All I had to do now was sit and wait patiently for the family attorney to show his smug face to get me out of this mess. When he showed and did his job, I would sneak out of here and try like hell to avoid the mob of paparazzi who were most likely camped outside waiting to get a glimpse of me in handcuffs.
After all, this was just another Friday night for me.
Like all the others, my nights were full of excitement, blood and fun. Only looking around the room I was currently sitting in, I was definitely going to have to reevaluate my idea of fun.
The longer my attorney took, the more time I had to sit and think. Something I wasn’t used to doing. The images of my last few nights kept me entertained as a young woman walked in wearing a suit. The suit looked hideous and it was not tailored to her body. If anything, I would have sworn she bought the ghastly thing off the rack at some third-rate department store, likeWal-MartorTarget. The suit did absolutely nothing for the woman’s figure, nor did the way she was wearing her hair which was tied tightly into a knot at the back of her neck. It looked as if the tight up-do was giving her a headache. She wore no makeup to acquaint her lovely face and no perfume to mask her scent. She was, for all intents and purposes, all-natural.
I was intrigued.
“Mr. Valentinetti, my name is Detective Kaitlyn Watson. I will be interviewing you tonight. Can I get you anything to drink, water, soda, coffee?”
“Scotch, two fingers on the rocks.”
“I’m sorry Mr. Valentinetti, we don’t have alcohol here.”
“Lorenzo.”
“Excuse me?”
“My name is Lorenzo. Mr. Valentinetti is my brother.” I smiled, giving her one of my signature megawatt panty-melting smiles. No woman could ever ignore my smiles. Hell, I knew of three women right now who would come in their panties for one of my wicked, sexually charged grins.
I watched her intently. Her breath hitched as I spoke. Her pupils dilated for a mere second and her heart raced. But then, as if it never happened, she collected herself and regained her composure. Sitting across from me, she laid a large manila folder before her and opened it.
I was fascinated.
“Do you know a woman by the name of Penelope Stevens?”
“Yes, she is my personal assistant.”
“Mr. Valentinetti, can you please tell me where you were last night between the hours of two and four in the morning?”
“I will if you tell me what this is all about? Is Ms. Stevens in trouble?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“No Mr. Valentinetti, she is dead.”
And just like that, my fun vanished. Everything in me went on alert. How the police officers found out so soon was a mystery, to say the least but I knew where to look first. When I got my hands on Paolo, I was going to rip out his spinal cord and beat him with it. All Paolo had to do was watch the body. That was it. How could he have screwed that up? Then again, it was Paolo.
I should have known better.
Penelope Stevens was a sweet young woman who worked her ass for me to make sure I didn’t have to do anything. She was my right hand, conscience, confidant and only friend. In the time Penelope, or Penny as I called her, worked for me, we formed a great friendship and mutual respect. I never made advances and she didn’t stab me in the heart with her pointy scissors. It was a true friendship. The only true friend I had living in this city.
To make matters worse, when I arrived at my apartment late last night, I walked into my home to find my friend dead in the middle of my living room. Clothes ripped and shredded and a gunshot to the back of her head. Backing out of my apartment, I shut my front door and locked it. I called the only person I knew would answer and Paolo showed up within minutes. Paolo’s job was to make sure no one disturbed the crime scene. While he babysat my friend, I would find the killer and bring him to justice. Only the last twenty-four hours went sideways and now I was the one sitting in a police station getting questioned.
“Mr. Valentinetti, where were you last night between the hours of two and four in the morning?”
“The name is Lorenzo and I was partying with some friends at the Valentine Night Club.”
“Will you give me your friends' names, so I can verify that statement, Mr. Valentinetti?”
“Lorenzo and I was with Marko and Enzo.”
“Their last names.”
“Valentinetti.” I grinned, knowing damn well the detective wasn’t going to get anything out of those two.
I needed to stall the pretty detective. If she kept asking me questions, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from answering truthfully. Devil take it, what I really needed was to get the hell out of this place, find the bastard who killed Penny and bring the vile bastard to justice. That way I could get my life back. Just thinking about all the parties I was missing at the moment was depressing. I really needed to get the hell out of this place.
“Mr. Valentinetti, this is serious. We found your prints all over the crime scene.”