Chapter 39
Caterina
I woke up with a gasp, almost as if I had been pulled under a dark, icy abyss.
My lungs seized, and pain erupted throughout my entire body.
The pain told me the nightmare was a reality and my wife was gone, trapped.
I kicked my legs out of the bed, my world tilting before my bed was even fully upright.
Nausea ripped through me as bile burned the back of my throat.
I forced myself up, ignoring everything as I walked out of my room.
The world was spinning, but I needed to find her.
Harlow was alone. I stumbled into my office, my door slamming against the wall as I grabbed the edge of my desk with my good hand.
This fucking cast would be the death of me.
These injuries would cause more issues than good, but I had one good hand and there wasn’t anything coffee couldn’t fix to help my head.
Lena would laugh at me if I told her that remedy, but it would work for now along with aspirin and determination.
I was going to find my wife. There would be no corner left unturned in the Windy City.
Someone knew where my wife was, and I didn’t care how many people I had to kill to find her.
Vincenzo’s people would pay for his sins with their blood until there was a sea of red.
I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing the pain away before taking a shaky, pained breath.
Focus, Caterina. I grabbed an iPad and old maps, scattering the maps open on my desk as I grabbed a red Sharpie.
We kept track of Vincenzo and his businesses.
Someone would know something, even if I had to burn them all to the ground to figure it out.
He had his strip club. The warehouse. A few ‘legit’ businesses in the business district with some finance people. Most of his high-dollar clients came from there. He also had business with Orlov in the city. I would need to get with Roman to have him assist me with those.
I glanced at the painting in my office. She loved her art.
I loved her art and the passion I saw coming back into her eyes when she held a paintbrush.
Harlow’s face danced through my mind, her smile sending warmth through me.
I needed to find her. I needed to see her smile again.
To hold her in my arms and take all the demons away.
Tears fell from my eyes and hit the map. My father found me like that. “You need to heal, farfalla.”
I shook my head, wiping my eyes. “I healed enough. I need to find her. She needs me.” I wobbled on my feet, my father steadying me on my feet, and I growled in frustration. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll heal while finding her.”
He sighed. “You are just like your mother. Stubborn.” My chest tightened. “Devoted. She never rested when love was on the line. She was a fury when her world was in danger.” He brushed my hair away from my face, wiping the tears away. We were her world. “You have that passion, Caterina.”
“Harlow created that passion. That fury. That’s why I need to find her.”
“I know,” he whispered. “And I won’t stop you, but I am here to remind you of one thing. You’re injured. Your strength weakened but not gone. Use your rage to sharpen you, not consume you. You will find her.”
And with that, he left me in my office. I would rest once I mapped this out, but it wouldn’t be for long. I needed to find my wife. She needed me now more than ever.
I sat surrounded by maps, pencils and Post-it notes. There would be enough to find a clue, a path, something to lead me to her. Vincenzo would hide her somewhere no one would think to look, so I would take everything and search high and low.
I pressed my hand to my chest, feeling my heart stutter. It felt like my heart was missing a part of itself, skipping a beat because the other half of it was so far away.
“I’m coming,” I whispered, as if she could hear me in the distance. “Fight for me until I can take over the fight.”
I would find her. I would make the streets bleed red and make a deal with the devil to bring my wife home because Harlow was worth everything. She was my soul, my heart. She showed me what it meant to love. And I realized love wasn’t gentle.
Love was a violent devotion.
Love was burning heaven and hell to bring her home.
There was a reason I survived that wreck when I should’ve died on impact. It was love. It was Harlow. I had a mission before the devils took me home.
My wife would be saved, and Vincenzo would be punished before his own devils tormented his pathetic soul for the rest of eternity.
I knew I wasn’t a good person, but Harlow made me better.
She made me whole. Hell, she made me want to leave this life behind and create a new life.
But Vincenzo was a monster through and through.
He was born evil. Now he would learn what happened when a ruthless queen was pissed the fuck off.
He might’ve injured me, but he took my reason for life.
I once thought love was a weakness, but my devotion to Harlow didn’t make me soft; it made me unstoppable—savage.