HUNDRED AND ELEVEN
Sin pov.
I felt like crap; I wasn’t myself. It was like I was going to faint any moment now. I walked over to where Alesso sat, typing repeatedly on the laptop in front of him.
“Any update yet?” I asked him for the hundredth time since he came.
“The picture has been proven to be fake; whoever did it was an expert. They knew you would probably check to see if it was Photoshop and made sure you wouldn’t be able to notice this:” Alesso says, empathizing with each word. “This took time; whoever did this was not in a rush, meaning they were well orchestrated.”
“Have you been able to pinpoint where she might be taken?” I growled.
“Sincerely, I’m trying my best. It’s not easy to…”
“I don’t care; I don’t want you to try your best. I want you to find her; this is a matter for Mani and my child. So you better find her, or you will be sorry, Alesso.” I threatened him and suddenly groaned at the sharp pain I felt in my head.
It was like my head was being split in two. I felt a hand on my shoulders and turned to see Luca behind me with a worried look on his face.
“Look man! You need to calm down,” he says, coming to stand beside me.
“I can’t do that; I just can’t fucking do that, Luca. I don’t know where she is, and it keeps driving me crazy. We need to find her.” I growled at him. I knew he was as worried as I was, but he did everything to maintain his calm while I felt I was losing control.
Who would have thought that Nikolai Violenta would go nuts over a girl?
But that is the situation now.
“We are all worried too.” I looked at Samantha, whose eyes were closed as she lay on the couch.
Luca finally got her to have a rest and tried to do the same with me, but the last thing I wanted to do was sleep right now.
“We need to think rationally; you need a rest, man. Let Alesso do his work while you take a little bit of a nap. If there is any update, I will let you know.” I gave him a defeated look.
“Luca is right, Sin; I will find her. I haven’t seen her yet, and I want to meet the girl who has you wrapped around her little finger,” Alesso said, trying to assure me.
All this was my fault.
I always bring destruction to the ones I love. The only way to find Mani now is through Alesso. Luca and I had gone to interrogate Jason in the basement when we found out about Mani’s disappearance, but he was found dead along with the guys assigned to monitor him, the same as Luna. This was a big proof that whoever was doing it was among the people in this house.
“We have to find her, Alesso. My life is worthless without her. I promise to give who ever is responsible for this a slow death when I find them.” I mutter angrily.
“Any news?” Samantha says, letting out a little yawn. She looked between Luca and me.
” No.” Luca mutters, shaking his head. “Alesso is still working on it.”
Samantha let out a defeated sigh, burying her head in her hands. Her shoulders slumped in defeat.
“Who the hell could have done this? The last time was in New York, when they tried to kill her. This person keeps getting away, like he enjoys playing whatever game this is. This is not just a kidnapping if they aren’t asking for a ransom, not in this line of work.” Samantha said, thinking aloud.
I rubbed my face with both hands, inhaling and exhaling, trying to calm my racing heart. I heard the sound of something ringing, and I walked to my table to see that it was my phone. I looked at the number and didn’t recognize it. I picked up the call, placing the phone close to my ear.
“Ciao!” My voice sounded furious, and my tone was strained and stressed.
“Nikolai. Help me, please. I heard the scared voice of Mani.
My heart kept beating fast, like I was about to have a heart attack. I felt my emotions being mixed together. Just the sound of her voice gave me more courage and determination to find her.
“Mani, is that you, baby?” I voiced my worries. A sob left her lips. “Where are you?” I asked fiercely.
Samantha and Luca were by my side the minute I called out her name. I put the phone on the desk, putting it on speaker so that Alesso could listen and trace the call.
“There are trees; a ditch is close to a highway. Nikolai I don’t know. I have no idea where I am; I’m scared.” she cried, Her words and tears sent my heart shattering into different pieces.
Samantha had tears flowing down her face as Luca tried to comfort her. She had her hand clapped to her mouth to stop herself from crying out loud.
“Don’t worry, princess. I have someone tracing the call,” I tried to comfort her, and I turned to look at Alesso for any updates.
“It’s a payphone; it’s going to take a little bit of time before I can pinpoint the exact location,” he says.
“Hurry the hell up and get it done fast.” I screamed at him. “What am I paying you for? Do it now!” I let out a series of swears, both in Italian and English. I took the glass cup off the table and smashed it against the wall, and it shattered into pieces.
I heard a sound coming from the phone but couldn’t hear well because the call was breaking. ” Nikolai”
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I asked all at once.
“I need to tell you something, so listen.” I was worried; I needed to know if she was okay and not hurt. More importantly, she needs to be somewhere safe before we come get her.
“yes amore. I need you to… ” I started, but she cut me off. If she managed to escape, she needed to hide because I was sure whoever took her would be after her.
“No, listen; I don’t have much time. Do not trust…”
“Mani, Mani… Amore, are you still there?” I screamed, waiting for her response. ” fuck.”
“I was able to get the location,” Alesso said, getting up from his seat.
I wasted no time. Strapping my gun by my side, I walked out of the office with the rest behind me.
We made our way out of the house, and I almost ran into Zoey, who was coming in.
She looked at us with furrowed eyebrows. “Why are you guys in such a hurry?” She directed the question to Samantha.
“Oh, we need to take care of something.” Samantha responded.
I had no time for their chitchat and tried to move past her when I felt a hand discreetly brush against mine in a seductive manner. I turned to look at her, and she bit her lips with a smirk on her face.
I clearly wasn’t seeing well; this was Zoey I was talking about. She has no feelings for me whatsoever. The thought of Mani being missing was really messing with my brain. I made my way to my car, getting in the back seat with Samantha, Luca, and Alesso in the front seat. Luca had already informed our trusted men, like Mateo, who would trail behind us.
Alesso sat in the driver’s seat, turned on the GPS, and drove out of the house. We kept driving for close to an hour. We passed the payphone, asking people around if they had seen any with the Mani description. The majority of them pointed in the direction of the wood, saying they saw her running out of there.
They had alerted the police, but when they came, she was nowhere in sight again. We got into the car and drove into the woods to an abandoned house that seemed to be falling apart. I wasted no time getting out of the car alone with my men.
We looked around the house before entering, just to make sure no one was lurking outside. It was dark inside; it looked like the power had been cut. I brought out my phone, turning on the touch screen to use as a source of light. I also took out my gun; there was blood in the passage, and it was still fresh. We got into a room that looked gross. There were chairs in the center with a loose rope on them. This confirms it all: she was here.
I kicked at the chair in frustration, and for the first time since my dad died, I prayed. I prayed to God, whom I never really believed in before, asking him to keep her and our baby safe and praying for the blood in the hallway not to be hers.Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.
“See if you can find out where she has been taken.” I ordered Alesso. Luca opened his mouth to say something, but I couldn’t care less as I stormed out of the room and out of the house to where the car was. I punched the windows of the car and kept hitting them as the cracks kept expanding.
I felt myself being pulled back. I turned to see that it was Luca. I threw him a glare, then got into the car, slamming the door shut. The rest of them got into the car; no one said a word. The ride back to the house was in silence; I could tell what everyone was thinking, but no one could say it.
Was she still alive?
“Sin, we are going to find her, it’s going to be okay.” Luca said, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I was tired of hearing that word. “It’s going to be okay. It was beginning to piss me off. He and Alesso keep saying it. It’s not going to be okay; it’s never going to be okay. It’s just going to keep getting worse until I have my Amore back in my arms again.
“I should have listened to her when she asked me too, given her the benefit of doubt, but no, I cared only about how she had hurt me, and now her life is in danger.” I whispered more to myself, but loud enough for them to hear.
No one said a word; Luca already took in my expression and knew that right now no comforting words were going to work. Samantha hasn’t said anything at all; I think she’s still petrified.
These past three days have been hell for all of us. Alexander has taken the Mafia work from me for now so that I can focus more on finding Mani. I had told only Alexander; I told him not to let my mom or sister know. I didn’t want to worry about them, though I doubt my sister would be that worried since she doesn’t like Mani.
I pulled into the house, and I got down, slamming the car door shut. I went up to my room, which still smelled of her. Walking into the closet, i took out a cloth that belonged to her, slowly slipped to the ground, sniffing at the dress. The tears I tried so hard to hold fell from my eyes, as I remained i the same position, crying my eyes out for what felt like hours before getting up to shower and freshen up.
After feeling a little bit refreshed, I went back downstairs to my office, where Luca and Alesso were. Alesso walked up to me; his face told me he had some beneficial information.
“I ran the address of the place to see who it belonged to, and what came out was the name Russo.”
“Russo,” my jaw clenched. I looked at Luca, and he nodded, confirming my thoughts.
My eyes darkened.