26. Stefano
Iroll over in my bed and reach out to where Amelia is normally sleeping, but then remember, I told her not to share the bed with me last night. The space where she has been sleeping on previous nights is now empty and cold. It shouldn't upset me so much, but it does. I'm annoyed that I don't want to be near her, but I do.
She's like a drug - intoxicating. She infects my thoughts and distracts me from everything else.
I don't need that in my life.
I huff out a frustrated breath.
But I do need to talk to her.
I'm angry and she needs to understand that I will not tolerate that kind of behavior. She is never to keep things from me again. She's lucky I haven't kicked her out and forbidden her from spending time with Elle. I should though. I should punish her.
Throwing the blankets off my body I climb out of bed and pull a t-shirt on along with my sweatpants.
I head downstairs first to make some coffee before I get started with the day.
And that's when I start to notice how quiet the house is. Too quiet.
It's not too early and Amelia is usually up by now.
I start searching for her to find out what the fuck she's up to.
The guest room is empty, but the bed has been slept in.
She doesn't seem to be anywhere in the house - and when I check in on Elle and her bed is empty as well, I know something is very wrong.
I run downstairs to ask the night guards what the fuck is going on and where Amelia and Elle are - but instead of finding the two guys who are supposed to be on duty - I find a trail of blood right outside the front door.
What the fuck is going on?
I run around the side of the house, following the red smear, dragged along the ground, all the way to the bodies of my two night guards.
A quick death. One bullet in each of their skulls. Whoever did this must have used a silencer.
Fuck.
I run back inside to check Amelia's room again and then Elle's. Looking for any evidence of a struggle. I don't find it.
I grab my phone to search for the security footage and to my absolute shock I see Matteo.
He came to my house in the dead of night, killed both of my guards, and left with Amelia and my daughter. But Amelia looks like she went with him willingly. What does this mean?
He obviously coerced her or manipulated her. She still thinks he's trying to help her and they both knew I'd never let them go with him.
I dial his number with my jaw clenched so tight it hurts.
My shoulders are stiff and aching from stress.
Matteo has the fucking nerve to sound happy to hear from me.
"Stefano. You're awake. I was waiting for your call." He chuckles into the phone.
"Where are they?" I snarl darkly.
"You don't need to worry about that right now."
"Where the fuck are they?" I say again, more angry, as I pace up and down my hallway.
"Listen, man. I'm tired of living in your shadow - under your control. Always what you want and what you need before anyone else. I want my own life. I want control of my own business. It's clear you aren't willing to part with your empire, the casino, even to save your daughter's life - so I figured I could make my own money differently."
"What are you doing, Matteo? You know I will find you." I warn him.
"By the time you find me, I'll already have harvested and sold their organs on the black market. Piece by piece I'll make a fortune off both of them. Do you have any idea what I can get for a kidney? A heart? It's ridiculous how desperate people are. And we both know that the waiting list to go about getting transplants the legal way is a joke. Anyways. You won't negotiate with me, so I found my own way."
"Matteo, you fucking sick mother fucker that's my daughter. I will tear you to pieces if you touch a hair on her head."
But he's already hung up and I'm talking to no one. The phone line is dead.
I'm in shock. Utter disbelief. I didn't know Matteo was involved in or had connections to black-market organ trades. Who the fuck does that shit?
My phone beeps and a message comes through from him. He's just making sure I believe him. He's sent a photo of Elle lying on a bed, in the background I can see plastic sheeting and a makeshift operating table, bright lights, and faceless doctors wearing scrubs.
My stomach turns several times.
He's not joking. He's not bluffing.
He's willing to kill my daughter. His own family.
The front door opens, and I spin around to defend myself, but it's the fresh rotation of security guards, here to take over from the night guards - with them is James.
"What the fuck happened outside? It's a blood bath." He says, looking stressed, his gun drawn and held at his side.
"Matteo killed both of the night guards. He's taken Amelia and Elle. Get the team together. We have to figure out where they are."
"I'll start trying to track his phone but it's likely he's got protection against that. I'll also get my men to start questioning his associates. Someone has to know something."
"Good. I've got some phone calls to make too. I want to see if anyone knows where he might be." I say, walking towards my office.
The first person I phone is my stepmother and then my half sister. Both of them seem clueless. Neither of them knows about Matteo being anywhere but the casino. They don't know of any secret hideouts or additional properties he might own. I start to wonder if they would tell me if they knew. Maybe the entire world is keeping secrets from me. Maybe I haven't been brutal enough and my status is slipping.
I won't make this mistake again.
I start calling business associates who are known to work with both Matteo and me.
Call after call I hit a blank wall. No one seems to know anything. But one of them must be lying, and if I find out which, they won't live past that day.
I feel like I've almost drained all of my options, all of my chances to find out where they are. So I call Matteo again.
"What can I do for you brother?" He asks.
"Meet me. Let's talk."
"Are you willing to hand over the casino?"
"Meet me and we will discuss it."
"You know what, Stefano, I actually don't want to anymore. You had your chance to talk to me. You fucked that up."
"Don't be an idiot, Matteo. You know this won't end well for you."
"It will. I'll be long gone before you know anything."
He hangs up the phone again. Obviously, he knows he can't meet me. I had to try though. He knows I'll tear him to pieces the second I see him.
I have to keep speaking to people I know. Someone, somewhere, knows something.
So, I don't give up, because I have no other option. I keep calling and after two very frustrating hours, I catch a break.
"Stefano, I want to assure you I had no idea he was planning to go against you. I would have told you if I knew that." Remington says, his voice filled with anxiety. He is a known associate of my brothers and does some smaller deals with me as well. It turns out he has more respect, or perhaps fear, for me than for Matteo.
"It doesn't matter at this point. I just need info - anything - to help me figure out where he is. I know he deals in the black market organ trade. He confessed that today. So, where would he base himself for something like that?"
"I'll tell you what I know, but please, leave my family out of this," Remington begs.
"Remington, if you tell me what I need to know then I have absolutely nothing against you. In fact, you will be in my good books."
He sighs heavily.
"Ok. Go speak to a guy named Pillia. He works in the morgue at the hospital - the one on Main Street in the city center. He's done some deals with your brother. Deliveries and such."
"I won't forget this," I tell Remington and hang up the phone. I've got what I need. A name and a place. From there I can get the next step.
"James," I shout as I run down the stairs. He comes out of one of the rooms with his phone in his hand looking disheveled and stressed. He's also been on the phone for hours, trying to chase down any information.
"We can't track him." James mutters in annoyance.
"It doesn't matter. We have a lead. Ride with me to the hospital." I don't stop walking as I talk, and he falls in line behind me as we head out to the car.
I climb into the passenger side, letting James drive so I can think things through.
My mind is drifting in all directions.
Elle is in serious danger. She's weak, exhausted, her immune system is low - and my fucking half brother has her in some shit hole doing fuck knows what to her.
Surely, he wouldn't be stupid enough to actually go ahead with this. I will hunt him down. I will kill him in the slowest and most painful way I can think of.
Elle is my daughter. I've already lost one child and he is now threatening the life of my other child.
I have to assume she's still alive and nothing has happened to her yet. I have to assume I can get to her on time otherwise I'm going to make myself crazy.
I lean my head back against the headrest and press my fingers against my closed eyes.
My thoughts turn towards Amelia and I sigh with heavy frustration running through me. I shouldn't care what happens to her. I can't trust her. But my heart is telling me something else. My heart is aching at the thought of losing her.
It's telling me that I want to save her as much as I want to save Elle.
Why? Why would I want her around when she lied to me for so many years?
I keep repeating to myself that I don't care what happens to her as long as I get my daughter back - but no matter how much I say it I just know it isn't true.
I want her.