"Enzo," Valentina said lazily, examining her nails, "your legal wife is sitting right beside you, and you're ditching me to see your mistress?"
I turned and fixed her with a cold stare.
"Valentina, I've already given up enough port shares. Stay out of my personal business."
She shrugged and shut her mouth, turning to look out the window. Smart enough not to push it.
The car pulled up outside the villa. I grabbed the wrapped daisiesand strode toward the front door. But before I reached it, something felt wrong.
The entrance was empty.
The two armed guards I'd personally stationed here for twenty-four-hour shifts were gone.
This wasn't right.
I dropped the flowers and charged toward the door. Valentina and Luca sensed something was off and hurried after me.
The door wasn't even locked. The handle turned with barely any pressure. Anna would never forget to lock up. She'd been trained to be meticulous. She wasn't some careless idiot, which was exactly why I'd trusted her to look after Chloe.
I pushed the door open. The house was pitch black. Not a single light on.
"Chloe?" I flipped on the living room light and called out.
No answer. Dread washed over me. I quickened my pace toward the second-floor bedroom, reaching for my gun.
I raised the weapon and entered the bedroom. What I saw made my blood run cold.
The room had been torn apart. The nightstand lay shattered on the floor, glass from the lamp scattered everywhere. Two bullet holes marked the window. And on the hardwood floor, a large dark red stain stretched from the bed to the door, like someone had been dragged.
Chloe was gone.
What did that mean? I couldn't let myself think it. Panic crashed over me like a wave.
I heard myself screaming Chloe's name, over and over, but nobody answered.
I tore through the house like a madman. The bathroom. The nursery. Every goddamn corner. Her baby catalogs were still neatly stacked on the nursery carpet. The pale yellow wallpaper sample she'd picked out yesterday was still taped to the wall.
But she wasn't there.
"Luca!" I roared.
He rushed in. Before I could even give orders, Luca was already moving, barking into his radio to lock down every intersection in a ten-block radius.
I knelt down, my hands shaking uncontrollably as my fingers touched that glaring dark red stain on the floor.
Fuck. The thought that this blood might be Chloe's made me want to kill everyone in the world.
I spun around and bolted for the door. Who? Who the hell would dare? I'd rip them apart piece by piece.
"Enzo! Where are you going?"
Valentina rushed forward and threw her arms around me from behind.
"Get off! I need to find her, even if I have to turn all of New York upside down!" I tried to shake her off.
"Snap out of it!" Valentina tightened her grip around my waist, shouting, "It's already happened! Look at how much blood is on the floor. She's obviously dead! Face reality, Enzo!"
"Shut up! Valentina! I said shut up!"
