Chapter 7 - David's Debt
David called at noon.
My old phone had been destroyed in the apartment.
Alessandro’s security team gave me a temporary replacement.
Only four people had the number.
Rosa.
The clinic.
Alessandro.
Security.
Yet the screen lit up with UNKNOWN CALLER.
I answered.
“Mara.”
David’s voice turned my stomach.
For eighteen months, I had imagined what I would say if I ever heard him again.
None of those speeches survived contact with reality.
“What do you want?”
“I heard you had an exciting night.”
I looked toward the security camera above the hallway.
“Where are you?”
“Not important.”
“You broke into my apartment.”
“You always did jump to conclusions.”
“You stole my money.”
“You stole my grandmother’s ring.”
“That ring was never yours.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“What does that mean?”
David laughed softly.
“Ask your new boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Give it a week.”
“You always liked damaged men.”
I nearly hung up.
Then he said the one thing that stopped me.
“I didn’t sell the ring.”
“What?”
“I tried.”
“Three different buyers refused to touch it.”
“Then a man offered me fifty thousand dollars just for the location.”
“Who?”
“You really think I’m giving you that for free?”
“What do you want?”
“Protection.”
I almost laughed.
“From me?”
“From Vitale.”
I looked toward the closed study door.
“You’re afraid of Alessandro.”
“You should be too.”
“You put me in Lumina.”
Silence.
That was my answer.
My chest tightened.
“You did.”
“Mara.”
“You knew Julian.”
“I owed people money.”
“You always owed people money.”
“This was different.”
His voice cracked for the first time.
“They knew things.”
“They knew where you lived.”
“They knew about Sofia.”
“They knew about the ring.”
“What did you tell them?”
“Enough to stay alive.”
My stomach twisted.
“You used me.”
“I got you a job.”
“You put me near a six-year-old child someone was trying to hurt.”
“I didn’t know that part.”
“Do you expect me to believe you?”
“No.”
He breathed heavily.
“But believe this.”
“The ring opens something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is it?”
Another silence.
Then David whispered.
“I hid it.”
I stood.
“Where?”
“You want it?”
“Tell Vitale to meet me without his men.”
I almost smiled at the stupidity.
“He will never do that.”
“He will if you tell him what else I know.”
“What do you know?”
David’s breathing became ragged.
“His brother didn’t disappear.”
The line went quiet.
For one second, I thought the call had dropped.
Then David whispered.
“Matteo Vitale was sold.”
A gunshot cracked through the phone.
I froze.
Something hit the ground.
The line remained open.
Then another man picked up.
He said only three words.
May you like
“Find the ring.”
The call ended.
