Bernardo shook his head at what Amelia said "We actually have, but there was still no trace of them. I don't think that's our answer, President Amelia".
Belle turned to him "The only problem was I never searched for them myself" She looked to Amelia after "There really is a high chance they are here"
Bernardo looked at her "Do you really think they would make it that easy to find them? Even if she's not in other places, we should still be searching all around Europe. That's the only possible thing" He objected to her conclusion.
Belle smiled at him "And that's exactly what they want us to think. Good going Bernardo" She said sarcastically. Bernardo closed his eyes in frustration. This was one of the reasons why he never liked working with women. They were just too full of themselves.
Bernardo walked to the screen and swiped through it without touching it, switching it to a screen filled with citizens of Italy "We have the complete database of every single human in Italy. There is no one that we have not searched and we found nothing, Miss Belle" He smiled at her sarcastically as well.
Amelia was quiet as she was thinking, and then she turned to Belle "He might be right" She said and gave a little pause, and Belle looked at her surprised, but Amelia completed her statement "But I still need you to check" which made Belle smile widely.
In Amelia's head, she thought of the possibility of them not being registered as citizens of Italy. They could have smuggled their self in, or even if they were citizens of Italy, they might have registered their self dead and are living another person's life. There were so many possibilities she was considering.
Bernardo kept looking at Belle smile and felt annoyed. Even though she was capable of breaching their tight security, he just could not see himself getting along with her, even though he wants to. He just saw her as someone who is full of herself, like a woman whose ego was as big as that of a man. That was his view on her.
Belle turned to look at Bernardo and smiled "I'll be taking over from here, Mr. Bernardo Aiello" She said to him "If you want to work with me, that's also fine."
Bernardo's frustration was surpassing his head at this point. He was not sure anymore why he did not like Belle. Was it the fact that she was better than him, or because she was just too full of herself? He did not know at all.
Amelia had her eyes closed, like she was saying a prayer, and she said in her head "Eduardo and Lucille Aguilar, please come back to me alive. If you don't, I'll torment you when I die as well" She said to herself.
After, she opened her eyes and looked to Bernardo "Just send your contact details to me so that we can talk. I'll be going back to Rome in the next three days since I've already found you" She said to him and he nodded respectfully. The men in the room also stood up and bowed respectfully to her.
She turned to Belle "Let's go" She said to her and Belle looked at her dumbfounded "What? Where are we going to stay?" She asked and Amelia sighed "I already booked a villa for us to stay in. Let's go" She held Belle by the hand and began to pull her out of the house.
After they were out, Belle pouted at her "Why can't we stay here?" She asked cutely and Amelia glared at her "You want to stay in a house filled with men and the next day begin to wonder how you got raped" She said to her like she was laying out the obvious. Belle shrugged "That's one way to look at it" and smiled. Amelia shook her head as she begin to walk down the porch and away from Belle, but Belle also followed after her swiftly.
The villa Amelia had booked for the three was Villa dei Ginepri, which was a long walk from where they were coming from. Amelia had already sent Arabel a text to get there and wait for them because she was closer to the villa than they were.
Belle was already tired and slagging. "Why didn't you bring your car, Amelia?" Her voice came out extremely tired. Amelia looked around before answering her "Cars or any other vehicles are not permitted on the Island for tourist purposes. That's why there are no cars around. I don't know how you did not notice that."
Belle remained quiet, paying no heed to the sarcastic remark of Amelia, and then she brought up the suspicion she had about Bernardo "I think Bernardo is lying". Amelia looked at her "About helping me find my parents?" She asked, but Belle shook her head "No. I think he is lying about them being part of the family your father raised."
Amelia looked forward to avoid hitting someone by mistake "How do you know that?" She asked another question and Belle sighed "I was also part of the family back then."
Amelia turned to her at that statement. She was quiet for a while and then she asked "But your father... He didn't take you in?".
Belle chuckled "My father and yours were close friends. They both saw it as a training to get me up and going, and honestly, I did not have a problem with that. I just saw it as an opportunity to get to meet you whenever you will be released, but that never happened. Until later..." She stopped talking as she knew where it was headed to.
"And that's why my parents were able to trust you with me. You were basically the only person they could trust" Amelia came to the conclusion of the whole matter, and Belle nodded signifying a yes to what she said.
Amelia was quiet for a while, and then she looked at Belle again "I've never met your parents, Belle" She told her friend sadly, but Belle smiled "They are still alive, don't worry. My father is probably just resting in one of his many villas in France. When you meet him, you'll understand I got my extravagant nature from him" She smiled heartily.
Amelia felt a pang in her heart. She knew that Belle was never able to visit her parents because of her, and her parents probably could not visit because everyone had been laying low after what happened nineteen years ago.
"Have you been speaking with them?" Amelia asked lowly and she saw Belle smile a little bit "Well, once in a while. Not always though. He said something about their calls being monitored, so they can't talk all the time" she replied in a low voice.
Amelia sighed "I could give you time to go see them. Maybe a week?" She suggested, but laughed "Oh please, we both know you can't do a lot of things without me. Besides, that man is basically having enough time with his wife cause he knows when I get back, I'm stealing her. So I would rather stay here with you" she rejected Amelia's offer softly.
Amelia smiled without saying anything. She thought about something and just decided to ask Belle "If our fathers were really close friends, why did he not try to look for my parents?". Belle remained silent for a while, but later answered "Because he thinks they are dead. That's why he went on that killing spree during that period. He basically wiped out all the enemies of your father in his rage, but I don't think he was able to kill everyone, because it might be one of them holding your parents hostage". Amelia nodded at what she said and they continued their journey in silence.
They got to Villa dei Ginepri and met the receptionist. She welcomed them warmly and showed them to their rooms.
She gave two of them the map of the villa. "It is actually a very big villa, so it is better to have the map of it to avoid getting lost" She smiled at them respectfully, but Amelia gave her map back to the receptionist "Don't worry, we will be leaving in three days, and I will not be exploring anywhere, so I don't think there is any need for it."
Belle was already staring at her like a joy killer, but she did not return her map. She looked at the receptionist with a big smile "I'll keep my map. I would like to actually see the whole place. Trust me, I can do that in a day, if I want to" She laughed a little and the receptionist also gave a slight chuckle.
"No problem ma'am. If you are able to, that's fine" She bowed and walked away.
Amelia only shook her head and headed for her room. Belle tried following her into her room as well, but Amelia stopped her "There are more than 3 rooms here, and I already told Belle to place your bag in a different room. Go" She pushed Belle gently before closing her door. Belle rolled her eyes and made a funny face mimicking what Amelia said while going to the room opposite Amelia's room.