Chapter 44
CIRO
The last twelve hours had been a nightmare. Totally insane. I hadn’t stopped for a second to breathe, rest, or eat. Time was of the essence and I couldn’t stop…
I’d gotten to the hospital before Jon and the old man went in to examine Isla. I wanted an update on her memory loss. Jon had sent me a few texts through the night regarding my beautiful woman. Thankfully, she’d slept most of the time I was gone and had only woken an hour ago.
So much shit had happened since I’d left Isla during the night. Wolf obeyed my order and brought his brother to California. They were being guarded at one of Fabio’s shipping docks.
There was no word on the paternity of Cosimo Clemente yet, but in my gut, I knew he wasn’t my half-brother. I couldn’t explain it; I just knew the same way I knew when to dump a stock before the market took a tumble and when to buy. I just knew.
And nothing yet on Vera Antonova. Fabio’s man was following a trail that I hoped led to Wolf’s mother, but again, my instinct told me my brother-in-law had been lied to by Kira.
And for that, I felt bad for getting the ball rolling on verifying his mother’s proof of life, which would show she was not alive.
The newest and most pertinent information was about Zotov having my baby.
I’d spoken to Zotov on a video call where he showed me Pippa.
Jesus, I nearly lost it but managed to remain calm.
Murderously calm. He told me she was a beautiful baby, but she missed her mother, so I’d better hurry up to do the exchange.
He also assured me that she was well taken care of and that he had no intention of creating an enemy out of me.
He only wanted Kira and unfortunately, couldn’t use Isla for the exchange.
He apologized for his men not being able to tell which woman was Isla, so they took the baby.
Zotov had five children and was experienced with babies. As if having five kids would ease my mind. I wanted my daughter back ASAP. Preferably before Isla realized she was missing.
“Where’s Pippa?” she screamed, snapping me out of my thoughts. Tears were pouring out of her eyes.
Dammit. I ran to the door and opened it. My brothers were right there. “Get Jon, now!”
“Ciro! Ciro, where’s Pippa?” Isla screamed a blood curdling scream.
I ran back to her, Luca following behind me.
“Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart. Calm down.” I tried to hold her down, worried she would make her injuries worse.
“Pippaaa!” she screamed. “They took her! I know they took her!” She thrashed in the bed, trying to get off the bed, but I wouldn’t let her.
Luca held her legs down.
Where the fuck was Jon.
Isla’s screaming was like nothing I’d ever seen before. It was like she was possessed.
Jon appeared and immediately stuck a needle into Isla’s IV. “It’s okay, Isla. Everything is going to be okay.” He talked softly to her.
The sight of her distress shook me to the core. I was responsible for her suffering, and I would never forgive myself for hurting her this way.
She whipped her head back and forth, sobbing… My lovebug. My lovebug. My lovebug.
Goddamn, my heart broke seeing her suffering.
Within a minute, maybe less, Isla started to calm down and fell into a medically induced coma.
“Fuck, that was the worst thing I’ve ever seen,” Roman said from behind me.
“The loss of a child causes severe trauma and distress to mothers.” Jon faced me. “What are you doing to get the baby back?”
“Figlio di puttana,” I hissed motherfucker in Italian. How dare he call me out like that? “I will get my daughter back.”
“Before Isla wakes up? We can’t keep her sedated for weeks until the baby is returned to her. Look.” He pointed at Isla’s chest, where there were wet spots. “When she remembered the baby, letdown happened. If she does pump to keep her milk production up, it will dry up.”
I grabbed the back of my head and stared at Isla’s chest as I tried to devise a plan. It reminded me of the morning I’d woken up with her, and she had similar wet spots on her T-shirt.
“How long before her milk dries up?” Roman asked.
Jon’s jaw twitched. “It varies from woman to woman. A few days to three weeks. If she doesn’t pump, she’ll experience pain and engorgement.”
“Do we have time to get her out of the country before she comes out of it?” I wanted to get her to Barbados where I had a full staff and guards to protect her. We needed time alone without my family around to work through our issues, but I had a hunch I would have to take her to Canada.
“Again, it varies from person to person. A couple of hours up to maybe twenty-four hours, but that’s pushing it,” Jon replied.
“I’ll take her to Canada,” Luca said. “You deal with getting the baby back.”
I didn’t like his suggestion, but what other option did I have? I couldn’t leave Isla in the hospital, where we couldn’t properly protect her. Cara Clemente hadn’t been located. It was all a clusterfuck.
“If you take her to Canada, I want to go with her.”
I cut my gaze at Jon. “Excuse me?”
“Isla is my friend and she trusts me. Can’t say the same for any of you.”
“You son of a bitch!” I lunged at him, but Roman got between us.
“Calm down, brother,” Roman said. “I think he has a good point. Isla hasn’t been around the family in over a year. It might be overwhelming, especially with Pippa missing. Think of Isla. Do what’s best for her.”
I backed away and went to Isla’s side. The last thing I wanted was for her to receive attention and comfort from someone other than me. But I couldn’t leave San Francisco without Pippa. I had to swallow my pride and allow Jon to escort Isla to my estate.
“Fine. I’ll make the arrangements. Be ready in two hours,” I told Jon. I kissed Isla’s head and stormed out of the room.
“What do you want me to do?” Luca asked.
“We need to check on Paolo, and I need to go to Alba’s.” I hadn’t let Isla’s best friend know about Isla. It was shitty of me, but I’d been too busy to think of anyone else.
“I’ll go see Paolo.”
“Good. I’ll be back in an hour. Call me if anything comes up.” I waved and entered the elevator.
Thirty minutes later, I rang Alba’s doorbell. It was almost nine in the morning. Hopefully, she was awake because I didn’t have time to screw around. On my way here, I’d gotten a text from Fabio saying Wolf was being a pain in the ass and demanding to see me.
The door slowly opened. “Ciro?” Alba peeked through a crack. There was a chain lock that only allowed the door to open so far. Didn’t she know I could easily kick it open?
“Can I come in?”
“Where’s Isla? Is everything okay?” She unlatched the chain and opened the door, letting me in. “I texted her this morning but haven’t heard from her. Or from Paolo which is strange.”
Jesus, I had a lot to tell her. I stalked in, doing my best not to be all business.
“You’re giving off bad energy. What happened?” she asked, closing the door.
“Isla and Paolo are in the hospital. There was a situation at her apartment.” The words flew out of my mouth unbidden. Not how I wanted this to go.
“What?” She covered her mouth with her hands. “Are they alive?”
“Isla’s injuries are not as severe as Paolo’s.”
“Oh my God. What happened?”
“You know about me and my family, right?”
She nodded.
“I can’t tell you everything. But Elsie’s asshole drunk of a boyfriend, beat her last night. From what I know, he went after Isla next.”
“Oh my God.” Tears rolled down her face. “Is Elsie going to be okay? What about Paolo?”
“Elsie didn’t make it. Paolo is in intensive care. He was shot in the chest.” I guided Alba to her sofa so she could sit. Plucking a few tissues out of a box on the end table, I gave them to her. “And Pippa is missing.”
Alba burst into tears. Gut-wrenching sobs followed.
I wasn’t sure what to do, so I went into the kitchen to get her a glass of water.
“I know it’s a lot to hear, but I need you to be strong right now for Isla, Paolo, and Pippa.” I set the glass down and rubbed her back. “You’re the only person Isla truly trusts. She’s going to need you, Alba.
“I’ll do anything for Isla and the baby. Paolo too.”
“Good. I need you to pack a suitcase. I’m sending you to Canada with Isla.”
“What?” Alba turned her face up toward mine.
“I can’t let anything bad happen to you. Isla couldn’t take it. I’m having her transported to my estate. I want you to go with her for support.” The idea of sending Alba to Canada with Isla just came to me. Why I hadn’t considered it before now was beyond me.
“I need to see Paolo.” She dried her eyes. I could tell she understood how dire the situation was and would be agreeable.
“That’s fine. I’ll take you to him. Get packed, please.”
She looked around her small home.
“Just the essentials, Alba. Anything else you need; I’ll provide for you there.” I cupped her elbow and gently lifted her, and told her in a firm voice, “Hurry. We don’t have time to waste.”
Back at the hospital, I was beginning to hate being here. The beeping machines. The weird medical smell. I never wanted to be in the intensive care unit ever again.
Alba quietly cried while holding Paolo’s hand. He was still unconscious. No change since coming out of surgery. He was alive and that was all that mattered to me.
Memories of Julietta being in and out of the hospital flooded my mind as I watched Alba. How sad my dear friend was when her hair fell out. Watching her grow weaker and taking her last breath. Cancer fucking sucked.
“Excuse me, sir. Who is that?” a nurse asked.
Alba peered over her shoulder, a worried expression on her face.
“It’s my cousin’s fiancée,” I replied.
“Oh. Okay. Just making sure—”
“I understand,” I cut her off. “We’re not going to be here long.”
She nodded and left.
Alba smiled at me and mouthed thank you.
She didn’t need to thank me. It was the least I could do. If I’d been more of a tyrant and forced Isla to stay at the hotel or return with me to Canada like I initially wanted, none of this would have happened. I would never make the same mistakes again.
Roman approached. “I heard you were back. How’d she take everything?” He jerked his chin at Alba.
“Better than I expected. Everything set to move Isla?”
“Yes. An ambulance will take her to the airport. Are you sure you’re okay with Jon escorting her? I sensed some tension between you two.”
“It’s fine. Luca will keep him in line.”
“He sure will. Well, whenever you’re ready to say good-bye to her…” Roman eyed me like he knew Isla leaving without me would almost kill me. He wouldn’t be wrong.
“Just give us five more minutes.”
“Okay.” He put his hand on my arm, then left.
Alba looked back at me in agreement. I told her on the way that I needed her to be quick visiting Paolo. Since he wasn’t awake, it probably made it easier.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out and read the text from a number I didn’t recognize. This was my private number. Only people I gave it to would be using it.
It’s Storm. Call me.
Cazzo. He’d better not give me shit about giving Kira to Zotov.
“Alba, I need to step out for a minute.”
“Sure.” She turned back to Paolo and kissed his hand. It appeared she cared deeply for my cousin, and I had no idea about their relationship until Fabio told me one of his men said Paolo asked for Alba.
I went into a small waiting room a couple doors down from Paolo’s room and dialed the number.
He answered on the first ring. “Ciro.”
“Storm. What’s up?’
“Heard about the shitshow you’re caught up in and wanted to offer my assistance.”
“I appreciate the offer, but you’re in Minnesota, friend.” I’d known Storm for many years, and he was a stand-up guy; married with a few kids.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have connections with the Kings of Anarchy MC in NorCal. Whatever you need,” Storm said.
“The only help I will need is dealing with Wolf. I know you know.”
Storm sighed. “Yeah, he filled me in.”
“He better not fight me on giving up Kira. My baby girl’s life is at stake.” I wouldn’t pick a man I didn’t like over my own child.
“I get it. I would do the same thing.” No surprise there. “But do you believe Zotov would harm your baby? He would start a war with you, my club, Fabio, with every contact we have. That’s a lot of people, Ciro. We would all stand with you.”
“You almost had me there.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I thought you called to support me. Not try to change my mind about Kira.” I ended the call and put my phone back in my pocket.
Fucking Storm. I will remember this for a long time.
“I’m ready,” Alba said.
I turned around. “Good. Let’s go.”
The time had come to get my woman safely out of San Francisco and on my jet. The Remotti estate was like a fortress. There was no chance Zotov or Cara could get to Isla there.