39. Chapter 35
Chapter 35
Nikolai
M y boots thunder into the puddles of rain as a storm brews above me.
“Come on, boy.” I growl as Anton bounds after me.
If none of them will help me, I’ll take on Don Leonardo and his Cosa Nostra army myself. I find the opera house in no time, but when I arrive, it’s empty. Only the box office staff remain, and a few actors leaving through the back in their normal clothes. I scan the place, moving through it like a shadow, just like I had a thousand times before. I knew it like the back of my hand, but without her presence, it’s different. It feels aged, like a new spirit is infesting it and transforming it into something cold.
I stalk the place three times before returning to my car and reaching for the phone; wracking my brain for anyone who might know where she is. Who has Isabella mentioned from her family that might help me? Most of them will send a fucking death squad the moment they know I’m in their territory. Only one name pops into my head.
The phone rings for an excruciating minute.
Come on, come on. Pick up the phone.
“Hello?”
Fuck yeah. I pound the dashboard cathartically, and Anton barks as if we’ve just found food.
“Is this Bianca Totti?”
“… Yes?”
“I need your help…”
I skid the car to a halt in front of the address Bianca gave me. The rain plasters my hair to my head, beating me back towards my car like a banshee’s scream. I run up the steps and pound on the door. No answer. I press my finger into the doorbell and slam the door with my other fist like the beginning of a police raid.
“Come on!” I yell into the screaming wind and the wall of rain pummelling me against the door.
A light turns on inside, sending little beams of orange into the darkness of the night.
“Fucking finally.” I snarl under my breath.
The door opens an inch, the chain still on. A narrowed eye peeks out from the crack in the door, scanning me up and down. He recognises me. His eye narrows further. I open my mouth, and then he slams the door in my face.
“You’re not welcome here!” The old man shouts from the other side of the door.
I stand there, dumbfounded, for a moment. Bianca told me Isabella has a friend in the army who can help. So, why the fuck has she sent me to this fucking ancient idiot? He works in a destroyed bar, not the damn army. If the time I wasted here is the difference between saving Isabella and losing her, I’ll make her cousin pay for the rest of her life.
I turn back into the rain to get into my car and stop wasting precious time, but when I turn, Anton sits in front of me. His fur is soaked, and he shivers on the spot.
“What are you doing? We need to get the fuck out of here.” I snap, stalking past him.
He doesn’t move.
“Are you serious?”
I get in the car, swinging the door open and calling out to him. Anton refuses to move.
“We don’t have time for this!” My booming voice mixes with the claps of thunder above. “Anton!”
Why now? Of all times, why now?
“We need to save Isabella! Anton! Get in the fucking car!”
He looks away from me, so I surge to my feet, bolting over to him through the rain. As I reach him, the door opens again, only this time it opens fully. The old man stands in the doorway with his wife next to him.
The wife marches into the rain in a pink nightgown and slippers. Her brows knit together and she points a stern finger in my face before shouting over the raging wind. “Did you just say you need to save Isabella? Our Isabella?” Her eyes quiver with maternal power.
“Her father is about to send her to Italy. They did it to her aunt Maria years ago. She never left that place, it's basically a permanent prison sentence. They want to take her life away.”
She holds me in her eyes, judging me in that moment.
“You’re Nikolai?” She asks. I nod. She holds out her hand. “I’m Camilla. That's my husband, Percy.” Percy waves a walking stick like a spear. Camilla looks back at me. “He probably can’t hear us right now.”
“You fucking tell him, love.” Percy roars from the safety of the door.
Camilla’s eyes flicker back to mine. “What do you need?”
“Bianca told me I could find a friend here. Someone with military experience who can help. Isabella’s family is the Italian mafia. Getting her back will be like taking on a small army.”
Camilla’s eyes widen, but she holds in her full reaction. “Well, we had our suspicions.” She shakes her head, pulling herself back to the moment. “Percy used to be a pilot. He’s got a gun upstairs.”
I look up at the old man shaking his fist at me in the door. It isn’t what I planned, but I’ll take all the help I can get.
“Get the gun and get in the car.”
Camilla nods. “Where are we going?” She asks before running back to Percy.
“Bianca told me they were going to fly her back to Italy. They’ve hired out a private jet. The hangars are just outside Righteous Cove.”