Vicious Minds (Children of Vice #4)(57)

“Ethan. Ethan?” I looked over to her, the brunette sitting across from me, smiling stupidly. She reached over and put her hand on my mine, and instinctively I pulled it back and sat back in my chair. “No need to be so distant now, not after last night.”

The moment she said that, the memories tried to force their way to the forefront of my mind, but I pushed them back.

“You wanted breakfast, so order breakfast, Klarissa.” I let my disinterest show, lifting my phone from the table.

“I said I wanted to treat you to my favorite breakfast.”

“I’m not hungry.” I focused on the phone in my hands.

“You know the colder you are, the more I like you.” She giggled and lifted her hand, calling over the server who was standing by attentively. He rushed over the moment she did, and she didn’t even let him speak before ordering. “I’ll have a prima colazione, with cappuccino and cornetto, what about you, baby?”

The moment she addressed me, my head snapped up to look at her, to see if maybe she’d lost her mind and sure enough, she stared at me, completely oblivious to how close I was to ripping off her head and throwing it in the street for the birds. Instead, I looked to the server.

“You may go.” I directed, and he nodded, leaving just as quickly as he came. When he did, I turned to her, lifting my hands to warn her carefully. “You will address me as Ethan or Mr. Callahan, am I clear?”

She flinched, pulling back some, and nodded.

“Excellent. When your food comes, eat quickly.” I went back to my phone already dialing…for the third time this morning, since I’d missed her two calls last night. She never called twice. So I knew it was important. However, she was not answering.

Something—

“…. say Roma!” I heard voices, laughter, and the sound of water on the other end of the line. “Let’s get something from the café.”

There it was again…that dread. Looking over to the street again, I saw them. A group of tourists pointing to this very café. And in the distance, between the archways of the gallery across the pavilion, she stood in long, V-neck floral white dress, her long brown hair wavy, her grey eyes staring directly into mine.

“What’s wrong?” I said into the phone. Something was off. Her posture was odd; her shoulders were hunched slightly. She didn’t reply. She just reached up to what must have been a Bluetooth in her ear, turned, and walked away, disappearing into the crowd.

Calliope?

I wanted to call out, but all I could do was stand, nearly knocking over the server who came with Klarissa’s breakfast.

“Ethan?” She tried to get up, but again I held my hand out for her to stay where she was. I looked over to Tobias who got up from his table.

“Sir?”

“Wait for her to eat and then return her back to the house,” I ordered, taking my blazer from the chair.

“And you?—”

“I’m going for a walk. No one is to follow me.”

“Sir.”

I stepped into his face to look at him directly. “No one is to follow me, am I understood?”

He nodded, and I walked through the iron gates on to the cobblestone streets, crossing the pavilion to where she had just been. The closer I got, the clearer it became that she hadn’t left anything there. I dialed again but it didn’t even ring before I got a text.

Via Margutta 54A,

Spagna, Rome, Italy

It wasn’t far from here, maybe a seven-minute walk at most, however I took a longer route, making sure I wasn’t followed. I walked through neighborhood streets, something I remembered doing with my mother when I was child. Not in Rome, though. It was a good way to see people, our people, our way of life, on display and unfiltered. It was relaxing, but as I walked I couldn’t shake this feeling. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I the closer I got to this address the more I instinctively knew this would hurt. Whatever it was, this would hurt. I tried to think of what it could be, but for some reason my mind was blank, like I subconsciously did not want to know. Despite my dread and hesitation, my feet led me all the way to a townhouse on the corner of the street, the building itself partially covered in red flowers, as if they were fighting to swallow the house whole. Walking up the steps, I opened the wooden door, and pressed the button for 54A, which opened the second door inside, allowing me access to the staircase.

When I got to the door I paused, and as if she sensed me there, she opened the door. The emotionless look she wore earlier had intensified; her grey eyes looked lifeless, like she couldn’t see me…or maybe she saw right through me. She said nothing and stepped to the side, letting me in. She closed the door behind her, but it was more like she was securing a vault. From the outside, it looked like normal door, but inside it was made of steel, with an automatic keypad.

I waited for her to acknowledge me; to explain what was going on. She did neither. She walked a few steps into a kitchen furnished in wood and stone and announced, “Giovanna has an ear infection; she’s resting in first bedroom. With the medications, she isn’t going to remember much of the day. If you want to see her, now is the chance.”

If I want to see her? What the fuck did that mean? I didn’t ask now, instead I put my jacket down on the couch and turned to walk down the hall.

“Wait.”