After dinner is over, I grab one of the cupcakes from the pantry I made for today. Snagging a lighter and candle from the drawer, I take everything with me onto the veranda. When I go back inside to grab Zoe, Aris has her in his arms. It’s not often he holds her…
“Can I have her, please?” I extend my arms to grab her and she shifts her body toward me. That’s my girl…
Aris doesn’t hand her to me, but instead walks outside. “A cupcake?” he asks, even though he knows the drill.
“She’s six months old today.” Closing my eyes so the tears that are burning my lids don’t fall, I take in a deep, cleansing breath. But when I open my eyes, a couple traitor tears fall. Aris, of course, mistakes them for me being a sentimental mother.
“Don’t be sad, Talia. Growing up is inevitable.”
“Can I borrow your phone to take a picture?” I ask. Aris chuckles.
“How about you hold her and I’ll take the picture?” He hands me back Zoe.
I light the candle and Aris snaps a picture of the two of us before I blow it out and make a wish. A wish… Every birthday when I was growing up my mom would tell me to make a wish using the candles on the cake. I used to wish for trite things like a new bike, the bracelet I wanted. For my mom to let me go to the movies with my friends. Now, though, even though they’re technically Zoe’s wishes, every time I blow out the candle for her, I make the same wish. For—
“Talia,” Aris says, breaking me from my thought. “Selene is going into town with me tomorrow. Make sure you make a list of anything you need.”
My eyes snap to Aris’s, but I quickly school my features, not wanting him to have any clue what I’m thinking.
“I’ll make a list. And can you please have that picture printed for me?” I point to his phone, holding the picture of Zoe and me.
“Of course. Anything for you.” He pulls me into his side and kisses my temple. “Anything for you.”
Kostas
My head throbs like a motherfucker. There was a time, when Talia disappeared, that I was clearheaded and hell-bent on finding her. I exhausted every resource I had into looking into what happened. Nothing ever came of it, though. She just fucking vanished.
Just like Michael and Tadd.
I remember torturing those incompetent fools because someone had to pay. It was their job to protect her. They had one fucking job and they failed. Adrian and Basil brought them in, strapped them to chairs, and handed me weapon after weapon until I drained them of every ounce of life.
It didn’t make her reappear. She was still gone.
Leaning back in my office chair, I ignore my phone as it buzzes. Another call from my father. It drives him insane that he’s stuck at his house in forced retirement. Aris and I visit him to share meals on occasion, but whenever he tries to talk business, we shut him down. I can thank my brother for that much—having my back against our father. Father is out of touch. It’s Aris and I who deal with the business day in and day out. In fact, now that I’ve given Aris more responsibility in the past year, we’ve thrived. Money just fucking floods in.
Unfortunately, I don’t give a shit about money.
I’m obsessed with finding Talia.
For the millionth time, I wonder about Alex. The scuzzy American fucker she dated before she came to be my wife. I know everything about the asshole. His flavor of the week. His favorite restaurant. His shitty taste in music. I follow him on every social media outlet because I figure one day he’s going to slip up. One day I’ll learn he has her hidden away while they play house together, laughing at the fact I’m finally out of the picture. In those dark fantasies, I slaughter Alex and make Talia watch. Then, I fuck her back into submission. It’s easier being angry with her. At least there’s hope threaded in with my anger. Hope that she’s alive and I’ll find her one day. It’s a helluva lot better than the alternative: her being dead.
My eyes drag from my phone over to the bottle of ouzo sitting on my desk. I practically shake with the need to drink. I’m not stupid. I’m well aware of the fact I’m drinking myself into oblivion. And the more I drink, the further from finding her I feel. But when it’s staring me in the face, it’s hard to push it away. At least when I’m drinking, my body goes numb. The bleeding in my fucking heart stops.
Ignoring the ouzo, I grab my phone and pull up Alex’s Instagram. He’s back in Florence with a brunette tucked under his arm. His eyes are hooded as he smiles crookedly at the camera. It boils my blood that Talia was once with this idiot. I’ve often thought about dragging him here to my hotel so I could cut off every part of his body that may have once touched her. Adrian’s eyes grew wide at my suggestion, which is the only reason I didn’t follow through. I know Adrian looks out for me and with one wild expression, I knew I was acting like a madman and not like the cunning mobster I am.