AllFreeNovel
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We jump out of the car before we get pulled out by our throats. It’s not unexpected when Lorenzo pounces on me like a starving lion on a lame zebra, but it still knocks the breath out of me. With a hand around my throat, he pins me to the car, squeezing tightly until black spots dance in my vision. I ball my hands into fists, aware that following my instinct and fighting back is likely to earn me the ass-kicking of my life—if I’m lucky.
He bares his teeth, his face crimson with pent-up rage. “What the fuck did you do?” I open my mouth to answer, but it snaps shut when he pulls me forward and pushes me back hard. “Where the fuck is my wife?”
“We’ll get her back, Boss,” Romeo pipes up, and Lorenzo’s fierce glare is drawn to where my friend is standing and, I assume, not being choked to death.
“You’ll get her back?” He slams me against the car again and turns to Dante. “Did you hear—what the fuck?” he roars.
At this point, Dante places a hand on Lorenzo’s forearm, the one attached to the meaty hand crushing my windpipe. “Let him go.”
Lorenzo’s nostrils flare, but he releases me. I rub the tender skin, grateful to be able to suck in a breath. But now I have the eyes of both Moretti brothers stripping the flesh from my bones, and the image of my slow, agonizing death if anything happens to Mia flashes through my mind.
“You can kill him later,” Dante says with a growl. “Right now we need to focus everything we have on finding Mia, and these two fuckwits are the only ones who know anything about who took her.”
Lorenzo pinches the bridge of his nose, his body visibly vibrating with fury, but his voice is quiet. Like the calm before a life-destroying Category 5 storm. “Tell me again. Who took my wife?” His breathing speeds up. “And how the fuck did she take her from under your fucking noses?”
I take a deep breath and explain how we met her a few nights ago, that she must have waited until we fell asleep to tap into one or both of our phones, and how I will scorch the fucking earth to ash to find her. I decide to leave out how it never occurred to me that I was drugged after I woke up Tuesday morning feeling like I’d gone on a weeklong bender despite only having two drinks.
“But Mia wasn’t supposed to be there today. Joey was,” Max reminds us all, his dark eyes full of worry.
“Everyone is on lockdown until we find this woman and get Mia back,” Dante barks. “Every-fucking-one.”
Max frowns. “You’ll get no arguments from me, D. Your sister would never leave the house again if I had my way.”
Lorenzo puts his hands on his hips and tilts his face toward the sky. When he looks at me again, he appears to have a firmer hold on his desire to wipe me off the planet. “Do you have any other information on this woman other than her first name? If that even is her name.”
“She drives a yellow Honda Fireblade, not many of them around. I can check local sellers and dealers. I gave you the plates of the van she used to take Mia that we pulled from the hotel security footage. We could—”
“Already dumped,” Dante says. “Looks like they were headed out of town. We have someone scouring for footage of the area, but nothing yet.”
“Who the fuck would take one of the girls?” Max asks with a growl.
Dante sighs. “It could be any one of our enemies.”
Lorenzo shakes his head. “Who have we pissed off enough lately that would do something like this?”
“They might just be trying to send a message that they can get to any of you. A power play,” Romeo says, and the three glares he gets in response make me want to punch him in the mouth. Thanks, buddy, for reminding them that we couldn’t stop Mia from being taken.
I shake my head. “No. It has to be about more than sending a message.”
Dante tips his chin at me. “Why?”
Lorenzo stalks off to pace the driveway, which gives me a chance to catch my breath and answer. “In this business, men are the ones who make those kinds of clumsy power grabs. But Mia was taken by a woman, a woman who likely targeted Joey. And women are calculated and ruthless. We only spent one night with this chick, but she was smart. Like super fucking smart. The way she had this all set up too. She wouldn’t risk her life for a paycheck, so this wasn’t a hired job. There has to be an end game here. We just need to figure out what it is.”
Dante nods. “He’s right, Loz. And that also means that it’s likely Mia is safe. Dead leverage isn’t leverage. And I’m sure we’ll find out what that woman wants from us very soon.”
Lorenzo stops pacing and glares at his younger brother. “And until then, what? This is my fucking wife we’re talking about. Mia!” He roars her name, and we all flinch.
Dante softens his tone. “Until then we tear the country apart to find her.”
Joey comes out of the house. “Loz, Raven’s asking for you.” She walks down the stairs and joins our uneven circle. “She’s really upset.”
Max slips an arm around his wife’s waist, and she leans against him, her cheeks wet with tears. I can’t even bear to look at her. I wonder if she realizes that she was the target. Of course she does, she’s not stupid. I hate that we fucked up. I hate that I failed them, and most of all, I hate myself for being blinded by nothing more than a good fuck.
Lorenzo stalks into the house, muttering curses under his breath. The plan is to move out in the next half hour in search of Mia, so Romeo and I stand by the car. The rest of the security team avoid us, like they’re scared to be associated with our incompetence. Can’t say I blame them.
“You think we’ll get her back, Ace?” Romeo asks me.
“Course we will. The bitch must have taken her for a reason. I’m sure we’ll find out what it is soon.”
