Chapter Twenty-Eight
I head to his car, the watch and phone I bought him tossed on the front seat, clearly visible from the outside.
He’s ditched me, found a way to disappear.
I got too complacent. I thought he had accepted his fate.
But now this, he clearly found a way out.
I punch the car. Scream into the sky and vow to find him and drag him back to my side.
He’s gone. I can’t believe I can’t find him anywhere. He’s just vanished.
My guy, who was trailing him, turned up dead.
A knife to the back of the neck in an alleyway miles away from campus.
My fists clench at my side while I try to calm my resolve.
He couldn’t have done that, I think as I wait for the images to load onto the screen of the security camera in the university campus office.
The image flickers to life. He steps out of the university double doors, someone shouts to him from over the other side of the quad, and he waves and jogs towards them.
“Follow him,” I bark, pointing at the screen.
The security guard flinches as he scans from one camera to the next.
I see him reach his roommate, they talk and laugh for a few minutes, and then they separate and head in different directions.
He walks back across the quad. We follow him through the green as he heads towards the campus exit.
We lose sight of him, but then he’s never picked up on the next camera. He just vanishes.
“Where’s that?”
“It’s the edge of campus, there’s a car park and then the main gates, there’s a security office near the gate and an alleyway with the bins in.”
I take off, kicking the door open and storming through the grounds, following the trail he’d last taken.
When I reach the alleyway. I take a breath before I calm myself, looking around the area, the scuff marks on the ground, a spilt coffee cup, the same kind he had in his hand as he wandered towards his car.
I scan around the alley. He’s been gone for hours.
He never came home. I checked the cameras, and he never arrived back at the car.
But a hooded figure opened the car with the keys and tossed the phone and watch inside, locking the car back up after.
I’ve been trying to give him some space.
A little time to come to terms with his new life.
His new role as my husband, my partner. But I knew something was wrong.
I know his routine. I know who he sees and where he goes, and this, this is unlike him.
I take a deep breath and close my eyes while I think.
My hands balled into fists at my side while I try and focus.
I make my way into the alleyway, the scuff marks on the floor.
There’s a cloth next to the bin, and I bend down and pick it up.
There’s a vague trace of chloroform on it, and I snarl as I glare down at the floor.
Think fucking think. That’s when it catches my eye.
My blood boils. The cigar butt that’s kicked to the edge of the alley.
There’s only one cunt I know who smokes these. Luciano De Luca. Leonardo’s oldest half-brother. I spin on my heel and take off running to my car. I squeal out of the car park and wheelspin down the street.
I drive like a bat out of hell, but I’m worse; the harbinger of hell has nothing on me.
The red mist descends; it’s never been this bad.
I normally have some control. Some resemblance to a human.
But now, in this second, there’s nothing human left.
I spin into Enzo’s drive, slamming my brakes on and screeching to a halt.
I throw the car into park and launch the door open, stepping out.
I walk around to the back of the car and remove my jacket.
I crack my neck. I roll my sleeves up, and I open the trunk. I slide my guns into my holsters, and I take the tyre iron out and smirk. Heads are gonna fucking roll.
I climb the stairs and pause as I reach the door.
I step back and kick out. The big, solid door flies open.
I glare around the stark white marble floor, there are slight specks of blood glaring at me, taunting me and breaking my resolve.
I grip the tyre iron tighter in my grasp as I scream into the house.
“Where the fuck is my husband?” I bellow as I storm inside.
I scrape the tyre iron down the marble of the entranceway.
The sound echoes around the walls, ricocheting from the ceilings, my gun in my other hand hangs loosely at my side, both like an extension of each hand.
I step heavily, shoes thud as I stomp my way inside.
I kick the door in on every single room I get to, checking inside before going to the next.
And the next. I leave no door left uncheck as I yell for my husband.
I will fucking kill them when I find them.
They want to hope he’s still alive, otherwise I will gladly tear them to little pieces while they’re still breathing.
The door splinters as I kick it in and walk into the kitchen. There’s a basement door next to the pantry. I yank the pantry door open, checking inside before I kick the basement door in.
“We’ll fucking shoot him if you come down here, Bellino.”
“Which one of you pussies is gonna fucking die first?” I scream down the stairs, barely keeping a hold of my resolve.
“If you lay a finger on either of us, I will shoot him in the fucking face.”
I creep forward to peer over the stairs.
But they’re enclosed in with a door at the bottom.
I tread so lightly, avoiding all the darker, older wood, hoping to prevent creaking.
When I get to the bottom, there’s a small square glass panel in the door, and as I peer through, I can see Leonardo with his back to me tied to the chair, his head hanging forward.
I take a breath as I vow that if he’s injured, even the slightest bruise, I will rip them apart anyway.
I take a step back and breathe before I kick in the door. They both flinch, and I snarl. “There best not be a single hair on that man’s head harmed.”
Luciano points his gun at me, and Ricardo points his at Leonardo’s face. My nostrils flare as I hang the gun and tyre iron limp by my side, my breathing becomes more agitated, the snarl spreads across my face as I stare at the cunts who took my husband.
I can see from the bindings on his wrists that he’s bruised, and the skin is split and bleeding.
I tighten my grip on the tyre iron, my gaze focused on the damage to his wrists, his head lolls, but he hasn’t tried to turn to see me, so he’s either drugged or dazed, and I know there will be only two of us leaving this house.
I take a step forward, Luciano steps towards me, and Ricardo steps to the side of Leonardo. I grin internally. That’s it, boys, a little fucking closer!
Ricardo steps more confidently towards me again, snarling. “Turn around while you fucking can, Stronzo.” He spits.
I close my eyes for a second and let the calm wash over me.
I’ve perfected the detachment over the years.
My father saw to that; he turned me into a machine, an unfeeling robot, bound by loyalty to a family that only ever took.
But now, now I have something to live for, something to feel and love, and I will burn the world down for him.
I glare back at Ricardo. I swing the tyre iron, his eyes widen too late as the metal connects with his jaw, the crack echoes as bone splinters, skin spits, and blood gushes as the metal rips through his face.
His jaw slackens as I smash through his teeth.
His nose explodes with the momentum of the metal separating the flesh.
It tears with a squelch and a scream as it’s ripped from him.
He drops to his knees as I swing again at a ninety-degree angle, hearing the thud as Ricardo hits the floor.
I raise my hand. Bang. The screech fills the room, the bullet splitting through Luciano’s neck.
His gun clatters to the floor as he grasps for the wound, spluttering as I stride over to him.
I tuck the gun in the back of my trousers.
I drop the tyre iron to the floor and kneel in front of Leonardo. He’s bruised, battered, cut, bleeding, and drifting in and out of consciousness. I tug the phone out of my pocket. Not sure who I can actually trust, but I guess now is the time.
The phone rings twice as her voice comes through the speaker. “Bellino?” The confusion is evident as it echoes in her voice.
“Arianna.” My voice breaks like never before. “I need…” I can’t get the words out. I’ve never asked for anything, I’ve never needed anything, ever. I don’t have time to finish my sentence.
“Where are you?” she asks, no emotion, just a plain, simple question.
“Enzo’s.” There’s a screech of tyres. She must be in the car and changes direction in a split second. “In the basement, through the kitchen.” I blow out a breath.
“I’m coming,” she clips out as the call drops.
The brothers gasp and splutter as they try to hang on to each breath.
I reach into my pocket and take out the knife, cutting Leonardo free and gathering him up into my arms. He gasps as I wrap my arms around him and hoist him against my chest. I carry him upstairs, stalking through the house. He stutters a breath.
“Bell,” he gasps out, and my heart pounds in my chest.
“I got you, lil’ lamb.”
He stutters a breath as he relaxes against me, and I carry him outside.
I steadily descend the stairs. Arianna wheelspins into the driveway, screaming up to the house.
She screeches to a halt, flinging her door open.
She steps out with guns raised, searching around, covering me as I carry him towards the car.
She meets me on the passenger side and opens the door.
I slide Leonardo in, and he winces as I clip the belt. I step back, closing the door.
“Take him home,” I grit out, I’m so close to losing my shit.