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“He came back in and killed her once he realized she wasn’t useful anymore.”

“Sei una stanza malta.” Alphonse hissed.

“You have to help me, Nico.” Davina’s voice quavered as the words escaped her lips. “He’s going to find me and kill me,” she cried. “If you were able to find me, so could he.”

“Why didn’t you come and tell me, Davina?” I asked.

If she had come to me instead of hiding, I would never have doubted Gigi, and that monster wouldn’t have taken the woman I loved as a pawn in his sick game.

“Wait a minute. How do we knowthisisn’t a trap?” Matteo’s eyes narrowed.

Davina shook her head. “N-no, it’s not a trap, I swear.”

“She’s always hated Gigi,” Luca reminded me. “This could all be a setup to throw you off.”

My gaze remained locked on hers. She clearly harbored a deep-seated hatred for Gigi that stemmed from my rejection of her. This could definitely be a trap.

“Jealousy is a dangerous weapon,” Alphonse added to the chorus of doubt.

“Do you know what happens when people lie to me, Davina?” I pressed, studying her expression for any hint of betrayal.

Davina’s body trembled involuntarily, a soft whimper escaping her lips as if she were guilty.

“DO YOU?” I roared in her face.

Something in me snapped when she still wouldn’t answer, and I wrapped my hands around her neck.

“Nico! Back off!” Enzo shouted.

“I’ll break your fucking neck if you don’t speak,” I snarled at Davina.

In that tense moment, a gun clicked against my skull as my men took aim at Enzo and his team.

“Put the gun down,” Alphonse warned Enzo.

“We’re not your enemy,” Enzo reminded us. “Nico, you promised not to kill her.”

“I lied,” I shot back, meeting Enzo’s gaze with cold defiance, watching as his face tightened into a scowl.

With a violent shove, I sent her sprawling, the chair clattering to the ground.

“If you had anything to do with this, Davina...” I couldn’t finish my threat; the pain was too raw, thinking what that monster was doing to my girl.

“I didn’t betray you.Please, Nico,” Davina pleaded.

I pulled her up by the neck, my grip firm as I forced her back into the chair. My gaze penetrated hers. “Not telling me and running awayisa form of betrayal, Davina,” I growled, my voice dripping with contempt.

“I didn’t betray you! I wouldneverbetray you. Yes, I was jealous of her, but that is all I’m guilty of!”

I took a step back. For the first time in a long time, I saw vulnerability in Davina’s eyes—a flicker of the girl I once knew. But even the most beautiful could be dangerous, and I knew I could never trust her again.

Alphonse, his eyes sharp as daggers, interjected, “Can you describe the man who took you?”

“He was older, maybe around your age,” she replied, making eye contact with Alphonse. “Short salt and pepper hair, brown eyes, a goatee.”

Alphonse let out a sharp, exasperated sigh. “Great,” he muttered. “That narrows it down to, what, half the male population over forty?”

I shared his frustration.