An older woman with greying hair and big, brown eyes enters the room behind Paulie. She's wringing her hands in front of her as she begins spouting off Spanish so quickly no one can even catch a word she's saying.
"Oh, for Christ's sakes!" Sal yells. "Which one of you fucks in here knows what the hell she's saying?"
Matteo Dellucci speaks up, "If she slows down a little, I might be able to understand her."
Sal gives him a nod. "By all means," he says sarcastically, waving his hand towards the woman.
If Salvatore Valenti is anything, he's definitely not a patient man. I can practically see the steam coming out of his ears while Matteo tries to communicate with the woman.
"She's saying that her husband was killed by the man who has your daughter," Matteo translates.
Salvatore straightens his spine and grabs a photo frame from his desk. The frame contains a photograph of all of his daughters, when they were all still alive, that is. Then he stalks towards the woman. "Which one? Point her out," he demands.
The woman looks at the picture and points. I can't see shit from where I'm standing, but judging by Sal's reaction, the woman pointed out Adeline.
Sal grabs the woman by the arm and hauls her in close to him. "Where?! Where is she?!" he practically screams, spittle flying out of his mouth and landing on the poor woman's face.
"Por favor! Por favor!" she cries, her face contorting in pain as Sal tightens his hold on her.
Sal eventually releases his grip and points to Matteo. "You lock this broad in the cellar with a goddamn map, and don't you let her leave until she gives you the exact fucking location where my daughter is," he orders, his voice low and rough.
Matteo drags the now confused and hysterical woman from the room with two other guys following closely behind.
Sal meets my gaze and gives me a single nod. "We're gonna find her now." He grinds his fat fist into his palm and smiles a sinister grin. He's like a fucking shark who just found blood in the water. And nothing will stop him at this point from finding the source so that he can unleash a brutal attack. "And when we find out who did this, I'll let you do the honors, Gio," he tells me.
He's giving me a gift — letting me kill the man who is responsible for kidnapping his daughter even though the honor should really go to him.
If Sal only knew…I'd have to kill myself.
CHAPTER 22
LUCIEN
IT'S BEEN A week since Adeline found out about the cameras in her old room. Frankly, she garnered a lot of information that day in my office.
She knows about her file and the emails and the fact that Giovanni is the one that sold her and that I kept that from her too.
She knows everything.
And yet she's not angry. Even more importantly, she still loves me.
In a way, I'm glad Jackson let her into my office. A huge weight feels like it has been lifted now that Adeline and I have no secrets between us.
And it seems as if our relationship has taken another dramatic shift. Even though I still can't say those three magical words, I treat her like a magnificent treasure. I treat her like my one and only.
We eat our meals together, sleep together every night and practically spend every waking moment together.
I can't get enough of her, and I know that I never will. Adeline came into my world like a tornado, shredding through the tough, exterior shell that was keeping me locked away from the outside world. She ripped open my chest and squeezed that cold, black muscle, until it started beating again, bringing me back to life.
And my heart beats for her and her alone.
Adeline woke me up and did the impossible — she freed me. And I want to make her mine.
Forever.
"You're meeting the jeweler at five o'clock," I tell Jax for the tenth time today.
"Yes, yes. For fuck's sake, Luc, we've gone over this a million fucking times this week."
