“Where is Mariah now? Giano, go find her,” Manchenso interrupted.
“She’s disappeared,” Giano replied.
“Disappeared?” Armando asked.
Marco swallowed hard. “Sienna saw her talking with two men. She didn’t seem to know them, but then she disappeared with them. Sienna tried to stop her.”
Manchenso looked at Armando who appeared downright furious.
“Are the men she was with the soldiers who were part of Michael Langcaster’s team?”
Marco shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t want to place Sienna in the line of fire. If Armando knew that Sienna had allowed Mariah to go to one of the rooms with men other than Armando, as planned, then Sienna would suffer the consequences. They loved Sienna, and wished they had not gotten involved with Armando and Manchenso. But their own desperation for money and power had led them to some bad decisions. Decisions that had sent them out of the country and further into a life of crime.
“Sienna saw them together, and she didn’t stop Mariah?” Manchenso asked.
“Mariah told her that she wanted to go with the men to talk and to get to know them. She planned on returning to the festivities,” Marco stated.
“The event is all weekend long, and for some, the entire week. Surely she is still on the premises,” Giano stated confidently. Marco wished he had more of his brother’s confidence. He wished he wasn’t involved with this illegal arms deal. Once the shipment went out on Monday, Marco was going to discuss pulling their ties with Armando and Manchenso and Armor Con.
“We need to find her. My plans include her, and I was looking forward to those plans. You three, go and locate Mariah. If she is with the men then we wait until morning. The moment the opportunity presents itself, you grab her, then call Manchenso for further instructions,” Armando stated and then he stood up and walked out of the room.
Armando had taken a more prominent role in the company. At first Marco and his brothers had wondered if Manchenso was the boss, the mastermind behind the company, or if it was Armando.
“Why is she so important to him?” Salvatore asked Manchenso.
Manchenso appeared as if he were biting his cheek.
“His desire for Mariah has turned into an obsession.”
“But how did he find out about her?” Marco asked.
“When her brother turned out to be an undercover spy and was about to bust Eduardo DeLacruz’s entire operation, Armando was there to torture Michael. Michael wouldn’t rat out the other undercover agents involved. So Armando spoke about Michael’s sister. It stirred something in Michael that Armando found to be so powerful. His love for his sister. Before Armando killed Michael, he promised him that he would be part of Mariah’s life. That he would make her his woman, and that she would be the lover of the man who killed her brother.”
Marco thought that Armando was sick.
“But I thought it was DeLacruz that killed Michael?” Salvatore asked.
Manchenso smiled.
“Just do your jobs. Find Mariah. Bring her to Armando as soon as possible. Also, set out an alert to our undercover security team. Give them descriptions, pictures, information, anything you have on the four men Mariah is with. Have them be ready to take them out on Armando’s or my call. We don’t need these men fucking up our plans of the shipment going out on Monday. Get anything you can on them, and make it fast,” Manchenso said and then rose from his seat. He adjusted his mask and smiled at them. “Now that business is attended to, it’s time for some pleasure.”
He walked out of the room and Marco looked at his brothers.
“I want you, Giano, to take Sienna out of here. Do it quickly, and bring her to a safe location. Salvatore and I will inform the security team about the four men, and also locate Mariah. When we have the opportunity to grab her and get her out of here, we’ll take it.”
“Okay. Do you really think that Armando and Manchenso would hurt Sienna?” Giano asked as he adjusted his mask.
“I believe it with all my heart. Armando is a ruthless killer, just like DeLacruz. Let’s do what we need to and the
n cut our ties and be done.”
* * * *
Axel heard the knock on the door, and quickly placed his mask on. Mariah was in the shower with Deacon, and Quentin and L.T. were downstairs grabbing some food for them.
“Who is it?” Axel asked.
“It’s a friend of the woman you are with. I brought her some clothes for the day.”