Chapter 17 ~ Alexander #2
“Alexander, it will be hard for you to hear what I have to tell you. What I’m about to say involves your wife. And if you’d rather it stays private between us, I’ll respect that.”
The hair on the back of my neck rises, and I look at my brothers around the table. No matter my issues with Isabella and, dear God, after this, they will all do everything they can to protect her. She is part of our family now. In fact, I think we all need to know what’s going on, all of it.
“Go ahead, I have no secrets from my brothers.”
He takes a deep breath and starts. “Eleven years ago, Angelo Gallo and Isabella were in a car accident coming home from a trip to the museum. Angelo loved that little girl; he took her everywhere and did everything with her. Angelo was an art enthusiast. He took her to every opening at every gallery he could. She was everything to him.”
My gut drops. She was with her grandfather when he died. Sebastian whispers, “Shit”. Carlos lets out a heavy sigh. Christopher covers his face with his hand and murmurs, “Christ.” Danny looks away, his face crumpled in anger, silent as he always is.
My father continues. His voice is faintly unsteady.
“That day, Robert had called me in a panic, saying that Isabella and his father hadn’t come home.
I immediately got my men together, and we started the search.
But as we backtracked them to the museum, we discovered the accident.
They were hit side on, killing Angelo instantly, but Isabella was not at the hospital when we arrived.
No one even knew that she was in the car, except for us, and we never said a word to the authorities. ”
What the fuck? I want to stand up and yell at him. How could he just ignore her being missing? But I’ll hold my glass and wait.
“I knew at once that something was up; something was wrong right from the start. And I wanted to keep it an organization problem because this was no mere accident. I knew in my gut that someone had taken Angelo out. Why I don’t know, or what they needed with Isabella.
I could only assume it would be ransom. I assembled our best and started the search for her.
Robert had his father’s estate to look after, and he helped us as much as he could.
Eight days after her kidnapping, Robert received a letter asking for four million from Angelo's estate. We gathered the money, and it took me two weeks to find it. But I finally knew where the bastard was that had taken her; and I knew the men that were hired.”
I feel like I’m going to throw up. My little bunny, my poor bunny.
“I never told Robert I had found them, and I’m glad I went with my gut.
Robert went to do the drop off on the night they asked, but I was already at the shitty warehouse they held her in.
I killed each one of those assholes. I didn’t need to keep them for questioning; they were scum.
They killed my best friend and stole his granddaughter.
I didn’t care how many years it would take me or how long I needed to wait.
I would find out who is behind the order. ”
The anger in the room is palpable. You can feel it, taste it in the air, each one of us gripping our fist tight, wishing we could have been there to kill the bastards all over again. We are all staring at my father like this can’t be real.
My father turns to look right at me with his face pinched, anguish written on his features as he speaks.
“I was the one that found her. They left her lying in the dirt on the cold cement floor. One rat-infested blanket was all she had to lie on. She had been blindfolded, and her hands were zip-tied behind her back and her feet were tied. She had a gag on at one point but somehow managed to either chew through or spit it out.”
His eyes glaze over, turning a light pink. This is killing him to talk about and it’s ripping me to shreds to hear it. I stand up and walk over to the bar and back to the table. I want to kill them all, feel their throats crushed beneath my hand.
“She had been there for two weeks, Alexander. When I finally reached her, she was catatonic. Isabella would only stare into space. She never cried out or even whimpered as I picked her up off that cold floor and covered her in my suit jacket. She was so tiny and helpless in my arms. I wanted to kill them all over again.”
I look at the men around the table. I want to scream, throw my fucking glass at the wall just to hear it smash.
Sebastian is basically crying, and Carlos has his head in his hands.
Christopher looks like he’s ready to go grab his rifle and take everyone out.
I’m barely holding the rage back. I want to smash this room to pieces.
I want to run up those stairs and beg her forgiveness.
My father clears his throat, his emotion showing through.
“I took her immediately to Robert’s house. He hired the best professionals, and I sent our private doctor to look after her, no matter the cost. She stayed that way for over seven months, Alexander. Unable to speak or move, she just lay in her bed and stared at the ceiling.”
My father clears his throat. “I know now, it was Robert. He killed my best friend and tried to get rid of Isabella. I will have my revenge. But for now, Isabella is here and safe and will remain so.”
He looks around the room at the stunned and angry faces looking back at him.
“Right now, we need to focus on Robert and the top four names on that list, and anyone else that bastard has under them. Christopher, I want you and your men to find those bastards and bring as many as you can get your hands on to the shipping barge. I have 35 rooms on that ship, and I want every room filled. I’ll handle Robert.
The prospect of gaining more power will bring him right into my hands.
Sebastian, I need you to run those accounts for Isabellas.
Once this ends, she will have a major company to inherit, and I’d like to have the mess Robert created cleared up as best we can. ”
I swallow the lump in my throat, managing to finally speak. “And me?”
My father walks over and puts his hand on my shoulder.
“I want you to know, Robert approached me with the marriage contract. I never pursued marriage for you. You still need to grow, control your temper, and learn your role as a leader, and you are. But once I let the idea sink in, I knew there was no one better for her. I knew that no matter your feelings, you would protect her. I didn’t expect you to love her, and true to your nature, once something belongs to you, you will do whatever it takes to keep it.
You made her yours, Alexander. You won’t admit it, but you love her in your own way.
I saw it. So, your job is to guard her and protect her because Robert is coming after us all. ”
My father sits down, pours another drink, and takes a sip, rolling the glass between his hands.
“Jesus, dad, you’re like Professor Dumbledore. You know the complete story and every fucken move before anyone even makes it. Only you jumped us all to year seven without the buildup. Fuck.” Sebastian is shaking his head in stunned silence now, and Christopher slaps him on the back of it.
“For fuck sakes, Sebastian, stop with the Harry Potter shit, would you? This is serious. Do you need me to get started, because I’ve got the guys waiting in the hall and we’re ready?”
My father nods. “The sooner the better. I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted every one of those compartments filled. I want them all. He killed my best friend and, if I’m right, kidnapped his own daughter. He’s trying to kill me and my sons. Show no mercy.”
Christopher and Sebastian get up and leave. Danny finally clears his throat, making me jump. Fuck, I almost forgot the guy was there. He was so quiet.
“I’m going to switch out with Sasha now. If you need me, just text. I’m going to watch her door all night. For what it’s worth, I owe her an apology. I treated her like shit today.”
He walks to the door, and we all watch him. He turns back to us; the door half open in his hand.
“Did you know she left a chair in the hallway for Sasha to sit on during her night shifts? She was still concerned about her guard’s comfort despite being treated like a prisoner."
He simply shakes his head and exits the room. When I look at Carlos, he can see it on my face just as much as I can see it on his. I’m not sure how I’m going to fix this.
I look at my father and man-up. “I fucked up so badly. I have treated her both physically and emotionally like shit since before we were married. I’ve had her caged in that room like an animal.
Taking pretty much everything away from her and leaving her with nothing.
She will never forgive me now, not after the other night.
Not after I convinced everyone she was working with Robert.
I left her alone in every sense. She won’t even talk to me most of the time, and that was before the other night. She will never speak to me now.”
My father slides the letter and the Will at me. “Show her this. Tell her the truth, especially your truth, and wait.”
Shocked, I snapped. “Wait? What does that mean, wait?”
“She reminds me of Angelo.” He smiles widely.
“He was quiet, watched and listened. He was never one for words, unless you were his friend, and then he never shut up. But he was calm and could read a person at a glance, and he was not wrong in his assessment. She will need time to process this. She will need you to back off and give her space. Let her go back to work once it’s safe and give her what she needs to feel whole, even if that means you have to watch from a distance.
Protect her, Alexander, even if it’s from yourself.
She will come around, and when she finally does, be honest. Angelo could spot a liar a mile away, and so can she. ”
I can do that. I can protect her; that’s the one thing I know I can do for sure.
In the morning, I’ll bring her coffee, and I’ll just set the papers on the table and tell her the truth; let her read them, and if she wants to talk to me, I’m there.
I’ll call Professor Daniels in the morning as well and see if I can get her job back.
She said that if she didn’t go back to work soon, she was going to lose her job.
I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Everything I fucked up; I’m going to work hard to put right again.
She will hate me for a long time, maybe forever.
But she has to be alive to hate me, and I’m okay with that.
The door bursts open, Danny comes sliding into the room. His face is red, and he’s got his phone in his hand.
I stand up and look, “What’s going on, Danny?”
He looks at my father, then at Carlos, and back at me, then he looks back at my father again as if afraid to say anything in front of him.
He sucks in some air and then spills it so fast it doesn’t register with me at first.
“Sasha and I went to check on Isabella. She’s not in her room. She’s not in the house. I’ve got all the remaining security guards running around the yard searching. But she isn’t here, boss. I think she's gone.”
My father immediately stands and goes to stand by my desk to pull out his phone. He dials and at once starts to bark out orders.
“James. I need the team, every single one of them. Assemble them and tell them I’ll be there in 20 minutes. Pull the car around, I’ll be there in five.”
I can only stand there in stunned silence. How the fuck did she escape? She was in her room all day. She can’t even talk so how could she ask for help? I know that no one broke in and kidnapped her. There’s no way. That means she ran.
I sit back down in my chair and look at Carlos. He shakes his head, his jaw ticking in anger. He knew I was the one who had driven her to this point, and I deserved his censure.
I’m a dick, as Anna would say.
My father comes to the table and points in our faces.
“You two can deal with your guilt later. Right now, your wife is on the loose with a man who wants to kill her. And she does not know that it’s her father.
So, pull your shit together, get out there, and start looking.
I’ve got my team assembling. Half of them are going to be dispersed to get Robert and the rest of his shitbags.
Christopher’s will grab the other half. I’ll send the remaining men to get on her trail.
She had, what...” He looks at his watch and then back at me.
“Less than 4 hours ahead of us? Your job for now is to find her, protect her, and tell her the truth once you find her. Got it?”
I can’t even talk. Carlos stands up, agrees with my father, pulls out his phone, and starts talking, I’m assuming to one of his guys.
“Alexander!” My father yells and I snap out of my head and look at him.
“Get up off your fucking ass and go look for the woman you love before her father finds her.”
My father walks out and slams the door. Carlos is in the corner talking on the phone, and I’m still too stunned. How would she get out of here? Where would she even go? I have to think like Isabella. If I had no money and no phone, where would I go to feel safe?
There are only two places that I know where she would feel safe, and that is with Anna or in the library with Helen.
Oh, my sweet, sweet bunny. I have so much to make up for, and I will. But right now, I need to make you hate me a little more for chasing you down and bringing you home.