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A feeling I’ve grown particularly accustomed to in the past couple of years. Fear’s all I have left. Fear that I’ll lose it all, fear that I won’t be able to protect those closest to me. Fear that I can’t protect my family, all the people under my care if they ever found out the truth.

But there’s more to life than that fear. I just have to find it. I pull my phone out of my pocket and send a text to Luca asking him to come in.

“What do you need, Boss?” he questions gruffly.

“Find out where she is,” I order.

He doesn’t need any further clarifications. But I don’t miss the slight twitch in his brow at the request. Still Luca knows better than to question me. He bends his neck in acknowledgment before exiting the room.

An hour later, I’m on my private plane, heading to Ibiza. Because, of course, she’s found her way there. She’s nothing if not unpredictable. When I learned she’d be going on vacation for a couple of days, I expected that she’d jet off to somewhere calm, away from the stress of the city and her job. Instead she decided to go somewhere where she could be wild and reckless. It’s beyond me. She never ceases to surprise me. Which is probably why I’ve been unable to stop thinking about her.

We land in Ibiza late at night. Only myself, Luca and two of my most trusted bodyguards. It’s imperative that no one in the Cosa Nostra, not even members of my family find out about where I’ve gone.

Hiding her identity is of the utmost importance. At least for now. We meet up with the man I’ve assigned to watch over her. Her very own personal bodyguard relegated to hiding in the shadows. He’s held the task for more than two years. And he’s pretty damn good at his job.

I step out of the car as it rumbles to a stop outside a villa perched on the cliffside. I don’t bother looking at the view. Blue skies, sapphire waters, golden beaches. It’s the kind of paradise people spend their lives chasing. To me, it’s just noise.

“Rafael,” I say in acknowledgement as he approaches me.

“Boss,” he replies his voice tight “I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight.”

“Where is she?”

He swallows tightly before answering. Rafael’s one of my most loyal capos. He’s been with me for more than a decade, fought with me, bled for me. It’s the reason I trusted him to watch her for so long. He’s not prone to making mistakes.

“She’s gone out, sir. A club in town. El Cielo.”

I feel a dull pressure against my ribs. Of course she has. The girl has no fucking idea the storm circling her head and she’s out drinking, dancing and doing god knows what with god knows who.

For a moment, irritation flares sharply in my chest. But I banish it just as quickly.

“Why aren’t you with her?”

“I was just about to leave when I was informed that you were in town, sir,” Rafael replies, brushing back his long brown hair from his face.

“Let’s go,” I say, already moving towards the car.

Luca sits beside me at the back of the car as Rafael drives us to the location. My two other men drive behind us for protection in another car. The silence feels me with a sense of peace but I can also feel the weighted look Luca keeps shooting me.

He has an uncanny ability to communicate with me without saying a word. Thankfully it’s a two way street which is why we have such an effective relationship.

“Spit it out, Luca,” I murmur, flipping through some documents on my phone.

“You have a dozen meetings to attend back home. Alliances that need to be forged and deals to sign off on and yet we’re here in Ibiza. For her,” he says harshly.

It’s no secret that Luca isn’t a fan of my… distraction. But that doesn’t matter to me.

“Your concern is duly noted, Luca,” I say dryly.

“Her father has refused to carry out his end of the deal,” he reminds me.

“Solis will fall in line eventually, Luca. You know this as well as I that I will get what I want, through any means necessary. Even if I have to get rid of him to do it.”

Luca doesn’t say anything else after that. We finally pull up outside El Cielo. Flashing lights. A velvet rope, half naked tourists stumbling out onto the sidewalk. I step into the chaos, the thrum of bass vibrating through my bones.

Inside the air is thick with heat and desperation. The crowd moves like a living thing surging and rolling with the beat.

I scan the room once, my eyes gliding through the crowd. Until finally they land on her. Cassandra Solis.