Page 70 of Diary from an Inked Throne

Bruno left the room, but he returned less than a minute later with a USB stick he plugged into the back of the TV. Luca leaned forward to pick up the remote from the coffee table and hit the power button.

The screen lit up, and after some button pressing from Luca, he managed to get the security camera footage rolling.

Footage from all over the house split the screen, my old bedroom being one of them, Luca’s being another. I stared at Bruno in horror, remembering the things I’d done when I thought I was in private. “Who watches these?”

He shook his head. “No one, unless they have a reason to.”

Luca sniggered at the expression on my face. “You thinking about that night you got naked in my bed, when you thought it was my father’s?”

I scowled at his teasing. “And certain other things I did when I thought I was alone.”

He groaned. “Did they include a vibrator?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know!”

He raised an eyebrow. “I could go look for the footage…apparently.”

I threw a couch cushion at him. “Don’t you dare.”

Bruno folded his arms over his chest. “As you’re about to see, watching security footage is the most boring thing you’ll ever do. Carlos and Enzo never asked us for it, and my brother and I are the only ones who know the login. We were never interested in what any of you were doing in the house. Our focus was only ever on the perimeter. Which is why I know that Virginia left here in the afternoon of the night she was murdered.” He tapped the section of the TV screen showing the front gate.

It was a mostly still image, the only giveaway that it was a video at all was the grand old trees with branches that overhung the gates. Their leaves moved with the gentle breeze that must have been blowing that day.

Bruno rolled his finger toward Luca, indicating he should fast forward the footage.

Luca put his finger down on the button, and the screen sped up. Nothing happened at the front gates until the time stamp read late afternoon. At that point, Virginia walked into the frame, her coat on and her purse tucked beneath her arm.

Dax leaned forward, getting a little closer to the screen, his eyebrows furrowed. “Where’s she going? This had to be after I spoke to her and warned her about what happened in Scotland, surely?”

I nodded. “You definitely called her before this.”

“She promised me she wouldn’t come back here,” he said softly.

“That was probably good advice,” Bruno said. “But as you can see, she did leave in one piece. If you watch another few minutes, you can just see the edge of the bus she gets onto.”

Dax recoiled. “A bus? Why wouldn’t she have just driven her car?”

Bruno shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“What bus was it?” I scooched out from beneath Lynx to try to get a better look at the screen. “I can’t make out any of the details.”

“I’ve no idea. You’d have to ask the bus company, I guess. All I know is Virginia left late that day. At some point during that night, her body was dumped outside the Slayers’ gates. If you want to sit here and watch the rest of the footage, like I did, you’ll see that Enzo and Carlos were here from the time she left, until the next morning.” Bruno looked over at Luca. “No time to murder anyone.”

Luca’s mouth pulled into a grim line. “So maybe we were wrong about them getting their hands dirty, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t order her death. If she came here, confronted them and left, he could have had someone go after her.”

Bruno shook his head. “Me and my brother were not given any such order. I can assure you of that much.” He shifted his gaze to stare down at his feet.

I knew instantly there was more he wasn’t saying, and so did Luca.

“Spit it out, Bruno,” he practically growled. “You say you’re my man now, then prove it. Whatever loyalty you had to my father now belongs to me.”

Bruno lifted his gaze. “I would have known if he’d ordered Virginia’s death. There was nothing about his plans I didn’t know.”

“But…” Luca prompted.

Bruno’s expression was unwavering. “He did order yours. I don’t know who was to carry it out, not one of us. But he did truly believe you were dead. He grieved you, and his hand in your end.” He turned to me. “I know he meant it when he came to you and offered to marry you and take care of the baby. He truly did want a second chance at being a father.”

Luca choked out a bitter laugh. “Why am I not even surprised?” He pushed to his feet and paced the room in jerky, angry strides. “He’s unbelievable! My own fucking father orders me dead, then tries to just…what? Take my place? Get a do-over with James as his new son?” His fingers clenched into fists. He stared at the ceiling again and closed his eyes, head shaking. “You really are a piece of work, old man. I hope you’re rotting in Hell.”