8

Chapter 8

Vladimir

The morning came by quickly with the sun casting its first hesitant rays on my face. I flashed my eyes open to stare at the most gorgeous woman that had shared the bed with me last night, but her side of the bed was vacant. A faint smile pulled at my lips as I stretched then crawled out of the bed and steered off to the bathroom, but I was met with an unused, empty space.

My heart fluttered and not in a good way. Several thoughts brushed past my mind as I tossed on my shirt and veered into the living room. What if she had been kidnapped again and I was too deep asleep to protect her? If that was the case then our host wouldn’t live longer than two minutes.

I stalked into the living room, my face heating with a rage I had no idea how to tame.

“Where’s she, my wife?” I barked at the man who busied himself with sharpening a fighting knife. How did it not cross my mind that he could have lots of dangerous weapons in his house and he could use it against us any time?

He shrugged. “She left this morning.”

My feet swept across the room in a swift, thoughtless motion, and without hesitating, my fist connected with his cheekbone. He tried to retaliate, but years of practicing boxing and martial arts helped me dodge his blow. I grabbed his wrist and twisted it to the back, reveling in his pain, and then I pushed him roughly against the wall.

“What did you do to her?” The brashness of my behavior scared me.

He snorted, wiping off the blood that trickled down his nostrils. “Some people came to pick her up after she used my phone this morning. I should have woken you up, but she pleaded with me not to do it and also introduced me to Alberto Armando. Never knew that shit bag was her father.” He replied. I blanched, my face draining of all its color.

“Alberto came here? Why didn’t you wake me up just then?” I yelled. “Who are you? How am I sure that you didn’t inform the Outfit to come pick her up?”

“And why did you lie to me that she was your wife when she wasn’t?” He fired back.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “It’s very complicated, but you should know that I didn’t kidnap her if that’s what you’re thinking.” I stormed back into the room to shove on my pants.

Fortunately, my gun was still intact, lying in the exact place I’d kept it.

Any traces of blood had been cleaned off his face by the time I returned and instantly guilt washed over me. I shouldn’t have accused him, much less started a fight with him, but Guilia’s disappearance messed with my senses so much that all I could feel was rage.

He stretched his hand, offering me his phone. “The number she called is in there, I’m guessing the network signal came back on, that’s why she was able to make some calls.”

My heart sank and for the first time in my life I understood what heartbreak felt like. It came with an indescribable excruciating pain that left me feeling like shit. The blissful euphoria that I’d woken up with had disappeared into thin air, leaving me with the overwhelming urge to kill, maim and destroy.

I took the phone from him, heaving an angry sigh. “I’m genuinely sorry for fighting you. It was very unreasonable coming from my own end.”

“That is alright.” He winked, then cocked his head to the side. "Go get your woman.”

Woman. I almost snorted.

Last night, I was almost sure that she was mine, but then she left just like that, after everything we had shared. I didn’t plan on bringing our son into this mess as I’d intended on marrying Guilia and reuniting with her again, but then, she had pushed me to my last resort and that involved being the selfish, manipulative bastard I used to be.

She thought she could outrun me, but what she didn’t understand was that I was the track.

“Thank you, but don’t even think of running away because I’ll be coming for you soon and I need a name. You can call me Vladimir.” I said after a brief moment of silence.

He grinned and stretched out his hand for a handshake.

“Igor."

I didn't take it. I was yet to know his stand in the grand scheme of things. No need forming ties with a for.

Several hours later, I was back in Alberto’s mansion, struggling with the guards who were adamant on keeping me out of the building. Killing a few or several of them was a very tempting option, but that would be like walking into my grave. I was insanely outnumbered and I would have been torn into pieces before Dmitri and our men would get here so I reined in my frustration and fury and kept asking them nicely to let me in.

“I won’t waste your boss’s time,” I promised even though I was considering putting a knife through his throat the moment they let me in.

It felt like they could see right through the lie I told because none of them made to open up the gate.

Kill. Maim. Destroy.

Those were the words that kept replaying in my ear like a broken record and I was so close to acting on it. Luckily, the gate rolled open and just as a car drove out, I slid in, dashing into the house with unsurmountable speed. Even the guards couldn’t stop me at the rate at which I veered off.

I pushed Alberto’s office door open and stalked in.

“How did–”

I cut him short with a stern look, balling my fists and crossing over to the other side of the room. “Where the fuck is Guilia?”

“She is gone. She left with her husband and you’ll never be able to find her.” He replied with a twisted smile spreading on his face.

My anger took hold of me and I grabbed at the collar of his shirt. “I swear on my late mother’s grave that if you don’t tell me where she is right now, the truce between us will be annulled and we’ll form an alliance with the Outfit to destroy you.”

The look of fear in his eyes didn’t go unnoticed and when he realized that I wasn’t bluffing he whispered a plea. I didn’t have the power to end the truce between us, but Dmitri was my brother and he wouldn’t hesitate in doing whatever I asked of him no matter how foolish it sounded.

Still overcome with anger, I tightened my grip on his neck while he choked, trying hard to get away from me. I took pity on him as he was Guilia’s father. Even though I hated his guts, Guilia wouldn't be fatherless because of me.

He plopped down onto his chair and rubbed his neck after I let go of him, coughing violently. Nothing was more satisfying than seeing his face redden in pain.

“They should be in Italy soon,” He announced and my heart shrivelled. “They left in Alessio’s jet.” He added and I was so sure he did that to rile me up.

“Where in Italy will they be staying? Oh, don’t worry, I’ll find that out myself.” I flashed him a smile and watched his eyes widen.

“Don’t tell me you’ll be going there, I already promised Alessio that you wouldn’t be a nuisance.” He grimaced, as though he was just realizing that he had underestimated.

“Well, you better call him and tell him that I will be more than a nuisance by the time I get there.” I told him.

I’d barely gotten to the gate when my phone rang. Without having to check the phone’s screen I already knew who it was.

“Hey, brother.”

“What is this I’m hearing about you threatening Alberto with the truce? Didn’t you promise not to cause problems when you get there?” The anger in his voice was clear.

The asshole had called him already. I’ll admit I was being irrational when I threatened to end our truce, but I was desperate to get information from him.

A joyful scream resonated from the background, bringing a smile to my face. I could imagine Ariel yelling at her two-year old son to stop destroying the gadgets in the living room. That was the same chaos I wished for, but it seemed like fate wasn’t ready to stop punishing me for my past mistakes.

“What will you do if someone tries to take your family away from you?”

Silence ensued, but I already knew what the answer would be.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to get them back and the motherfucker who took them will experience what true torture is.”

“So are you saying that I can do whatever I want with that bastard?”

He cursed almost inaudibly, probably trying not to explode on his kid.

“Vladimir!” He thundered.

“I’ll be careful, but I’m not promising to hold back if he crosses his boundary.”

I could hear the resignation in his voice when he said, “Abram will arrange for you to be flown out with the jet. Make sure you bring them back to Seattle quickly, you know that we have a lot of enemies there.” He reminded me and the line went dead.

I was grateful for the kind of brother I had, but I couldn’t continue to depend on him. Walking into enemy territory wasn't my biggest problem at the moment, finding out that Guilia wouldn’t choose me was.

So my plans would change. It wouldn't just be about reuniting with my family anymore, it would include ensuring that she didn’t give Alessio a chance to brainwash her.