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“She’s been feeling trapped. Smothered. For nineteen years it has been just her and Violet. Now she has all of us. Even on our best days we are a lot to handle.” We all laugh at Val’s admission. He isn’t wrong. We are a rowdy aggressive bunch.
“When we find her, we need to show her we are on her side. We can’t crowd her though. And Luca…” Massimo singles me out. “She needs to finish her list. We know it’s what she’s doing. She’s getting revenge on all those that threatened her mom all these years. When you see her you can’t go all alpha caveman on her and force her to heel.”
“I wasn’t planning on it.” I admit only to myself that the thought had crossed my mind. “I don’t want to cage her. I want to protect her. She may be your daughter Bosco and technically our marriage has been arranged by you and the council, but I love her.” Shit. I love her? What the hell? I barely know her.
No. I do know her. I don’t know the finer details like what her favorite color or what movies she likes. What I know is her passion, her ambition, her strength and her fight. That’s what I love. I don’t want to smother her. I want to help her blossom into the Mafia Queen she was born to be.
Bosco perks up at my declaration. “You love my daughter?”
“I do. I know she’s hurt and fragile right now. I’m not going to break her further. I am going to win her trust. By the time I’m done she will come home willingly.”
Massimo snorts. “You realize you are going to have one hell of a fight before that right? And I don’t just mean verbally. I heard about the ass kicking she already gave you. She is trained in some kind of defensive martial arts. Not to mention she’s good with a gun and not afraid to shoot too.”
“Yeah she is.” My smile reaches my eyes thinking about her skills. When was the last time I smiled like this?
“You sick fuck. You are getting hard thinking about fighting your wife?”
Bosco clutches his hands to his ears. “Ugh. No. Stop. That’s my daughter. She and I aren’t close but there is no way in hell I want to hear anything to deal with your cock or intimacy with my daughter. Just no!” Massimo the bastard laughs at Bosco’s discomfort.
“So what can we do? How do we stop or find her?” Asks Ricco.
“Her mother gave me a contact before she went into surgery. He is coming here. Apparently he met them both years ago. Ex-military. Likes to live off the grid. And the fucker taught her everything she knows.”
“Is he a hacker?” Asks Val from the corner. His nose back down where it has been in his laptop since the alarm sounded when Elena left. He is hacking traffic and ATM cameras looking for her. Anything he can get into with a camera or microphone he is checking. We thought we had a lead six hours ago. The body we found was cold when we got there. I know it was Elena. She is falling down the rabbit hole and if we don’t find her soon, I don’t know if we will be able to pull her out. Taking a life whether warranted or not hurts the soul. We need to find her. I won’t stop her. I know she needs this to feel safe. The Caruso family needs to be safe.
Santo screwed us big time. Elena may become our savior and I hate it. The burden is too much for one person. It’s why our organization has levels. Counterparts that help shoulder the responsibilities. As Don and Underboss the burden should fall to Bosco and I. Elena has taken it out of our hands and she is trying to carry it alone. I don’t want her to stumble. I can’t risk her tripping up. She is in the lion’s den. One wrong move and the Cartel will capture and torture her. They don’t follow the same laws that we do. They aren’t above hurting women.
“No. Apparently she's mainly self-taught in that department.” Replies Bosco.
“She has to have someone that’s helping her with it. There’s no way she hacked those cars and lights while we were chased. She's good but she can't be that good.” Val’s fingers stop typing. I’m not sure they’ve stopped all day. The frustration Val feels at his inability to track her digitally can be read all over his face. It’s how we all feel. Defeated. Still, none of us plan on giving up. I told her if she ran I would chase and I would burn the world down if I need to.
Maybe that’s the answer. Instead of trying to track Elena, we need to track the Cartel. She’s after them anyway. At some point we will either cross her path or the Cartel will run out of men and maybe then she will come home.
“I agree but her mom doesn't know who that would be.” I try to tune back into their conversation even though my mind has moved onto her next possible target. “Is there any way you can find out? If they are her friend maybe they know where she is or can help us track her.”
Val gives a nod of his head and turns back to his computer. He doesn’t get two buttons pushed before the bottom of it is smoking. “What the hell!” He flips it on its side and goes to remove the battery.
His screen goes red. A message appears.You won’t find me or Elena if she doesn’t want to be found.
Holy shit! Someone was listening to us. Was this her friend? Is Elena with her?
“Elena? Elena where are you?” I’m shouting at the cameras on the ceiling. “We want to help!”
The red screen flashes again. The smoke has stopped.She doesn’t want help.
“Who are you? Are you a friend?” Damn I feel stupid having a conversation between the ceiling and a computer screen.
I’m Luna.Before I can ask another question, I have a hundred for this Luna person, the screen flashes another message before there is a pop and the screen goes black.Elena needs to do this her way.
Fuck. She can do it her way. I just want to be there so I can protect her. If she would rather personally burn the world down than me, I’ll give her the damn match and toss the gasoline.
It is quiet in the room. None of us speak. Val looks like he wants to cry. He doesn’t. I would understand if he did. He isn’t built like the rest of the men in the family. Val is emotional. It serves him well in his role. No one would dare pick on him for it. He isn’t built to be an enforcer. He needs to read people. Know their secrets and use it to blackmail them. Elena has been a puzzle he can’t figure out and now this Luna has taken out the tool he needed most to find her.
Sure he has other computers. In fact he already has a new one fired up and running. Who knows though if Luna will trash this one too?
I hate threats I can’t see. That I don’t know. What the hell happened to old fashion fist fights?
There is a knock at the door. Bosco calls them in. I don’t recognize the man. He is about six foot five with long hair pulled back in loose bun. He looks ready for battle with his combat boots, cargo pants, and guns on his hips. The all black outfit would look menacing to the average person. Not us. All eyes are on him as he crosses the room to stand before Bosco.
