Chapter 35
thirty-five
Gabriel
Pain explodes in my head, and I groan. I try to open my eyes, but they’re too heavy.
A hand brushes my naked chest up and down.
Valentina. I smile, enjoying the feel of her.
She tucks her head under my chin, and I inhale, expecting the smell of sweet cherries.
Instead, I inhale a flowery scent I had forgotten all about.
My eyes snap open. Ignoring the pain of sudden light exposure, I turn to the woman at my side.
Naomi.
I move automatically and pull the covers with me. She's naked; I’m naked.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What the hell happened?
“Good morning, my love.” Naomi smiles. “Come back. It's early.”
“What the hell am I doing here?” I look around the room. “Where are we?”
“Where you took me after the fight,” she purrs. “You wanted to take care of my wounds, Gabriel. You were sorry she hurt me so badly, and you stayed here with me.”
I look blankly at her, not remembering a thing of what she's saying. I would never have come here; that’s what I know. And surely not be with her. The only problem is that I don’t remember anything after the fight.
“When was that? When did I come here?”
She smiles. “Two days ago, silly. We had such an amazing time. I’m so sore, but I don’t mind you fucking me all day all over again.”
I grind my jaw and shut my eyes, forcing down the fury clawing its way up my throat. She has to be lying. I jump out of bed and search for my clothes until I spot them in the corner, and I get dressed.
“Where are you going?” Naomi's voice hitches. “Come back to bed.”
I turn to her. “No!” My eyes cut into her, my voice low and controlled.
“I don’t recall anything you're talking about, and certainly not fucking you. If I were sober, I wouldn’t have touched you with a ten-foot pole.
” Her face falls with disappointment. “I will find out what you’ve done to me, and if I were you, I wouldn’t be around when I do. ”
I find my phone in my jacket. It’s off. Fuck. I need to get home ASAP. I need to go to Valentina.
I stalk through the hotel lobby without slowing, the front desk clerk’s stare dragging after me like she senses the storm coming off my skin.
I scan the street around me. Everything around me looks unfamiliar. It doesn't matter, because I’m not staying. I stride down the block, flag the first taxi I see, and get the hell out of this place.
“Valentina!” I call as soon as I enter the penthouse, every muscle in my body wired tight. On my way home, I didn’t care about what happened to me; all I could think of was Valentina. I would never go with Naomi; I could never betray the woman I love. I need her in front of me, in my arms.
“Valentina!” I take two stairs at a time, storming into our bedroom. “Valentina!” I search every room, every corner, coming up with nothing but a rising burn in my chest.
Where the hell is she?
I reach for my phone, only to find it dead.
“Dammit.” I tear through the drawers in my office before remembering the charger is in the living room.
Waiting for my phone to charge to one percent so I can open it feels like a lifetime.
The moment the screen lights up, messages flood in: Salvatore, Marco, my mother, Dante, the office… and Valentina.
I ignore every name except hers and open her messages.
I can’t do this with you anymore. I know you love Naomi; you deserve to be with her. You shouldn’t have married me.
Goodbye, Gabriel.
I stare at the message and reread it for the tenth time. What the hell is she talking about? Everything between us was solid. There wasn’t a single crack in our relationship. I told her I loved her, and she said it back. If something had been wrong, she damn well would’ve told me.
I dial her number, and it goes to voicemail. I do it a couple more times before I give up and dial her brother. If she really did leave me, she would go to him.
I swallow the lump in my throat. How the hell am I going to explain this to Nico? This will disrupt our alliance. The phone rings and rings, but there’s no answer. I call again, and this time, it goes to voicemail.
“Dammit. Fuck.” I need to solve this problem, and I can’t do this alone. I need to inform Salvatore, and I need Marco’s help.
I dial Salvatore’s number.
He answers with a bite in his voice. “Where the hell have you been?”
Not wanting to waste time, I cut him off. “I need to talk to you and Marco.”
“We’re at the warehouse.”
“I’ll be there in twenty.”
With my heart lodged in my throat, I reach the warehouse in less than twenty minutes, breaking every traffic law in the city to get here. I press my hand on the hidden reader and let it scan my hand. Denied.
What the fuck? I wipe my hand and place it again. A green light appears, and the door opens. As soon as I reach them, all eyes turn to me.
“You look like shit.” Marco runs his eyes over my body.
“Thank you. I feel worse.”
“What happened?” Salvatore inspects me with a scrutinizing look on his face.
I sigh and bury my face in my hands. “I have no recollection of what happened in the last two days.”
“How is that possible?”
I look over at Salvatore. “The last thing I remember is that I was at the fight, and after we cleared things out, I was on my way to see Valentina in the ring, when I received a message from an unknown number, that I’m sure belongs to Victor, saying this isn’t over, this is just the beginning."
Salvatore’s razor-sharp gaze catches mine. “Beginning of what?”
“Of my downfall.”
“What happened next?”
I inhale sharply. “Instead of going to my wife, I made a mistake and went to question Naomi as she was rolled into an ambulance.” I shake my head. “After that, I don’t remember anything. I woke up two hours ago in some shitty hotel room on the other side of town with Naomi in the bed.”
A whistle comes from Marco, but I focus on Salvatore’s suspicion-narrowed eyes. “How did that happen?”
I shake my head. “I wish I knew.”
Marco chuckles, mocking me. “How do you end up in bed with your ex but you don’t remember it?”
I look into the distance. “I think I was drugged. Otherwise, how would I be out for two days?”
Salvatore nods. “That’s a valid point.”
Marco tilts his head, his brows rising. “So, you wouldn’t end up in bed with your ex willingly? Old flames rekindled and all.”
“No!” I snap.
He raises his hands in the air. “Okay, take it easy. I was just asking.”
I look at Salvatore. “The strangest thing is the message I got from Valentina.”
I can’t do this with you anymore. I know you love Naomi; you deserve to be with her. You shouldn’t have married me.
Goodbye, Gabriel.
“She wouldn’t do that. This isn't the Valentina I know.” They all look at me, questioning my sanity. “Don’t look at me like I don’t know what I’m talking about. I called Nico. He isn’t answering. I need to go to Chicago.”
“This is not good. It could cost us the alliance with De Angelo.” Salvatore narrows his eyes at me.
“I don’t fucking care about the alliance now! All I want is to find my wife, no matter what.”
“I hear you, Gabriel,” he says, his voice tight with restraint. “That’s why you need to go and find her first. Take the jet and go. We'll look and see what we can find. After that, we’ll deal with the fallout.”
I refreshed and changed on the plane before I showed up at De Angelo’s door.
I ring the bell and pray to God that Valentina opens it.
The same green eyes stare at me, but she has different hair, and she’s wearing a long, flowery dress.
She cocks her head to the side, and her brows furrow as she looks behind my back. “Gabriel?”
Chiara, Valentina’s sister, stands at the door. My shoulders hunch in disappointment.
“Chiara. I need to see Valentina.”
“Valentina? Isn’t she with you?” She once again looks over my shoulder.
I exhale and close my eyes in disappointment. “No. I thought she was here.”
Footsteps sound from behind her. “Who is it?” The door swings open all the way. Mack’s bruised face greets me. “What are you doing here?”
“He’s looking for Valentina,” Chiara answers.
“What?” His face darkens. “What do you mean you're looking for her?”
“She left. She left me a stupid message without explaining. Maybe she's with Nico. I called him, but he isn’t answering.”
Mack and Chiara look at each other.
“Fuck!” Mack runs his hand over his buzz-cut. “You should come in. I need to call my brothers.”
“What’s going on?” I ask and follow him as he leads me into the office.
“Nico has been missing for three days now. We kept it quiet because there were no clues that something was wrong,” he murmurs, his voice controlled and tight. “We were just doing everyday shit. No threats, no problems other than usual.”
“Valentina couldn’t be with Nico, then,” I pace the room.
“I want you to tell me what exactly happened.”
I tell him everything that occurred in the last three days.
He pins me with a threatening look. “If I find out you got into another woman’s bed willingly, I swear, I will gut you alive.”
“Listen carefully, Mack. First, I understand your anger, so your threat doesn’t scare me. Second, I don’t cheat. I’m not like that, and I would never betray Valentina. Right now, there are far bigger problems than your ego. We need to find them. Both of them.”