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Silence. Fuck.
“Boss,” Lorenzo says as he steps up behind me. “The security feed is down. Whoever was here cut it.”
“I want footage,” I snarl at Lorenzo. “Do your thing. I want every piece of footage from this house and every one that’s around us.”
He nods. “On it,” he assures me. He turns on his heel and walks toward my office. He’ll be able to use the computer in there and do whatever he does best to get me what I need.
I continue through the house, checking every fucking nook there is to see if I can find her. My heart is thumping with every second that ticks by and I haven’t found her. Moving through the hall, I spot the closet. Could she be hiding in here? Reaching for the door, I pray that she is. I need to see her, check that she’s okay. That she’s alive and well.
The second the door opens, I hear a deep whimper. Pain rips through my chest when I see her on the floor, arms wrapped around her knees as she weeps silently into them. “Mia amata,” I whisper, my voice hoarse.
She lifts her head and looks up at me. Fear shines brightly in those gray eyes. “Elio,” she whispers, her entire body shaking as she begins to sob.
I reach for her, pulling her into my arms. She throws her arms around me, her head burying into my shoulder as sobs wrack through her body. “I thought they were going to kill me,” she breathes through her sobs.
“You’re safe, baby,” I promise her, my arms tightening around her as I walk her to our bedroom. I sit on the bed, holding her in my arms as I wait for her to calm. I won’t be able to get anything out of her like this. She’s too distraught. Too fucking frightened to speak.
“Va tutto bene, mia amata, sei al sicuro. Te lo prometto, sei al sicuro,” I whisper to her, over and over again.“Va tutto bene, mia amata, sei al sicuro. Te lo prometto, sei al sicuro.”(It’s okay, my beloved, you’re safe. I promise you, you’re safe.)
Her body trembles in my arms, her sobs tearing through her. She bucks and hiccups with every single one of them. Her fingers clench around my shirt as she holds on.
“Elio?” I hear Rocco call out.
Teagan jumps at his voice, burying herself closer against me, almost as though she’s trying to merge bodies. Seeing her this way only adds fuel to my anger. No one should make her feel frightened. No one should break into our house and make her feel unsafe. They’ll pay for what they’ve done.
Rocco, Dario, and Jade enter the room, all of them watching us, their gaze moving from Teagan and then back to me. I tell them through clenched teeth what happened, all the while not letting go of Teagan once. I can’t. I’m afraid that if she’s out of my sight, she might vanish.
It takes Teagan a few more minutes to calm down enough to speak. She begins by telling me about the men she saw in the diner, how they were talking about taking out the boss.
“We know about that,mia amata,”I say softly. “Tell me about today?”
“I heard the door opening. I knew instantly it wasn’t right,” she whispers, her voice shaky. “I hid, and the men started to search for me. One got a call telling him you were on your way and then they left.”
“Who were they,mia amata?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I don’t know, but the person who warned them, they called him Alb.”
I glance at Rocco, who nods, turns on his heel, and walks out of the room. We know who informed the bastards. We just need to know how Albert knew. Who the fuck told that bastard I was on my way home?
“We’re going to find them,mia amata,” I promise her. “They’re not going to hurt you.” That is a motherfucking guarantee.
She nods, her eyes still watery, but she looks at me as though she believes me. “I took their pictures,” she says, shifting slightly to reach for her cell. “I tried to get the best picture I could.” She hands me her cell. I don’t look at it, not just yet. I’ll do that when I’m not around her.
“I’m staying here,” Jade tells me. “No one is going to get to her,” she vows.
I trust Jade with my life. I know she’ll protect Teagan with everything she is.
“I’ll be back,” I tell her as I lift her off my lap and place her onto the bed.
“Be safe,” she whispers, her eyes wide and a little fearful. “Come back to me,” she says so that only I can hear her.
I lean down and press my lips against hers. “Always,mia amata, voglio bene, tesoro.”
Her lips part, and her eyes flare with heat before it’s quickly pushed down. “Go. Be safe,” she says.
I nod. As shit as this fucking thing is, it’s let her be a little vulnerable with me, and I can see she’s getting to a point where she’s trusting me. All I can do is hope that one day she’ll be able to forgive me for what I’ve done.
TWENTY-SEVEN
