Chapter 4: Collide

Lily POV

"I told you I'm Lily Basil, Mr. Antonelli."

He refused to withdraw his hand, but instead grasped it tighter. "Who trained you to use a gun? You can't even kill an ant but you just killed two people at once."

"If I don't kill them then it will be us. I saved you, so you owe me a favor. Repay it later."

I had always carried a gun under my dad's orders because our family always dealt with illegal activities. But I only used it this time because I just had the courage to do it.

"You must answer my question. I demand your answer." He grabbed the gun and threw it into the backseat.

"I just shot randomly, without a thought. It was just a reflex."

"The reflex possibility of hitting the target only happens if you study shooting intensely and intend to become a sniper. I know you're lying."

I had to play it pretty so Jaxon wouldn't know that I was training with an expert. Someone who also helped me get back on my feet. He was my confidant, my best friend, and my protector. He has done so much for me.

Jaxon can only know that I'm still as weak as before because it would blur my cover. "Maybe I got lucky today."

He chuckled, "you know, I don't believe that."

"But it's the truth."

Chill out Jaxon, I'll make you believe it all. Everything needs a process, just take it slow, no need to hurry.

*****

He didn't take me to his mansion like he promised. He took me to a building with a massive golden lotus statue over a tranquil pool. And on the roof of the lobby there's a big word 'Brontianon' in gold as well.

"Where is this? This place isn't your mansion, is it?"

He helped me unbuckle my seat belt. "Brontianon, my base in Italy."

Why is he taking me to his base? Is he going to interrogate me again like before? If he is, then I must prevent that from happening. I don't want to go through that nonsensical interrogation again.

"I need to find out who is trying to kill us. You can rest in my office while you wait for me."

"No, I mean, why don't you take me back to your mansion then you can go here?"

"With the attack going on, I'm not even sure if my mansion is safe. Their gang might be waiting there. So if I take you home, it means I'm bringing you close to death. You can't die."

"Because you still need me."

He only gave me a quick glance before finally getting out of the car.

Isn't this great? I can get into his headquarters without any effort. Well even if it's a branch headquarters, not the main headquarters, still I should be able to find valuable information here! Yes, I'd better just comply and see what I can get.

"Go to my office. There's a couch there, you can lay on it."

I just nodded and obeyed his words. I wanted him to believe that there was still some of my soft side left. So I headed to his room while memorizing the location of the CCTV. There were two guards in front of his office. They opened the door with special card access. And when I was inside, they locked it.

The first thing I did when I entered his room was to turn on his computer. There was a password to fill in. It must not be far from his life. It could be the date his company was founded, his birthday, or something else.

But even though I tried everything, nothing worked. Until one crazy thought came to mind. It sounded impossible but I tried it and it opened his computer.

It was the date he brought me to his mansion in New York, 25-06. Crazy!

I tried to penetrate into the security of this place. Jaxon couldn't see me fiddling with his computer. So I hacked into the CCTV. How can I do that? I trained as a secret agent during my four years of disappearance. That's why I can also use weapons and do things like this. My training was tough, so it worked.

After making sure the CCTV was no longer recording me, I explored the contents of his computer. There were tons of files inside and they were all locked. The deeper I looked, the more I found things I wasn't supposed to see.

There was one file with a familiar name.

Valenti - Alive.

Without a second thought, I immediately connected his computer to my phone to get a copy of the file. But it required another password. At this point, my gut told me that the password was the same as the previous one.

And what? It was wrong.

I thought hard to figure it out. Unlike the computer password which can be tried many times, this file password can only be tried three times. If the attempts ran out, the computer would beep and the file would be deleted according to the warning written on the screen.

After convincing myself and taking a deep breath, I entered our wedding date. It was the last try I had and I was completely done if it was wrong.

But it was correct! The file could be transferred to my phone and I could open it.

There were 5 folders in the file: Pre Massacre, The Day, Post Massacre, Redemption, Nightmare.

Reading the names of the folders made my heart ache. Because it meant that he was admitting to the massacre he committed against my family indirectly. He planned it so well and documented it in detail that he named each stage of his plan.

I opened the first folder, Pre Massacre. It contained photographs of myself, Matteo, and my dad. Those pictures were taken randomly and portrayed our activities.

Fuck! Apparently Jaxon had spied on us long before he went into action, three years earlier. Because in some of the pictures he took, I was still going to my college.