Page 25 of Deadline for Love

“Who is this hottie?” she asked loudly without any ounce of shame, which only made me turn my head in embarrassment, making Amara grin widely.

“That’s Nathan, Bella’s date.”

I could hear a confident teasing in her voice, which caused my cheeks to heat up. I swear these two aren’t discreet at all. If we were in a situation where we were outside and I would tell them not to look at a particular person, they would turn and even scream their name loudly.

While I was dying of embarrassment, Nathan seemed to be thoroughly entertained, only nodding in confirmation. Then he stood up and moved in front of Nia, who now looked petite next to him, offering to shake her hand in greeting.

After introducing himself, he asked me briefly where the bathroom was, and I just pointed to where he could find it with my finger.

When he was out of earshot and sight, Nia jumped right next to me and proudly knocked my shoulder. “That’s what I call a good catch!”

“Isn’t it? The two of them look so good together,” Amara agreed.

It was all becoming too much for me, so I ignored the comments and quickly changed the subject to discuss work.

“So, he’s coming with us?” Nia asked, and I nodded again.

“I’m coming too. Justin’s at work anyway; he’s having to catch up on some projects, and I want to see everything live.”

Amara’s comment made me a little uneasy, I’d known Justin for a long time, and he’d never had to catch up on Saturdays; weekends were sacred to him... And leaving Amara alone even though she was still unfit was out of character. I also didn't want to expose her to this mess.

“Don’t worry, Bella. I’m really fine.” Amara realized I disapproved of the idea, but she tried to persuade me with a smile.

I nodded suspiciously because I couldn’t stop her anyway, and if she were with me, I could look after her...

I went to the kitchen, where I started to prepare breakfast for everyone while Amara and Nia still sat in the living room, interrogating Nathan.

Nathan escaped at some point and asked if he could help me in any way, but I just told him to relax.

“If it’s okay, I need to stop by my place before we go.”

“Of course it’s okay,” I confirmed and handed him the scrambled eggs and toast. I also put the food on the table for Amara and Nia, who joined us when they heard the clattering of plates. When we were done we had arranged to meet at Enzo’s pizzeria at around noon.

I freshened up and I mentally prepared myself for today.

Chapter 9

We, girls, made a short detour to the police station to try and get some news about the corpses before heading to the pizzeria.

Unfortunately, apart from the confirmation that the bodies were indeed the missing women, we had yet to receive further information about this case. Then we asked if any other missing persons had been reported in the last few days, which thankfully none had been. The officer provided information about a chemical factory fire and theft in a jewelry shop, which I noted in my notebook alongside potential headline ideas.

Once we’d finished chatting with the officer, we noticed that the pictures of Natali and Anna had been removed from the board in the lobby. However, there was a new picture on the wall of the third body, the woman with the beautiful long ginger hair. Her name was Sabrina Smith—the police wanted people to contact them if they knew her. Apparently, they hadn’t found any of her family.

Sadness settled like a weight on my chest at the thought of her having no one. But I turned my attention back to Amara; shelooked dull and stroked her stomach. Which made me break my silence. “I think it would be better if you went home.”

I was holding her hand and gently caressed her petite shoulders.

“No—I’m fine.”

“I’m worried about you. Please, go get some rest. You can come next time but use this weekend to relax,” I pleaded, and this time, she seemed to give in.

She stared at me with big, watery eyes and sighed. “How am I supposed to calm down when you’re alone?”

Her expression and behavior worried me. “I’m not alone. We’ll be careful, take care of yourself.” My last words made her nod, and Nia let out a breath of relief.

“Thank God.”

“Whose fault is it that I couldn’t sleep for days?” Amara suddenly nagged, which only made Nia shrug her shoulders.

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