Chapter 49
Caterina
I was unravelling. I could feel it. While I knew I needed to take care of myself, I needed to find her.
It’d been three days since we raided the club, and we had nothing else.
The warehouse wasn’t in the woods surrounding the club, which made me question where he kept the girls. She needed me, and I was failing.
I was failing her.
I was supposed to be her savage queen, but I was a helpless fool watching this life take her from me.
Could I call this a spiral when spirals had ends?
I would hit the ground eventually, but I refused to hit rock bottom without her.
I needed to focus, but it was fucking hard.
Was this how my father felt? I needed to talk to him.
If anyone knew how I felt, it was him. He was happy again with Serena, but the pain of losing my mother would live with him forever. I couldn’t lose her.
I wasn’t strong like he was. It was hard opening my heart to her, but she stole it immediately.
My thought spiral was interrupted when Malachi rushed into the gym. I was supposed to work out my frustration, but I looked at the punching bag for thirty minutes instead of doing anything.
“He sent a tape.” I knew what would be on that tape. He knew we raided his club, and now he was pissed. What was an attempt to draw him out of hiding just caused Harlow more pain.
Alexi, Serena, my father, and Lena also joined us. I knew I was going to need my father, and Lena needed to inspect Harlow’s wounds. She was good at diagnosing based on a video.
“Harlow will never know you saw this video. Is that clear?” They all nodded in agreement.
Malachi hit play on the tape, and instantly the tension in the room intensified when Harlow’s screams echoed through the speakers. It was not like the first video he sent. I clenched my fists, watching as he carved her skin, leaving deep lacerations, followed by volts of electricity from the taser.
“S-st-stop! P-pl-please,” she sobbed, her voice breaking as her body went limp. The rage flowing through me was enough to set off a nuclear power plant. I wanted his head on a platter. I wanted his blood.
“You’re mine,” he growled, grabbing her jaw. “No one will ever have you again. You belong to me.”
“She belongs to me,” I growled, but no one said anything.
I was going to fucking kill him. The video faded once more, staying black as moans and skin slapping skin filled the room. I grabbed the vase that was on my desk. Anger soared through me and the vase went flying across the room. I needed to gain my control back because I felt myself spiraling.
“She’s mine. She’s always been mine. Caterina Moretti is dead. Leave me be, or I’ll destroy everything Harlow cared for, starting with the pretty blonde that escaped.”
“I need to find Luca.”
He would not harm Lizzy. Vincenzo still thought I was dead. We were still working with that advantage, but the more I went after him, the more he would threaten my people. I refused to let anyone else get harmed.
Vincenzo made an open threat to Elizabeth, and now Luca will want his blood more than he did before. His blood would run through the streets of Chicago, showing everyone else what happened when you touched what’s mine.
“She is fighting,” Lena started. “Her body is in fight or flight and she has serious injuries, but it looks like Vincenzo is either treating her wounds or he has a doctor.”
It took everything in me not to shatter something else. “Burn the fucking tape.” When I brought Harlow home, I refused to let her find it and watch it. She already had to live through it once, and I refused to keep any remnants of her trauma within these walls. This was her safety net. Her home.”
“His doctor worked for one of the private hospitals in Michigan City. I remember meeting him a few times before,” Lena explained. “He vanished randomly one day. I’ll see if I can find any articles and get his name.”
“I want everyone to get ready. I am going to find Harlow, and I don’t care what I need to do to get her back.”
My father nodded. “I will be prepared, but we have already sent notice to our allies about Orlov’s betrayal. Every family here and in New York knows what he has done and how he betrayed the Petrovs.”
“The Orlov bloodline will be eliminated once Roman and his brothers get a hold of Igor.”
If Sergei Petrov was still alive, he would string Orlov up by his toes and let the crows pluck his eyes out before mutilating his body and leaving him in the center of Moscow.
The Petrov Bratva allowed a lot of things, but when a bond of trust was severed, there was no way to survive the wrath of the family.
Luca came running through my office door with a serious look plastered on his face and his laptop in his hand. He always looked serious, but the way his brows furrowed and his jaw was set told me something was wrong.
“We need to talk.” My back straightened. His tone was ice, and I knew he was hiding something. He looked around the room. He didn’t realize he just missed something serious. “What happened?”
“Vincenzo delivered a tape of him torturing Harlow. I need you to try and trace it. Malachi, Alexi. See what else you can find. Warehouses, more men. Anything else. I’m going to call Roman and see if he has anything on his side.”
“I’ll look into it, and I have Roman’s update,” Luca said. “I don’t know if you want everyone to know this or not. It’s serious. Maybe Serena cause she’s a shrink.”
“Malachi, Alexi go. Lena. Thank you. My father and Serena can stay.” Lena walked out before Malachi and Alexi followed behind.
“Roman has been keeping an eye on Orlov and looking into him and Vincenzo’s partnership. He found things.”
Luca pulled out his iPad and showed photos of a frail woman I had never seen before. She looked familiar, but I knew I’d never laid eyes on her. She was with Orlov, but Orlov didn’t have a wife. He was a private man who barely went out in public or met with any of the families.
“Who is that?”
Luca pulled up another photo, the same missing persons flyer, and I knew who this woman was now. “Vincenzo lied to Harlow.”
My eyes grew as I looked at the woman in the flyer and the footage.
“Her mother is alive?” Everyone said she was dead, but I guess that was what we got for believing the lies that spilled from Vincenzo’s mouth.
I looked at the picture in awe and horror, because what horrors did he put her mother through?
Luca knew the answer, but I was scared to ask.
I knew how horrible Vincenzo was, I could only imagine what Orlov did to Harlow’s mother.
Serena grabbed my hand, giving me a reassuring squeeze. “What did he do to her mother?” I asked, biting the bullet.
Luca sighed, hitting the screen and having more pictures pop up.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together.
“He got her pregnant. Four pregnancies. Three living children. Two boys and a girl all under the age of five. She had a miscarriage the first time because he beat her too hard after she tried to escape.”
My fist clenched at my side. “We all know what’s going to happen to that little girl.”
“Igor is raising mercenaries. I hacked his system, and he already has men coming to the house to get them prepared. The oldest is about to be five. They should have a childhood. I also heard that Igor is trying to find his eldest daughter and kill her so she can’t come after his empire.”
“Roman’s niece?” I questioned.
Luca nodded. “She is Igor’s first born. His plans were shattered when Anya escaped. The girl needs to die so his eldest son can take over. Natalya is looking for the girl and Anya. She left two days ago.”
“And Harlow’s mother?”
“Roman is going to save her and her children. He will bring them here.”
“Does he know why the Russians attacked Harmony?”
Luca shook his head. “We still don’t understand why they were attacked. I don’t think Serenity or Harmony have anything to do with Igor.”
That was something we needed to figure out, but we had to deal with the current matter at hand. Serenity was safe and as far as we knew so was Harmony. Once I found my wife, I would look into this more.
I looked at Serena. “I will be prepared to stay here for the next several months. As soon as he brings them here, I will ease into talking with them,” she said.
“What about Harlow’s grandmother?” my father asked. “Isn’t she in Springfield?”
“I paid for an apartment here in Chicago. When Roman has an update, I will bring her to the mansion. Vincenzo ruined their lives, now we will work on healing them. When I have Harlow back home, she will have not only her grandmother, but her mother and siblings, as well.”