When she asked me not to go the night before I left, I nearly gave in, and I was annoyed with myself over it. I wanted to give this woman the world, and to do that, to give her the happiness she deserved for making me the happiest I’d ever been in my life, I had to go. But the temptation to stay was too much, and I had to leave without kissing her goodbye or I would have done as she’d asked and stayed home.
Even as I was getting on the helicopter, a voice in the back of my head was shouting at me to go back. Climb into bed beside my wife and tell her how much I loved her. But I was determined to finish this thing with Cori and bring back Ciana the surprises that I knew would make her just as happy as she made me.
My time in Ireland was only a quick stop before going on to the real destination of this working trip. I was on the ground in Dublin for less than an hour before I was on the plane again. Once we were back in the air, I took a shower to wash away the filth that felt like it was covering my skin after dealing with Cori.
The Wi-Fi on the jet wasn’t working, so other than talking to Brody when I’d first landed in Dublin for an update, when he’d assured me everything was fine and that Ciana was napping with the girls in the nursery, I couldn’t stay in direct contact with him or my wife while I was in the air.
It was late evening when the plane touched down. I was tired, grumpy because I was missing my beauty and our babies, and just wanted this meeting over with so I could get home. As soon as the plane was on the ground, I turned my phone’s airplane mode off and was about to call Ciana, even knowing the time difference would make it late as fuck her time. But before I could so much as swipe my thumb over her name, my phone started going crazy.
Text after text blew up the screen, and then the voice mails hit.
Trepidation began to knot my stomach, and I was sweating by the time I hit connect on Conor’s name.
“What happened?” I choked out.
“They’re gone, Bain,” he got out in a rush. “Anya Vitucci and her new daughter-in-law, they came and tore this place apart. They took her and the babies.”
“No,” I denied. My knees were too weak to keep me standing, and I dropped onto the nearest seat before I fell on my ass. “Fuck, no. She…”
She what? Wouldn’t go with them? They were her fucking family, and I knew she’d missed them. But I was trying to give them back to her. I’d just needed a little longer. A little more time to get it all perfect so I could hand her everything she wanted on a silver platter.
The previous night replayed in my head, and suddenly I was seeing it with clearer eyes.
“Don’t go,” she’d whispered. There had been a catch in her voice, but I’d thought it was because she was just nervous to be left alone with the girls for a few days. I’d been surprised as hell that she’d even said it to begin with, because she was a superhero when it came to being a mother, so I’d thought maybe I’d misheard her.
“What?”
She’d cleared her throat and spoken again. “Don’t go to Ireland tomorrow. S-stay. I…need you here.”
Had she been trying to tell me something other than just asking me to stay? Fuck, I’d been so tempted to stay. When I’d told her I had to go, she’d shut down on me, and I’d thought she was just…
What? I inwardly growled at myself. What the fuck did I think she was doing? She rarely asked for anything, and when she did voice that she didn’t want me to leave her, I’d blown her off. Looking back, I’d sensed something was bothering her, but I’d been so caught up in how happy I would make her with my surprises, I’d ignored my gut instinct.
“Right,” she’d said with a nod, and I’d had a moment of panic right then for some reason. “Okay. I-I won’t ask again.”
It all came back to haunt me now. Whatever was going on with her, she’d obviously been trying to give me one last chance to fix whatever fuckup I’d inadvertently made. But I’d been a blind fool.
“Wh-where is she now?” I choked out.
“I don’t know, Bain. I don’t fucking know. Brody was shot, and the security feed hasn’t given me any details. I’ve had a team working on finding the CCTV from here to the US border, but there’s nothing. Anya Vitucci is a ghost when she wants to be. They could be halfway to Australia by now.”
“Did you check the New York compound?” I croaked, pressing the heel of my palm to my forehead.
“My contacts say that nothing unusual has happened at the compound. Ryan, his da, and Ciro Donati are all in Colombia on business. Scarlett Donati is absent from the compound, but no one seemed to consider that worth noting, so I’m not sure it is either.”
“Her phone? Have you tracked her phone?” I asked hopefully.
“She left it behind. When I got here, I found it still on the charger in the master bedroom.” He released a heavy breath. “Listen, from the security footage, she was just as surprised that they came for her as anyone else. But she didn’t hesitate to go with them. From the time the shit hit the fan until their vehicle sped out of here with Ciana and the babies, it was less than ten minutes.”
“And it was just the two Vitucci women?”
“Yeah,” he said, his voice full of unmistakable awe. “I’ve never seen two people cause so much destruction on their own, let alone two women. There are dead bodies all over the place. Brody’s lucky to be alive.”
“I have to find them. They are my entire world, Con.”
“I know, mate. I’m doing everything I can. I’ve been calling in favors I’ve been holding on to for decades. No one knows anything.”
The world was already turning gray, my life feeling more meaningless by the second knowing Ciana wasn’t waiting for me at home. How did she expect me to survive without her? I was transported back to the hell I’d had to live through when she first left me on the island. Only this time, I couldn’t stalk her every move to ensure she was safe.
First things first. I had to get back in the air. But the jet needed to be refueled, and I needed a fresh pilot because my current one had been flying for almost twenty hours. This was supposed to be an overnight stop, but when I went in to tell the man I had business with what I needed, he jumped through hoops to get me everything and more.
Since I was already there, and I just needed to put my signature on a bunch of papers, I did so hastily while the plane was being fueled. Tucking the documents into my jacket pocket so that I wouldn’t be completely empty-handed once I found Ciana, I climbed the steps back onto my jet and prayed that my wife and daughters were safe.