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“Why are you looking for me?”
It has occurred to me that the cruel man and his daughter might have had something to do with my kidnapping attempt, but I figured with me disappearing, they wouldn’t try too hard to find me. If Nina wants to marry Enzo, my disappearing leaves him free for marriage.
Nina lets out a harsh laugh. I step forward, but she holds up a hand to stop me. “Don’t even think about it.”
She tilts her head toward an overly large man. He subtly lifts his shirt to reveal the gun tucked into his waistband. I gulp down.
“I’m here because your fiance,” she spits the word, “is holding my father hostage on his property.”
“Enzo and I aren’t together anymore.”
“He doesn’t hold the same opinion. He’s practically tearing the city apart to find you, and since he thinks my father has something to do with your disappearance, he won’t let him go. So here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to call Enzo and tell him to release my father.”
“Anything. Whatever you say.”
“And to make sure that happens, I’m going to keep this one with me until I see my father.”
“Mommy…” Matteo whimpers out.
Nina lifts her eyebrows. “I guess I know why Enzo was so determined to marry you now.”
“I’ll get Enzo to release your father. Just give me my son back.”
“No can do. My father went too far this time, and I can understand that, but I will not let Enzo kill him. The kid stays with me.”
She roughly yanks Matteo towards the exit of the store with her. It’s only when she gets to the door that I realize there are more guards than just the one she originally pointed out. They’re everywhere. I have no chance of getting Matteo back from her.
As soon as they’re out of sight, I’m scrambling for the cell phone in my back pocket. In my panic, I can’t remember Enzo’s number. Derek had programmed his number into the phone, and maybe if I call him, he’ll be able to turn on my old phone to get Enzo’s number.
When I open my contacts, Enzo’s number is already there. If it wasn’t for my panic, I’d chuckle at the fact Derek transferred it over. I was always going to go home to him, it’s obvious. I’m too in love with him to stay away.
If I had seen it sooner, we wouldn’t be in this situation at all.
My hands are shaking as I hit the call button next to his name. The phone rings twice before the familiar voice picks it up.
“Hello,” he all but barks out. “I swear Derek, if you don’t tell me where my wife is, I’ll…”
“Enzo,” I whisper into the phone. It’s silent on the other side and I worry we’ve cut out for a minute.
“Emma? Is that you?”
I let out a choked sob. “They got Matteo. Enzo, they took Matteo from me.”
“Slow down. Who got Matteo?”
“Nina. She says you have her father, and she won’t give Matteo back until you release him.”
I’m surprised he’s able to understand me through my choked sobs. My words are barely coherent to me, and I’m the one saying them.
He lets out a long string of curse words, both in Italian and English. “Where are you? I’m going to send a car out to get you right now.”
The mammoth-sized guard plucks my phone from my hand and brings it up to his ear. “You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll bring her to you.”
He hangs up the phone and doesn’t hand it back to me. Instead, he slides it into his back pocket. I freeze in my spot when the man smiles at me. It does nothing to make him appear more approachable. My muscles twitch like they want me to run, but I don’t think I can outrun this man. I don’t want to do anything that might compromise Matteo’s safety and trying to run might. His safety has always been my primary goal, my driving force behind every hard decision I have had to make. Watching him get dragged away from me was my worst fear come true.
“Your son is safe. She won’t do anything to him,” he tells me. His voice is as gruff as his appearance. He uses a hand to steer and direct me out of the store. That’s the kind way to describe it. In reality, he’s practically dragging me since every one of his steps is the equivalent of three of mine.
“You expect me to believe that? She just dragged my son away from me.”
