My heart races with unprecedented fear as I grab a pair of jeans, slide into them, almost jumping into my bra and pulling a sweater over my head.I pull on a pair of dark tennis shoes with a lot of grip and sole.“Hang on, Anna.I’ll be there soon.”I glance outside the window and grimace.Fucking soldiers, they are never going to let me out of here without Massimo’s say so, and of course he’ll say no.Well, he’s going to have to get used to the fact that I’m a Cassone, and we take care of our own, no matter the danger, or what he says.I’m going to Anna.
Elsie walks in at the very right time, and I pounce on the lady who has become more than a dear friend.I’m putting her in a shitty position, especially with Massimo, but I’ll iron it all out later.Right now, I just need to get to my sister before something really bad happens.“I need your help.No questions, just help, understand?My sister is in danger and Massimo is gone.The guards won’t let me go to her.”Lights shine into the window from outside and I pull her to the window.
The perimeter lights shine onto the white laundry truck that comes onto the property every three days to pick up all the soldiers’ clothes and take them away, returning them freshly washed, pressed, and sorted in a few days.“I need to get on that truck.Take me to wherever it is that they come into the house at.Now, Elsie.No time to think about it.Massimo will agree once I explain everything.”I hope against hope that it’s true for her sake and for mine.
She doesn’t look convinced, and I am fucking running out of time.This is my only chance.“Please.Look at this, Elsie.What would you do if it was your sister?”I’m the last one to ever use tears to get my way but they roll down my face in waves.“She’s the only person I have left.”
Her face softens.“Come.”She takes my hand and as little as she is, she is a force to be reckoned with when the need arises.Elsie almost drags me down the stairs, and then instead of going through the great room, leads me down a long hall and opens the door to another set of stairs.She closes the door behind us.“Hurry.”
I follow on her heels until we reach the bottom.There are bags and bags of laundry, big duffels on wheels that are packed to the tops with clothing, dirty smelly clothing.She points to one.“Help me unload one.”
There’s no hesitation on my part.I’ll go out however I need to in order to reach my sister in time, and going through the soldiers upstairs is going to be an exercise in frustration because they’re only going to say no, forbid me to go at gunpoint if necessary and send me back to my room.That will take far too much time, and alert everyone that I may be planning to run.
No, this is my only chance.I drag the clothes from the big bag as quickly as I can until there’s enough left at the bottom to disguise me, but enough room for clothes to be piled back on top.I hug Elsie to me as I lean it against a wall and slide in, pulling the sides of the big green duffle up as far as they will go.“Pile it high, and close it, Elsie.If Massimo asks you where I’ve gone, mums the word.Do you understand?You know nothing until I’ve had time to get to my sister.Just stall for a little bit at least, okay?”
A loud screech comes from the other side of the room.“Down,” she whispers.“They’re coming.”She packs smelly clothes on top of me, while I scrunch down as much as I can, hoping to hell they use the wheels and don’t try lifting the duffel.I may not weigh that much but I sure as hell weigh more than a pile of clothes, and they’ll know it the minute they pick it up.
But they’re in far too much of a hurry, yelling at each other about a schedule delay, and how it’s ruined one of their plans.All of a sudden, the duffle gets lifted, one by each end and tossed into the back of the truck.My neck kinks as I land but luckily, I wasn’t the first bag to go in the truck.“Fucking family goes through more clothes than anyone I know.Shit’s getting heavier all the time.”
“Quit your granny bitching.A job’s a job.Now let’s get the fuck out of here before I have to listen to my wife bitch about me being late all night long.”
The clanging of the doors locks me inside, but that sound, it rings over and over in my mind, summoning a warning that came long ago, and causing my blood to run absolutely fucking cold.
19
Massimo
Jimmy’s barely driven me to the house before my phone rings.I connect while still in the back seat of the car, quickly holding it away from my ear, recognizing the drunken slur of my father.Probably more than a fourth of a bottle of whiskey in if I had to guess.
His ranting fills the void as though in a rage about everything tonight it would seem.“What did fucking Vincenzo fucking DeLuca and his brothers want?They can’t come into our club like they own it.I heard how they strutted in and demanded a fucking drink in our bar.What the hell are you thinking?What they fuck did he want?”
It just confirms what I’ve thought all along, the eyes and ears he has on me, they’ll never go away.He can do or think whatever the fuck he wants.I’ve already made up my mind.He either accepts me, my decisions, and Sophia or I’m walking away.I’ll do whatever it takes to keep our family strong, protected, and on top in this business, but he won’t get a minute of my time.And I’m not about to get into why they were here, our family business, or anything else while he’s loaded on Jack.“I’ll explain everything to you in the morning, Dad.Good night.”
I disconnect, barely pocketing my phone before it rings again.Scowling at the incoming line, a house number used only by our soldiers, I answer gruffly.“Roselli.”
“Boss, we’ve got trouble here at home.I would have called Jimmy, but I know he’s with you.It’s Sophia, sir.She’s missing.We can’t find her anywhere, and no one here is saying a word.I think Elsie knows something but is too scared to say anything.”
“How the fuck did someone get through the doors of my estate?”I growl.
“No one got through those doors, sir.I can promise you that.”
My eyes close, my mind swirling to recent conversations and worst-case scenarios.I know exactly what happened.Sophia heard everything my father said again, then I didn’t stay and talk to her about her sister, and now she knows for certain that she and her family are not liable for the hijacking of our trucks.And she knows I love her, that I would never hurt her.Yet she chose to leave.She fucking feels the same way I do; I know it without a doubt in the world.But yet, she’s gone again.That’s all I can think of for a moment, but I can’t wrap my head around her wanting to run away from me, not again.
It only takes a minute to discard that ugly thought because after what we’ve said to each other, been for each other, she can’t be running.Unless she’s simply scared out of her mind for her sister.
“Get the fucking drones up and the night cameras.Find out where she went!”I growl with a rage that makes Jimmy hit the accelerator to get us closer to home that much faster.
“How can she just disappear?How many sets of fucking eyes do we have on her, protecting her, making sure no one can fucking get to her?Poof, disappears into the night, which is impossible in my fucking house, yet she managed to do it just the same.Someone knows something.”
The minute Jimmy pulls up to the front door, I race into the house and up the stairs.Elsie walks down the hall quickly, trying to avoid me but my strides quicken.I catch her from behind, turning her to me before putting her to the wall.I inhale a deep breath.“Where is my wife?”
At first, she stays quiet, as though she’s not going to say a word.“Tell me where my wife is, Elsie.”Tears fall down her cheeks and she sobs.“I’m sorry, you can fire me or kill me, and maybe I deserve it for betraying the family, but she had to go.Her sister may not live to see the morning.”
Not much surprises me, but this certainly fucking does.“Is that what she told you?”She nods, tears still streaming down her face.“The note, she, she received it a little over an hour ago from her sister.She’s not well, boss, and Sophia just wanted to see her one last time.She was frantic, her heart was breaking.I’m so sorry,” Elsie whispers, hanging her head.
My mind reels with this news.My hand loosens on her shoulders but I’m no longer fucking listening to her excuses.It’s of no interest to me at all.No one told me a fucking word about her sister, and her sister has to be just fine because my fucking soldiers are there and would have told me if not.Unless my men are plants for the fucking other side which can’t be.They are loyal to me.Except for the new ones put on the payroll by my father against my better judgement.But what the fuck does he care.I blame him for it all.I’m being irrational.I breathe through the panic that is constricting every nerve in my body.If one thing happens to Sophia or her sister, I will make him pay until the day he dies or kill him myself.
“Get out of my face!”I roar, leaving the shaking woman standing by the wall of my home.
