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I ran my finger over the photo and was mesmerized by her. “Sabina Santoro, you still have the most beautiful brown eyes I have ever seen, but they are blank with no light in them. Your family has no idea that our paths had crossed before when you were just twelve years old, and now, ten years later, they are about to cross again.” My heart ached to relive it. It never goes away, no matter how hard I try. I let out a sigh and then focused on her eyes again.
“It was supposed to be you on the train that day, but my sister took your place for reasons I still do not know. Oh, beautiful Principessa, I will learn the truth, and once I do, I will make every motherfucker responsible for my sister’s death pay dearly and cause them great pain just as I have suffered.” I released a few calming breaths and opened my laptop to respond to his email.
A short time later, he arrived at my office. “Thank you for agreeing to my request.”
“Well, I shouldn’t have since the last time our paths crossed, you fucked me over, and four of your best soldiers were sent back to you in pieces.” He cringed at the grim reminder.
“Let’s not discuss the past. It’s unpleasant, and we moved on from that unfortunate transgression.”
“The past is debatable, but we will table that for now. What is so urgent that it warranted what? Ten emails?”
“You opened the attachment? Yes?” He waits until I answer. “I thought so. How could you not? She is your next and only assignment until she is found and returned to me immediately untouched and unharmed.”
“Untouched? Now, that will never work.” I said to get a rise from him.
“Don’t play with me, Bourne, not with this one.” He practically spat out. “I have tracked her here to London. By the time I arrived, she had evaded me once again.”
“And? Who is she to you?” I questioned, already knowing what he would say.
“My daughter, Sabina, my intel tells me she is going by another name, belonging to my late wife, Laurentina. She hasn’t been discreet, but I suspect she used the first name that came to mind, never realizing it would be too easy to trace.”
I played along, “I never knew,”I lied. But, of course, I’ve known about Sabina and her connected family.
“Yes, and there were reasons for that. But, unfortunately, everything I’ve done to protect her identity has been compromised because my daughter found herself in a situation she should have never been in. I’ve been trying to clean up the mess ever since.”
My lip twitched at all the possibilities, but then I said, “Oh, Marco, what have you done?”
“It’s not important. You must find her at once and deliver Sabina to me.”
“Sorry, but I don’t have time for trivial spats between a father and his daughter.” I pushed back from my desk to fix myself a drink. Lord knows I needed one being this close to the asshole stinking up my office with his cologne. He reached for the sleeve of my suit jacket, and I moved so quickly that I had his wrist in a painful twist. I could break his arm and shatter his bones in seconds if I wanted to.
“Do not ever touch me, Marco. Try that again, and I will cut off your fucking hands.” He apologized for his actions, knowing what I said was true. Unfortunately, Marco is under the illusion that he’s in charge of his own crime family when I know it's Lucas, his only son.
“Please, you are the only one I trust to find and bring her home.”
“And? What about Lucas? Or the guards you employ? Surely, her brother is brave enough for the job, or,” I hesitated to realize Marco’s grave error. “He doesn’t know, does he?”
“No, he believed she was at home on our estate, but once I discovered she was missing, I had to think quickly and come up with a story to buy me some time. He left his most trusted soldier to keep an eye on her, and she got away from him.”
“Why does Lucas need a guard to protect his sister when you, her father, easily could?”
He paused momentarily and said, “Sadly, we are estranged, and my son would prefer that I don’t interact with my daughter.”
“But yet, you’re here asking for help to find her? Or do you want her found at all?”
“Of course, I want her found. Why would I go to all the trouble to contact you?”
“Wonders never cease, so who was the muscle guarding her?” I was well acquainted with the Santoros from the first encounterwith Sabina. I researched and gathered a significant file on every detail of their organization and who the power players are.
“Gio, he was on her detail or was until she ran,” he grumbled.
“I must say that you have grown a set of balls to fuck with Gio. He can rip your throat out for just giving him a wayward look. It must have been quite the story to throw him off the trail.”
“I told Gio that Sabina wanted to take a long weekend to Switzerland to visit friends. I was the one who granted her permission. He was furious and immediately called Lucas to inform him of the change. Don’t you see? Lucas is beside himself that she’s not home, but I am a walking dead man if I don’t produce Sabina before he returns. Please, find Sabina and bring her home to her family.”Another flashback hit me at the mention of Switzerland. My sister loved to ski in the Alps. Unfortunately, she and others were among the casualties of the train bombing.
I didn’t realize how tight I was holding the glass when it shattered in my hand. Marco looked taken back, but I shrugged him off. I grabbed a towel off the bar and wiped my hand, observing only a few cuts on my palm. Finally, I sat back down at my desk.
“Hmm, you are in quite the conundrum here,” I said as I tapped my chin with my index and middle finger, enjoying his distress. I have already decided to accept the job. However, it comes with a twist that I will enjoy issuing to the smug bastard before me. “Okay, I will do it, but here’s the thing: She won’t be returning to you because once she’s in my possession, I’ll be keeping her.”
