Page 14 of Tristano

“Help me,” the girl sobs out before screaming.

Her strangled cries still haunt me to this day.

“Tristano, what is it? What’s wrong?” Greer asks as she sets her hand on my arm, pulling me into the present.

“I’m fine. Sit back down.” I force a smile.

She frowns as she walks back to her seat, and I stare at the photo.

“This one’s wrong,” I tell them.

“What do you mean it’s wrong? Is she no longer missing? Her uncle made the report two weeks ago,” Enzo says.

I turn and face everyone as I wipe my hand over my mouth, trying to find the words.

“It’s wrong because that’s not her name, and she’s sure as hell not seventeen.”

“And how do you know?” Killian asks slowly.

“Her name is Serena Taylor, not Sabrina Tyler like that says,” I say, pointing at the screen. “She’s barely twenty-two. I know that for a fact because five years ago I met this woman in a less-than-fortunate situation and helped her out.”

“Keep going.” Greer presses.

“She had a problem that needed to be taken care of and I took care of it for her. That’s all I’m willing to say on the subject.”

“You took care of it for her? What does that mean?” Lorenzo asks, his voice chillingly cold.

“It means I took care of it. That’s all.” I cross my arms, leaning back in my chair.

“You work for me which means you do not keep secrets,” Bash reminds me, the tone a telling one.

If I don’t tell him, he might decide to end me. For her, it’s worth it.

“I respect your position, but this was not something I did for the family. This was a personal decision that has no ties back to us or what we do. This is her story.” I point to her picture on the wall. “I will not betray her trust to satisfy your curiosity. All you need to know is that I took care of it, and it will never come back on us.”

Bash is about to speak up again, but Greer cuts him off. “We can respect that. So she’s been kidnapped under a different name then. Why would her uncle file a missing persons report under the wrong name?”

“Well…” I hesitate, rubbing the back of my neck. “I might have forgotten to mention an important detail.”

Greer looks at me suspiciously. I think she already knows and is just waiting for me to admit it.

“I’m afraid to ask,” Giovanni mutters.

“She kind of, sort of, works for the Jersey City Police Department.”

“WHAT!” everyone yells in unison.

ChapterFour

“So Tristano, can I call you Tris?” I whisper in the quiet truck cab.

Logically, my brain tells me I shouldn’t have gotten in, but my gut says I can trust this man.

“You can call me whatever you want,principessa.” He smirks, winking at me.

How he can still flirt at a time like this is beyond me. I bury myself deeper into his sweatshirt and stare down at the sweatpants that he gave me to wear.

At first, I was hesitant to accept them, but when he pointed out that I was naked, I rushed to grab them from him. It’s weird how living without them for days had changed my need for them.

---