6. ALESSIO
6
ALESSIO
“Where do you think she’s heading?” Lazaro asks as we pull up to the plane waiting in the private hangar. I ordered the flight to be ready to take off at any minute, and we have no time to waste. I can see the tension in his body, in the way he grips the steering wheel as we pull in. He’s none too pleased Sienna got away either, and he’s taking it personally she was able to outsmart him. Still, the woman is far more clever than either of us ever expected, including hooking into speakers hidden in the trees while she crept around to get away. I’ll be asking her about that the next time I catch her. And this time, I won’t let her get away.
“Your father is tracking her down. You said she got on a private jet?” I ask as I climb out of the car and head for the lowered plane steps.
“Looks that way, but there’s no guarantee she’s on it with the shit she pulled last time,” Lazaro huffs as we walk inside. He doesn’t pay any attention to the flirtatious look the flight attendant sends him, and I see the disappointment on her face. Not my problem, and the least of my worries right now. “I got the information on the jet, but they haven’t landed anywhere yet, so I can’t tell you where they’re heading, only that they’ve taken off and have a three hour head start.”
I sit down in one of the seats towards the back of the plane, and pull out my phone to call Aurelio.
“So you let her get away again, did you?” Aurelio says loudly into the phone as soon as it connects.
I roll my eyes. “Your information didn’t give any indication of how clever she is, Aurelio. You’re losing your touch,” I mock. Again, few could get away with speaking to me like that, but Aurelio is like a second father to me, so he gets a pass.
Aurelio scoffs. “It is not my fault you did not listen when I told you she was not like her sister. That should have been your first clue. Though, her sister is certainly giving her man a run for his money.” He gives a low chuckle of amusement.
Intrigued, I let myself be distracted for a moment. “Oh? How is she doing that?”
His chuckle turns into a full on laugh. “She slipped out of the guest house when he was in the bathroom to spend some time with Sofia in the kitchen. Nico was pissed when he couldn’t find her, and only got more pissed when Sofia refused to let him haul her off, insisting she was going to teach her one of her favorite dishes. He left, but as soon as the damn thing was done, Sofia told her about the library, and off she went. Nico about lost his mind again. Never seen a woman smile so big when he carried her back to the guest house.”
I laugh, unable to help myself. It does indeed sound like sweet little Gia is turning into a bit of a wild one. “Well, you tell my Boo Bear that as soon as I get back, I’ll help keep the women in line,” I snicker.
Aurelio snorts. “Fuck you. I’m not telling him shit. Now, back to your problem. Lazaro was correct. The flight has left, and is actually heading back to the United States.” I curse, because that is going to be another long flight, and she’s got a big enough head start, it won’t be hard for her to disappear. “However,” Aurelio continues, “it appears Ms. Harris was not on that plane.” I straighten at that, and my insides coil with anticipation. “I was able to check all the cameras; your lady snuck out of the hangar about an hour before you arrived and walked to the local train station not far away. She boarded a train where she can head out of the country and to almost thirty others without having to stop or get another pass.”
“Fuck, so she could be going anywhere,” I grit out. “There’s no way to check where she might be going? Don’t passengers need to pick a destination when they purchase a ticket?”
“Yes, but the way the tickets are set, they can disembark anytime they choose. The fair is a flat rate. She did purchase a first class seat, however, so she must be planning on sitting in that seat for a while.”
“Pull up a map,” I order Lazaro, who gets up and strides to the back of the plane, emerging seconds later with a laptop. It doesn’t take us long to find a map of the railway and its stops. I put Aurelio on speakerphone.“Alright, we need to figure this out, because I’m not chasing her all over Europe. Aurelio, does she have any close friends or business associates that we could assume she’s heading to for help?”
“None that we can find,” Aurelio replies grimly. “Sienna is either very good at hiding her presence online, or she’s just not a social one. The only people she speaks to regularly are her parents and her best friend. In business, she speaks with clients, but if you want me to start checking all of the ones we can find, it will take weeks. “
“What about any clients she’s worked with many times and developed a rapport with? I mean, she was able to get a jet to fly her to Europe that way,” Lazaro suggests.
“We didn’t find many of those in our search,” Aurelio replies, and I can hear some papers shuffling around. Finally, after a moment, he says, “There is one other person that she’s worked with many times, along with her parents. One of her father’s first clients, and now his daughter, Stacey. It looks like Stacey has been using Sienna instead of the parents.”
Gotcha. “And where is this Stacey? What’s her full name?” I ask calmly.
“Stacey Corbyn, daughter of the biggest real estate tycoon in London, Thomas Corbyn. She’s joined the family business. She’s located in London too.”
I frown at that. No, that sounds far too easy. Why would she go back to London to be with someone else when she could go to her parent’s place, or even her own? No, that’s definitely far too predictable. “No, she won’t go to London,” I declare. “She’s going to go somewhere else. The Corbyns’ are into real estate, which means they have access to many different places. Has she called any of them?”
“Nothing,” Aurelio says grimly. “But that doesn’t mean she hasn’t found another way to contact them. All she would have to do is get a burner phone or have one bought for her.”
“You think she had someone get her a burner and she grabbed it at the hangar,” Lazaro summarized. “Fuck, this woman is fucking clever. Who the fuck thinks about things like that?”
“A woman who has been trained for any possibility since she was a child,” I supply grimly. “And I don’t buy it was because of what happened to her mother. I think her parents knew there was a chance her family could come back for her, and they wanted her to be prepared.”
“Makes sense,” Aurelio agrees. “Which means it’s going to be a damn hard road to catch her, son.” He lets out a low chuckle. “And I, for one, am going to enjoy watching you chase your tail for a while with her. It’s about time a woman made things hard for you.”
I ignore that. Instead, I say, “Find out which properties the Corbyns would let Sienna use. We’ll start there.”
“There are places all over Europe that they use as vacation homes and rent out when the time is right. I guess the question is where she would go if she wanted to lay low long enough to sleep and recharge,” Aurelio answers thoughtfully. “I mean, she’s been running from you nonstop. She’s going to need a break.”
“Wait, what kind of first-class did she get?” Lazaro suddenly asks, sitting forward.
There’s a pause before Aurelio answers, “She got a single sleeper cabin and a seat in the first-class single car, so there should only be one other seat in it.”
“So she’s planning on a trip long enough for her to need to sleep,” I say, realizing what Lazaro is implying. “Aurelio, search through the Corbyn’s properties that are far enough away to require her to stay on a train overnight.”
“Give me five minutes and I’ll call you back,” Aurelio replies briskly, and the line goes dead.
“Where do you think she’s going?” Lazaro asks curiously.
I study the map in front of me. Where was my little rabbit heading? I imagine that if she wants to hide, she won’t go somewhere obvious, but then again, it could be that she plans on hiding in plain sight. But would she end up heading further north to Denmark, Norway, or Sweden, or go further south towards Spain, Portugal, or even Greece if she wanted to go to the other side of Italy? My gut tells me that she would try to head as far away from our territory as possible, but then again, she’s used to the sunny, warm California coast. It would make sense that she would think of heading south to a warmer climate. But that would put her closer to us, and she must know we have far more people down south. Wouldn’t she?
This was Sienna, though, and she never seems to do anything that I expect. So instead of trying to guess, I go with my gut and reply, “I think she’s going to head south. The Corbyns’ aren’t going to be there this time of the year; it’s still a bit too early in the season.”
Lazaro nods. “Makes sense. Papa will find something, and with the jet, we can beat her there. Are you going to grab her as soon as she’s off the train?”
“She’d probably scream the bloody place down,” I say with a wry twist of my lips. “The less we do to draw attention to ourselves, the better. Once we figure out where she’s going, we’ll track her, careful not to let her see us, then take her from there.”
Lazaro’s mouth pulls into a wicked grin. “Wonder what she’ll throw at you this time?” he muses. “I bet she’ll find something pointy.”
I flip him off, but the thought of going hand to hand with Sienna if she was holding a knife, well, it makes my cock twitch. Would she actually draw blood? Or would she give up when she realized she was no match for someone like me? No matter the training, she’s nowhere near as experienced as I am with any weapon. Still, I find myself hoping she’s going to make me work for it. I want to prove no matter how much she fights me, she’s not going to win. I want her utter surrender.
My phone rings, and I put it on speakerphone as Aurelio’s voice echoes down the line. “We’ve got two probable locations. One is in Barcelona, Spain, and the other is in Monaco.”
After a couple of clicks on the laptop, Lazaro adds, “It’s about four hours by train. She’ll have to switch trains either way.”
“Send some of our men to Monaco,” I order after a moment’s thought. My gut tells me it’s Spain, but I don’t want to leave it to chance, just in case. “We’ll head to Spain. Aurelio, if you see or hear anything that suggests a change, call us immediately.”
“Done,” he agrees and clicks off.
Lazaro is up and moving, and anticipation thrums through my veins. Fucking finally, we’re making progress. Sienna isn’t getting away again. I can almost picture her face when she sees me waiting for her. When she realizes she has nowhere else to run. She’ll still try, I know she will, but that’s when my little rabbit will realize she’s good and caught, and there’s no escaping.
Lazaro comes back. “We’ll be leaving in an hour. Someone else is on the runway, so we need to wait.” I nod, though I know the impatience I feel is all over my face. We’ll still beat her there, and it will give us a chance to get the lay of the land. I’m not leaving anything to chance this time. I want to know every possible avenue of escape so I can make sure our men are ready to grab her, in case she somehow gets past myself or Lazaro. “So, you’re seriously thinking of marrying her?” Lazaro asks after a couple of minutes of silence.
I don’t respond right away. It’s not something I really want to share, but I also know that Lazaro isn’t going to let it go until I tell him, the nosy bastard. “Yes,” I finally admit. “But keep that shit to yourself. I don’t need my father or yours lecturing me on her having a choice. That’s bullshit.”
Lazaro smirks. “So you’re going to let her think she has a choice, but you’re going to ensure she picks the one you want her to. I’m not going to say shit. Out of everyone, you and I are the most alike, and I wouldn’t give my woman a choice, if I had one.”
“That’s because you’re a prick,” I snicker. “But I also know Sienna isn’t going to give in to this without a fight.”
“Why do you want her? I mean, there is a chance that she has two other cousins out there who might be a better fit for you,” he points out. “Are you sure you want to pin all your hopes on a woman who would rather run and put herself in danger than trust you?”
I don’t answer right away, because he has a point. There are far more women out there, not just the other possible De Luca women, that would probably suit me more and would even throw themselves at me for my money and a chance to warm my bed. Still, the thought of them anywhere near me in that context irritates me, and I instantly reject it. The moment I saw Sienna’s picture was the moment I knew she was mine. But it was her note on my car, and when she got away from me in LA, that cemented my growing obsession.
Fuck, she consumed my thoughts the entire flight to Scotland. All I could picture was catching her and teaching her the consequences of running from me. But I knew she wouldn’t come easily. She wouldn’t whimper and cower or beg and plead for mercy. No, she fought me tooth and nail, and that is exactly what I want. I want this dark fire that’s building in my veins, and I want it knowing Sienna is always going to keep me on my toes and stoke the flames.
I also think she’s enjoying this as much as I am—the thrill of the chase. I saw it on her face when she got to her car before I could reach her, and I heard it in her voice when she took off through the woods. The woman loves this, and besting me is just as much an aphrodisiac to her as my chasing her is to me. I know this deep down in my bones.
“She’s different,” I finally answer. Lazaro arches a brow at me expectantly, waiting for me to elaborate. “There are two types of women in our world. Those who are broken and terrified of every man out there because of what their family has put them through or expected of them. And they’re willing to marry me with the hope of getting away from their family, or they know they have no choice. Meaning, they will always be agreeable while also telling their family about every move I make. And even if they don’t, their loyalty will always be to their family because they have been conditioned that way their entire lives. The others are women who are trying to move up the ranks and are clearly only after me for my money, family connections, or the title of a Don’s wife. They might be fuckable and be willing to give me heirs, but they’ll never be loyal to me or the family.”
“And Sienna is neither of those things,” Lazaro says with a knowing nod. “She’s coming into this knowing who you are but also not having been poisoned by her family, so while she’s a De Luca, she won’t be loyal to them. But at the same time, are you concerned about her thoughts about this life? She’s not used to it, which means she’s not used to you coming home covered in blood and dealing with the shit we do. That could break her differently. She might run to get away from it, which would mean getting away from you.”
That thought has been swirling around in my mind plenty as well. “She’s stronger than you think. The woman has gotten away from us twice, and she fucking tried to split my head open both times. She doesn’t cower when she sees me, so I don’t think she’s a wilting flower that’s going to lose her mind over a little blood.”
“Probably not. But even you know that is very different from seeing it every day. Or dealing with the daily mafia shit that we have to. It’s a life that’s not for the weak of heart. Which I’ll give you, Sienna is not.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now, my focus is getting to her before any of her family does.”
Lazaro sobers and nods. “You’re right. We’ll get her, Boss.”
Of that I have no doubt. Because I will never allow anyone to come between us. Not even Sienna herself.
By the time the plane takes off, I’ve gone back over all the information I have on Sienna, including the new information Aurelio sent minutes before we took off. It seems my sweet little rabbit is living up to her nickname. The girl was a star athlete growing up, including the track team. Sienna is accustomed to running long and far, and she’s probably planning on doing that with me. Too bad for her; I’ve also been a star runner for most of my life. While mine was more for fun and to keep in shape than the actual competition, I’m glad I have the stamina to keep up with her.
I get up from my seat and head to the bedroom at the back of the plane. It won’t be long before we land in Spain, and I want to make sure I’m ready. I don’t put it past her to have a few more surprises up her sleeve—unfortunately for her, I do too.