Thirty One
DARIO
“What the fuck do you mean she’s not home yet? She told me she’d be home an hour ago.” I can see the panicked expressions from my brothers, and my heart beats erratically in my chest. “Where’s the car?”
Every one of them shares glances of fear, not over the situation, but over my tone of voice and how riled up I am; even Silas looks somewhat on edge.
“I thought you fuckers were smart,” I bark, pushing through the crowd to find my desk. “I made her take the SUV for a fucking reason.”
“GPS,” Ciro blurts out. “Of-fucking-course. I–I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before.”
“Yeah, I don’t know why either,” I bite back, my fingers furiously typing at my keyboard.
Ciro places his hand on my arm and I freeze, glaring at him with warning. “Don’t you dare try to fucking stop me, Ciro. I need to find this damn car.”
He tugs at my wrists to pull me away. “Let me do it, Rio; I’m quicker and more experienced with this kind of shit.”
“You didn’t even think to track the GPS—”
“Stop being so fucking stubborn and let him do it,” Maze says, his voice dark and stern.
I push myself back from my desk and raise my hands in defence, giving Ciro access to the keyboard. His fingers work furiously as he pulls up the GPS tracker and connects it into our system.
“She’s downtown.”
“Or the car is, at least,” Silas adds, raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t need your snarky little fucking comments right now, Si, keep that shit to yourself.” He shrugs his left shoulder in response. “Get in the fucking cars. Ciro, you lead.” Everyone jumps at once and we all run from the office, somehow keeping a single-file line.
Ciro climbs into his car with Cassian, Red and I slide into another while Remi and Maze take the last car, followed by Silas on his bike. I’m frantic, fumbling with my keys but adamant I drive. In this very rare case, my pain outweighs my anger. My thoughts are foggy, and I’m in a constant state of panic and overwhelming fear that we could be too late; I’m desperate to get to her.
Something within me screams that she’s not there, that she’s already gone, that somehow the bastard found her. I have no doubt she feels the same way about me as I do her, so her leaving of her own volition is out of the question.
“We’ll find her, Rio,” Red says, trying to console me. “We’ll bring her back.”
“Will we, though?” I ask through gritted teeth as we speed out of the driveway. I can barely think rationally right now, let alone give in to his poor attempt at sympathy. “Like we found Serra and Scarlett? I don’t need you lying to me right now, Red. I need the truth, because I might hate you if you lie to me again.”
He sighs, rubbing his palms against his slacks. “We didn’t find them because he didn’t want us to. He did everything possible to hide them from us, even in their deaths. This isn’t the case with Liana, Rio. He doesn’t even know she exists.”
He can’t be more fucking wrong. “According to Apollo, Gabriel and Antonio have been in cahoots for years. I can’t reiterate exactly what he said, but it was something like ‘if Gabriel could hurt Liana, she’s fair game for anyone’. I think it’s safe to say he knows about her and he’ll hurt her to get to me. He’ll hurt her to get to us… again. Nothing is off limits to that man.”
A deep, breathy sigh escapes him. “So, you think he has her?”
“I don’t know anything for certain, Red; none of us do, but what I do know is if she’s not within twenty feet of the car, someone’s got her. There’s no way in hell she’d leave.”
“A-are you sure? I don’t want to insinuate—”
“Then fucking don’t,” I bark with a sharpness to my words that cuts through the air like a knife. “I don’t need your pity or assumptions; I need her back safely. I know better than anyone that getting her back unharmed is the most unlikely scenario, so retrieving her in one piece is all I have to hold onto. Don’t fucking take that from me.”
“I was just… I just want you to know that if you did anything to scare her off, she could be taking some time to herself.”
I can feel my anger bubbling to the surface, my chest heaving and jaw tensing almost hard enough to break my teeth as I try to keep a lid on it all. The last thing I need is to overreact before we know anything, even though I know deep down, something’s gone wrong. It’s like a gnawing feeling in my gut that refuses to pass.
“The last thing I did was kiss her goodbye. We didn’t have a fight or even a petty little argument like we have in the past… Everything was fine.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “Ev-everything was f-fine.” My voice cracks as I sink deeper into despair.
Red notices, I know he does, but thankfully, says nothing about it. We’ve grown up at each other’s side, but have handled our personal matters in private. I don’t have that privilege right now.
My eyes well with tears, but I blink them away, coughing to clear my throat and the air shared between us.
“She’s a strong girl, Rio, you made sure of that. She’s strong both physically and mentally, so there’s no doubt in my mind she’ll be able to hold out a lot longer than whoever has her anticipates.” He pauses. “What about her friend? Do we think she’s involved in this?”
I go to shake my head, but something stops me. “I don’t know anything about her to make a solid conclusion. It’s something I hadn’t thought about at first.”
“I’ll have Ciro look into her when we get back.”
“You don’t have any hope that we’ll find her, do you?” I ask, taking my eyes off the road for a second, my hand gripping the wheel tighter.
“What I think doesn’t matter, does it? It’s what you think.”
“Everything within me wants to find her at the restaurant, having lost track of time, but I know she isn’t going to be there.” I swallow again, the lump feeling larger this time. “I don’t want to think the worst, but Lia is so innocent and trusting. Her friend could’ve played a part in all of this. That’s the only valid thing I can think of that makes sense at all.”
“She didn’t look like someone who would get involved in the worst side of the underworld, Rio. I know we only met her once, but there was something about her that showed genuine care for Liana. There wasn’t an ounce of hatred between them.”
“We both know looks can be deceiving, Red,” I tell him, my words harsh. “Looks are there to misguide you, to make you feel at ease and to trick you into a false sense of comfort before they snap. I guarantee you that showing us—a bunch of strangers—her true colours wasn’t on her to-do list. Plus, Liana never had a bad word to say about her. So unless she wears a disguise by day and lets it slip by night, we’ll never really know what kind of person she is until we see it for ourselves.”
“I’ll shut up now,” he whispers and I hum my response, my mind too preoccupied with the ‘what ifs’.
Every possibility floods my mind and while I try to push them away, the images are there to stay until she’s back in my arms.
∞∞∞
After a twenty-minute drive that feels like hours, we all pile out of our cars, slamming the doors behind us. We scatter across the street to different vantage points, our hands on our weapons, concealed in the small of our backs, as we inch closer to the SUV.
We all peer inside while Silas slips around to the front. With his hand on the hood, he says, “It’s fucking freezing. She hasn’t been in it for at least an hour.”
“Yeah, well this cold doesn’t fucking help, does it?” Cassian seethes, raking his fingers through his hair.
Since we married, he and Liana have been attached at the hip. He helps her with training while she gives him dating advice. It’s a whole thing I don’t quite understand, but he plays a small part in keeping her sane while her brother withers away in the cells. Plus, they’re close in age so it’s like a built-in friend for both of them.
Remi finds his way to Cass’s side, pulling him away from the group for a breather.
In the short time we’ve known that the possibility of finding her here is slim, Cass has been like a loose cannon, berating anyone within earshot of him.
“Silas, Maze, both of you head inside and ask everyone you see if they know anything. Take statements, and do whatever else you need to do to get information. Ciro, get them to show you their footage. Red, you’re with me.” I spin around on my heels. “Remi, you and Cass join whoever when Cass gets his emotions in check. You have one fucking minute.”
“Got it,” Remi calls out before rushing across the road and down the slim alleyway as the echo of Cassian’s fists banging against metal doors surrounds us.
As everyone disperses, Red and I slip through the ajar gates that lead to the back. He takes the lead, our eyes scouring every single aspect of our surroundings, and something shiny draws my attention. It’s small and slightly buried beneath the gravel, but the reflecting sunlight makes it blinding to the eye.
“Fuck’s sake,” I spit as I squat down to retrieve it.
“Her ring?” Red asks, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I nod, twisting it over between two fingers to read the inscription— finché morte non ci separi, piccolo. “It must’ve fallen off her finger,” I say, defeated.
“What, and it buried itself? Yeah, I don’t think so. She had to have hidden it. How else would it have gotten beneath the stones?”
“Anything is fucking possible,” I breathe. “All we know is the ring is here and she’s not. Where the fuck does that leave us?”
“At the place she was last seen, Dario. That’s better than nothing.”
I stand back up, pocketing the ring in my inner jacket pocket. “You keep searching out here, I’m going to see how things are going inside. I’ll send Remi out to you instead.”
He nods, walking through to the expansive area to the right, gently kicking at the gravel as if to kill two birds with one stone.
As I round the corner back onto the main street, I rush inside and find Silas threatening the hostess. He has her computer held over his head as if ready to throw it, and Maze is yelling at someone who seems to be the manager.
“Si, put the fucking computer down, would you? Use your damn words. Not everything has to be a damn threat.” I inch closer to the stand, my eyes squinting at the young woman’s name tag. “Runa, is it?” She nods, her eyes wide with fear. “Get my brother what he wants. This doesn’t have to end in a fight.”
“I-I already told him I wasn’t working when his friend came in. I have no access to the other hostess’s account to retrieve the booking.”
“Then be a doll and go get it from your supervisor.” She tears her eyes away from me to momentarily glance to the corner and I follow her gaze to find Remi and Cass. “We’re not here to hurt you or anyone, we only want answers, okay?”
She gulps, nodding before rushing away from the hostess stand towards Maze and her boss. The dishevelled-looking old man flicks his eyes over to me and his anger fades away. He grips the young woman’s wrist, dragging her towards what I assume to be the back room, her fingers clawing into his skin as she tries to release his grasp.
Maze isn’t far behind, following them with a pep in his step, silently announcing he’s about to beat the shit out of that man for being so brutal with such a dainty little thing.
“If she’s not back in two minutes with the information, Ciro can sort it out after he gets the surveillance footage. Wait here, I’ll see how he’s getting on.” I turn to Remi. “Red needs you outside, Rem.”
He gives me a nod, patting Cass on the back with enough force to make his entire body jump before disappearing out the front door. “Cass, you’re with me, kiddo.”
As he comes to my side, I lead the way towards the hallway Maze had followed the manager and hostess into, and the sight before me brings a slight smile to my face. “Security room?” I ask no one in particular.
Runa lifts her shaky arm, pointing to the end of the hall. “On second thought, stay with the girl, Cass. Calm her down and see if there’s anything she remembers from when she came in to work her shift. She might’ve crossed paths with someone or something that could help.” Cass obliges, guiding the girl into the staff room as I take off down the hall.
Pushing through the security room’s door, my gaze locks onto the man in the corner. His shirt is completely torn; the only things remaining are his sleeves. The rest of his shirt has been used to render him completely helpless. He notices me, his eyes widening and muffled screams reaching my ears.
A small laugh slips free at the sight. “Did you have to tie the man up?” I ask, approaching Ciro at the desk.
“You wanted the footage and the prick wouldn’t let me have it. Does it matter how I gained access?”
I shrug even though I know he can’t see me. He’s busy focusing on the three computer screens in front of him as he flicks through the surveillance of the entrance, the main area that also covers the back door and the last two feeds of the back dining area and gates.
“Work your way backward,” I say, pulling a chair from the side to join him. “I found her ring out back.”
“Got it.” He pauses the other tapes and quickens the pace on the ones covering the back door and the gates. His eyes focus on the gates while mine stare longingly at the dining area.
“There,” I point, and within one click, both feeds have paused. “Can you get a close-up of those guys?” He works his magic, zooming in as much as possible before the feed becomes grainy and the men unrecognisable. “How the fuck is it even possible that they managed to get her out without a single question asked?”
“They had a bottomless brunch that started an hour before she arrived. I’ve already seen two ladies and one guy either being removed or carried out by their friends and partners. Looks like it’s a recurring thing.”
“So, you’re saying nobody suspected anything unusual?“
“Not enough for them to intervene, no.”
That answer alone sends a deep feeling of anguish spiraling down into my gut and hopelessness eats a hole in my chest. “One woman entering alone only to be carried out by three fucking brutes wasn’t enough to warrant a single question? They left through the back door, for fuck’s sake. Anyone with a single brain cell would realise that’s sketchy as fuck.”
He exhales. “A lot of shit happens in this place. You don’t want to know what it becomes at night.”
“Oh yes, I fucking do.”
“When the restaurant closes at 5 p.m., it reopens at 7 p.m. On Mondays and Wednesdays, it becomes a swingers’ club. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, it turns into a hooker’s bar. On Sundays, it’s available to rent for parties or whatever you please.” He stops his frantic motions on the keyboard to glance at me. “It’s underage friendly most nights, Rio. I think the youngest they’ve let in was like fourteen or something. She was assaulted and killed herself last fall.”
“How do you know all this?” I ask, bile reaching the back of my throat.
“When that bastard over there didn’t kindly grant me access, I hacked my way in. Everything was handed to me on a silver fucking platter. They keep all the articles that never make it into the newspapers. They even have a spreadsheet that has a couple dozen names of people they’ve paid off, threatened or signed contracts with to keep the information from going public.”
“Can you tie these pricks to it?”
“One-thousand-fucking-percent,” he says with a smile. “The fuckers signed their names on the dotted line. It’s always good when they sign their own death sentence, isn’t it?”
“We’ll take them back with us,” I say, the knot in my throat growing tighter. “Now, back to the footage.”
He nods in agreement, playing the video further. “I’ll send everything to myself so we can go over it at home, too.”
“Make sure you delete it from their system when we’re done. I want no fucking trace of this if the authorities catch wind. The last thing we need is another crooked cop looking for a payday.”
“Already on the agenda,” he replies, giving himself a pat on the back.
“Alright, there’s the third guy. Pause it and get a close-up.” Before the words leave my lips, he’s already doing it.
“We can definitely get a name from this.” We both squint our eyes at the screen. “He’s giving us everything we need to identify him on a silver platter—”
“Zoom in on his mouth and slow it down,” I tell him, smacking his arm. “Go back to his first appearance after his friends leave.”
He does, and I inch closer, my forearms resting on the desk for support.
He can’t be more than thirty, tattoos coating every inch of his exposed skin with a sleek black biker’s helmet under his arm. I watch in slow motion as he lifts his hands to showcase Liana’s ring. His lips move, but it’s impossible to make out through my fury.
“I can’t make out what he’s saying,” Ciro says, rewinding it and setting it back to its original speed. “Two… hours. Your… house. I’ll… explain… everything.” He mouths each word. “How the fuck does this prick know who we are, let alone where we live?”
“I don’t know,” I say, my eyes zoning in on the time in the corner of the screen. “But we’ve got about an hour and we’ll be fucking ready for the cunt.”
Ciro sends himself the footage of each camera before deleting it and shutting their system down completely. He then takes his trusty blade, driving it hard into each of the screens and smashing their hard drives; he’s nothing if not thorough.
We retrace our steps, calling for each of my brothers before storming out of the restaurant.
Adrenaline courses through every vein in my body, drowning out any other emotion I felt before now. I don’t know who this man is or what he thinks is going to happen when he sees us. But if there’s one thing I know for certain, it’s that he’s in for a world of fucking pain when he shows up. He and his goon friends have no idea what they’ve unleashed within me, but I promise they will long before they take their dying breath.