GIANNI
The shattering of glass fills the air but doesn’t do anything to quiet the storm in my head. Then what the fuck are they using for money if none of Tatiana’s cards have been accessed?”
“Caterina must be paying for it herself,” Roger muses
He’s still standing exactly where he stood when he told me there’s been no trace of Tatiana’s activity twenty hours after they ran away. His balls are massive. He’s the only one of my pays who’s been able to stay in the room with me for more than half a minute since last night. All my men are running scared, scrambling around like chickens without their fucking heads, and none of it matters.
We’re no fucking c closer to finding them than we were last night.
“That’s on me,” Igrowl, kicking aside one of the chairs in front of my desk. “I should have been tracking Caterina’s finances,
foo”
When will Hear? I should’ve been doing lots of things.
“The good news is they can’t stay away forever.”
I bark out a bitter laugh. “Do you want to bet? We’re talking about Tatiana here.”
“I’m talking more about Caterina. The girl was in shock. You shot off half her ex’s head while they were in the same bed. You can never tell what somebody’s going to do when they’re in shock. If you ask me, her reaction is pretty calm.
He is not helping matters.
“Then, by all fucking means, let’s allow both of them to run around the world unsupervised. Look, I already feel better…” Ipin him with an icy stare.
His nostrils flare as he lets out a slow breath. “My point is, Tatiana might have gone along with Caterina to make sure she was safe. After what happened, she probably wasn’t thinking clearly. She fell back on an old habit,”
Running away. Yes, that is an old habit of hers. Because she would rather face a cruel and unforgiving world than Lace me. I hate myself for wanting so much to believe him. I want to cling to that bit of hope that he’s giving me because I’m a pitiful fucking bastard when it comes to this girl. That’s what she’s done to me. She’s made me weak, emotional, and undisciplined. I’m out of control and won’t be able to find my footing again until I find her. Bow am I supposed to go on it Caterina isn’t my reason for
“Tatiana is level–headed,” Roger continues in that measured voice he puts on when he’s trying to calm me down,
That makes me laugh again. If there’s one adjective I’d use when describing my daughter, level–headed would not be it. Now I know he’s breaking his back to placate me, blowing smoke up my ass, “If she was, she would have come to me instead of running off in the middle of the night. It’s irresponsible. They’re acting like they’re having an adventure together or some bullshit ”
My skin is hot and flushed. My body’s been in a rage ever since I found the girls gone, not even thirty minutes after sending Caterina off with my daughter to clean up. I shouldn’t have let her out of my sight, but I was trying to think of what was best what she needed. Once I noticed the way she clung to Tatiana, I thought 1 had it pinned down.
Asshole me, assuming she’d do better with her best friend than she would with the man she witnessed murdering heres Thinking it would cause her greater distress if I got in her face when what I wanted most in the world was to hold her. What if there hadn’t been a way to track her location? We spent days searching for Luciano and never found records of that cabin. I never would have found her. Once again, I went against my instincts and let her walk away.
“Let’s be honest. This could have to do with her being pissy over the Moroni fiasco.
“It wouldn’t surprise me it that had something to do with it,” he admits, his jaw tightening “But I know she cares about Caterina. There’s a good chance she did it to be a good friend.”
+25 BONUS
She needs me. What else must I do to show her she means everything to me? I’ve killed for her. That’s still not enough to keep her from disappearing. I’m not enough to keep her from disappeting
“Try the app again,” I growl, pacing the room and pounding my fish into my palm. Glass crunches beneath my shoes, and Rope lets out a choked sort of warning sound, but Lignore him. Like I gave two shits about broken glass.
It’s better for both of us if I pretend I don’t hear the way he sighs as he pulls out his phone. It’s clear he thinks this is useless, and he might be right, but I’d kick myself to death if either of them turned their phone on, and I missed the opportunity to track them
Last night, it was a stupid mistake to make Tatiana aware of the app. It couldn’t have taken long for one of them to connect the dots and assume Tatiana’s phone held the same tracking system. By the time I realized they were gone, they had both switched their phones off, leaving themselves untraceable.
“Nothing.” He sighs after a minute. “I’ll keep checking”
“How many cars do we have out there looking for them?”
“Eight at the moment.”
That’s not enough, obviously. “We need more.”
“Boss, respectfully—
“Cut the bullshit,” I bark. I’m going crazy. I fucking killed for her, and she left me. I’ve been sitting on my hands–ineffective because I want to be here waiting once they’re brought home. Is it any wonder I’m ready to bum the fucking world to ash?
“Fine. We’ve been combing the city since last night. These guys haven’t slept, and they’re still searching every inch of the city If I send more cars out, I’m going to have to pull some back to give them a chance to sleep.”
“You think I give a fuck about whether they’re well rested? They want to sleep; they need to find the girls. End of story.”
“Fair enough. I’ll get on it.”
“And save your fucking opinion next time,” I shout at the back of his head while he goes to his office. “I didn’t fucking ask for it, so I don’t want it.”
“Point taken.” At least he’s smart enough not to slam his door, though it’s odd enough for him to close it at all
Motherfucker. Whatever happened to the days when it was simple. My kid stepped out of line, and I could ground her. There’s no grounding a twenty–one–year–old, especially not when she’s my stubborn daughter.
At least I know they won’t go far for long on whatever Caterina hassaved in a month at her job. At the very least, I have the comfort of knowing she’s supposed to return to work on Monday. That’s two days from now, and the thought of waiting so long when hardly twenty–four hours has practically broken me
No way I’m waiting that long. Anything could happen in two days.
I’m still pacing when Roger returns. “It’s done. We’re covering every corner of the city and surrounding suburbs. Something’s bound to come up.
“I don’t need you coaching me through this.”
He falls silent while typing on his phone, and I continue pacing like a caged animal. Where the hell could they be? As if I wouldn’t move heaven and earth to find her. She should know me better by now
“You know, there is an option we haven’t covered yet,” he murmurs after a while.
I do know because it’s been in the back of my mind for hours. “No, We aren’t getting the cops involved, even the ones we pay
‘s name never has to be brought up. All you have to do is sell them you’re looking for Tatiana, that she might be in
“Caterina’s name
distress.”
34
Tempting… but no “Absolutely not I can’t risk it.”
34.1
L
The thing is, I’ve already considered it. That’s how crazy this has made me. I actually considered reaching out to that prick
detective to ask him for help to find his kid. He doesn’t need to know about us, only that the girls are missing. He’d have fifty cars out there looking for her within minutes, if not more. I already know how far he’s willing to go when something matters to him. But I also know what a pain in the ass he is, and I’m not about to have him barking up my tree with questions.
That’s an absolute end–of–the–road, “all other possibilities have been exhausted” sort of step. We aren’t there yet. After calling all the hospitals in the area to ask if they brought in any girls matching their description, there’s not much we can do but wait for one of them to show their face.
And when they do? This isn’t going to work out well for either of them.
Especially my little bird. Roger could be right. She might still have been in shock and reacting rather than thinking. That doesn’t mean I can’t be fucking furious with her and my daughter–who knows better.
I’ve been too soft on her. Though, God knows, with a mother like hers…
Why did it take me so long to see what I missed? I stop dead in the center of the room, and my mouth falls open when a gigantic piece of the puzzle falls into place.
“Motherfucker.”
“What? Did you think of something?”
“Yes, I fucking did. How did I not see it?”
“See what?”
I’m already pulling up Joe Smith’s contact information on my phone. What did he say again? I can’t remember how he described it. The line rings once.
He picks up, his voice warm but professional. “Mr. Rossetti, what a pleasure-”
“The last time I spoke to you, you said Amalia’s been spending time with a kid young enough to be her son.”
“That’s right.”
“And you never got a good look at him?”
“Never at his face, no. He’s tall, athletic build.“Like Luciano is–was.
Roger throws his hands into the air, lost. Covering the phone with my hand, I murmur, “I never thought about it. I was too distracted. Smith told me he saw Amalia with some young guy out in public. And somehow, Luciano got his hands on a photo of Caterina and me. Now, where do you think he would have gotten that from?”
“You think Amalia might be behind some of this?”
“I don’t know. I only know if she’s that dead set on hurting Caterina, it wouldn’t matter to her if Tatiana was a casualty. She’s that fucking determined to get back at me. Hell, using Tatiana might make the hurt worse. It’s not like she ever gave a shit about being a mother.“.
Judging by the way his mouth screws up in a skeptical smirk, he’s unconvinced. “Think about this for a second.”
No, I’ve done enough thinking. It’s time to act. I want answers from that vindictive bitch. And if it means getting her off the street and out of Caterina’s path, even better.
“I want Amalia found now,” I bark into the phone. “And the second you set eyes on her, you tell me. Do not lose sight of her. I’ll pay you three times your rate. Just find her so we can have a talk.”
“Consider it done.” If only everyone on my payroll could be that unproblematic.
Once I’ve ended the call, Roger ventures, “Do you really think Amalia would do something like that to Tatiana?”
- 172.
34.1
+25 BONUS
My hand tightens around the phone until my knuckles ache. “She already fucking told her about Caterina and me.”
His brows draw together. “When did this happen?”
“When Tatiana was in Europe. She knew before she got home. Only two people would have reached out to her about it, and I doubt my kid would have taken a call from Luciano.” The more I think about it, the more sense it makes. I immediately suspected Amalia minutes after Caterina first showed me the photo. Then, Caterina tried to run off, and I didn’t think the problem through.
Amalia gave Luciano the photo. What else did she give him? A bunch of information, rumors, and lies that fucked with his head until he tried to run Caterina down. Or maybe Amalia convinced him to do it because they’re fucking. I’m getting more questions than answers at this point.
“She had someone following you,” Roger marvels, shaking his head.
“Exactly. And once she saw pictures of us together, she could’ve started following Caterina instead. Who knows? She could be following her now.” And there’s nothing stopping her from doing whatever the hell she wants to get back at me for cutting her
off.
The more I think about it, the more convinced I am. She had something to do with Luciano going apeshit. It’s almost enough to make calling Charles, Caterina’s father, sound like a smart idea.
Before I can go through with the idea, the phone rings, and my heart seizes.
“Caterina,” I breathe before hitting the green button while Roger sighs.
“Gianni?” her voice is small, a whimper. Before I can demand anything from her, fear in her trembling voice freezes my blood. I need you to come here right away. There’s something wrong with Tatiana.”
