Chapter 4
Cristian paced the office, his mind racing with possibilities of how to find the woman who was now haunting his every thought. He’d gone as far as nicknaming her Mi Cielo, which translated to My Sky—a name that he picked because of her cerulean blue eyes.
“Are you sure you don’t recognize the name Darby? Maybe you overheard your father speaking about him?”
“No.” Katya stretched her legs out in front of her.
“I tried to avoid my father and his business dealings whenever I could. I did however have some luck with a resort in Brazil. It seems they’ve had several cases of female guests disappearing, only to have their bill paid in full by a mysterious donor. ”
“And they didn’t think to report this to the police?”
“Why would they? It’s not completely unheard of for women to hook up with someone while on vacation. Don’t start blaming them, Cristian.”
Cristian stopped in front of her. “Well, are you going to tell me what you found, or am I supposed to guess?”
“Apparently, the front desk clerk recognized the photo of her, but they wouldn’t give me any information on her over the phone—we’ve got to go in person to get what we need.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. We fly out in an hour.”
Cristian grabbed his notebook and the photo of the woman he had become consumed with. Once they were safely tucked into his backpack, he slung the bag over his shoulder and stopped in front of Katya.
“Let’s go now. I’ll call the pilot on the way and tell him to ready the plane.”
“A tad bit anxious, aren’t you? I need to talk to Matias first, then we can go.”
“We’ll stop by the warehouse on the way. He needs to know what’s going on, and he said he had some information that may tell us something.”
Katya shook her head and stood. “Fine. Let’s go then, Mr. Impatient Pants.”
She followed him outside and climbed into the awaiting car. Cristian was seated in the front seat, staring out the passenger window as their driver navigated toward the warehouse. Katya couldn’t help but giggle.
“What?” Cristian grunted.
“You. You're all brooding and shit. This girl has you tangled up in knots, like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
Cristian groaned and shot her a dirty look. “I just want to end this. These women deserve freedom from that monster.”
“Yes. But she is the one you’re willing to set the world on fire for—and you haven’t even met her. What happens when you find her, and she doesn’t like you? Have you considered that?”
“I’m no fool to the fact I mean nothing to her. She’s a stranger to me just as much as I am to her. But that doesn’t stop the internal war I have inside of me that’s raging to find and save her. I’ll set her free—even if it means walking away.”
Katya narrowed her eyes at him and pursed her lips. She knew it was going to be harder than he realized, especially if his heart had already settled on this mystery woman. They pulled into the mining yard and parked outside the main warehouse. Katya bounced out of the car, eager to see Matias.
Cristian was shocked they hadn’t married yet. Matias was ready months ago, but she wasn’t. He followed her inside and smiled when he saw them wrapped up in each other’s arms.
He scoffed as he rolled his eyes. “Think you two could dial it down a little?”
“One day you’ll have someone you won’t want to be apart from and all you’ll want to do is hold them in your arms.” His brother kissed Katya, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
“What do you have for us? We need to make it quick; Katya and I are flying to Brazil.”
“You might not have to take that trip.” Matais walked to his desk and pulled out some papers. “Before I hand this to you, I need to know you’ll wait to do anything. Going off like a wild bull will only put us at risk.”
Cristian eyed the papers and furrowed his brow. “It depends on what you’re about to hand me.”
“It would appear one of my contacts in Peru has learned of an event hosted by a man out of Columbia.”
“And?” Cristian cocked a brow. His patience growing thin.
“And…” Matias handed him the document. “His name is Darby Conteh.”
“Fuck,” Katya grumbled as she stepped next to Cristian. “That’s our guy.”
“It would appear so. It gets worse.”
Cristian skimmed the contents of what he held in his hand. This man, Darby, was holding an auction in five days. “He’s auctioning off women.” Cristian fisted the paper in his palm. His gut churning with bile as he read over the guest list.
“That’s my guess. According to my contact, there are supposed to be twenty women for sale. One of them could be your girl, Cristian.”
“Do we know where it’s being held?”
“No. But…” Matias picked up another folder. “I have a way to find out—if you're willing to get your hands dirty.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have a buyer out of Ecuador who is on the guest list for the auction. Maybe with a paltry force we can convince him to let you take his place at the event.”
“Why not just ask him? You said he was a client of ours.”
“This guy can be difficult, and we didn’t have the best transaction last time. I’m not sure he’ll be willing to cooperate with us—except for a price.”
“Pay it. Whatever he wants. This is more important than a little lithium, Brother.”
“It’s not about the lithium, Cristian. Alessandro, wanted a portion of our mines for himself.”
“Fuck.”
“Exactly. Now you see why force may be needed. Instead of flying to Brazil, you’ll be taking the jet to Ecuador.
Here is his info. Take Marco and Benji with you.
I know you’ll be able to get what you want out of him.
The last time he gave me shit, I threatened to let you handle the business deal with him. He didn’t like that idea.”
Cristian had earned a reputation for being heartless when it came to handling the family business. He had cleaned up more problems than he could count, leaving a trail of broken and bloodied people in his wake.
“Katya and I will try to find more information about this auction while you're gone. And, Cristian?”
“What is it?”
“When you find her.” He brushed his hand down Katya’s back. “What will you do with her?”
“I haven’t figured that out, Brother.”
Cristian left the two of them in the warehouse and headed to the car. He smiled when he found Marco and Benji waiting for him. “Are you two ready to get dirty?”
“Absolutely, Boss.”
Cristian grinned as the three of them climbed inside and headed toward the awaiting plane. Alessandro would help them or die. Cristian would not waste any more time trying to find this woman, or any of them being held captive. One man’s death would be worth the twenty he could save.