CHAPTER 31: CAUGHT THE HOOLIGANS

He wasn’t standing right up against her, but it didn’t matter. His cologne still managed to invade her senses—smooth, rich, with a faint spice that curled through her thoughts like smoke. It was infuriating how something so subtle could command her focus.

He wasn’t too close. Just that his cologne infiltrated her nose and the warmth seeping from his body wasn’t letting her think straight.

Dante didn’t move.

"Tell me why you need to speak to Lucas," he said finally, voice pitched low but slicing cleanly through the hum of the ballroom. "And I’ll help you."

Alisha’s lips thinned. She wasn’t going to tell him. She didn’t want to tell him.

She wasn’t sure if she could trust Dante yet. Besides, he was still his father’s son, and she was married to that son. What if she told him something and he decided to use it against her? Or if he knew something about it but didn’t tell her the truth later on? Could she really trust this man?

Alisha’s mind went into a frenzy, trying to make a decision.

"I need to talk to Lucas Tedoro about a certain man from years ago. Peter Gonzales. He was my biological father...." Even though she didn’t want to, she went ahead and informed Dante about it all—how her father died and how Lucas Tedoro could actually be of use to her so she could catch the real killers.

Now Dante was the one who was silent. Not from shock. He was speechless because Alisha would really risk her life just to find her parent’s real murderers.

Dante looked at Lucas Tedoro from the corner they were—the man had a calm expression with a slight grin on his face.

"You wouldn’t want to talk to him...don’t worry. I’ll do it," he offered.

Alisha’s eyes furrowed in confusion.

"Why not? It’s just to talk."

"Let’s say he does know something, or worse, he’s actually the main killer, do you think you’ll be safe after spewing a word related to your father’s death?" He questioned.

Alisha’s lips thinned again. She couldn’t help but agree he was right. Lucas Tedoro was certainly a powerful man even though he didn’t hold any political offices anymore. He still had packs of bodyguards protecting him everyday.

She sighed. "Do what you want."

Silence reigned as they shared eye contact for more than a second.

Alisha felt her heart leaping. Without thinking, she pushed him.

"Will you get going? He’s going to leave soon."

Dante gave her one last look before he left.

She watched as he walked over to Mr. Tedoro tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.

She couldn’t hear what they were saying clearly. She sighed, wishing Dante could pull the man somewhere more private.

As if reading her thoughts, Dante and the older man left the premises of the event while Alisha made sure to tag along.

**

At the terrace,

"It’s been so long since I last saw you, Dante. You look bigger now, almost like a complete replica of your father," Lucas Tedoro said, patting Dante on the shoulder.

Dante recoiled at the compliment.

"So what now, you’re going to take over your father’s footsteps when he retires?" He asked.

Dante’s lips curved—not in agreement, but in something sharper. "I doubt my father’s planning to retire anytime soon. Not until his soul starts slipping out of his body."

Mr. Tedoro laughed which was immediately replaced by a raging cough.

"You shouldn’t have come to this party when you knew you couldn’t handle a heavy crowd."

"What can I say? This old man needs to touch some grass once in a while, don’t you think?" He asked, calming himself by patting his chest. "Marcus is running for the senator seat now, and then he plans to run for the presidential seat not long after. I can’t help but pity William."

William is the current president of Solvarra. Solvarra is the country while Lexora is a city in Solvarra.

"I didn’t bring you here to talk about William or my father, Lucas," Dante cut him short before the man would part his lips to spew anything more. "I’m asking about Peter Gonzales. I’ve heard of him, a very loyal bodyguard to Greg Santos. He was offered ten million dollars to assassinate him but rejected the offer, only for him to turn out dead a few weeks after that offer was made, yet, Greg didn’t pay any tribute to his surviving family until he passed away also."

Lucas chuckled. "That happened almost two decades ago. Everyone has forgotten about Peter and Greg."

"Who was his killer?" Dante asked without beating around his bush.

Lucas’ eyes were strained on the pool where Dante had just rescued Alisha an hour ago. He didn’t want to look but after her body had gotten drenched in water with her dress clinging to her body, he’d gotten a full view of her curves.

They’d been so close back in the hotel room, so close he could feel her breath fall on his face, so close he’d almost kissed her pale pink lips and worse, he’d wanted to run his hands over her body.

"Why are you asking me?" Mr. Tedoro’s question managed to bring Dante out of his thoughts. "I have no idea," he almost sang.

Dante obviously didn’t believe the words coming out of that man’s lips.

"You were really close to Greg right before he died. He should have told you something, anything at all," he said.

Lucas tore his gaze from the pool to look at Dante.

"I’m really curious, but why do you want to find the killer all of a sudden, Dante?" He asked.

"Peter has two daughters who are very much alive. Do you think they wouldn’t want to get justice for what happened to their father?"

The older man’s face paled for a second before he scoffed.

"In that case, I’m the wrong person you should be asking this question to."

Dante frowned in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Lucas turned, ready to leave.

"You should be asking your father that question." Without waiting for a response, he vanished.

Alisha had been listening in to their conversation, but she didn’t think Dante knew about that. Her hands clutched on her phone she’d used to record the conversation while her face twisted in rage.

What were the chances that Mr. De Rossi was the one who’d killed her father?

**

"What happened? Didn’t I ask you to get rid of Alisha?" Katherine almost yelled into her phone. She was at the restroom, and had made sure that no one was in the cubicle before she’d made her phone call.

"You didn’t tell us the woman could fight. One of my men is currently in pain after encountering her. She’s almost like that other lady you asked us to get rid off," the heard the voice say. "They gave us a hard time."

Katherine’s mind instantly flashed back to Eva.

"So where are you now?" She demanded. She couldn’t let anyone catch them.

Even if the hooligans didn’t say they would rat her out if they were ever caught, it was still obvious they might do it. And then what? Nathan will find out about everything and then her career will end? Everything she’d stained her hands with blood for will be taken away from her.

"We’re still trying to lead our pursuers off our track."

"Get as far away from them as possible. Don’t let them catch you—"

Before Katherine could finish her sentence, she heard a crash. Her hand stiffened on the phone as she stared into space for a second.

"What’s wrong?" She asked, her hands trembling now when she continued to hear noises from the other line but couldn’t make out what the sound was.

The hooligan wasn’t responding to her anymore. And the next thing, she heard the peeping sound indicating that the phone had been hung up.

"What the fuck!!" She cursed, dialing the number again but the call didn’t go through.

Katherine had to dial the number a few more times, but still, she got the same result.

She panicked as goosebumps rose on her skin. What if they’d been caught? Was it all going to be over just like that?

But Katherine didn’t want it to go like that. At least not yet. If she was going down, then she would gladly pull Alisha along with her.

She made a phone call to Bethany, giving her a few instructions on what to do.

Alisha had been running around the ballroom the entire time, without even taking a seat for herself.

After hearing what Lucas Tedoro said, she was tempted to go to Mr. De Rossi and demand him to tell her what he knew about her father. But she knew she couldn’t do that? At least not now.

There was still no concrete proof of anything so she couldn’t act out.

Alisha sighted the CEO of Eleoquise, her dream brand. She sighed. She couldn’t sign with them yet since she didn’t have a name for herself at the moment.

She suddenly received a text from Ryan, assuring her that they’d already caught the two hooligans.

A grin crept on her lips.