Chapter Eighteen
Alceu
My cell phone rings in my back pocket, and I can’t help but smile before taking it out. The entire time Giulia has been dress shopping, she has been texting me sexy pictures. It started with her in different dresses, then a selection of sexy lingerie, and finally a photo of her topless. My cock is already at half-mast, and I know the moment she walks into this house, I will be fucking her behind the nearest closed door.
Looking down, I see Stefano’s name flash across the screen and frown. Perhaps Giulia and Andrea want to head to another store before returning. But the moment I raise the device to my ear, I know something is very wrong. Andrea’s terrified voice filters into my ears.
“Alceu?”
“Andrea. What’s wrong, sweetie?” I ask hurriedly.
“You need to come now!” She’s panicked and talking a mile a minute. “He took Giulia.”
My blood turns to ice in my veins when I hear those words leave her lips. Severu can see that something is up, and he grabs Mancuso before heading my way.
“Andrea,” I start before she cuts me off.
“And he shot Stefano. He won’t open his eyes.” Her sobbing becomes louder.
“Andrea.” I try to sound calm when I feel anything but. She also can’t hear me over her sobbing. “Andrea!” I shout, which finally gets her attention. “Where are you?”
“In the alley behind Petite Petals Boutique,” she cries softly. “Please hurry.”
“I’m coming.” I don’t wait for a reply before hanging up.
I need to get every man I have on this. Fuck the party. Turning to my brothers, I see they are both ready to follow any order I may have.
“Mancuso, take five of your most trusted men with you. In the alley behind Petite Petals Boutique are Andrea and Stefano. He’s been shot. I don’t know how bad it is, but she is hysterical. Call the hospital while driving. Hurry up,” I order.
Mancuso doesn’t reply, just nods his head and moves off to comply. If it weren’t for the frown between his eyes, I would doubt he’d even heard that his baby brother had been shot.
Turning my gaze toward Severu, I continue, “I found out who the rat is. Antonio. And he has Giulia.”
“Do you think this was all part of Salvador’s plan?” Severu asks as he texts furiously on his phone, already gathering men. “Did he even leave the fucking country?”
I slide into the driver’s seat and activate my GPS. All the pieces fall into place. Salvador used Antonio to gain information on the inner workings of my family. He slipped us information that he had left the country. Even went as far as to plant someone to use his passport to make it look legit. But he has been waiting for the perfect moment to strike, and now he has my fucking wife.
Luckily, my wife has a tracker on her. Before I even met her, before I proposed our sham marriage, I had my mother’s wedding ring fitted with a tracking device. The moment I slid the band on her finger at our wedding, she was safe. She doesn’t know about the tracker and will probably have my balls when she finds out, but I have never been more grateful that I’m an overprotective asshole.
“Yes, this was all part of Salvador’s plan,” I reply. “But he didn’t take into account the fact that I have a tracker on Giulia.”
My vehicle is already moving down the narrow lane toward the road. The GPS directs me toward the highway and is leading us out of town. Behind us, four more cars follow. My men ready to die at my bidding. We are probably going at this wrong, headfirst and without a plan. But if I know one thing, it’s that Salvador is a sick and twisted man. He will hurt Giulia without blinking an eyelid. I have to stop him.
Fifteen minutes later, we pull up to a farmhouse outside of town. I have to check the GPS again just to make sure. The house is pristine. White walls, red shutters, and a wrap-around porch. The garden is immaculate. Grass trimmed short, flower beds in order, and flowers in full bloom. I’m slightly confused because this is the last place I would imagine Salvador bringing Giulia.
I imagined finding them holed up in some dank warehouse. Never this. Jumping out of the cars, my men surround the entire house. I walk up the wooden steps, waiting for something to happen, but the entire place is silent. Entering the front door, I survey the farmhouse, Severu two steps behind me the entire way.
The inside of the house is the same as the outside. Decorated in different hues of tan and green. Everything in its place, not a speck of dust to be found. Silence hangs in the air, cloaking everything. Until a piercing scream rends the air.
Suddenly, the house is packed with bodies as my men all file in, trying to find where the scream came from. There is no one upstairs nor down. But the Severu calls out to me. We couldn’t find a basement in the original sweep, but Severu has found it, the door hidden by a massive bookshelf.
We move down the stairs slowly, as quietly as possible. I can hear voices speaking, but I can’t make out what they are saying. Turning to Severu, I use hand signals to show him that I suspect there are only two people. I will enter the room first and leave them behind, hoping that Salvador is stupid enough to believe I came alone. His gaze is furious as he takes in what I plan to do, but I know he won’t interfere. We can’t both go rushing in headlong. If something happens to me, Severu will need to take over as head of the family.
Walking deeper into the basement, my greatest fear is realized. Hanging from a wooden beam is my beautiful Giulia, naked and bleeding.