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Giordano noticed that Massimo didn’t seem relieved by that.
“What else did they say?” He asked. Massimo blew out between his lips.
“I know it's just standard operating procedure, but the officer had some questions as to why I was reporting her.”
“Like what?” Giuseppe asked, becoming reinvested in the conversation.
“The officer asked how long she’d been gone, which was fine. Then she asked if maybe Isotta had just run away, whether or not she had a reason to leave. Did we have an argument, or whether I thought she was with someone else?”
“Someone else?” Romina repeated.
“Yeah.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Romina replied.
“The officer didn’t sound promising in the effort the police would put toward finding her.”
“We can make them,” Giordano replied. “I can call their captain and remind him who we are and about the million-dollar donation we made to the Policeman’s Association.”
“Dad,” Massimo sighed. “We have to give them a chance. What else can we do?”
“Just know that it’s an option.”
“I hear what you’re saying, that maybe she ran away, but what if she didn’t?” Giuseppe offered.
“What do you mean?” Romina asked.
“I’m just thinking out loud,” Giuseppe replied. “Maybe I watch too many mysteries. But, what if?”
Massimo contemplated what Giuseppe proposed, as did his parents. He hadn’t considered it before, like it wasn’t even a thought until just then.
“Let’s think about it,” Giordano suggested. “For a minute, just as another option,” he said, trying not to offend his son.
They all sat in silent contemplation and considered the option.
“So, let’s say someone did take her,” Massimo mused aloud. “Why?”
“Plenty of reasons,” Giordano replied, “business reasons.” His eyes narrowed as he considered all the possibilities surrounding their collective business endeavors, not those that went well but those that didn’t.
Massimo and everyone else in the house didn’t need further explanation as to what Giordano meant. They clearly understood.
“You’d think if someone took her, though, they would make a demand,” his brother thought aloud.
“Maybe they’re being strategic,” Massimo interjected. “If she’s been taken at all.”
Chapter Five
It had been more than twenty-four hours. Both Isotta and Celestina were tired. They’d been sitting upright in chairs for hours and hours. They had to sleep in the chairs, eat in the chairs, exist in the chairs. They were allowed to have sips of water, but they hadn’t eaten since they’d been taken. They were tired, very tired. The fight Isotta had in her system stemmed from her encounter with her parents but continued when they were initially taken. She was losing steam, though. She didn’t have nearly as much fight in herself as she’d had before. But that changed when their captor spoke when he teased and taunted them, when he didn’t give them a straight answer, being coy and playful when she was serious.
Celestina was also tired. She was worn, weary, and tired. Even though she was concerned about being captured and the risk to their lives, her most prominent concern was her daughter. Their relationship had not always been the best; Celestina could admit that, but it had never been as bad as it was. She was concerned that no matter what she did, repairs couldn’t be made, that she’d lost her daughter forever. Celestina wanted to remain hopeful, but the more she was alone with her isolated thoughts, the more she felt as though all was lost.
They both started to pay attention again when they heard his now familiar footsteps moving toward them.
“More of the same,” Isotta sighed as Alessandro stood in front of her. She didn’t even look up at him. She didn’t have fear in her eyes. Isotta was too tired and weak for that.
“Getting bored with my cheerful commentary?” Alessandro asked. Then he was in her face, where she couldn’t avoid looking at him. He was so close that Isotta smelled his cologne like a reluctant whiff of something that smelled delicious. She shook her head in her thoughts because shaking her head would cause inadvertent contact with him, and Isotta didn’t want to touch him.
“Are you getting bored with me?” Alessandro seethed, his teeth bared. She could smell his breath. He breathed so close to her. Alessandro’s disposition instantly changed, revealing the rage that he’d kept on a leash for far too long. He held them for a long time. Alessandro had to exercise patience, even with himself, because it would have been so easy, so simple, to kill them both. That would send a message and leave an indelible impression in the minds of the people who betrayed him, especially if it included Isotta’s body being on display in the most sexually vulgar and suggestive position. A little blood or a lot of blood wouldn’t hurt either.
