Chapter Three
ORAZIO
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Orazio stared at the bloodstained bandage wrapped around Leo’s abdomen, his eyes narrowing as he questioned his longtime friend.
“Who shot you?” Orazio demanded, suspicious and not trying to hide it.
“Does it matter?” Leo asked, glancing down at his wound as if it were nothing more than an annoyance. His gaze returned to Raz. Raz glared at him. Leo sighed before saying, “If you must know, it was one of Tatum’s guys.”
“Why the hell did you say you got stabbed?” Orazio snapped.
Leo looked Orazio dead in the eyes and lied. “We all have enough on our plates right now. I didn’t want to add my issues to it.”
Orazio gritted his teeth, not believing a single word coming out of the guard’s mouth. This wasn’t like Leo. Normally, Leo would rub it in his face if he took a bullet while working for the family.
And then he’d demand that Orazio increase his pay. Something wasn’t adding up. As if on cue, Leo’s phone started ringing again. Leo glanced at the screen, his brow furrowing.
“Raz, I really need to take this call and go get stitched up. Because of you, my side is hurting again.” Leo turned and headed toward the door.
Orazio’s eyes followed Leo as he left the room. The door clicked shut behind him. Though Leo was gone, Orazio’s doubts and suspicions about him remained behind. Orazio’s eyes narrowed as he glared at Don Cattaneo, who sat in the corner of the room.
“What’s really going on, Don Cattaneo?” Orazio demanded.
“Things are at a standstill at the moment,” the don replied, clasping his hands together in his lap. “The Tatums think Jacob is missing. They don’t know of his death yet, and we’re trying to keep it that way until you and Cas...”
“Enough about the damn Tatums!” Orazio snapped, slamming his fist against the bedside table.
The pain in his ribs flared up, but he didn’t care. All he wanted was answers about Monique, and he wasn’t getting them. Everyone was talking around the subject, which let him know they were keeping something from him.
Don Cattaneo watched his son, his expression unreadable. “You need to focus on your recovery, Raz. We’ll handle everything else.”
“If you say that bullshit to me one more time, we’re going to have problems. I want the truth. That’s it. The rest of that shit is irrelevant.”
“Raz,” his father warned, but Orazio ignored him.
“Tell me what happened to her!” he shouted, his voice echoing through the room.
He didn’t like this feeling that was coming over him. It was fear, anger, and frustration all mixed together, and it was leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.
“Dad, if you don’t...”
“Enough!” Don Cattaneo yelled. “Right now, our priority is getting you and Cas back on your feet, then dealing with the Tatums. As for that woman... we’re looking into it.”
“Looking into it?” Orazio repeated, his heart pounding like a sledgehammer against his already sore ribcage.
His father’s expression had him feeling uneasy. He could feel the distance between them growing like an invisible wall slowly being built brick by brick – lie by lie. He hoped he was wrong.
But if he wasn’t, if his father had something to do with Monique’s disappearance, things would never be the same between them again.
“If I learn you’re behind her disappearance,” Raz muttered, voice low. “Our relationship will never be the same again, dad. You and I, we’ll never be good again.”
“Are you serious right now?” The don asked, frowning.
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
“I have nothing to do with that woman’s disappearance. What could I possibly gain by doing something to her?”
“You tell me.”
“There’s nothing in it for me. I know how much you love her. I have no reason to hurt her, son.”
Was his dad lying? Shit . He couldn’t tell. But something in him believed his father wasn’t telling him everything he knew.
"Trust me, Orazio," Don Cattaneo started. “We will find her. And when we do, we’ll make those who took her pay. And if you want to help with that, you must be ready. Which means you need to heal. Rest, son, so you can go find your woman.”
Raz swallowed. “I can’t lose her, dad.”
His father sighed. “I know, son. Trust me, I see how much she means to you. She almost means more to you than your family does.”
Raz cocked his head to the side and glared at his father. “What?”
“I’m just being observant, son. Rest.”
Raz chuckled.
“Why are you laughing?” the don asked.
This lying motherfucker almost had him believing that he really had nothing to do with Monique going missing. Orazio’s eyes narrowed, his chest tightening with anger.
“The more you lie to me, the more distant I feel from you,” he forced through clenched teeth.
“Son, I’m not lying,” his father insisted. “I’m looking into it. Leo is taking care of things personally.”
Leo! Was that supposed to reassure him? Raz glanced around the room, searching for his phone. He was desperate to hear Monique’s voice, anything to quell the anxiety gnawing at him. Hesitating, he decided against asking his father where his phone was.
His dad was probably the one hiding it from him. Had Rosa tried to call him? Was she thinking he’d turned his back on her? That thought sent pain lancing through his chest that had nothing to do with the wreck.
Since he couldn’t ask his dad for his phone, he reached for the landline instead, cursing himself for never memorizing Monique’s number. He’d told himself he would. But he hadn’t. And now, he couldn’t remember what the number was.
He dialed his own number. A part of him hoped that his phone would ring in the room, revealing its hiding place. But the sound never came, fueling his frustration and driving a wedge deeper between him and his father. His father had to have his phone or at least know where it was.
“Where is she?” Orazio demanded as he slammed the phone back onto its cradle.
“Orazio, I told you,” Don Cattaneo started, but Raz cut him off.
“Enough!” His eyes blazed with fury, his hands trembling at his sides. “I can’t sit here doing nothing while she’s out there, suffering!”
“Having a tantrum won’t help Monique,” his father retorted coldly, meeting Orazio’s glare. “We are doing everything we can to find her.”
“Are you?” Orazio challenged. “Or are you just trying to keep me in the dark?”
His dad cocked his head to the side. “Is this how a future don should behave?”
“What?” Orazio frowned.
“You’re not acting like a future don right now. You’re not acting like a Cattaneo right now.”
“How the fuck am I supposed to be acting in this situation?” Orazio yelled.
“A don always keeps his cool and never lets emotions cloud his judgment or deter him from the task at hand. You’ve known this woman for a few days. A week at best, yet you’re yelling at me, yelling at Leo, like this woman is more important to you than us.”
“She’s very important to me. So are you. So is Leo. If you were missing, I’d move heaven and hell to find you. The same goes for her.”
“But you’ve only just met her and...”
“And I’ll kill anyone who tries to take her from me. No questions asked. On sight,” Raz snarled.
“Is that so?” his dad asked.
“I wouldn’t have said it if it wasn’t.”
Don Cattaneo raised an eyebrow, studying his son’s face. “Who were you just trying to call?” The don asked, changing the subject.
“Rome,” Raz lied smoothly. “He should be back in the States by now, right?”
“Rome is watching over your mother and grandmother in case the Tatums try something,” his father replied with a knowing look.
“Stepmom and step-grandmother,” Raz corrected him.
Ignoring that statement, his father continued. “Your brother knows what he needs to be doing at a time like this. It’s you who is worrying me. You should be resting, Orazio.”
“Rest is overrated,” Raz muttered.
“Fine,” his father seethed, shaking his head in disapproval. “I’m going to check on Cas. Maybe with me gone, you’ll rest better.” With that said, Don Cattaneo stood and left the room, leaving his son alone with his thoughts.
As soon as the door closed, Raz grabbed the phone again and dialed Rome’s number for real this time, his fingers shaking slightly as he did so. His brother picked up on the third ring.
“Tell me what’s going on, Rome. And don’t lie to me,” Raz demanded, his voice low and urgent.
“Relax, Raz,” Rome replied. “I’m at the hospital, heading to your room right now. I called Bryceson to watch over dad’s wife and her mother. Is dad with you?”
“No. He left to check on Cas,” Raz confirmed, his impatience growing by the second.
“Good. That means we may have enough time to get this done. Listen,” Rome began cautiously. “I overheard a conversation between dad and Leo. They’re trying to keep Monique away until this war with the Tatums ends.”
“Dad has Monique?” Raz snarled. That lying motherfucker!
“No. But he has something to do with her disappearance. Like I said, he wanted her out of the way until this war with the Tatums was over.”
“War with the Tatums? We’re not at war with the Tatums. We’re just teaching those fuckers a lesson.”
“There’s more to this than dad has said. I don’t know all the details. But I heard dad say that he thinks it’ll help you focus if you’re pissed at Monique. I’ve never met the woman, but dad seems to think you’d turn on your family for her. And anything that gets in the way of family has to be squashed. His words, not mine.”
“And Leo was okay with this?”
“You tend to forget that Leo is dad’s guard. Yeah, he works at the casino and follows our orders. But he’s on dad’s payroll. You look at him as if he’s a friend. But at the end of the day, he’s dad’s employee. He’s loyal to dad. If dad tells him to get rid of someone you love, Leo will do it, whether he wants to or not.”
“Those bastards,” Raz snarled, his blood boiling. His hand tightened around the phone, knuckles turning red.
“Keep it together, Raz. I’ve got your phone. I found it in dad’s office. I’ve got Cas’s phone also. Just sit tight, and I’ll be there soon.”
“Make it quick,” Raz growled, hanging up the phone.
When Rome finally arrived, he was carrying a large black duffle bag.
“They let you in with that bag?” Raz asked.
“I know a guy on the security team. He escorted me to the room.”
Raz noticed the maintenance shirt Rome was wearing and smiled. “You’re the smartest out of all of us,” Raz told his brother.
“I know,” Rome admitted, smirking. “And you’re the dumbest for not questioning dad when he came to you with this Tatum shit. If I hadn’t been in Italy, closing deals with the DeLucas, I would have dug into the Tatum issue some more. Instead, I come home to find my brothers in the hospital and the family in fucking chaos.”
“Are you saying there’s more to this Tatum shit than what father told me?” Raz asked.
Rome nodded, placing the duffle on the bed, then opening it. Rome handed Raz his phone.
“The same number has been calling your phone around this time every day,” Rome informed him.
“Who is it?” Raz asked, unlocking his phone.
“I don’t know. I went through the phone when I found it in dad’s desk. But I didn’t call the number back. I believe it has something to do with your lady-friend because that number never called you until the day she went missing and you had your wreck.”
Raz didn’t question how his brother got into his phone while it was locked. Rome was the family hacker. If he wanted into a device, no matter what it was, he’d get in.
“I’ll call the number back,” Raz stated.
“No! Let them call you,” Rome advised. “If this really is connected to your lady’s disappearance and dad, we need to play this smart, brother. You have to pretend you’re playing by their rules. Whoever the fuck they are.”
“Fuck their rules. I want her back and I want them dead.”
Rome sighed. “You won’t get her back if you don’t handle this well.”
Shit. “Patience has never been my strong suit,” Raz admitted, his eyes fixed on the phone as if willing it to ring. His heart ached for Monique, and he wouldn’t rest until she was safe in his arms once more.
“You look goofy as hell in that hospital gown,” Rome stated as he searched through his duffle.
“You sure know how to hit a man when he’s down, Mr. Man Bun. You should chop that shit off your head.”
Rome chuckled. Raz couldn’t lie, he was so fucking thankful for his brother’s presence. He watched as Rome removed items from the duffle and began setting up several tracking gadgets. This was his brother’s element.
“It’s good to have you home,” Raz whispered.
“Save the mushy stuff for later. We don’t have much time. We need to be ready when the call comes in,” Rome explained. “I’ll try to trace the call so we can find Monique. You have to keep them on the phone for a while.”
“What if whoever is calling isn’t calling about Monique?” Raz asked.
Rome stopped and faced Raz. “Then this entire setup has been a waste of time.” Rome went back to work. “But I think it has to do with Monique. Your phone is the only phone that this number has been calling. They haven’t called Cas.”
“Let’s hope so,” Raz muttered, his eyes never leaving the phone.
Once Rome finished setting up the equipment, he glanced around the room and spotted a chair. Rome picked the chair up, carried it across the room, and then propped it under the door handle, ensuring no one could easily enter the room.
“Can’t have any interruptions,” Rome explained. “This won’t keep dad or anyone else out for long. But, it should buy us some time.”
Raz nodded, appreciating his brother’s help. They might not always see eye to eye, but when it came down to it, they were family, and they had each other’s backs.
“Thanks, Rome. You don’t even know Monique, and you’re helping me.”
“My big brother has never been in love. If you love her, she has to be special. Since you love her, she’s already my sister. We have to protect our family, right?”
“Why can’t dad see it that way?”
“I think he would if he wasn’t already plotting something. You falling in love came at a bad time for him and his plans. Later, when this is over, he’ll regret doing this.”
“Fuck his plans and his regret. Had he told me what he was planning, I would’ve sent Monique away for her safety. Now, I have no idea where she’s at. Or even if this phone call is going to lead me to her or not.”
As if on cue, Raz’s phone rang, the screen displaying the mystery number.
“Don’t answer it yet,” Rome ordered.
Raz’s heart hammered, adrenaline coursing through his veins. Rome rushed over to the bed and pressed some buttons on one of his devices before hooking a cord from the device to Raz’s phone.
“Answer it,” Rome instructed, his eyes locked on the device.
Raz accepted the call and put it on speakerphone.
“Hello,” Raz answered.
“Raz?” a sweet voice drifted across the line. “Raz, is that you?”
Weak-ass tears formed in his eyes. Rosa . It was her voice. It was her. She was alive. Relief washed over him, and it took every ounce of strength he had to keep from bursting into tears of fucking relief and joy. The tears could come later. Right now, he needed to find his woman.
And the bitches who dared take her from him.