Page 23 of Broken Mafia Bride

“What are we waiting for?” I ask them. “Let’s go to the station and get this over with.”

“Hold on a second,” Sienna blurts out, turning to give Marco a meaningful look. “There’s something he wants to give you first.”

I blink at him in confusion. “What is it?” Suspicion moves through me. “If it’s another gift, then I’m sorry, but I can’t accept it. You’ve already done too much for me, Marco.”

“No, no. It’s not a gift.” He digs out a long box from the inside of his jacket and plops it down on the table between us. “It belongs to you.”

I glance between the box and him. “To me?”

“Open it,” he urges.

Carefully, I reach for the box and open the lid. Inside the box is a necklace. I pull it out and revise my earlier thought. It’s a medallion, not a necklace. I turn it over and trace my thumb over the letters engraved into it.

“We think those are your initials,” Sienna points out. “G.M.”

“It checks out, what you remembered about your initials beginning with G. You had it on when I found you at the lake,” he explains. “It fell, and I put it aside. When I mentioned it to Sienna, we thought it would be better to keep it hidden for a while so it wouldn’t interfere with your recovery. We decided it was too soon to give you something this significant—it mighthave disrupted your healing process. But since you’re perfectly stable, I think this is the right time to give it to you.”

“It might help jog your memory,” Sienna explains. “And allow you to be able to piece together whatever information we get from the investigator.”

I tune out the rest of their words, concentrating on the medallion. A part of me recognizes that it belongs to me, but I still can’t get past the fog in my head. A voice inside my head is urging me to remember, one that sounds suspiciously like the voice of the man from the chapel.

“Ariel, are you all right?” Marco’s worried voice cuts through my daze.

“Yeah, we should go.” I try to stand up, but my head spins, and my vision blanks for a second. I start to fall, but Marco is at my side in an instant, pulling me into his warm body.

“You’re not all right,” he chides. “Have you had lunch? Was the walk here too tiring for you? I knew we should have come to the house to get you.”

“I’m fine,” I sigh. “Just felt a little faint for a minute.”

“We can meet the investigator some other time,” he says sternly. “I’m taking you home right now.”

Home.

The house surrounded by lush vegetation had started to feel like home, but when he says the word, I have the sudden urge to tell him it’s not my home. It feels wrong now. This quiet, serene life here is all wrong.

“No,” I say firmly. “I’ve already come all this way. Let’s go meet him. I want to know the truth.”

He stares at me helplessly. “Are you sure?”

I nod. “Thank you for keeping the medallion for me. I’m sure it’ll help when the officer gives us whatever pieces of my story he’s managed to dig up.”

Nodding, Marco sets me on my feet, and together, the three of us make the short walk to the station. I’m surprised to see that the small police station is bustling with activity. Must be because it’s the only one for the few neighboring towns around.

“What’s going on?” Sienna asks one of the uniformed officers.

“Poaching season,” he grumbles. “Do you need something, Doc?”

“We’re supposed to meet the state investigator here,” she explains.

“He’s over there.” He points across the room where an average height man stands with his back to us, hands stuck in his pockets.

“Thanks,” Sienna tells the officer.

An excited smile begins to curl on my mouth until the investigator turns around, and I catch sight of his face. My smile freezes on my face, and I stop breathing.

“Oh god,” I croak.

“What’s wrong?” Marco asks, his voice full of panic.