Page 56 of Roses are Royal

“When I started this job all those months ago, I did what I would normally do in this type of surveillance and information gathering portion of the operation. I placed my own devices in places where existing cameras don’t have access.”

“Such as?”

“Such as your vehicle. And your apartment. This apartment. I also had some at your office with Franklin & Sons. I enjoyed watching you the day you stormed into that conference room and quit. If I hadn’t already known I wanted you before, that would have sealed it for me.”

“Stop. Stop talking. That is a wild invasion of privacy, Dante! My car? My apartment? Oh my God! Do you watch me in the bathroom? My bedroom? Holy shit, Dante, that is really unhinged! So you’re telling me, when we ‘met’”—she adds air quotes around the word “met” since technically, I already knew her—“you had been watching me in public and private for almost a year? How do you ever expect me to trust you ever again?”

“It was for your own safety. And no, I didn’t put any cameras in your bathroom.”

“And my bedroom?” Rose is not going to like this answer.

“Yes. There is one small camera in your bedroom. But I would only access it if I didn’t see you on any of the other camera feeds and just needed to visually identify your location. For safety,” I quickly add, but I think I’m just digging myself a bigger hole at this point. She is not going to like knowing I also have a GPS tracker on her phone and car. And on her person.

“For fuck’s sake, Dante. My safety? Is that everything? The cameras in my car and home and previous office? Nothing else?”

“There is one other thing. Well, two really.”

“What now?”

“Technically, I have cameras in my home, but those were always going to be there, whether or not you ended up staying at the property.”

“Okay, that’s one. What’s the second thing?” Rose is handling this information a lot better than I expected, actually. Her tone has normalized. She hasn’t thrown anything at me or asked me to leave…I mean, I wouldn’t leave, but she could always ask. I would just decline the request. Maybe the GPS tracker won’t be too much for her.

“The second thing is that I installed GPS tracking software on your vehicle…and your cell phone. Again, I only accessed your location if I couldn’t locate you through other means or if I thought your safety was in question.” There, I think that’s everything, minus the tracker directly on her, but I don’t want her trying to remove that just yet. Well, I’ll also have to tell her I have access to her emails, bank accounts, and search history, but I feel like at this point that should just be assumed. Right?

“Wait. How accurate is the GPS tracking?”

“Very accurate. I can pinpoint your location within a few feet. Why? Would you like me to show you?” Maybe she is intrigued by my surveillance now?

“No, you psychopath! Is that how you found Luc and me at the diner that one night when I wasn’t answering your calls?”

Okay, she’s shouting again. Not the best news, but I can salvage this. “I was worried something had happened to you. I had been away in the city all day and couldn’t locate you on my home camera feeds, and your car was parked in my driveway. I was concerned someone had found you and taken you. And then when you weren’t answering my calls, I panicked.”

“Wait, the cameras at your house! Can you pull up the feeds now? On your phone or something? Can you see if Luc made it out alive? Or what happened to him after we left? I can’t believe I didn’t ask before. I need to know if he is alive. I have to know what happened. Please, Dante, for me, do this one thing!” Her pleas break my heart because I already know the answer to her questions, and she isn’t going to like it.

71

ROSE

Okay, maybe I can get past the crazy stalker Dante I am sitting with now if it means that I can find Luc. Or at least get some closure. Please don’t let it be the latter. He has to be alive. I just got him back in my life. I don’t know if I can survive losing him again.

“I already checked all the cameras I had on the property last night after I got you to safety.” Dante isn’t giving away anything with his tone, but I still need to know.

“Is Luc okay?”

“Unfortunately, the attack took out all the camera feeds. The last thing I can see is Luca talking with you in the foyer. After that, everything goes black.”

“How is that even possible? Every single camera?” I guess I don’t know how many cameras there were around his place, but judging by the information he’s shared with me, I’m guessing his coverage was thorough.

“The only logical reason I can come up with is that they knew where the cameras were before the attack and knew to take them all out first. What I still can’t figure out is how they would know where they all were if they had never been on the property before. And trust me, I had many safety measures in place to ensure no one got onto my property without my knowing.”

“Someone had to have, though. There’s no other explanation.” I’m racking my brain for any possible way someone could get through his defenses, but without knowing what they even are, I don’t have the slightest clue where to start guessing.

“There is one explanation.” Dante is being purposely vague as if he doesn’t want to voice his hypothesis.

“Okay, what? If we can figure out how they knew about the cameras, then maybe we can figure out who they were.” I realize I said ‘we’ as if I’m actually involved in this now. But I guess until I can figure out if Luc is alive and if I am actually still in danger, “we” it is.

“I think someone who had open access to the property must’ve been involved and provided information on my security setup.”