Chapter Thirteen
Damiano
Three hours later, we’re still no closer to finding Lily.
Luc has driven to the Bianchi mansion to talk to the sister, but the only information he was able to get was that Lily left on her own.She packed her things and didn’t tell anyone where she was going or when.According to the family, she has no known relatives or friends she could have gone to.
Meanwhile, Teo managed to locate her phone, and unsurprisingly, it’s still pinging from her parents’ house.“Got something, D,” Teo calls out.I walk to his desk and peer over his shoulder, but the lines on his screen don’t make much sense to me.
“She withdrew money from an ATM this morning at five a.m.,” he says, his voice sharp with concentration.“The location…” He clicks a few more times, and a map pops up on the screen.“There!Near South Station.”He pauses for a moment, then adds, “I’ll pull up the surveillance camera footage.”
I nod and go to the bar to get another drink.That’s all I have been doing since I came back from the Bianchis’ house.
A few minutes later, we watch her walk away from the ATM to the train station.One set of grainy black-and-white footage follows another while we manage to track Lily’s whereabouts.
She withdrew five thousand dollars, then walked over to the station.Paid for a ticket in cash at the counter.Teo determined that it was to New York but I suspect it won’t be that easy.She was wearing jeans, sneakers and a hoodie with the hood over her head and looked like she fit right in even if the crowd was still thin at that time in the morning.
She didn’t act wary or afraid, never looked over her shoulder nor did anything remotely suspicious.Like any other girl going on with her life.
I sent men to the train station just in case, but I know she isn’t there anymore.
We follow her progress to the platform where she hops on the train to NY, then we watch through the carriage’s camera footage as she sits near the doors and absently looks out the window.Even with the bad quality and her hoodie over her head, I can see that her face is tense.At some point, she starts biting her thumbnail.
Teo fast-forwards the footage until she stands up and hops off the train in the nearest big city south of Boston.He does his magic again, enabling us to watch her enter the station bathroom, where she fucking stays for half an hour.When she comes out, hoodie still hiding her face, she goes straight outside and hails a cab.
The cab deposits her in front of an apartment building, which she disappears into.I have the address sent to my men before the door has even closed behind her and Teo is already looking into the tenant list.
Rage simmers in my gut.Running away in the fucking middle of the goddamn night, all alone.I am so going to spank her ass red for this.
That is, after I’ve fucked her into submission and punished her for running from me.
* * * *
I grunt as Luc’s fist hits me square on the jaw, making my head snap back.The metallic tang of blood invades my mouth but all it does is fuel my rage as I launch myself at him, fists flying.
“D!Stop!”My friend’s voice breaks through my haze and I drop my fists, chest heaving, breath pushing out in burning gasps.“D-man, you’re gonna kill us both.”His eyes are etched with worry under his split brow, where blood still oozes out.I must not look any better.The fucker managed to split my lip an hour ago.Although we are both wearing boxing gloves, the violence of our sparring is visible on both our bodies and faces.I stop to try to regain some composure.Then I nod.He’s right.We need a break.
We leave the mats of Teo’s home gym—it’s more of a professional gym taking up half the floor, which is conveniently in the same building as his office and his club—and go to the adjoining changing room.
Teo kicked me off his office floor, claiming I was too damn tense and that my controlling behavior was making his team nervous.
Fucking pussies.
Plus, I have already wired him the money, plus interest, for that damn giant screen I shattered when I threw a chair at it.Guess that didn’t sway the fucker.
So Luc dragged me to the gym, but not before I made sure Teo would update me on anything new.
Both of them are walking on eggshells around me like I’m some kind of lunatic who can’t keep it together.Like I can’t think straight.
Okay, fine.I am a fucking mess.
More than ever, I’m grateful that my friends have my back.Luc is running the show as my second in command, handling things with the precision I expect.Teo, meanwhile, has his team staked out at the building Lily entered two days ago.He set up discreet surveillance cameras at the entrance and in the lobby, anything to give me eyes on her.
I made it his priority to find her.I know I’m fucking up big-time by ignoring the human trafficking case.Teo’s gonna give me shit for it when this is all over.But I don’t give a damn.I’ll deal with it later.I have to get this mess sorted first, so I can refocus on the other shit we have waiting.
Two days I’ve spent holed up in Teo’s building, either pacing around his office until I got banned from it, or crashing for a few hours in one of his guest rooms.Two full days without seeing her face, with no sign of her at any window, no glimpse of her stepping outside.Who is she staying with?There is no lease in her name, and all the background checks on the tenants have shown no ties to her past.
I’m restless as hell.The waiting is starting to eat away at me, gnawing at my insides.I can’t stand it anymore.I can’t keep sitting here, waiting for her to show up on a damn camera.I need to see her.So, I decide to go down there myself.And this time, I’ve got a plan
