Chapter 53
Chapter Fifty-Three
Maurizio
The drive to find Flora felt longer than it was and when I eventually pulled up outside the house, I felt sick.
What if she wouldn’t listen to me? Believe me?
See me? I was going to have to get past Maddie first and she had already threatened me and my balls and I didn’t doubt her threat was anything but empty.
With a deep breath, I walked down the path and knocked of the door. The sound of voices from the other side were muffled but there were at least two voices making me optimistic that Flora was here still.
I had imagined a dozen or more scenarios of knocking on this door on the drive up here, but not one of them had involved the door opening to reveal my brother filling the space.
“Nico.” That is all I had.
My brother looked less surprised at my presence than I was at his.
Neither of us was prepared for Maddie’s reaction to me. She was like a blur as she hurled down the hallway at me. “You bastard. You fucking bastard. She loves you and you told her you loved her so what the fuck have you done to hurt her?”
Although I didn’t understand why my brother was here, I was glad he was when he scooped Maddie up and prevented her from kicking, punching, or possibly cutting my balls off because her rage suggested her being armed wasn’t necessarily an impossibility.
“Put me the fuck down!” She screamed at Nico now.
He did, but quickly turned so that he blocked her path to me and gently rested his hands on her shoulders. “Calm down, yeah. I get that you’re pissed, but you have no clue what has happened, oh, and all this rage and anger is no good for you or the baby.”
“What the fuck? Have you knocked her up?”
My brother released Maddie but as he spun to face me, I was more concerned about his wrath than hers.
“No, but you speak that way about her pregnancy again and I will be knocking you out, little brother.”
“Okay, okay. Maddie, sorry, and er, congratulations.”
She sneered in response.
“Why are you here?” I asked my brother.
“Is that really what you want to ask right now?” Maddie asked, coming to stand next to my brother.
I took a moment to see how cosy and right they looked together.
“No, sorry. I need to speak to Flora.”
She laughed and shook her head.
“She misunderstood and I need to make her see that, that I love her more than anything.”
Again Maddie shook her head.
“Flora!” I shouted from the doorstep, over and over again. “I need to speak to you, explain, I love you, tesoro mio.”
Maddie rolled her eyes and briefly moved back into the house, returning with her bag and coat before looking at Nico. “Tell him she’s not here.”
“She really isn’t here. We’re going to her now.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look, before anyone tells you anything about my sister, how about you tell me what happened.”
My head was spinning. I had no clue where Flora was or if she was safe and for all I knew I might have missed my opportunity to explain everything if she hadn’t returned here.
Part of me wanted to tell Maddie that she had no right to bark orders at me and make demands, but as far as she was concerned, I was the arsehole who had hurt her sister, so for now, I would play by her rules.
“She overheard me talking to Nico. She misunderstood when I said I loved Sophie and saw my future with her.” I should have prefaced that statement in some way because she only flew at me again and this time hit me around the head with her handbag.
“What the fuck do you keep in there?” I rubbed my head that I had to check wasn’t bleeding.
“That is nothing compared to what I will do.” She came back for a second attack but again, Nico intercepted.
“Maurizio, are you saying when you said about loving Sophie and all that shit, that she thought you meant it?”
“Seems so.”
I fished her note from my pocket and offered it to Nico.
“Shit, she didn’t wait to hear you add the context of suggesting that is what I wanted to hear and that nothing was further from the truth because she was everything?”
“Again, seems so.”
“Fuck!”
“Quite.”
“Right, you need to explain to her and make her see sense. She’s devastated, and very drunk it seems.”
“Nico!” Maddie screeched. “Don’t tell him!”
“Maddie, I will explain on the way, but we need to go to her.”
I expected Nico to be attacked, but no, stubborn and bolshy, and apparently pregnant Maddie was a little tamer with my brother. Who knew? Clearly not me!
“Maurizio, she’s at Ash’s place–”
Maddie’s phone interrupted and as she answered it, it became clear that something was wrong. “Bollocks! Where has she gone? I am going to kill her when I get my hands on her, the stupid cow. Okay, we’re on the way.”
Maddie turned to us and looked worried.
“While Ash was on the phone, Flora has done a runner. She didn’t tell him she was leaving so he has no clue where she is, oh, and she hasn’t taken anything with her, no purse, phone or even a coat, and to top it all, she was drunk.”
“She and I will be having words,” I muttered, more to myself than anyone else.
“You’ll need to get behind me in that queue,” Maddie said, but at least I wasn’t the only recipient of her anger. “Ash’s is the best starting point I guess.”
“Agreed.”
“Maddie will come with me, and we’ll see you there,” Nico said, already leading Maddie down the path.
The journey back was quicker in terms of speed but the knots in my stomach made it even more uncomfortable than the journey to Maddie’s. At least I was almost there, about half an hour, and that is when the rain started coming down.
“Fuck!” I needed to find her. “Call Nico,” I told my phone. “Any news from Ash?”
Maddie answered, “Nothing new. She’s still AWOL.”
“I’m going to look for her.”
Silence.
“Maddie, it’s raining and looking at the clouds, this could be a storm rolling in. She can’t be out there alone.”
I’d never told anyone about the things Flora had shared with me about her parent’s death and her fear of storms, but assumed Maddie would know.
“Maybe getting wet will teach her to go out without her phone, or money or her coat,” Nico said.
Maddie and I responded immediately, and in sync. “Shut up, Nico.”
“Okay. Nico explained what Flora heard and what she didn’t. You go and find her and we’ll go to Ash’s, but let me know if you find her.”
“I will, and if she returns . . .”
“Of course.”
Not for the first time, in what was developing into a horrendous storm, I was driving aimlessly looking for Flora, to rescue her and take her home. This time I wouldn’t be letting her go, ever.