Chapter Thirty
CHAPTER THIRTY
LUCIANO
I sit behind my desk, leaning back in the leather chair while one of my capos relays the damages that one of our warehouses endured in an unprecedented attack this afternoon. Gio sits beside me, cursing and banging his fist on the desk.
Whereas my brother loudly expresses his rage, I simmer. Not just because they blew up my guns and ammo, but because I’m late for my date with Viviana because of it.
My phone sits upright on the desk, and every notification and text makes my chest squeeze. It’s four thirty in the afternoon, and I texted my little wife over an hour ago to let her know that I’d be late to our gallery date. She hasn’t responded.
The screen lights up again, and I sit a bit taller to check the name on the screen. It’s one of my capos, Riccardo, calling for the third time in twenty minutes to undoubtedly discuss the warehouse explosion. Agitation cranks low in my gut, and I sink back into the chair once more.
“It could be the Yakuza,” Dario, one of my eldest capos, reports. “Payback for switching suppliers two months ago.”
“The Japanese are smarter than that,” Gio counters on a growl. “They know we’ll hit back harder, and they aren’t strong enough to withstand it.”
My fingers drum on the desk, and every eye in the room turns to me, waiting for me to say something. I’m livid. Murderous. Ready to wipe the Yakuza from the face of the city, even if they had nothing to do with the warehouse attack. I’ll do the same to the Russians, if that’s what it takes for me to have one peaceful fucking afternoon with my wife.
“And you haven’t found any clues in the rubble?” I level the question at Dario, who stands like a soldier with his arms folded neatly behind his back, chest puffed out.
“None. At least, none of the usual calling cards. However, it’s worth noting that the perpetrators only destroyed half of the warehouse, when they very easily could’ve hit the whole thing. Either something interrupted the job, or they only wanted to get our attention.”
That piques my interest. I lean forward, bracing my elbows on the table. “You think this was simply a message?”
“A message, or a—” Dario doesn’t get the chance to finish.
Gio’s phone starts blaring from his pocket, and he grumbles a low apology before yanking the it from his pocket to check the caller ID. “Fucking Riccardo.”
I frown. That’s four calls in less than half an hour.
“Answer it,” I order.
Gio swipes his thumb across the screen and brings it to his ear with a barked, “What?” Muffled shouting comes from the receiver, loud enough that Gio recoils. Then, when he puts the phone back to his ear, his eyes widen and fall to me. “What the fuck do you mean? She’s gone?”
The room goes deathly silent, and an unsettling feeling weighs heavy in my gut.
She.
I shove away from the desk and rise, holding my hand out for Gio’s cellphone. My brother hands it to me in an instant.
“What’s happened?” I demand, gripping the phone tight enough to shatter.
“I- We don’t know, Mr. Venturi,” Riccardo explains, breathless. “I heard reports of a shooting at a fuckin’ bookstore in my neighborhood. Sent someone to check it out and… It’s Lex. He’s dead.”
My blood runs cold.
Lex. My friend. My wife’s bodyguard.
Somehow, I manage to speak despite the nausea roiling up my throat. “Where is Viviana?”
“We don’t know. An old man who was shopping told the police he saw a woman’s body getting dragged out of the store before the cops arrived. Says she was with another woman and two men…” He’s quiet for a beat, and I know his next words before he speaks them. “She matched Viviana’s description, boss.”
Fear, unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, sweeps through me, nearly bringing me to my knees. My sweet Viviana. My wife. My best friend. My light.
Gone.
“ Fuck!” I roar and sling the phone into the wall. It shatters into a hundred pieces on impact. Every muscle in my body trembles, and I clutch my head as I stalk away from the desk. My self-control wanes with every passing second. “She’s gone,” I rasp. “They took her.”
Gio comes to stand beside me. “Who?”
“I don’t fucking know!”
I want to kill them. Whoever it is. I’ll make them suffer. Tie them to a table and carve them up. Feed them scraps of their own skin for nourishment. Pour their hot, salty piss over the bits of flayed flesh. It won’t be a quick death. They’ll rot alive before I finally put a bullet in their head.
“Check Viviana’s phone,” Gio orders no one in particular, taking control while I spiral. “It’s tapped. We’ll know if anyone contacted her. Go! ”
The capos scatter from the office to heed my brother’s command. When we’re alone, Gio turns to me. His eyes are wary, like he knows I teeter on the brink of insanity, but he places a hand on my shoulder nonetheless. “We’ll find her, Luc. We’re going to find her.”
I don’t respond. I can’t find the words. I only know one thing. I’ll hunt to the ends of the earth until she’s by my side again. And if they harm a hair on her beautiful, innocent head…
I’ll burn the whole world down.