42 Dispel

Claudio looked at her with a dumbfounded, wide-eyed expression that looked almost endearing - if it wasn’t owned by a man like him who was about to be exposed for stealing millions from Seraphous and engaging in the illegal trade of firearms. “What are you talking about?” He asked with a faltering smile on his face, intending to act clueless about what Aurelia was planning to do. The woman chuckled sweetly as she put down her glass. “I’d love to explain to you what is going on, but as a private individual with her own free will, I’ll give you a chance to scurry away and deal with what you still can before the police arrive to get you. The reporters are the least of your worries.” Claudio stared at Aurelia, lifting a quivering finger to point at her as all kinds of realizations fell on him. As the paparazzi flooded him and crowded him in their terrifying cascade of queries and blinding flashes of their cameras, it dawned upon him that everything, all of this, whatever he was