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My mother touches my hand. “Son, I’ve been waiting for you.” She slips something into my hand. “I can’t trust this to anyone else.”
It’s a small piece of paper, and someone has written a few simple words on it that would mean nothing to anyone else in this store. “Where did you find this?”
“In the basket where she was putting all the decorations,” she tells me. “I hadn’t thought about it until just a few minutes ago. I went back to where she left the basket in one of the aisles and found that piece of paper under the angel that she was going to put on the top of the tree for your suite.”
“Well, there’s no reason to stay here. She’s gone.” I shove the note into my pocket. “Tell our men to meet me in my office. She’s no longer missing. I know where she is.”
My mother comes with me, holding my arm to help keep her steady. “I’m so afraid for her, Carlo.”
“I know you are. But I’ll get her back.” And many people will die over what’s happened here today.
“But in what condition?” my mother asks, looking at me with tears streaming down her face.
Pulling out a handkerchief, I hand it to her. “Wipe away the tears. No one can see you like this. We never show weakness. You know that.”
Sniffling, she wipes her eyes. “I know. It’s just that I’m so afraid for her. And the thought that she might be pregnant makes it so much worse.”
“We’ll get her back,” I say once more. “And we will deal with whatever we must deal with.” And her father will die for what he’s done today.
“She must be terrified,” my mother says.
“She’s strong. Give her credit,” I tell her, as well as myself. “She’s a Vietti and a Barone. The woman has strength in spades.”
Within the hour, I meet with my men in my office at the mansion and have one of them make the call to Barone. With his phone on speaker, we hear as the call is answered. “Hello?” a man asks.
My man says, “Carlo Vietti wants to speak to Daniel Barone.”
“This is Darius Stone. I’m his wife’s uncle. I’m afraid Daniel can’t talk to Mr. Vietti.”
“That wasn’t a request,” my man says. “It was a notice to you and your family. Carlo Vietti will speak with Daniel Barone—and he knows why. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but it will happen.”
“I’m afraid it would take a miracle for anyone to speak to Daniel Barone right now, or ever for that matter,” Darius says.
Sick of whatever game this fucker is playing, I say, “Look, I don’t have time for this. I want to meet with him today. He knows why. He can meet me in a neutral place, or I’ll come to his home. But I will see him today.”
“Sorry—I haven’t been straightforward with you,” Darius says. “The news is being kept quiet right now. But it will soon be out.”
“What news is that?” I ask with irritation.
“I can see you think Daniel was behind something. And he may well have been—I’m not one to get in his business. But he is no longer with us.”
“Explain that to me,” I say.
“He was on his way to mass today when he was assassinated.”
“He was killed this morning?” I ask to be sure of the timeline.
“Yes. Around eight,” he says.
Anger and fury combine inside me to form what promises to become a volcanic eruption. Walking out of the room, I pound my fist against my palm.
Daniel was dead before Isabella was taken, so he didn’t give the order. But if not Daniel Barone, then who?
We’re taking her home where she belongs, the note said. It had to have been from Barone. But it couldn’t have been if he was dead. Could another rival family have taken her?
Barone won’t leave my mind though. Maybe his men went through with his initial order after his death. Maybe they thought the new boss, whoever that will be, would want Isabella as some kind of leverage against me.
But why?
