“Where is she now?” Enzo asks, already focused on logistics as always.
“She tookLa Fortunaand fled the island. She thinks I’ll blame her.” My voice catches, and I clear my throat. “She has nothing with her. No phone, no money, no ID. Just the clothes she was wearing.”
“She’ll need transportation from wherever she lands,” Piper says, her voice tight with worry. “Check the airports, ferry terminals, bus stations. She might try to get back to Cleveland.”
“Or she might hide,” Raven adds softly. “She’ll be so scared, Rafe.”
“I need your help,” I tell them, the words foreign on my tongue. I rarely ask for help, but for Alina, I’d beg on my kneesif necessary. “If she reaches out to any of you, help her. Give her whatever she needs. Then call me immediately.”
“Of course,” Enzo says immediately.
“She won’t contact us,” Matteo points out. “She doesn’t have our numbers, and she’s probably terrified of the entire Russo family right now.”
“I know,” I admit. “But I need to cover all possibilities.”
“We’ll alert our people at all transportation hubs,” Remus assures me. “If she tries to leave the islands, we’ll find her.”
“I don’t care what she wants,” I add, my voice hardening. “If she reaches out, you give it to her, but you contact me afterward. Understood?”
A chorus of affirmations follows.
“Do you want us to fly down?” Enzo asks.
I consider it briefly before shaking my head, though they can’t see it. “No. Stay where you are. If she somehow makes it back to Cleveland, I need you there.”
After a few more minutes of planning, I end the call and turn to find Colin waiting. He’s already locatedLa Fortunavia its GPS.
I close my eyes briefly, picturing her terrified face as she pulled away from the dock. Somewhere out there, my wife is running from a threat that doesn’t exist.
I will find her. I will bring her home. And I will spend the rest of our lives making sure she never feels the need to run from me again.
Andrea’s boat cut through the waves at top speed, the GPS tracker forLa Fortunablinking steadily on Colin’s tablet. Myeyes are fixed on that tiny red dot, willing it not to move, praying Alina hasn’t abandoned the boat yet.
The sun beats down mercilessly, but I barely feel it. All I can think about is her face when she pulled away from the dock, wearing terror, guilt, and heartbreak like a mask of destruction.
She believes she’s lost me forever. She has no idea I’m racing toward her, not to punish her for killing Andrea, but to thank her for surviving him. To worship her. To tell her how much I fucking love her.
“How much longer?” I demand, not taking my eyes off the tablet screen.
“Twenty minutes,” Colin answers, his voice barely audible over the engine’s roar. “The signal hasn’t moved in the last hour.”
Behind us, four of my security men check weapons and phones, preparing for the search ahead. Colin’s already made calls, arranging cars and additional personnel to meet us at the mainland. No expense spared, no resource untapped. Not for this. Not for her.
“She’s scared,” I say, more to myself than to Colin. “She thinks I’ll hunt her down for revenge.”
Colin doesn’t respond. He doesn’t need to. We both know what Andrea was capable of—the manipulation, the violence, the way he twisted loyalty into fear. Alina saw me as his son first, her husband second.
This is all my fucking fault. And not only because I left her side. No, it’s more than that. I never took the time to tell her everything, to make sure she fully understood my family. I collected her and married her. Threw her into a world I never explained.
Fuck!
“Boss,” Colin interrupts my thoughts. “We need a plan for when we reach the mainland.”
I nod, knowing he wants to make sure the others hear my orders as well. Forcing my mind to focus on strategy rather than the ache in my chest, I say, “We split into teams. Cover all transportation; airports, ferry terminals, bus stations. She’ll want to get as far away as possible.”
“She has no ID,” Colin supplies me. “No passport or money.”
Exhaling sharply, I carry on. “Which means she’ll look for alternatives. Like cash-only services. Places that don’t ask questions.” The thought of my wife—my gentle, innocent wife—forced into the shadows makes my blood boil. “She might try to find work to earn enough for transportation.”
