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“What will you do? When you find out who has her?” she asked softly, running her hand through my hair. I closed my eyes and tried not to let the darkness that itched to come to the surface win. Olivia knew that side of me. She had seen it with her own eyes and accepted me completely. But I still tried not to make a habit of showing it to her if I could prevent it.
“Kill them. Every one of them.”
“And if it is the Leones?”
“I hope it is,” I hissed, the rage struggling to remain contained. “I have needed a reason that I could take to the commission so I could end them—for years. If they are behind this, the commission will allow me to retaliate. It’s the lowest of the low to kidnap another family’s women.”
“And what if it’s the Barbieris?” She couldn’t hide the concern in her eyes. “What if this starts a war, Gio?”
“Then we go to war,” I stated firmly. Tears welled in her eyes and she grabbed my face in her hands.
“I’m scared. I’m scared of what this means for us. For you. I can’t live without you, Gio. Please think about all of this carefully. Don’t do anything drastic that could get you killed. You are going to be a papi now. I need you. This baby needs you,” a single tear slipped down her cheek and I leaned up and kissed it away before kissing her lips.
“Nothing will happen to me, Bambola. I am not going anywhere. I love you,” I smiled reassuringly and she nodded. It was crazy to think that Olivia had only been in my world for two and a half years and sometimes, it showed. But regardless of whether she understood my thought process or actions, she was my rock. My anchor. At the forefront of every decision I had to make was her. And now it was also my unborn child. I had to keep them safe. And as long as someone thought they could hurt those I loved; they weren’t safe.
“I need to ring mamma,” I huffed, pulling myself up to a sitting position on the bed.
“No!” Liv panicked, grabbing my arm. “You can’t. Elle made me promise. She knows you will find her and she knows what harm this will do to Cece’s mental health if she knows. Just give it a few days. Until we at least have a plan to get her back before you tell her.”
I sighed, rubbing my forehead. This would be devastating and potentially cause my mamma to spiral again with news like this. Perhaps Liv was right. Until I had a plan, it would only add more stress to the whole situation.
A knock on the door had both Liv and I turning to see Max enter. “Sorry to interrupt but Elle’s bodyguard, Finch, has just been thrown out of a moving vehicle at the gates. He’s in a pretty fucked up condition.”
Liv and I scrambled off the bed as fast as we could and darted down the stairs. Before I reached the bottom step, a bloody and battered body was brought in on a stretcher by my men.
“Put him in the living room and call the doctor,” I ordered no one in particular, knowing someone would do it. The men placed a barely conscious Finn down on the sofa. Liv dived to his side, her hand slamming against her mouth at the state of him. I gripped my hair in my hand as my eyes assessed his injuries. Broken arm. Fat lip. Potentially broken ribs. Gunshot wound in his leg. Blood, bruises and cuts covered his body and one of his eye sockets was completely swollen shut.
“Jesus Christ!” Max hissed, pacing the floor. “They did a number on him.”
“Finn! Finn? Can you hear me?” Liv tried to rouse him awake and a choked grumble came from his throat. At least he was awake.
“Elle…” he muttered and I lowered myself down to the floor so I could hear him better.
“Finn, it’s Giovanni. Who did this? Who has Elle?” I growled, barely able to contain my fury.
“A-Ale-” he wheezed before coughing blood and Liv placed a cold flannel on his head. “Ales-sio Barbieri.”
I stood up, trembling with undeniable rage. The one name I was praying it wouldn’t be but I had known was a good possibility. I turned and stared hard at Maximus, whose jaw was also clenching with his own anger.
“Fuck!” he suddenly roared as I stormed out of the room and made my way up to my office. Max followed me up as well as Enzo who had just arrived back from his own patrol on the streets.
As soon as the three of us were in my office, Max closed the door and I poured myself a strong drink to take the edge off.
“What’s happened? Have you found her?” Enzo asked frantically, looking between Max and me.
“No. Finn, Elle’s bodyguard, was just dumped at the gates, close to fucking death,” Max hissed and Enzo’s eyes widened.
“Is he going to live? Did he tell you who was behind it?” Enzo asked.
“Yeah. Alessio fucking Barbieri,” I roared, throwing my glass against the wall. The crystal smashed into tiny bits of sharp confetti, but they both stayed rooted to the spot as I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply.
“He wants us to contact him,” Max explained. “He wouldn’t have let Finch live or sent him back here if he didn’t want us to know he has Elle.”
Liv opened the door and walked in apprehensively, looking between all our furious faces. She walked over to me and held out a piece of paper. I took it and opened it to see a phone number.
“It was in Finn’s pocket,” Liv explained and I nodded to Max to go and grab a burner phone.
Once we were all positioned in chairs around the room and I was sitting behind my desk, I dialled the number and put it on the loudspeaker. It sounded out for a few rings before it connected, silence on the other end.
