Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 127249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
It wasn’t one of the drug lords running their produce through the state either. They wouldn’t have hesitated to claim responsibility before throwing a deal at me. That’s their modus operandi for opening negotiations. But none of them are idiotic enough to fuck with me when they know Saverio De Luca and I work on the same side. Together, we’re too powerful.
If someone took Tatiana for ransom, I would’ve received a body part by now. The thought makes me lose all rationality, so I push it away with mental violence.
I’ll find those motherfuckers. It’s only a matter of time. When I do, I’ll make them pay. But I first have to find Tatiana and bring her home. If she ran, it’s paramount that I get to her before someone else does.
Despite my intention of keeping a level head, having lost her again is fucking with my mind. I can’t think straight. A headache hammers between my temples. My eyes burn from a lack of sleep, and I’m about to lose what little sanity I have left in a bad fucking way.
“Boss?” Reino says.
I look at the men, who’ve gone quiet. A palpable tension hangs in the air as they wait for my instructions.
I scrub a hand over my face as if that could clear the rage obscuring my reason.
“You look like shit.” Ulysses watches me with unblinking eyes. “Respectfully. Maybe you should catch a few hours of sleep. And eat something.”
I’m so fucking close to bashing his head in after all. The only thing that stops me is the way they all stare at me with fear, expecting the worst.
The stubble under my palm is long overdue for a shave. I haven’t eaten a proper meal since the attack. I can’t. I won’t be able to eat or rest until I find my wife. I’ll tear this goddamn city apart and burn the whole country to the ground if that’s what it takes.
Tatiana could be in danger. I can think of a million and one horrors that can befall a woman alone out in the streets. She has no money, phone, or weapon. Her purse with her credit card is here in the house. Her new ID card with her married name is in the safe. I dragged her out of the house straight after our wedding night in the sleeveless dress she was wearing for the visit to her son-of-a-bitch brother. She doesn’t even have a jacket for when it gets cold.
Fuck.
One of her shoes is sitting like a big fat accusation on the bench at the foot end of the bed. I picked it up on the stairs when I got home after searching the streets for hours for any sign of her.
A hand falls on my shoulder.
I spin around, ready to deck the bastard who’s foolish enough to get in my way, but it’s only Jasper.
Pulling back quickly, she takes me in with wide eyes. “Have you found out anything?”
“No,” I say through gritted teeth.
To be on the safe side, I keep Jasper locked in the house. I believed her when she said Tatiana didn’t share any escape plans with her. Tatiana merely saw a chance and took it.
But leaving Noah?
That’s where the whole theory falls flat. I was so certain she’d never leave him that I gave her access to her own money. Was I wrong in doing that? Did I misjudge her affection for our child?
No.
Tatiana is inseparable from him. That kind of dedication can’t be faked.
Jasper pulls the cardigan she’s thrown over a T-shirt tighter around herself. “She’s in trouble, Dante.” Her gaze is imploring. “I know it. I have a bad feeling about this.”
I hope to God she’s wrong. Yet my hope is futile, because the worry eats its way inside me until I’m nothing but empty shadows and hollow bones.
I squeeze her shoulder. “I’ll find her.”
Nodding, she bites her lip. She glances in Reino’s direction before speaking again. “Noah is asking for you.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Nodding again, she leaves.
I drag my hands over my head, ignoring the headache that’s turned into a persistent dull ache. “What about Teszner?”
“He’s still recovering in the hospital,” Reino says. “We’re keeping eyes and ears on him.”
After I cut out his tongue and stabbed out his eyes, revenge would be a logical motive. He’d do anything to get his hands on his sister and ultimately, on that necklace.
Making my way to the door, I leave them with an order. “Let me know the minute anything comes up.”
Their, “Yes, boss,” follows me out of the room.
Noah is curled up on his bed, clutching his dinosaur in his arms. I still in the doorway, taking a moment to gather myself. Seeing him like this and not being able to fix it for him right here and now is killing me.