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Garret: Got a lead on my mom. Don’t want to disappoint Dad if it doesn’t pan out. Will check in when I can. Until then, I will be radio silent.
We’d been searching for Felicity for months, but there had been zero clues as to where she might have gone—or even if she’d gone willingly. Surveillance cameras and CCTV feeds from private businesses had left us with nothing. I’d had Desi checking airports within a hundred-square-mile radius of Trinity County, but that had been fruitless as well. No one had seen or heard anything from the Hannigan home that night. It was as if Felicity really had vanished into thin air.
Garret had been exhausting himself flying back and forth between New York and California, helping his family search for his mom while still working. I wasn’t sure what to think of him going off to follow a lead on his own, but I did know that Jet was a mess without his wife. Garret probably didn’t want to add more stress to the man in case he came home empty-handed once again.
When I got to work, Eduard was already on top of things as usual. We were minus an employee these days, not that anyone had noticed CeCe’s absence. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what had happened to her other than that Mom had taken care of her. CeCe’s uncle wouldn’t be able to use her to help the O’Brions spy on me or my family ever again—that was for fucking sure.
With everything that had been going on after I lost
Nova, my assistant had basically been running the legit side of the business. He was more than competent enough, and with Pop there to handle anything Eduard couldn’t, nothing had fallen behind. But I’d been slowly taking over everything once again, attempting to get back to some sense of normalcy, even if it was only on the surface so my family didn’t worry.
More than anything, however, it was because I needed the extra distraction to keep my mind off what was coming up and the fact that I wouldn’t be going on my honeymoon the following month as I’d been planning for the longest time.
Eduard was going on and on about the schedule for the day, but I only half heard what he said, my gaze going to the framed picture of me with Nova on my desk. On autopilot, I answered when spoken to, but I couldn’t draw my gaze away from the way Nova was smiling up at me in the photo.
If money could return her to me, I would have gladly handed over every last penny that came with the Vitucci name. The houses, cars, private planes, boats, or even the new helicopter. All of it could go in the blink of an eye for all I cared. If I could trade places with her, I would have already been six feet under. Fuck, I would have traded my soul to the devil himself if I could have just five more minutes with Nova so I could tell her one more time how much I loved her and hear her sweet laugh. Five minutes, five hours, or even five days—time meant nothing. Regardless of what I was given, it would never be enough.
I was still staring at the picture when I dismissed my assistant, only tearing my gaze away when my desk phone rang. Work demanded my full attention, but I couldn’t look away from the picture for more than a few minutes at a time. The same thing happened every time I sat behind that desk, but for some reason, it was suddenly worse.
“I’ve missed you so much.”
Her words from my dream the night before replayed in my head over and over again. The feel of her arms around me had been so real. I saw her every night in my dreams, but no matter how often she’d told me she loved me or hugged me, not once had I woken feeling so at peace as I’d done that morning.
But instead of soothing something inside me, it only made the gaping hole in the middle of my chest where my heart should have been throb more. Missing Nova physically hurt to the point that every muscle in my body was constantly tense.
The pain of being without my heart was unrelenting and endless.
Weeks passed without any word from Garret. I started turning over some of his work to Vito and Bennie since I couldn’t do it all myself. His dad called me twice when he couldn’t reach his son, but I just told him Garret was busy with something that had come up.
As Nova’s birthday approached, it was harder and harder to even get out of bed at times. We should have been rushing around in preparation for the wedding while I made plans for our honeymoon. Instead, I was left with…nothing. There would be no celebrating her turning eighteen. No making her my wife. No romantic getaway where I finally made her mine in every way.
Garret’s name popped up on my phone just as I was getting into the back of my SUV one evening. Frowning, I lifted it to my ear. “It’s about fucking time, dickhead. If you’re going to just disappear like this again, make sure to at least shoot me a text every few days so I know you’re alive.”
There was a small pause on the line before he chuckled. “Good to hear your voice too, asshole.”
“Well?” I demanded when he didn’t say anything else. “Did you find your mom?”
“How busy are you right now?” he asked, evading my question. “You got a lot going on, or could you possibly make a trip down here?”
“Where exactly is ‘down here,’ and how much trouble are you in?” I groused, figuring he needed me to bail him out of something.
“I’m not in any trouble,” he assured me, not even sounding offended. “And I’m in Colombia, actually. I’ve had a lot of shit going on, or I would have called you before now.”
“Colombia?” The word came out slightly strangled. I’d had my fill of that damn place, and I hadn’t even been there in forever. For the first few weeks following Nova’s death, I’d gotten countless prank calls from various Colombian numbers. After listening to that first voice mail and having my hopes lifted for all of five seconds, I’d refused to listen to another. I didn’t know who the fuck had been playing the sick game, but they had eventually gotten tired of it.
“Yeah, man. It’s a long story.”
“Did you find Felicity or not?” A thought hit me, and that gaping hole in the middle of my chest seemed to crumble around the edges. If something happened to Nova’s mom, she would never forgive me. “Is she okay?”
“My mom is fine. Great, actually. Look, can you come or not?”
I scrubbed my hand over my face. “If you need me, it doesn’t matter what I have going on. Just tell me what airport, and I’ll make the arrangements.”
“Perfect,” he said with a laugh. “First, fly out to California to get my dad before you come down. I have someone I want you two to meet.” Another laugh filled my ear, and it took me a moment to realize why it sounded so weird to me. It was because I hadn’t heard that kind of genuine happiness from anyone in a hell of a long time. “Don’t waste any time, man. Get your ass in the air ASAP.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I muttered. “Tell your dad I’ll pick him up later tonight, and we’ll be on our way to fucking Colombia.”
“Great. I’ll have Guzman meet you at the airport and drive you straight to the house. He’s our head of security. I think you’ll like him. If I’m not there, Maria, the housekeeper, will make you feel welcome. I’m rarely there between work and other shit, but it’s where I sleep most of the time. She will get you fed and put you in one of our best rooms.” There was suddenly a commotion in the background, several female voices talking excitedly all at once and then laughter. Garret groaned before lowering his voice. “See you soon, brother.”
