Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
Matteo
Open-mouthed, I stared at the open door of the safe and the cash that was falling out of it.
My keys were right there on the desk.
She was gone.
But hadn’t I known that from the moment I had woken up and found the bed next to me empty? I had looked for her, searched the house in vain for any sign of her, but I had known in my heart that she was gone.
There was an emptiness to the apartment, like the beating heart of my home had been ripped away and with it my heart.
Hands closed into tight fists at my sides, I headed back to the bedroom I had snuck into last night. The one she had locked to keep me out.
Not that any lock in the world would keep me away from her.
I needed to make calls, especially downstairs, because I wanted to know where the hell she had gone, and who had let her escape. Grabbing the phone, I quickly unlocked it and stared down at the open message that popped up.
One from her brother. I had messaged last night for a face-to-face, because I wanted to know the truth from him, but I hadn’t received the reply he had sent me,
Sophia had.
And it had caused her to run.
Over and over again, I scanned the words. What here had made her panic enough to run after all this time?
London.
The word seemed to jump out at me. It was the fact that Gio had said he was back in the UK that had spurred her into action.
What was in London?
And did it really matter? I wouldn’t let her run from me again. I’d allowed her to escape once, but I wouldn’t this time. This time, I would know all of her secrets.
My fingers flew over the keyboard, sending texts, and then I was heading toward the elevator. It opened before I could even press the button, and a man stepped out, holding his head. There was dried blood on his temple.
I froze. My eyes lingered on the angry cut and lump on his head. “Where is she?”
He lifted bloodshot eyes to me. “I-I don’t know,” he stammered. “She came down just after three. Said there was a problem upstairs and that you needed me. I didn’t see what she hit me with, but it must have been heavy because I’ve only just now woken up, I didn’t mean…”
I cut him off. “I know.” And I did know. Because I knew her. Sophia was ruthless and resourceful when she wanted to be. And clearly something important was waiting for her in London. So important, in fact, that she had risked almost smashing a man’s skull in so she could get to it.
“Get that head wound looked at,” I snapped and left him there on my rug. I didn’t have time to babysit him right now. Sophia had left hours ago.
Nerves rattled my body as I glanced at the watch on my arm. It was almost ten. She had a major head start, but I had one thing she didn’t have.
I had a jet.
She would need to fly commercial.
Pulling the phone to my ear as the elevator hurtled downward, I said, “Get the plane ready.”
“Are you going anywhere in particular?”
I paused. “Yeah, London, England.”
She might have a head start, but that’s where I would find her. And then all of this would be over. Once and for all.
Two hours later, I was in the air, and my phone was blowing up.
“What have you found out?” I snapped because so far, no one had called me with good news. It was like Sophia had disappeared into the ether.
Again.
Only this time, I wouldn’t let her.
I’d let her go once before, and it had almost destroyed me. I wouldn’t let the same thing happen now.
Even if part of me hated her, I still loved her. I loved her enough to let her go if that’s what she really wanted, but she would have to tell me that to my face.
Nothing else would do.
“Someone booked a flight to Budapest this morning.”
My eyebrows slammed down. What the hell was in Budapest? Why would she go there and not London?
Was I wrong about everything or…
“Any connecting flights?”
No, I wasn’t wrong. She was still heading home. She was just trying to make me lose her trail.
I smiled before I could help myself. God, she was amazing. Even if she drove me insane, I had to give her her due.
She really was a clever little thing. If she had been a man, she would have been unstoppable.
“None. She paid cash.”
Of course she had. She had stolen it from my office safe. Which was, in part, my fault. If I hadn’t used her birthday, she would have never gotten inside.
“My guess is that she will book a flight there when she lands,” he continued.
I agreed. That’s exactly what she would do.
But where would she go when she got there? The chances of intercepting her at an airport when I didn’t know which one she would fly into were slim to none, so I would have to intercept her somewhere else.
Leaning forward, I pinched the skin between my eyebrows
Where would she go?
Who would she go to for help?
My head snapped up.
“Get me the cell number for her roommate. I think her name is Natalie or Natalia or something.”
Why hadn’t I thought of this before? The roommate was her best friend. She would know everything and yet somehow, I had overlooked her completely,
“No second name?”
“No, but…” I was asking the impossible, and I knew it. But if anyone could find the impossible it was the man on the other end of the phone. “Get me everything you can, numbers, address. Hell, I want to know the last time she went to the damn dentist and what she had for dinner.”
I ended the call, throwing the phone down onto the seat next to me.
“Sir, can I get you anything?” The hostess hovered, her eyes appraising me, and it was clear she liked what she saw.
They all did. Well, everyone apart from the one woman in the world whom I wanted. That one seemed hell bent on getting as far away from me as possible.
I shook my head and then changed my mind. “Aspirin and a bottle of water.”
“Of course.” She disappeared into the front of the plane, and I went back to shooting off texts and emails.
Most I barely looked at, but one caught my attention,
It was simple. A cell phone number with the UK code at the front and an address somewhere in London.
I dialed the number. No one answered.
What time was it in London?
Not that late. I tried again, and this time someone answered me.
“Hello?”
“Hey.” I tried to keep my voice soft and friendly. “Could I speak to Sophia?”
There was a pause. “Who is this?” All friendliness had disappeared from her voice. Probably because of the accent.
“My name doesn’t matter.”
“Then I’m sorry but Sophia…”
I rolled my eyes. How was it possible that this stranger could tell me to go to hell with nothing more than her ultra polite voice and a few words?
“Look.” I sighed. “I don’t have time for this. I need to speak to Sophia.”
“She’s not here.”
“Has she been in contact with you at all? I have it on good authority that she is coming home, and I need to speak to her.”
At least I knew she hadn’t got back before me.
“I’m not giving you that information,” she snapped, her patience clearly gone. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have things to do before Lily gets back from her trip with her uncle.”
Who the hell was Lily? Maybe Nat had a child.
“Look, my name is Matteo and…”
She hissed down the phone at me like a fucking cat. “Oh, I know who you are. I know what you did. Stay the hell away from her. Haven’t you caused her enough heartache?”
My eyebrows shot up. “What? I did?” Now even my voice was deepening with anger to match hers. “What exactly did I do?”
“You know exactly what you did, you piece of shit. You wait until Gio gets back with Lily and…”
“Wait, what?” I cut her off. “Gio is there?”
Nothing. She didn’t answer me, but I could hear her labored breath down the line.
“What is Gio doing…” The words died on my lips, and I swallowed hard.
Lily was out with her uncle, that’s what she had said.
Gio was her uncle, and that made her…
Holy shit.
If Lily was Gio’s niece, that would make her Sophia’s daughter.
She had said there was no baby.
“How old is Lily?” I whispered.
“Like I’m telling you. Leave us alone.” The line went dead, but I didn’t move the phone from my ear.
Sophia had said there was no baby, and I had assumed that was because she had aborted it or miscarried, but could it be more literal than that?
Could there be no baby because her daughter was now a child?
Falling back, I mumbled, “What the hell, Sophia?”
“Sir?” The hostess appeared, a look of concern on her face. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” I managed to squeeze out. “How long until we land?”
She frowned, her expertly applied makeup cracking. “We have hours left to go still.”
Hours.
I couldn’t wait hours to find out the truth,
I had bought this plane for comfort. But now, I wished I had bought a faster one.
I needed to get to London because it was only there that I would find out the truth.
Sophia had a child. A daughter called Lily.
No wonder she had come back in a panic, no wonder she was doing everything Gio wanted her to do. He was holding her daughter’s safety over her like a sword, and that message saying he was in London had caused her to freak out.
Why?
But I knew the answer to that as well. Because Sophia was afraid Gio would hurt the child.
She had done everything to keep her daughter safe. Everything but murder me, and now that innocent child might pay the price.
Sophia would never forgive herself if something happened to her, and if I was honest with myself, neither would I.
Because Sophia had a daughter, and I had a gut feeling that she was mine.
“Tell the pilot faster.”
The hostess’ eyebrows shot up. “I beg your pardon, sir?”
“I need to get to London now.”
“Yes, sir.” She disappeared, no doubt thinking I was a complete lunatic, and she might just be right, because it felt like I was running out of time.
I couldn’t speed up the plane, and neither could the pilot, but that didn’t matter to me.
I had a feeling that even if we landed right now, it might already be too late.