the walk-in closet, and marched into the study. Finally, he shoved open the heavy doors to the music room, where my cello sat quiet in the corner under a thin layer of dust.

The house was empty. There was no trace of me anywhere.

Massimo stood in the center of the hallway, his posture rigid and his jaw set tight.

"Search every corner of this house," he barked at the head bodyguard standing behind him. "Then flip all of New Orleans upside down until you find her. Tess Reinhardt, if you think you can run from me, you better run far. Because when I catch you, I am going to break your legs."

"Don Massimo... we finished pulling Tess's cell phone records from the night she vanished," the guard said cautiously, keeping his head down. "Her last outgoing call before her line went dead... it was made to Julien Beaumont."

Massimo did not say another word. He spun around on his heel, marched back out to his vehicle, and slammed his foot flat against the accelerator. The heavy engine roared, speeding toward the city's central forensic office.

He kicked the metal doors of the forensic lab wide open, the loud crash echoing off the cold tiled walls and metal cabinets.

Julien was standing right beside the main autopsy table. He was still wearing his white lab coat, marked with dark chemical stains. Deep purple shadows hung under his eyes, and his entire face looked hollow, as though he had stopped caring whether he lived or died.

He slowly lifted his head, staring at Massimo with a flat, empty gaze.

"What's wrong with you?"

Massimo sneered, taking long, menacing strides across the room.

"Where is my wife?" Massimo demanded, leaning over the table, his voice dripping with venom. "You hid her, didn't you? Where is she?"

Julien met his lethal glare without flinching. His face remained dead calm.

"She is dead, Massimo," Julien said softly. "The funeral home called you to pick up her urn weeks ago. Or did you already forget?"

Massimo let out a sharp, sarcastic laugh. He did not believe a single word coming out of Julien's mouth, fully convinced it was nothing more than a pathetic trick to mock him. He turned away from Julien and shouted toward the closed wooden door of the private break room at the back of the lab.

"Tess! You really think hiding behind Julien is going to save you from me? I am going to count to three. If you do not walk out here right now, don't blame me for what happens next!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

Silence swallowed the lab. The room remained as quiet as a grave.

With a low growl of rage, he pulled back his arm and smashed his heavy fist straight into Julien's jaw.

"She has been dead for days!" Julien screamed, the veins bulging on his neck as his voice cracked with absolute grief. "You signed the cremation authorization yourself! You held her urn in your own hands! Are you completely out of your mind?"

"You're still trying to hide her even now, Julien?" Massimo sneered. "You really are head over heels for her, aren't you? It's just a shame—she was already completely broken by the time I was done with her. Whenever I get sick of her, if you still want her, maybe I'll consider handing her over to you."

"Just not today," Massimo added in a dangerous whisper. "She still has to kneel in front of my mother's vault and knock her head against the slate until she bleeds. She owes my mother atonement. "

"You sick bastard!" Julien swung his fist, striking Massimo right across the cheek.

They crashed together like wild beasts.

I hovered right above them, screaming at the top of my ghostly lungs, begging Massimo to stop, but not a single sound reached their ears.

Julien lay pinned against the cold floorboards, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth down his neck. But instead of crying out or backing down, his mouth curved into a terrifying, mocking smile.

"Massimo... the truly pitiable person here is you," Julien choked out through the blood in his teeth. "A blind fool who cannot even recognize the snake who murdered his own mother... A monster who destroyed the only woman who ever truly loved him... You live worse than a stray dog in the street!"

Massimo froze completely. He raised his heavy fist high above Julien's face, his knuckles white and trembling.

"What the hell did you just say to me?" Massimo roared.

Before his fist could fall, the metal doors of the forensic lab were thrown open once again with a deafening crash.

Massimo's bodyguard sprinted into the room, completely out of breath. His face was chalk white, and his hands were shaking so violently that he could barely keep his grip on the thick manila folder in his hands.

"Don!" the guard cried out, his voice shaking with sheer terror. "The highway traffic camera footage from the night of the crash... And... the full autopsy report of Tess. You need to see this right now!"