I didn’t want anything to come between us after what we had for the past three and a half years at school. We’d grown close, and the thought of how little I would see them almost brought me to my knees in despair. I hated how isolated my dad and Marissa’s liked to keep us.
I took a step back toward our rooms. “You want to tackle waking Sofia, and I’ll get Marissa?” Sofia took forever to get ready, but Emiliana had a way of making her hurry. Marissa was more of a throw-on-whatever-clothes-were-closest kind of girl, so she was out the door and in the action quickly. I was sure Eva was the same.
Emiliana set her mug on the counter then followed me as I headed for Marissa’s room. The thought that Tony might be in there with her had my hand hesitating on the knob.Fuck it.I twisted it and shoved the door open. My heart stopped, and the image before me paralyzed my vocal cords for half a second before a scream tore from my throat.
Our three guards rushed from wherever they’d been up the stairs and into the room, but all I could see was Marissa’s lifeless body sprawled across the floor. The scene came to me in fractured splices, my brain refusing to process the whole of what had been done to my friend—there was so much blood.
“Fuck!” Emiliana shouted.
Someone’s hand curled around my arm and yanked me back. Then Sofia’s frantic expression registered, and the weird buzzing in my ears receded until I could make out the words her lips formed.
Pounding feet on the stairs sounded just before Eva pushed her way into the room. Her body convulsed, and she dropped to her knees and emitted an ear-piercing scream. I grabbed Eva’s arm and tugged her away. Tears rolled down her face, and she shook uncontrollably. I eased her back so she couldn’t see Marissa’s body, shielding her as much as I could.
“Em’s calling Stefano. And Enzo—”
“Get the fuck away from the door, Sofia,” Enzo growled as he moved in front of her, protectively shielding her body with his.
When did Enzo get here?Shit. That was stupid of us. What if her killer is still here?My eyes locked on his gun, and sanity snapped back into place. I wasn’t afraid of death, and I was no stranger to it. But she was our friend… it brought back the same feelings I had when Mom was murdered in front of me. My hands trembled, and a wave of nausea swept over me. I shoved it and the memory of Mom into a far recess of my mind to deal with later.
Emiliana had a gun in one hand and a knife in the other. She stood side by side with her brother. Both vibrated a cold ruthlessness, and I inched back to let them enter the room. Sofia’s brothers would have been notified. Soon, the place would be crawling with Mafia.
Sofia and I grabbed guns from our rooms. She dragged Eva with her to the loft to wait for Emiliana. The guys would do their initial investigation and analysis.
“I can’t.” Eva backed away. Her face was deathly pale, and unchecked tears spilled down her cheeks. She pivoted and fled down the stairs.
Sofia stood and stepped to follow but I grabbed her wrist. “Let her go.” Eva and Marissa were close, and she needed to process the loss in her own way. A guard would follow her back to the dorms.
After a brief hesitation, Sofia sank onto the couch next to me. “Tony was pissed last night. We all know he’s got a temper.”
I nodded. “Do you think…”
“Yes.” Emiliana joined us and offered her opinion to my question. “It’s possible that he lost it on Marissa in a jealous rage.”
I shuddered then swiped the tears from my cheeks. They wouldn’t help. “I hate that the last memory of Marissa we’ll have is that.” She’d been beaten. Her last hour or so hadn’t been easy. How long she’d fought, suffering at someone else’s hand before her throat was slit, was something we would have to wait to hear. But given the swelling around her eyes, the split lip, and bruising around her neck, it had to have been some time, and before we’d come home from the party. Then there was her coloring.
“She’s been dead for a while.”
I shivered at Sofia’s statement. The gray pallor was a clear indication. “It had to have been before we came home from the party last night. The cameras…”
“I checked on my phone,” Sofia said as Emiliana sat next to us. “They were down for an hour last night.”
“Why didn’t we get an alert?” That made no sense.
“The feed was probably erased after.” Emilana turned her haunted gaze to mine. “This never should have happened.”
I swallowed convulsively, refusing to give in to my body’s urge to purge whatever was left in my stomach from last night. “This was the one place we thought of as an escape.” Marissa and I considered it a haven away from home.
“I forgot,” Sofia whispered. “I couldn’t stop staring at her face. The bruises. The blood. The blue lips and lifeless stare.”
“What did you forget?” The volume of my question matched hers as chills danced over my skin.
“That we’re in the Mafia.” Sofia closed her eyes briefly. “Something bad is always just around the corner.”
“Even in here,” Emiliana said. “Nowhere is safe.”
“We need to be smarter,” Sofia said.
“We need to stick together.” Not like what happened last night. We didn’t even think twice when Marissa left. It was something she did often. We just never thought…