Chapter 16

Unspoken Desires - Chapter 16

Sophia

I was lying on the cold concrete floor, my head in my grandfather’s lap. His hand moved slowly through my hair, the way he used to when I was little and couldn’t sleep. He was doing it now to calm me, but I could feel the tremble in his fingers. He was the one who needed comfort. He was trying to be strong for me, for all of us, but he looked thinner today. Much paler. Like the days were wearing him down faster than he’d admit.

Across from us, Alexandra and Connie were asleep, curled up under the threadbare blankets they gave us last night.

Connie was quietly snoring. Days without sleep had finally caught up with her. Her face actually looked… peaceful.

Alexandra still had dark circles under her eyes, but at least her lips had some color again. She admitted she hadn’t slept in nearly six days - too afraid to close her eyes, terrified something would happen to Grandpa.

So I told her to rest. That I’d sit with him. Keep an eye on him. Honestly, I just needed to feel safe again. To be held.

We’d all done a little better after yesterday. After they finally fed us. Real food. Actual food.

We were even more stunned when the guards came in this morning with hot coffee and a box of muffins. I didn’t know if they were trying to be kind - or just keeping us alive for whatever twisted reason they had. But it wasn’t a hallucination.

One of the men had muttered, “The boss says you stay healthy. No damage. Dead means no leverage.”

That’s when Alexandra sat up. Her voice was steady for the first time in days. “Gino needs his medicine. Please… keep everything else. Just bring my husband’s medication from my suitcase.”

The moment she said it, my stomach clenched. Grandpa’s meds. I’d forgotten. How the hell did I forget? Blood pressure, heart medication, cholesterol pills and the baby aspirin for a blood thinner.

The guards had hesitated. Whispered. One of them made the call and twenty minutes later, they came back with Alexandra and Gino’s luggage. The bags had already been torn apart. Zippers broken and clothes wrinkled like they’d been thrown around.

But the pill bottles and blister packs were still there.

Alexandra had sifted through the mess with careful hands, found what she needed, and handed the medications to me without a word. I could see the worry in her eyes. She was scared of losing him.

Now, everything was quiet again. I shifted beside him, leaning against the wall.

“Grandpa, I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I shouldn’t have done the things I did before. This is all my fault. If anything happens to you… I won’t forgive myself. I finally have family. I finally have love and….” I broke. The rest caught in my throat.

He just kissed the top of my head and pulled me into his arms.

He let out a soft sigh, resting his head back against the wall. He looked exhausted. But he squeezed my hand.

“I’m okay, princess,” he murmured.

No, he’s not. But I didn’t say it. I just held his hand tighter and tried not to cry again.

We didn’t know where we were. We didn’t know why they had us. But they were preparing us for something.

And that terrified me more than the silence. Because if they wanted us alive… then something was coming. And whatever it was, it wouldn’t be good.

———————

Matteo

That was a ballsy move on Damian’s part. Carrying Sareena like a sack of potatoes, thrown over his shoulder.

Maybe he didn’t know how to handle her either. She was always so broken and weak when she was with me. No fire, no rebellion. Just the victim. She didn’t have the same fire Sophia has.

Of course, I did abduct Sareena, keep her hostage, play with her mind, and torture her. I wonder if Damian thinks about all the things I did to her.

I almost laugh, but I need to stop myself. A weak woman wasn’t worth ruining a truce.

I am not a good man, not a nice man. I have done a lot of things that would make even the most sadistic person cringe. And I won’t apologize for any of it. I am where I am today because of it.

I stayed back and waited until everyone else went in before stepping into the safe house. I wasn’t sure if Sareena would be okay with me there. But this had to be done.

My mother and my Sophia needed to come back to me. Sareena would just have to deal. Or she could go back. This is my city.

The men were already in the rec room, gathered around the table as Matt laid out the plans and documents from his bag.

He clutched the translator’s summary, flipping through the pages so he could answer our questions.

I looked up just as Damian came back. Before joining the rest of us, he leaned down to Gabriella and said something quietly. Probably not wanting me to hear. But I heard.

“Gab’s, can you go check on Sareena? I can’t show her any sympathy in front of him. It’ll show him my weaknesses. She has to be strong. She wanted to be here, planned on coming alone. We can’t get them back without working with him.”

I fought the urge to laugh. She’s his weakness. Just like Sophia’s become mine.

Demetrius walked in and handed each of us a cold beer. He was a little hesitant when he got to me.

“Hey, boss,” he said, offering the bottle.

“A rat in a snake den,” I muttered, grabbing it and taking a long swig.

He gave a tight smile and moved on.

“Okay, let’s get this started. Matt, start from the beginning. I’m gonna call Lessia to join us,” Damian said before turning his head and yelling for her.

Matt stood up, rubbing the back of his neck as he stepped toward the table.

He began walking us through the chase. How he’d tracked Svetlana through Eastern Europe, the strange list of items she’d been collecting, and her link to the Russian Pakhan.

Then he pointed to the maps and photos in front of us. He explained how his team hit one of their safehouses at dawn. Surprised them. Forced them to flee. They left most of their shit behind, including these plans.

We were deep into the details when the door opened again. ‘Karen’ walked in. The new assistant, I had hired but didn’t come back to work. The one who vanished the same day this crew got away with Sareena.

Great, another fucking Familia spy. How many were there?

“Hey, Mr. Cattaneo,” she purred. “Oops, I’m sorry. I forgot. You don’t like it when your assistants wear anything under their skirts or dresses.”

Then she bent down, slipped off her panties, and tossed them at me.

The room broke into laughter, but I didn’t flinch. I just turned back to the plans.

In front of me now were the plans for both Mom’s and Sophia’s kidnapping. Every fucking detail laid out. Line by line, page after page.

They knew the exact day and time both Mom and Sophia would be with the wedding planner.

They knew the restaurant they’d go to after. They wanted them both, not just Sophia.

Whoever The Predatel was… he knew everything.

Traffic camera blind spots. Temporary road closures.

Construction detours. Every detail accounted for. Like they had someone inside city hall.

And once we went through the details on how Gino was taken, it hit us. Gino wasn’t even part of the original plan. Nothing about Gino was mentioned pl. The target was Sareena.

Kidnap Sophia and my mom, let the news hit Sareena, and wait for her to come looking. They wanted the three of them.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. Let it all sink in.

Everything pointed to the same conclusion. The traitor was Camorra. Someone close. High-ranking. Using their rank to collect support, not only from within the Camorra, but also within the Familia and the bastards in Chicago.

When it was my turn to speak, I started from the beginning. The day they took them.

I’d gone to see my father. He was the one who told me about the abductions. From that moment, I didn’t stop moving.

I hunted everyone. Bikers. Cartels. Drug mules. Even some poor bastards who were probably innocent nobodies. Kept going until Damian called me and told me about the Traitor and the Bratva.

So I laid it all out. How I tore through their operations. Burned restaurants, clubs, drug labs. Left bodies behind like breadcrumbs. Nineteen dead and only one captive. I wasn’t after answers. I was sending a message.

Then I told everyone about my meeting with Cesare, right after Damian called me and told me about what Karen had said. Purposely calling her Karen and not Lessia.

Told them how that smug fuck tried to redirect me, told me to focus on DeLuca, not the Russians. Kept pushing to have me hand over my captive to him.

Lessia quietly spoke from the corner. “I can help with Cesare. He contacted me a few days ago. Wanted me to come back, help him with a ‘power shift’ in Vegas. This has to be what he meant. He still doesn’t know I was Familia, thanks to your dad wanting to keep it quiet. Me and Demetrius are still technically known as members of the Camorra, at least in everyone’s eyes.”

Damian nodded. “That’s a good idea. But you’ll have to get close to him again. Play the girlfriend. Make him believe you want him back.”

“No,” Vincent cut in sharply. “You’re not going back. And you’re not hooking up with Cesare. We’ll find another way.”

Everyone went quiet. Yeah… we all noticed it then. Vincent liked her. Everyone could see it, except Vincent himself.

“I can help with the DeLucas,” Demetrius added, smirking. “I was Maria’s personal protection for months.” He emphasized the word personal.

The fucking rat was sleeping with the Consigliere’s wife. And I didn’t have a clue. What else was going on in my City, while I was watching the Morelli Twins?

Once the childish teasing about elderly cougars stopped, I continued.

I told them about Svetlana’s uncle, my only captive. Found him hiding in a gated community in Henderson. Now he’s locked in a goddamn underground bunker beneath a cattle farm.

But when I said his name, both Matthew and Damian froze. Mikhail Bocharov.

Their reaction said everything.

And when I added that he used to run some Wall Street company in New York with his brother, who was also Svetlana’s dad. He went by the name Vasiliev Lebedev.

That shook them even more. They knew the men. And there was no love lost.