“Don’t you worry about bringing kids into this life?” Having kids was something I’d vowed I’d never do as long as I was in the mafia world. But now, due to my innocence, I didn’t have a choice.
I’d lost track of the number of movies we’d watched. Letty and Trixie had fallen asleep on the couch, so I covered them up with blankets and walked up to my bed. Nico hadn’t texted when he landed, and a pit in my stomach grew, and it wasn’t from the baby.
“I didn’t expect two for one, but it will give him more power.” The low voice spoke from somewhere in the room. Turning, I watched the man shift from behind the curtains. “Did you miss me?”
“Mathias,” I whispered, backing up, trying to get to the nightstand where I kept a gun.
“You can look there, but I’ve already found all your hiding spots. It wasn’t smart keeping them all in the same place you kept them at your father’s.” The sick smile on his face was almost enough to make me throw up. “That’s right, I was in your room, often actually. Sometimes you were even sleeping.” His grin made me shiver.
“Lucky me, I get to see you sleeping again.” He reached out toward me, and I backed up, sending the things on my dresser clattering across the floor. I backed away from Mathias and slammed my hip into the table, making the vase of flowers wobble and fall to the floor. The vase shattered into a million pieces.
I needed to scream, but nobody would hear me. This room was soundproofed, thankfully, or most mornings I’d be too embarrassed to be seen.
“Nighty, night,” he sneered as he reached out his gangly arm and pressed something against my face.
CHAPTER 32
NICO
West coast timealways messed me up. It was midnight at home, and we’d just finished supper. Sitting in a closed-down restaurant in a horseshoe-shaped booth, we laughed and enjoyed the discussion that had turned from business to the antics the other men's wives were up to.
“Nico, are you keeping that wife of yours out of trouble?” Romolo Barbieri asked with a chuckle.
“Well, she saved my life at a function, and then helped me plan to take out the Cardone’s, so no Romolo, she’s not staying out of trouble.” I laughed as I lifted the glass of whiskey that had been placed in front of me. Speaking of my wife, I needed to call and check in with Emilia, but I hadn’t had the time.
My phone rang. And I smiled. She was obviously anxious. Reaching inside my suit pocket, I saw Trixie’s number.
“Trix?” I asked.
“She’s gone, Nico. Your room’s a disaster.” Trixie was panting, her voice was high-pitched, and I figured she was running through the house, hoping she was just mad or something. “Oh god,” her whispered words made my blood run cold.
“What, Beatrix?” She’d either yell at me or snap back into talking to me. Standing from the table, all the men looked at me.
“The guards outside the house, they’ve all been drugged. I think they’re alive.” Her words weren’t confident like she normally was.
“I’m coming back. Trix, I need to hang up and call Antonio to be ready.” I reached for my coat and headed toward the door. The four men I trusted more than anyone else stood in front of it and stopped me from going. “I’ll be back soon, Trix, get Walter and start figuring this out.” Ending the call, I stared at the phone.
“What is it, companio?” Gabriele Amato asked. I was in his city, I needed every blind eye turned and favour called in to get me out of here now.
“Emilia’s been taken.” The words came out of my mouth, but I wasn’t sure I’d said them. Running my hand through my hair, Gabriele was on the phone before I had time to ask him anything.
“Your flight plan has been filed, and my men are doing your pre-flight checks. If you need more support, call, and we’ll be there.” He tucked his phone away. “Go, you need to find that woman.” He nodded, and I ran out to the car I had waiting for me.
Dialling Antonio, I waited for him to pick up. “Hey, what’s…”
“Emilia’s been taken. We have to go home.” There was silence on the other end of the line.
“I should have stayed home.” His words cut me to the bone, because yes, he should have, but I insisted he come with me to make his presence known in the circles. “I’ll meet you at the hanger.” Then the line went dead. It wasn’t just that she was my wife. Over the time we’d been married, Antonio had thought of her as a little sister, and I knew he’d be blaming himself, just like I was.
For the entire flight back, I made calls, but nobody had seen anyone enter or leave my home. The place was supposed to be tighter than Fort Knox, but something catastrophic had happened, and I was over four hours away when it had.
“What about her tracker?” I asked, looking up at Antonio.
“Nothing. Wherever she is, the signal is scrambled, or they’ve removed it.” His voice was hoarse and full of emotion.
He knew as well as I did that there was only one way to remove that necklace, and it wasn’t a thought I wanted to entertain.
“Please buckle your seatbelts. We will be landing in thirty minutes.” The captain’s voice rang out through the plane. Thirty minutes, and I’d be on the ground ready to find my wife with whatever means necessary.
