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“What did she do?”
“What do you mean?” Alessandro asked.
“I get why you took Isotta, but her mother?”
“Yes, I took her as well,” Alessandro confirmed. “She was as much a part of the deception as the rest of them. They are lucky I didn’t take that old bitch, Costanza.”
“Oh, I get it,” Gabriel smiled. “Not only are you directing your revenge towards Massimo, but you’re also getting back at Valentina’s family as well.”
“Like a two-for-one special,” Alessandro smiled wickedly. “They’re just lucky I couldn’t find Valentina.”
“You looked for her?” Gabriel asked, seriously interested.
“Of course I did,” Alessandro replied. “Ultimately, she’s the one who embarrassed me. She’s the one who stood me up after she was promised to me. I had the team looking everywhere for her. The bitch is lucky I didn’t find her,” he commented. “But I’m not going to ever stop looking because I’ve got something for her, too. And she’s going to pay with her miserable life.”
That statement struck Gabriel because he knew his brother meant every last word. It was how he said it, the vitriol, the anger he said it with that sent a shivering chill down Gabriel’s spine. But he knew he couldn’t show that he was upset. Gabriel knew he had to keep up appearances and keep up his agreement with his brother’s anger and betrayal. Still, Gabriel wanted to see just how far his brother was willing to go.
“What if you can’t find her? What if she’s in another country?” He offered.
Alessandro leveled his gaze in his brother’s direction and met Gabriel’s eyes.
“I will go to the ends of the earth to find that bitch. Do you understand me? No matter where, no matter how long it takes, I will find her, and I will destroy her.”
Gabriel shifted gears. He didn’t want to encourage Alessandro to think even more about Valentina than he already had.
“Isotta and her mother,” he commented. “You’ve got them both, but what are you going to do with them?” Gabriel asked. “I mean, how far are you going with this thing?”
“As far as necessary to get the revenge I seek,” Alessandro replied. His eyes fell on Isotta again. She whimpered on the floor. He wondered why but then realized he didn’t really care. The whimpering was a nice sound effect.
“So, what’s next?”
Alessandro stroked his chin and then displayed a half smile.
“Next, I set the meeting.”
“The meeting?”
“Yes,” Alessandro replied. “The meeting.”
Chapter Eight
It was a full twenty-four hours before they heard anything else from the captor. In those twenty-four hours, Giuseppe managed to talk Massimo down from rampaging in an effort to find Isotta. What he wasn’t able to do was keep Massimo from taking out his anger on Ricardo. After Giuseppe was partially able to talk Massimo down, Massimo still brewed. He wanted to know where Ricardo was. Giuseppe didn’t hesitate to tell him because Ricardo needed his ass kicked for all the damage he had done.
“Take me to him,” Massimo insisted. “I’m in no condition to drive.”
“I gotcha, bro,” Giuseppe replied.
“What about Isotta?” His mother asked, reaching out to Massimo. She was still so worried about her, but she was also worried about her son’s responsiveness.
“I haven’t forgotten,” Massimo advised. “I just need to work some things out.”
Giuseppe grabbed his keys, and he and Massimo headed out. His older brother was relatively quiet on the ride over. He didn’t ask any questions about where Ricardo was or what condition he was in. At one point, Giuseppe looked over at his brother out of the corner of his eye. Massimo looked straight ahead. He barely blinked. The one thing Giuseppe noticed was the clenching of Massimo’s jaw. It was rhythmic, growing in intensity and unrelenting. He thought about trying to engage his brother in conversation, to take his mind off Isotta, at least for the moment. But looking at his brother, Giuseppe thought better of it, instead turning the radio on for some background noise.
They pulled up to the company warehouse where Ricardo was being kept. Giuseppe barely had the car in park before Massimo stepped out. He walked with intention to the front door. Giuseppe turned off the ignition and chased behind his brother. He fell close to in step with Massimo.
“Where is he?” Massimo asked, his head on a swivel, trying to locate Ricardo.
“Where is he?” He demanded, his pace still quick, his fists balled up by his sides.
