Chapter 41
Caterina
Another day passed and there was nothing I could do.
I was done arguing with Lena about my injuries, and I went to my guesthouse.
Titus and Lucifer needed company after almost a month of being stuck in the house.
I had automatic feeders for them with a two-month supply of food in case something happened, but I preferred a fresh diet to keep them healthy instead of kibble.
When I walked into the house, they knew something was wrong.
They knew Harlow was missing, too. They whined like pups as I took a seat on the couch.
Titus carefully jumped in my lap and Lucifer nudged my leg.
I never thought I would feel this anguish or have it mirrored by dogs.
Harlow completed us. She made us loveable, and now I felt lost and my pups were lonely.
“I know, babies.” I scratched behind their ears. “I’m going to find her and then she is going to be so happy when she gets to see you again.”
I curled up on the couch with Titus curled in front of me and Lucifer at my feet. Falling asleep wasn’t what I expected to do, but since I woke up, I haven’t been sleeping because I was constantly worried about my wife, riddled with guilt.
Harlow looked angelic under the large oak in a white sundress.
She smiled at me and the mess of my life vanished as I stepped closer to her.
I didn’t remember how or when I got here, but I wasn’t complaining.
Harlow adjusted herself on the blanket, her bare feet brushing against my leg as she inhaled a red rose.
She looked at me with a gentle smile. She was perfect. I still couldn’t fathom how I got lucky enough to call her mine.
“You’re staring,” she teased.
“I can’t help it. The world looks so much brighter because of you.”
She laughed, and it healed a part of me which I never knew was broken. Harlow was my happiness in human form, and I never wanted to lose this light of mine. My life was perfect because I had her.
She leaned in closer to me, her lips brushing against my jaw. “Never leave me, okay?”
“I promise.”
And then something shifted in her eyes, like a shadow reaching around her from the depths. Her smile faltered and the space around us turned darker, like we were being swallowed whole by inky darkness. When I blinked, her cheek had a smear of blood on it.
She tried to speak, but no words escaped her lips. I tried to move, but my body was frozen like I had cinderblocks attached to my limbs, pulling me into a deep abyss. Her eyes were pleading with me as darkness engulfed us.
And then she screamed.
I reached into nothingness, trying to find her in the void. “Harlow!”
Her voice echoed through the void, hitting me like shrapnel. “Why didn’t you save me?”
My knees buckled. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. All I heard was her pain. All I felt was failure tearing through me.
“Save me. Save me!”
I jerked awake, my lungs on fire and my heart hammering in my chest. Titus licked my face as I attempted to control my breathing.
Fuck, I needed to find her. I needed her here with me.
I was failing her by being here, sleeping and resting, while she was being…
God, I didn’t need to think like that, but I knew.
Vincenzo was a sick bastard. I knew exactly what he was doing to my wife.
My phone rang, and I realized I’d been out here most of the day.
My body needed sleep, but an entire day was gone.
I kissed my boys before checking the messages.
Luca needed to see me. He attempted to call me several times, but it didn’t wake me.
Normally, I wasn’t an intense sleeper, not in this life.
I needed to get my shit together and find her.
No more resting, no more sleep until Harlow was in my arms, safe.
I walked back into the main house to find Luca and Moira talking with an older woman.
Everyone knew how I felt about strangers in my house, but maybe Moira hired another maid while I was in a coma?
My eyes met the woman’s, and I felt my world shift.
Luca grabbed me, keeping me steady. She had the same eyes as Harlow.
The same honey eyes with little hints of greenish gold.
“Who?”
“Opal Mae Copeland,” Luca started, “mother of Marie Lewis. Grandmother to Harlow.”
With everything that happened, I forgot about her grandmother. “It’s nice to meet you.” The resemblance was undeniable. “Did you look for them?”
She nodded. “I never stopped. After the police came to my home, I gave up. They said they were both gone, but this young man came to my house when I returned from Japan and had pictures of my granddaughter.”
“Cops?” It wouldn’t surprise me.
She nodded. “I searched every day for three years, bugged the shit out of the police until they threatened to arrest me for harassment. I wanted to get the FBI involved after the local police gave up. Derrick was a lowlife, and I always knew he had something to do with their disappearance.”
Vincenzo had people in the department, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he had someone pay her a visit.
Before I got a steady foot on the ground with the family after my father’s spiral, I had to deal with a lot of damage he created while grieving.
Eventually I did, but Vincenzo was able to get allies to help him. He only had a handful left.
“After three years, I got a call and I went to the police station. They said they found two bodies, and it was confirmed through DNA that it was Harlow and Marie,” she continued.
Three years after they were taken…it would be around the time her mother was killed and Vincenzo took her for himself.
If Vincenzo had her in his clubs, he didn’t need her grandmother causing a scene.
I was surprised he didn’t kill her to keep her quiet, but maybe he realized it would cause issues if she turned up dead while looking for her family.
“I know it’s been a few years, but do you remember their names?”
“Neal Moore and Mason Jenkins. I’ll never forget the names of the people who shattered my world.
They didn’t seem like they cared and when I tried calling to report them, no one would ever get back to me.
Eventually I accepted that they were both gone.
I never should have believed them. She’s alive? ”
I looked at Luca. “She is alive, but she is back with the man who took them. He attacked us in New York when we were off guard. I thought we were safe there because of a treaty he and the families there had, but he broke it. He broke a lot of things.”
“And Marie?” My face fell, but I didn’t have to explain. “Did they have each other for a while?”
“Marie protected her until her last breath. I promise you, I am going to find her.”