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Yesterday was a dream, and today has become a nightmare. And this time, I’m terrified that I won’t wake up.
Alessio
Iwake in a wash of warm sunlight over the bed, the scent of citrus and clean linen surrounding me, and in the first few moments, when I don’t yet remember the worries of yesterday, I feel more relaxed than I have in a long time. There’s a pleasant arousal humming through my blood, my cock hard against my thigh. I sink back into the pillows, anticipating the warm caress of my wife’s lips and tongue over the length of it, the same pleasure I’ve been spoiled with every recent morning. I’ll come in her mouth this morning, I think, in those last half-asleep moments. And then I’ll make her come with mine.
It’s only when I don’t feel anything that the surprise of it wakes me up. Gianna enjoys our morning routine as much as I do, and I’m startled to find that not only is she not between my thighs, but she’s not in bed with me at all. I sit upright, rubbing one hand across my face, glancing towards the en-suite bathroom. It occurs to me that she might not be feeling well, and I get up quickly, striding naked to the bathroom and knocking briefly before pushing the door open.
“Gianna? Are you alright—”
She’s not there. I can see the balcony and the pool—I have a line of sight on both—and I know she’s not out there either. And in that moment, I’m not sure I’ve ever felt anything like the frantic, overwhelming fear that crashes over me.
My first thought is to call for security and ask if they’ve seen her—I tell myself that she might have gone down to the lobby to ask about something, that she might have just stepped out for a moment. But deep down, I know it’s something worse. That my fears from yesterday were justified.
That fear only intensifies when my security says that they haven’t seen her either. It’s impossible that someone could have taken her from our room without knowing, which means that she’s either been harmed in some other part of the hotel—equally unlikely—or she slipped past them and went out alone for some reason. Why would you do that? I think frantically, rubbing my hand over my mouth and pacing until my lips feel raw and my emotions are a tangled mess. Gianna knows better. I know she knows better. I can’t imagine that she’d feel so safe here that she’d throw all caution to the wind—but then again, I remember, she’s never been away from home before. This must feel like an impossibly far distance for danger to follow us.
But I’m very afraid that it has.
My second thought is to call Luca—again. I’d called him yesterday after getting back to the hotel and left him a message, telling him what I was worried about. Now I call again, unsure of the time difference in my absolute panic, and hoping that he picks up.
“Alessio?” His voice sounds rough, a little sleepy, but he answers. “Is everything alright?”
“I think Gianna’s missing.” I sit down heavily on the edge of the bed. “I sent you a message yesterday.”
There’s a pause on the other end of the line. “I was going to wait to tell you—” Luca hesitates. “Viktor’s Syndicate spies managed to dig up some information. There’s reason to think that Enzo Leone was behind Giacomo’s death. We’re still looking into it, but there’s—”
“Where is he?” A sudden, terrible fear grips me. I don’t need to know what Luca has found to know that it makes sense. Enzo had hated Giacomo for years. He had resented his son not being engaged to Gianna in the first place. I hadn’t thought he would go as far as murder—but the pieces fit together. And if he knew we were coming here—
“I’m not sure.” Luca’s voice is clearer now, as if he’s gotten out of bed and walked to somewhere that he can talk without disturbing Sofia. “You think he’s there? In Greece?”
“I think if she’s missing, that’s a real possibility. I sent my security out to look and ask questions—but even if she just stepped out for a minute, she should be back by now.” I grit my teeth, rage overwhelming the feelings of panic and flooding through me.“Fuck!”
Luca lets out a slow breath. “Viktor has a contact there—a man called Adrian Drakos. I’ll send you his information, and I’ll give him a call…let you know as soon as he’s aware of what’s going on, and you can go and see him. He has people everywhere there. He’s not agoodman, per se, but he’s helped us before. If Gianna is missing, and if Enzo—or anyone else, for that matter—is behind it, he can help you.”
“The Family can’t know about this,” I say tersely. “Not until we get to the bottom of it. I don’t think Fontana is behind it, but I also don’t trust him entirely. If he thought it was best for the Family as a whole for Enzo to get his hands on Gianna, he might not stop it.”
“He sees things—differently,” Luca says slowly. “I agree it’s best to do this without his interference.”
There’s a knock at the door, and I go to answer it. It’s one of my security, and I tell Luca to hold on as I speak to him.
Within minutes, I have a picture of what’s happened to Gianna. Questioning the owner of the small floral shop across the road managed to net him the information that she saw a dark-haired woman surrounded by three men, but before she could see much more, she had a customer, and when she looked back to see if the girl was alright, she was gone.There could be plenty of dark-haired women that it could be,I try to tell myself, but I recognize the description of the dress she was wearing.
“She was taken,” I tell Luca, when I get back on the phone. “Just by three men—no real descriptors yet. But if you can get me that information—”
“I will,” he promises. “Give me a little time—an hour or two. Drakos isn’t an easy man to deal with, but I’ll get you his information and make sure you can safely go and see him.”
Waiting even a short amount of time feels impossible. I have no idea what’s happening to Gianna, but my thoughts are flooded with every possible terrible scenario, keeping me pacing until the moment my phone buzzes again with Luca’s name on the screen.
I have to find her. And I won’t give up until I do.
—
Two hours after Luca calls, I find myself walking up to three burly security guards outside of an expansive villa on the water. They look at me suspiciously, hands twitching towards their weapons, and for a moment, I want to plow past them, break into Drakos’ home and demand his help. I want to tear apart this entire fucking island until I find Gianna again. I don’t want to be patient, ortalk, or wait another moment before finding Enzo Leone and turning him inside out.
But I take a deep breath, and give them the passphrase that Luca gave me.
“La mano che lancia la moneta sa se vince.”I pause, waiting, and they nod, stepping aside.
“He’ll be on the patio,” the tallest of the three guards tells me. I walk past them, out to a huge stone patio overlooking the water, gauzy curtains flowing in the breeze, and a man in a tailored black suit standing at the edge of it.
