Chapter 32 Isabella
The market is crowded today.
It's been a week since Ciro came. A week of silence, of waiting, of trying to pretend everything is normal while my heart races every time I hear a car on the road.
But today is market day, and we need food. And Elena has been cooped up at the farm too long, asking about Lupo constantly, her mood getting darker with each day he's not here.
I brought her to the market to see people, to feel normal, to give her something to think about besides "when is Daddy coming home." We're at the vegetable stall when I hear her squeal.
"Mama! The baby chicks! Can I go see them?"
I turn to look. The farmer who sells eggs has brought a crate of chicks, fluffy yellow things peeping loudly. Elena is already tugging at my hand.
"Stay where I can see you," I tell her, like I always do.
"I will!" She's already running, her braid bouncing.
I watch her crouch beside the crate, her face lighting up with delight. The farmer, an older woman I've bought from before, smiles and says something to her. Elena giggles.
I turn back to the vegetables, picking through tomatoes. Trying to spend Lupo's money carefully, like Ciro said. Not too much. Not too little. Just enough to seem normal.
The burner phone is in my pocket. I touch it occasionally, making sure it's still there. Emergency use only.
I've been so tempted to call. Just to hear his voice. To know he's okay. To tell him how much Elena misses him.
But I don't. Because Ciro's warning was clear. Every contact is a risk. I carry the phone and wait.
I'm putting tomatoes in my basket when I sense it, that prickling awareness that something is wrong. I look up. Two men are standing near the chick crate. Near Elena.
They're not from around here. I know everyone in this market, at least by sight. These men are strangers. Well-dressed for a farm market. Dark suits, despite the heat.
And they're watching Elena.
I drop the tomatoes and move fast, pushing through the crowd. "Elena!"
She looks up, smiling, still oblivious. "Mama, look! This one is..."
One of the men moves closer. Crouches down beside her like he's interested in the chicks too.
"Elena, come here. Now." My voice is sharp enough that she stands up, confused.
But the man stands too. And now the second man is there, cutting off her path to me.
"Signora." The first man's voice is quiet, calm. "Please don't make a scene."
I reach for my pocket, for the phone...
"I wouldn't." The second man shifts slightly and I see the outline of a gun under his jacket. "Your daughter is right here. Many people around. It would be unfortunate if something happened."
My hand freezes in my pocket.
Elena is looking between us, starting to look scared. "Mama?"
"It's okay, baby." I force my voice to stay calm even though my heart is hammering. "These men are..." Think, Isabella. Say something that won't terrify her. "These are Daddy's friends. From his work."
The first man smiles slightly. Approving. "Yes. Your daddy's friends. He asked us to come get you."
"Daddy did?" Elena's face lights up. "Is he here? Is he coming?"
"He's waiting for you," the man says smoothly. "Would you like to go see him?"
"Yes!" She reaches for my hand. "Mama, can we go see Daddy?"
I look at the men. At the crowds of people shopping, completely unaware. At the gun hidden under the jacket. At Elena's trusting face.
"What do you want?" I ask quietly.
"Just to talk. You and the child come with us quietly, no one gets hurt." The first man's smile doesn't reach his eyes. "You make a scene, you try to run, you try to call someone..." He glances meaningfully at Elena. "Well. That would be unfortunate."
The threat is clear.
"Where are you taking us?"
"Somewhere safe. Where we can all have a conversation." He extends his hand toward Elena. "Come on, little one. Let's go see your daddy."
Elena reaches for him and I grab her hand first, pulling her against me. "She stays with me."
"Of course." The man straightens. "We have a car. Just outside the market. You'll walk calmly. You'll smile. You'll act like nothing is wrong. Understand?"
I nod, my throat too tight to speak.
“Let's go." The second man positions himself on my other side. To anyone watching, we just look like a family. Two men, a woman, a child. Leaving the market together.
No one notices. No one sees. No one helps.
Elena is chattering happily, thinking we're going to see Lupo. "Is Daddy done with his work trip? Is he coming home now? Did he miss me?"
"Yes, baby," I manage. "He missed you very much."
The phone is still in my pocket. But I can't reach for it. Can't make a call. Can't do anything but walk calmly toward whatever trap these men are leading us into.
We reach their black car parked on the street. The second man opens the back door.
"Get in," the first man says quietly.
I look around desperately. Looking for help. For witnesses. For anyone who might realize something is wrong.
But people are just going about their day. Shopping. Talking. Living normal lives.
No one is watching.
No one can help us.
"Mama?" Elena tugs at my hand. "Are we going in the car?"
"Yes, baby." I lift her into the back seat, then climb in after her. The first man gets in beside me. The second man takes the front passenger seat. A third man I didn't see before is driving.
Three of them. One of me. And Elena.
The doors close and lock.
Before the engine even starts, the man beside me holds out his hand. "Phone."
My heart stops. "What?"
"Your phone. Give it to me. Now."
"I don't..."
"Don't lie." His voice hardens. "Empty your pockets. Both of them."
"Mama?"
I look at the man. At the cold certainty in his eyes. At the way his hand moves slightly toward his jacket, toward the gun.
If I refuse, if I resist, Elena is right here. Right beside me.
With shaking hands, I reach into my pocket and pull out the burner phone. The only lifeline I had. The only way to reach Lupo.
The man takes it, looks at the screen and smiles. "Only one number programmed. I wonder who that could be?" He slips it into his own pocket. "Anything else?"
"No."
"Check her," he tells the driver.
The driver turns around, leans back. His hands are quick, efficient, patting down my jacket pockets, my other pocket. Finding nothing.
"She's clean," he says, turning back to the wheel.
The engine starts and we pull away from the market, away from the town, away from any chance of help. Away from any way to warn Lupo.
Elena is bouncing excitedly in her seat, already forgetting the strange moment. "Are we going to Daddy's work? Is it far? Will there be other kids there?"
"I don't know, baby." I pull her close, wrapping my arm around her. "Just stay close to Mama, okay?"
"Okay." She settles against me, still completely trusting. She has no idea we've just been kidnapped.
The man beside me is watching me calmly. "Smart choice. Not making a scene."
"What do you want with us?" I keep my voice low so Elena doesn't hear the fear in it.
"Like I said. Just to talk."
"About what?"
"Your man. The one you call Lupo." He smiles coldly. "Though that's not really his name, is it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Please. Don't insult my intelligence." He leans back casually, completely relaxed. "We know who he is. We know where he's been. And we know he's planning to come for us." He pauses. "We thought we'd give him a little surprise. A reason to be very, very careful about what he does next."
They're using us as leverage against Lupo.
"He doesn't... we're not important to him. We're just..."
"You're just the woman and child he's been living with. The ones he talks about constantly. The ones he sent Ciro to protect." The man's smile widens. "We've been watching you, Signora. Watching him. We know exactly how important you are."
The car is moving fast now, heading out of Tuscany. I watch the familiar landscape blur past. The farms. The hills. Everything that was supposed to be safe.
Everything that was supposed to protect us from his world.
But his world found us anyway.
"Mama, how much longer?" Elena asks. "I want to see Daddy."
"Soon, baby." I press a kiss to her head, trying to memorize the feel of her. The smell of her hair. The weight of her against me.
In case this is the last time I get to hold her.
In case these men decide we're more useful dead than alive.
All I can do is hold my daughter and pray.
Pray that somehow Lupo knows we're in danger, that he's as dangerous as I suspect.
Because right now, we need the monster.
Not the gentle man who reads bedtime stories.
Not the patient man who teaches Elena how to collect eggs.
We need Don Rossi.
We need the man who built an empire from nothing. The man who kills without hesitation. The man who protects what's his.
We need him to remember who he is.
And we need him to come for us.