Chapter Seven
Lucas
From then on, the end of the week has been grueling. I have been on edge and unable to focus on anything other than sending out text after text, although all of them remain unread.
People at work looked at me as if they didn’t recognize me, but I can’t deny that I’m snapping more than usual.
Fuck, I never used to raise my voice. I used to always be that easygoing bastard who wraps people around his finger with a few words and a bright smile.
But it seems that since that day at Chiara’s house, that guy has been replaced by his irascible clone.
And the worst is that even I know it, but there’s nothing I can do.
At work, Leo ordered me to stay put in my office while he sent someone else to meet with clients.
“At this rate you’ll scare them all away, and I’ll be damned if I lose my six-figure job because my boss got up on the wrong side of the bed. ”
Conceited motherfucker. But the bastard’s right. And so, I let him overrule me in my own kingdom and hid like a fucking beast in my office, prowling and pacing holes into the carpet.
* * * *
That I am in a foul mood when I step into Lily and D’s villa on Sunday is a big understatement.
I am anxious, I am jittery and I am fucking furious.
I don’t know what I’m going to do when I see her.
Drag her away and punish her until she promises she won’t cut me out again seems like a good start.
My mind spins in circles. I am like a cartoon character with an angel and a devil sitting on each shoulder, the angel advising me to be gentle, to worship her like the sweet princess she is.
The devil on the other shoulder, however, urges me to spank, take, and make her understand that what she did is not acceptable.
Fuck, why am I thinking about doing those…things to her?
She is a good friend, right? I’m not thinking about the gentle look in her hazel eyes or the enticing bow of her lips, nor am I picturing my hands on the soft curve of her ass while I massage the red welts on her velvet skin between two spanks.
No… Get a fucking grip! I can’t go there, not with her. She is a sweet little thing, she deserves to be worshipped like a princess, not dragged into the darkness that lives inside me.
I rake my fingers through my already messy hair and join the group in the dining room.
And I immediately notice—she’s not here. I sweep my eyes over the room for good measure, but I already know from the way something is missing. Usually, my gaze finds her no matter where she is, like a moth drawn to a flame. But today the room feels too empty and cold.
I nod in a general direction as a greeting and take a seat in silence.
The conversation stills and I can feel all eyes on me.
But I am in no mood to entertain them. All I aimed to do by showing up was to see Chiara.
And since she’s not here, I grit my teeth and sit through an awkwardly silent brunch.
After what feels like a fucking lifetime, everyone stands up and Lily and Erin scurry toward the deck chairs, heads bent together conspiratorially.
I stride after them, catching them just as they are stepping out of the room.
“Where is she?” I can’t help the biting edge from creeping into my demand.
They both freeze at the sound of my voice and turn to watch me with wary eyes. But neither of them replies.
I step closer. “Where. Is. Chiara?” I grit out through my clenched jaw.
Lily chews on her lower lip but remains silent and that’s when I snap. “Tell me where your sister is,” I bellow, “or I swear—”
The next thing I know, I am pinned to the nearest wall with a hard arm shoved against my throat. D is growling into my face, eyes deadly.
“I’ll let it pass because I know what a hotheaded motherfucker you are,” he seethes, “but you threaten my wife once more and I’ll shoot you myself. Is that clear?”
My first reaction is to go at his throat.
But his gaze holds mine, full of warning and something else I don’t want to acknowledge.
Worry. Slowly the red haze lifts and I realize what I did.
I lost my fucking mind. My blood is pounding in my ears, and my chest is heaving with each ragged breath.
I grit my teeth, wrestling back some control and nod once.
D releases me with a warning look, and I turn to the women who still look at me with shock on their faces.
“Sorry, Lil, Erin, I didn’t mean to scare you,” I mutter.
Lily nods, subdued, and that seems to appease her husband who grabs me by the shoulder and silently drags me to his office. Teo follows us. Once we’re inside and the door is closed, D spins around to look at me.
“What the fuck was that?” he snaps.
I step to the wet bar and pour myself a whiskey, then turn to them with the raised bottle. They shake their heads and I set it back down. Since I cannot stall any longer, I let out a long breath. “Long week, s’all.” Teo grunts and I scowl at him. “What?”
“Where’s Chiara?” he asks.
“That’s what I am trying to find out.” I hate the desperate edge my voice is taking.
“What did you do?” he asks, deadpan.
“Why do you think I did something?” I bark at him, losing it again. “She doesn’t reply to my texts or answers my calls. I have no goddamn idea where she is and it’s getting fucking annoying.”
I watch them intently. Do they know where she is?
“What do you know?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. “Your women don’t seem overly concerned so I guess she’s well and alive. Someone must know where she is and why she vanished.”
They exchange a look then turn back to me.
“I didn’t know she went missing until today. I’ll ask Lily,” D says with a calculating glint in his eyes.
I nod and sit down with a defeated sigh. That’s my best shot, I guess.
He walks to me and claps me on the shoulder then goes to sit on his chair behind the mahogany desk. “I’ve”—he clears his throat—“been there, Luc. I get it.”
I look up with a frown. “It’s…not like that. She’s a friend and I’m worried about her. That’s all.”
Again, they exchange that look as if they were silently communicating and I think I might just punch one or maybe both of them.
“There’s something else.” I take a swig of my whiskey, relishing the earthy notes burning the back of my throat.
Teo takes a seat in the chair next to me, and they both look at me, waiting for me to go on.
“We might want to have someone keep an eye on Francesco. The other day I went to check on Chiara and he was there, shitfaced on the sofa.”
D curses under his breath.
“Have you sent a medical team to check on him?” Teo asks quietly.
“No, fucker,” I snarl. “I sent my goddamn fairy godmother to put him into a dress and shiny slippers.”
His lips twitch but he remains silent, one brow raised in challenge.
I rake my hand through my hair and exhale loudly, trying to claw back some composure. “Of course I sent a medical team, but the fucker put up a fight. They had to subdue him to take him to the clinic. Legally they couldn’t keep him once he was sober and wanted out.”
“Want me to go…talk some sense into him?” Teo smirks, cracking his knuckles.
I slowly smirk back, surprised to feel the corners of my mouth lift for the first time in a week. “Yeah, he won’t be able to bail with a broken leg. Or maybe two.”
“Don’t overdo it, or you’ll upset Lily,” D warns.
“Never, you know me,” Teo deadpans and we all chuckle.
“It’s settled then,” D states. “Teo, any news about our residual problem?”
Teo lets out a frustrated breath and shakes his head. “Looks like we’ve exposed all the dirty cops and politicians we could link to Rourke.”
Rourke had been a corrupt FBI agent, working for the human trafficking network calling themselves Manticore.
He abducted Erin, Teo’s wife, to get information on our investigation, and Teo was able to locate her and save her just in time.
Rourke the fucker…disappeared after that.
Disappeared, as in he was invited for a polite chat to Teo’s compound, The Bastion, where he visited the officially non-existing second sublevel and got probably escorted back out afterward, one bloody piece at a time after Teo had had a nice chat with him.
“And what about Manticore?” I ask, relieved to have something else to occupy my mind.
“They seem dormant for now,” Teo replies. “But I feel in my gut that they’re simply regrouping. It’s not over. Not one of the people we interrogated knows who the head of the organization is. They are careful.”
I exhale slowly, letting my frustration bleed through.
“Have there been other shipments going through our port?” D asks me.
I shake my head. “Nope, not after the one we intercepted. I’m still having our men investigate the origin.
It went through New York, and the paperwork shows it transited through Naples.
I sent men to Florida, but the trail ends there.
” I look at Teo. “Maybe the girls can tell us more?” We had intercepted a shipment trafficking a dozen women through our port two months back.
They are safe in one of our women’s safehouses now, being taken care of by social workers and starting over a new life.
He shakes his head, though. “They are from everywhere, and diverse ethnicity. They were abducted from Europe for the most part, drugged and they have no idea how long they had been moved around. I’m suspecting they were shipped through South America.
Would make sense if the shipment ran through Florida.
Could be the Mexican cartels. But that’s just a guess, there’s nothing substantial. ”
“Shit,” I mutter. It looks like another dead end.
D and Teo must have come to the same conclusion because I can hear their frustrated exhales.
I get up, needing to clear my head. “I’ll get going. Let me know if you find out where Chiara is hiding.” I look first at D then Teo. “Both of you.”
They nod and I leave. I need to blow off steam at the gym.