Chapter 26
26
D ante
I stride into the warehouse where we do most of our work. Heavily secured, the unassuming exterior disguises a much more sophisticated interior, with brick walls, state-of-the-art technology, and sleek furniture.
Over three weeks have gone by since Gia left. It’s been a nightmare without her. Not all of it, of course. AJ is back in our house, and Colleen enlisted her niece to help us, someone she trusts. Katie flew from the other side of the country to assist. So now AJ has a temporary nanny to help me out.
We’re getting closer to Ross Santini. Rocco heard that he’s in the country, and there’s a weekly meeting on Wednesdays when he assigns tasks to his men. We got that tip from a disgruntled employee. The kicker is that he changes the location every week. And since that loser no longer works for him, he doesn’t know where the next ones will be.
My team started looking for locations where those meetings could take place, including hacking public cameras for face recognition. However, the Santinis carefully choose each venue in sketchy neighborhoods to ensure privacy and limited street surveillance.
Still, I feel like Santini has taken so much from me—he took out Andie, he took out any sense of security I have with AJ, and he took Gia because I had to send her away. Her presence in my house, in my life, would’ve been too much of a liability.
How would things have turned out if I hadn’t discovered her identity? Would she have had the courage to leave when she’d saved enough money?
I glance at my phone.
A stupid part of me hopes she’ll call. She doesn’t know I have someone who keeps tabs on her. I need to know she’s all right.
I couldn’t simply leave her alone.
I have to know she’s okay.
Whenever Randy calls me with an update, my pulse skitters like I’m about to receive the results of life-threatening medical exams. Then a sense of relief sweeps over me, and after the call is over, regret.
Regret for not being with her when that’s what feels right—even though it’s not.
I’ve never felt this way for a woman before. How can I trust it’s real? How can I trust myself? Better to move forward with my life and let Gia continue with hers. Life has worked a certain way for most of my adulthood. Why would I change it now?
I walk into my office and sit, making a mental note of my daily affairs. A couple of minutes later, Massimo barges in.
“We need to talk,” he says, closing the door behind him.
“Sure. What’s up?”
“Why didn’t you tell me about Lucia? Or should I say, Gia Santini?”
A chilly sensation spills into my gut. I inhale a long breath. Distracting or denying won’t work. I can’t underestimate Massimo’s intelligence. “Because I handled it. Who told you?”
“Rocco went out drinking with me yesterday, and you know he talks when he drinks.”
A twinge of annoyance stabs me. Yep. Rocco is a talkative son-of-a-bitch when he drinks. Being a frequent patron at the strip club where he met Gia, I wonder how much of an easy target he was. He could have mentioned anything about her, and someone could’ve relayed the information to Gia’s husband. But it doesn’t matter anymore.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Massimo insists, leaning over the desk.
Unfazed, I gesture for him to sit. I know Massimo. Showing apprehension will give him power. “I asked her everything. She didn’t know, I could tell. So, I got rid of her,” I say casually, like I’m talking about a worthless stranger.
He shakes his head, still annoyed. “By flying her to California. That’s not what we usually do.”
A weight sits on my chest. I have to tread this conversation carefully. I can’t completely dismiss his concern. Otherwise, it’ll be like giving him free rein to solve the problem himself however he deems necessary. “I wasn’t going to kill her for no reason.”
Massimo frowns. “You’ve done worse for less.”
Truth . I look away, a part of me ashamed for not seeing it through when it came to Gia. But I’m not ready to get into it with Massimo. “Not in this case.”
“What if she paid attention to our operations? What if she has information about our family that she can use against us?”
A knot forms in my throat. He doesn’t know Gia as well as I do. I have to be fair—if I were in his place, I’d wonder the same thing. I look at him square in the eye. “She’s not. Besides, I now have someone who keeps an eye on her. If she meets with anyone sketchy, we’ll know.”
He taps his fingers on the smooth surface of my desk. “Damn it, Dante. We’re supposed to trust each other.”
“Like you trusted me when you found out your wife knew about Alonzo’s recovery and didn’t tell anyone?” I demand.
One of the reasons he married Amara was to take over her family business since her brother was in a coma for years. But when Massimo learned critical information that could jeopardize the standing of our family, he didn’t tell me until his wife was kidnapped along with Andie. Great timing.
Massimo waves me off, gesturing to stop the nonsense. The asshole hates being wrong almost as much as I hate him being right. “I guess you have a point. But Amara never shared any information that could hurt us.”
“She could have—you didn’t know at the time,” I insist. We’ve accepted Amara as one of our own, and I’ll always be grateful for the time she let me stay in their home with AJ. She became a sister to me as we mourned losing Andie and leaned on each other for support. “Listen, Amara is great. She’s one of us now.”
“Yep.” Massimo sighs. Flattery won’t get him anywhere.
I stand, walk over to the console table, and open the bottle of scotch. This conversation needs it. I pour a generous amount of liquor into two tumblers and quickly take a shot of one, wasting no time. “Gia has been through the wringer. Starting over is all she wants. She knows that she’s as good as dead if she does anything to hurt us. She’s not an idiot.”
“Let’s hope,” he mutters.
“I could knock out your teeth for disrespecting her,” I snap, my fingers balling into a fist.
Massimo lifts his eyebrow, a smile playing on his lips like my reaction amuses him. He lifts his hands in surrender. “I want to keep all my teeth.”
“Good. Then let’s focus on what’s important.”
“Have you talked to her about any small details that could help us? Anything she knew about her husband and his dealings?”
“She said he never shared anything with her.”
“Okay. Hmmm.” He drums his fingers on the desk. “What else have you been doing? You look like shit.”
I rub my eyes, aware there are dark circles under them. “I’ve been busy. Colleen’s niece is great, but AJ is still with me most nights. So, little sleep.” I avoid saying I’ve also been getting bad sleep because I miss Gia. That’d be pathetic, and I don’t want to give any of my brothers more ammunition.
My phone buzzes, and I glance at the screen. Randy’s name flashes, the security person I hired. He usually calls me once a week, but I already talked to him a few days ago. So, this must be news.
I lift my index finger to ask for silence from Massimo and take the call.
“Mr. Gallo, I have bad news,” Randy says at the end of the line.
My heart skips in my chest. If I didn’t have a good feeling a second ago, it’s twice as bad now. “Tell me.”
“I’m sorry,” he says, anxiety creeping into his voice.
“Fucking tell me,” I say, looking at Massimo. His expression sobers like he’s now invested in this call, too.
“Gia has been quiet for two days. I assumed she was chilling at home, but then I realized she had a class scheduled today and never showed up. The last time I saw her was at the beach. She went into her condo, and I never saw her leave. I broke in this morning, and there was no sign of her.”
I slam my fist on the desk. “You better be fucking kidding, or it’s your ass.”
“I wish I was, boss. I got access to the security footage of her condo and saw her leave with a man. Tall, with a patch on his eye.”
A jolt of panic surges through me. “Her ex,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Yes. I already contacted the tech team, and they’re on it, trying to get better visuals on the parking lot, license plates, and what have you. I promise we’ll find her.”
“And she’d better be alive.” The weight of my words sits on my chest, constricting my lungs. I know her piece-of-shit husband must have returned more pissed than ever, wanting to take it out on her. I just hope I make it on time. He wants to fight? I’ll give him a fucking fight.
I hang up the call and look at Massimo. “Call the pilot and tell him to get the jet ready immediately.”
“What’s going on?”
I stand and slide my phone into my pocket. Opening my top drawer, I grab my favorite gun, a European-crafted pistol I bought at an auction years ago. Ciro Santini isn’t worthy of its bullets, but I need my most precise weapon to take him out. I failed to protect Gia, I realize, my heart searing with regret. I need to make things right for her. “Gia’s husband kidnapped her, and I need to find her.”
“Do you want me to go with you?” Massimo asks, surging to his feet.
I lift my hand in refusal. I can’t allow him to come with me—he has a wife, and I need him to be around in case anything happens to me because of AJ. A sour lump tightens my throat. I can’t even think of it… Nope. I’ll come out of it alive and bring Gia with me. “No… I’ll take care of this on my own.”