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Knowing I have to know exactly what's going on, I dial Domenico. I inquire sharply when he picks, “where’s your daughter? She come to you with more Rossi schemes?”
I hear the barely contained anger in his voice as he snaps back. “What the hell are you on about, Mancini?” A pause. “Where’s Serafina?”
I grit my teeth, wanting to call him a liar. What are the chances that they aren't both in this to play me for a fool. “She left for your place an hour ago.”
His voice shifts and becomes tense. I think, here it is. But he doesn't say what I expect him to, instead, he says, “she’s not here. Why’s she not with you?”
The conviction in his tone hits me, and my stomach twists. He’s not lying. Someone had been lying all along, but it's not Serafina or Domenico. I've been a fool. “Something’s wrong,” I say, voice low.
Domenico’s voice hardens. “What’s going on?”
“She's not here, she's not with you. Something's wrong,” I repeat. “Does she have meetings? Did she go somewhere, maybe a club…?” I let my voice trail off, realizing the desperation in it.
Domenico doesn't answer me. I hear him call for Carlo, then Aida. Her voice comes, faint but clear, saying she hasn’t heard from Fina and that she's not at a meeting.
My suspicion flares, dread coiling tight. Fina’s gone, and Adriano’s words echo in my head. I tell Domenico, “I’m coming to your villa,” and hang up, my hands shaking.
I storm through the halls, finding Matteo in the courtyard, fiddling with his phone. He spots me, his grin fading as he steps forward. “Enzo, you seen Fina? She was looking for you earlier, had this crazed look in her eyes that worried me.
His words hit like a punch, and I freeze, my mind spinning. Fina was right. Adriano’s betrayal is real, and she’s in danger because I didn’t listen.
“Adriano,” I say, voice low, venomous. “You seen him?”
Matteo’s brows furrow. “He left with some visitor a while ago.”
“Cazzo!” I curse in Italian, my rage boiling over. Fina was right, and I’m a fool. Adriano’s behind this, and she’s paying for my blindness.
“What’s going on?” Matteo asks, eyes narrowing.
I grip his shoulder, my voice tight. “Fina’s missing. Her maid says she eft for Domenico’s, but she never got there. I just got off a call with him.
“What?” Matteo mouths, his confusion apparent.
“Apparently, she heard Adriano confess—he killed my mother, framed the Rossis, and started this whole war. I didn't believe her and we had a fight. She left for Domenico's afterwards, but no one's seen her since then. I think he’s taken her.”
I'm not a rambler, but I subconsciously realize I've been rambling this past few minutes.
Matteo’s face twists, rage exploding. “Adriano?” He shakes his head. “How dare that bastard!” he roars, fists clenched. “He’s been playing us all?”
I nod, my own fury a living thing, raw and relentless. “I’m heading to the Rossi villa. Domenico needs to know—it’s his daughter. She's my wife.” My voice shakes, not just with anger but with panic, a sharp, gnawing fear for Fina, pregnant with my child, out there, vulnerable because I pushed her away. I should’ve trusted her, held her close, but I let my hate blind me, and now she’s gone.
“She'll be fine. We'll find her,” Matteo says, clasping my shoulder.
We move fast, our thoughts in sync. We both know the next line of action. We slide into a car, the engine snarling as I drive to the Rossi villa. Matteo’s silent, his jaw tight, but I feel his fury matching mine.
My mind’s a storm of guilt and fear tangling. I see Fina at the grave, her arms around me, her voice soft, offering comfort Ididn’t deserve. I called her a liar, questioned our baby—what kind of a bastard does that? Not once did she lash back at me. She'd stayed through my verbal assault. And now she’s missing.
We arrive at the Rossi villa in no time. The last time I was at here, I’d come to drag Fina back to go home with me. Now, I’m here to find her, and the panic’s a beast, clawing at my chest.
Home.
Suddenly, the word means nothing without her there.
The guards at the gate don’t flinch as we pull up, unlike last time when they’d eyed me like an enemy. They know something’s wrong, their faces grim, and it fuels my dread. I’m angry atmyself, at my stubbornness, for not listening to her. She’s out there, and I need to find her.
Adriano, that motherfucker, will pay for every second she’s in danger. I’ll tear him apart, make him beg, but first, I need Fina safe, her and our child. The thought of losing her is a wound I can’t bear. I love her too much to lose her.
Love?