AllFreeNovel
Share Us
In that moment of internal struggle as he walked back down to the kitchen, he grappled with his primal instincts, forcing his inner tempest to subside. The interplay between his desire for swift action and his unwavering need to keep Sera safe was a complex dance within his psyche. He knew that while anger and urgency gnawed at him, a measured approach was imperative—a calculated strategy that would yield the best chance of rescuing his daughter without endangering the woman he had so quickly come to love beyond measure.
But first… he had to find the bastard, Sanchigo. Picking up his cell phone, he dialed Kaden’s number, who answered within the second ring.
“What’s up, Tanner?”
“Could you please send Sage over to stay with Sera? I know there’s a security detail around the house, but I don’t want to leave her alone. She’s not in a good state of mind.”
“Why don’t you just stay with her? We’ve got this.”
“No, Kaden! I need to be involved. I can’t just sit here twiddling my thumbs, while you do all the work. I want to be there the moment you find Sanchigo.”
“Very well, I understand. I’ll bring her over myself.”
The voice sounding behind him as he ended the call chilled his blood.
“No need to look for me, Senator Wilde. I’m right here.” A cackle of glee echoed through the room as Tanner turned around to face his nemesis. “And so is your daughter.”
In that moment of first looking into the eyes of his own flesh and blood, Tanner knew what it felt like to stand on the edge of an abyss. Suddenly, he couldn’t breathe, he struggled to think, and everything around him came to a standstill. His entire world crashed around him when he looked at Savannah. Despite being frozen in fear and indecision, he had never felt his courage run so high. He was looking at the young girl he and Sera had created on that one unplanned night, in perfect physical form. And that filled his entire soul.
“Ah, I see it’s not a surprise, and here I thought you never knew you had a child,” Sanchigo taunted him.
“What do you mean he didn’t know,” Chiara asked without taking her eyes off Tanner. It was obvious she was just as drawn to him as he was to her.
“Just what he said, Savannah,” Tanner interjected in a voice that cracked with emotion. “I didn’t know I had fathered a child... until recently.” His eyes turned glacial as he glanced at Sanchigo. “Your mother also didn’t give you away, like I’m sure he made you believe. You were stolen from her as a one-year-old baby by the family she loved and trusted... all to fulfill a passion for money and glory. She has been searching for you ever since.”
“Ah, well,” Sanchigo smirked. “Not too hard, it seems. I mean, I found the little chit within a couple of weeks, so the question you have to ask yourself, Chiara darling, is how hard did she really look for you? Did she even want to find you?”
“Is it true then?” Chiara studied Sanchigo unblinkingly, with a look so much like Tanner’s, his eyes filled with tears. “Is it?” Chiara waved at Tanner. “What he’s saying?”
“How dare you!” Sanchigo exploded with a rage Chiara had only witnessed a couple of times, in situations where he intended to kill a man. It was a fleeting moment before the killer he was trained to be as a child of the Sanchigo Mafia, took over. The killing machine within him emerged as he stared at Chiara, not as the doting, yet sometimes distant, father he always pretended to be.
His left arm swung around, his palm slamming so hard against her cheek, she fell to the floor. “Defying me in front of this bastard? Taking his side after all that I have done for you?”
“Touch her again, you fucking bastard, and I’ll kill you,” Tanner said through clenched teeth as he surged forward to attack Sanchigo but was stopped in his tracks by a hard karate chop at the back of his neck. He fell to his knees, struggling to shake off the blackness that threatened to engulf him. He looked up. The man pointing a gun at him was as big as a Goliath, watching him with black eyes that glowed like onyx.
“Try that again, Senator Wilde,” Bulldog growled, “and you’ll never see the sun rise in the sky again.”
Chiara had pulled herself up in the meantime and she stood, facing her father, as haughty as a queen. With her chin raised, her eyes flashing defiance, and her small hands folded across her chest, she scowled at him.
“There was no need to slap me like a child! I was just asking if what he’s saying is the truth.”
“Enough back chatting,” Sanchigo barked angrily as he looked around. The three bodyguards walked in, followed by Luc Delaware. “Did you secure the parameters?”
“Yes, Boss,” Igor smirked. “They’re all trussed up. Well, those who were wise enough not to fight.”
“You’ve turned into a pussy, Igor,” Chiara taunted him. “Since when do you leave anyone alive?”
“Listen here, you little bitch—”
The knife penetrating his left eye into his brain cut him short. His breath became a faint gurgle, then he fell face forward, a bloody mess.
A cold shiver coursed through Tanner as his eyes rested in shock on the small figure who stood watching with a stoic expression as the man dropped dead. Sticky droplets of red dribbled from the edge of the sharp knife in her hand.
“Chiara! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Sanchigo’s anger was palpable in the air as he glowered at her. Tanner wasn’t sure whether it was surprise or shock he detected in his expression. Fury grew higher inside him. His little girl must have suffered and been tormented badly to have turned her into a cold-blooded murderer.
“No one calls the little princess a bitch.” Chiara’s chin raised another notch as she caught Tanner’s eye. “Don’t look so shocked, Senator Wilde. I’m a quick learner, and believe me, Father Sanchigo made sure I had a hard taskmaster.”
Tanner didn’t miss the flicker of hatred in her eyes as she looked at Bulldog. No matter that he needed to wring every last breath from Sanchigo, the Goliath behind him wasn’t walking out of this house alive tonight.
