"Ladies and Gentlemen, please be seated. We would like to begin the ceremony", A man announced in a somber tone.


    Adrianne, Emily and Raphael made their way to their seats along with the other guests. Mournful cries resounded as the coffin was wheeled in. Adrianne gave Emily''s hand a tight squeeze who was silently crying. She had the strong urge to stand and follow the pallbearers wanting to see if it was all just a prank...


    "Here", Raphy whispered in her ear.


    She looked over and he was offering a white handkerchief. She was about to say no when she saw the initials Z.F sown in ck at the corner of the cloth. She took it and it''s just as she thought, it had Zach''s scent on, bringing her a sense of calm. She was not alone.


    The service went on for what felt like an eternity to Aldo. As full as the chapel was, he thought it would make it easier to conduct their search with the guests seated in one ce.


    It was more challenging now especially with the women now looking the same in his eyes. Still, his gaze could not help but revert back to this Emily girl.... If she could just take off that mask....


    "Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the orphanage, I would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for your support in this difficult time. We know how much Sister Harper meant to each and everyone of us but we would just like to inform you that the burial has been arranged to amodate only the closest family and friends....."


    The speaker concluded his speech and announcements before they could disperse. For Aldo and his men, it was now or never. They needed to move fast.


    He found himself following after Emily andpany. He had not yet cleared her. Married with a baby or not, she was a target and he needed to satisfy his curiosity.


    He could see Emily was oblivious to him being on her tail especially with the crowd surrounding them as they walked to their respective cars.


    That mask was like a missing piece of the puzzle in his head. looking ahead, she was within arms reach from him. So how will he do this? Bump into her? Pretend she''s an old friend? identally-


    "Reporting to Sparrow!" A subordinate''s voice echoed in his ear. "We just spotted a woman with a matching description to our search."


    "What?" Aldo stopped in his tracks, taken aback by the finding.


    "We found A.J!"


    Threw words he had been waiting to hear all day. He looked up ahead and the Emily woman had disappeared among the sea of guests leaving the orphanage. Screw curiosity! He had bigger fish to fry.


    "Where?" He barked, making a u-turn to wherever his men were.


    "Get her!" The subordinate screamed before reporting to Aldo.


    He too got a move on. Amy was running away, there was no way he would let her slip out of his fingers. For once, he believed Dn. A.J was indeed predictable.<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''She''s not as clever as I thought'', he mused whilst running to the scene.


    He saw his men disappearing into one of the street alleys outside the oprhanage. He caught a glimpse of a figure in tight pants, ankle boots, and a hoodie all in ck taking a corner. How was she outrunning these idiots!


    "Get the car ready at xxxx!" He screamed whilst increasing his running pace.


    She can outrun them but he was a whole different case. For Esmeralda! That''s all he could think to fuel his speed. For Esmeralda!


    Bam! Something soft mmed into him as soon as he took the corner. Standing his ground, he watched the same figure he saw falling back onto their butt.


    There she was, piercing blue eyes, her skin had grown more white like she had not seen the sun in what seemed like forever, pink plump lips that were an inviting sight... The sweat that had carpeted her forehead just gave him dirty, dirty thoughts...


    She was beautiful! The pictures did not do her justice. And to his amusement, her fall made her hoodie fall off revealing her ponytailed long BLOND HAIR! So much for trusting Dn''s words, he was right to give a different order to his men.


    "And where do you think you''re going?" He asked in a sinister tone in his Italian ent when Amy quickly got up from the floor looking around for an escape only to realize she was surrounded by his men.


    At least ten men surrounded her. She the sound of a car screeching to a halt and it was right behind Aldo. More scary looking men poured out. Aldo chuckled to himself in amusement seeing her mask what he expected to be obvious panic.


    "You know", he began to walk towards her leisurely. "You''re not as smart as the world gives you credit for."


    Amy balled her hands into fists when she felt him stand ufortably behind her deliberately rubbing his crotch against her butt and zed his lips against her ear as he whispered. "You''re just a dumb blonde. Hot and dumb. If you were not so important to our mission, God knows the vulgar things I would do to you in this ally..... Probably turn you into my personal pet."


    Silence. Any felt her skin crawl just by his close proximity and the words he spouted in her ear.


    "Say something baby!" he chuckled to himself. Amy was so beautiful, and her getup just gave off a bad girl vibe. She was so hot it drove the thought of Esmeralda out of his head. Maybe he could strike a deal with the King to let him keep her. "We can have a little fun right here right now before we go back."


    His menughed at his taunting remarks and while he expected a reaction from her, she remainedposed, giving nothing away, not even a word. She made him feel like a dog barking at a tree, useless, unappealing, unwanted...


    It annoyed him, reminding him of how Esmeralda looked at him now with Dn in the picture. That thought cleared his mind and he moved away from her giving a nod to one of his men.


    Bang!


    Amy grunted in pain when she next felt her consciousness slip away as soon as a metal club hit the back of her head and she copsed to the ground. Thest image she saw was of Aldoughing as the world turned into darkness...