Page 6 of Capone (Sinful Warriors MC #6)

Chapter Five

GIOVANNA

“ W hat the hell was that?!” I hissed, walking up to Nicole. I was fuming inside. If she thought I would sit back and let her interfere with Gabi being found, then she was sadly mistaken.

In all the time I’d known Nicole, she had always been a somewhat pleasant person to be around. From time to time, she could get a little catty, but what I witnessed just now was something I’d never seen from her. She was a total bitch to Cara and Sara.

“Excuse me?” Nicole sassed, rolling her head at me.

“You heard me.”

Nicole clenched her fist before taking a step toward me. “I don’t have to explain anything to you.”

“You’re right. You don’t. But I am not going to stand by and watch you antagonize the two people who Mercury and Danny said can find my daughter. I don’t know what your problem is, but you need to check yourself.”

Nicole whipped her head around, pinning Danny with a heated glare. “I thought you said Mercury was the one who suggested we reach out to Cara?”

Was she for real right now?

It was like everything I said went in one ear and right out the other. All she seemed to care about was Cara. At this point, I didn’t want her on my daughter’s case anymore. It was clear she didn’t give a damn about Gabi missing.

Danny rubbed his palm down his face, seeming completely frustrated at this point.

“What does it matter, Nicole? My niece is God knows where and all you can do is worry about Cara!

If you can't focus on the task at hand, then maybe you should take a flight back home and allow us to do what we came here to do.”

Nicole’s face twisted in anger. If looks could kill, Danny would be in the ground. “Oh, you would just love that, wouldn’t you? I saw how you were looking at her in that room!” she growled.

She opened her to continue her rant, but Mercury cut her off. “Enough, Nicole. This is my one and only warning to you. Either you focus on the case or go back home.”

Nicole looked between Danny and Mercury before storming out of the building.

“What is her problem?” I asked Danny.

He looked away quickly, but I could see the guilt in his eyes. He was hiding something from me. There was something he was leaving out and I wanted to know what it was.

“It’s nothing to worry about, Giovanna. It’s in the past and it’s not worth bringing up. Just keep me updated with the progress since they don’t want us working with them anymore.”

Danny quickly walked away, not giving me a chance to say anything else on the matter. Mercury placed a hand on my shoulder before following behind him. I took a seat on the leather couch in the waiting area, astonished by Danny and Nicole’s behavior.

I didn’t know what was going on with those two, but something told me this was not the end of it.

After two hours, Sara and Cara were done with their meeting, and we were headed to the clubhouse.

Gone were the business suits they wore in the conference room.

They were now both dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and a leather vest that had the MC’s name on it.

When I asked what they were, Sara told me it was called a property cut.

Cara and Sara asked me questions during the drive about the day Gabi was kidnapped.

They wanted to know what we did from the moment I opened my eyes.

It was painful speaking of the last time I saw my baby girl.

I choked up a few times, but I managed to tell them everything.

By the time I was finished, we were pulling through the gates of the clubhouse.

As I hopped out of the truck, I examined the clubhouse. It looked like a warehouse that had been renovated into a home. I noticed a few houses in the back of the property. There were bikes lined up front, along with a few guys. Their eyes raked over me from head to toe. I looked away nervously.

“Come on, Giovanna, let's get to the cave,” Cara said as she walked up the stairs to the clubhouse.

“Cave?”

“Yeah. It's where we keep our equipment.”

I nodded and followed behind her and Sara.

Once we entered the building, I was surprised to see there weren’t many people inside.

There were only two guys sitting at the bar and their attention was on the woman behind it.

She was barely clothed in her tiny shorts and crop top.

Her boobs were practically falling out of it.

“Bubbles, did you get my text?” Cara asked the woman behind the bar.

“Yeah. You need me and Mouse to cook dinner tonight because you and Sara are working on a case, right?”

“Yes. Mom will be by here in a little bit to help as well.”

“Okay. That’s cool.”

As we walked away, I noticed the two men sitting at the bar were now eyeballing me like the men outside. I quickened my steps until I was walking beside Sara. We took many turns through the clubhouse until we approached a room that had a scanner mounted on the wall beside the door.

Cara placed her palm against it, and you could hear a click from the door unlocking. She pushed the door open, and we walked inside. My mouth hit the floor once I saw their setup.

There were five screens lining the walls with three stations set up. Each station had a laptop with other devices I had no clue what they were. There was also a glass table in the middle of the room.

There was a man seated at one of the stations. He spun his chair around with his brows furrowed. “What are you two doing here this early?”

“We have a case about a missing child, Tech,” Sara told him.

“Need any help?”

“It wouldn’t hurt,” Cara said as she pulled the file from her briefcase. She placed it on the table and slid it over to him. “Tech, this is Giovanna. She’s the mother of the missing child.”

He pushed his glasses up his nose before sticking his hand out for me to shake. “I’m sorry to hear about your daughter, but if anyone can find her, it’ll be these two.”

“That’s what I been hearing. If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.”

After briefing Tech on the case, they all took a seat at their stations. Sara rolled a chair beside her desk for me to take a seat. They worked in silence. I was tempted to ask questions, but I didn’t want to slow them down, so I just sat back and observed.

Hours had passed and they were still in the zone.

Dinner had been brought to the room since Cara and Sara didn’t want to stop working.

I was watching Sara’s screen as she was going over the parking lot footage when I heard Cara curse under her breath.

Sara stopped what she was doing and turned to her. “What is it?” she questioned.

“Giovanna, did you notice you were being followed that day?”

I sat up in my seat. My heart beat wildly in my chest. “What? No.”

Cara pointed to one of the screens and started playing footage. “I went back to every single location you told us you Gabi visited that day to see if I could find anything strange. That car had been following you from the time you left your house.”

My stomach churned. Bile rose in my throat.

Someone had been following us, and I hadn’t even realized it.

How did something like that go unnoticed?

I already felt guilty for not protecting my daughter.

This could have possibly been avoided had I paid attention to my surroundings. The guilt was eating me alive.

My eyes filled with tears. “Do you know who the person is?”

“No. The windows are blacked out and the only time the suspect got out of the vehicle was to snatch Gabi.”

A knock sounded on the door. Cara got up to open the door and in came every woman’s walking fantasy. Capone. He too was now out of his suit and in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt that hugged his muscular torso. I could see the outline of his six-pack.

“What are you doing here, Capone?” Sara asked him.

“I wanted to help. I couldn’t get that little girl off my mind, so here I am.” He approached the table and picked up the file and began scanning it. “What have you found out so far?”

“We know they were followed that entire day, but that’s about it,” Cara informed him. Capone seemed deep in thought as he flipped through the pages of the file. Something must have caught his attention because his face instantly turned into a scowl. “What is it?” Cara pressed.

“This says Gabrielle was taken the day before the anniversary of Derek’s death.”

“What? Let me see that,” Cara demanded as she grabbed the file. She looked it over and turned to Tech. “I need you to?—”

“Already on it.” He began to type. His fingers moved rapidly as he began his task.

“W-what’s happening?” I asked no one in particular.

Before anyone could answer me, Tech shot to his feet. “Got it!” He pointed to one of the screens. The same car I remember so vividly from the day Gabi was taken was on the screen. “I pulled this footage from a local gas station that’s four blocks from the bar where Derek was shot.”

“What’s that time stamp, Tech?” Sara asked as she picked up her laptop.

“Three minutes after Derek was shot.”

The room began to spin.

Were they saying what I think they were?

It couldn’t be. I didn’t want to believe it. Could the same person who took Derek from me also taken Gabrielle?

My thoughts shifted to my father. I knew he hated Derek. He was never supportive of our relationship. I wouldn’t put it past him to hurt Derek, but he couldn’t possibly be capable of kidnapping his own grandchild.

My chest rose and fell rapidly, like I was about to pass out. My hands trembled as I fought to catch my breath. Black spots danced in my vision. I felt like I was drowning.

Capone squatted down in front of me and grabbed my hands. “Breathe, Giovanna.”

I released a sob as my tears flowed endlessly. “I-I’m t-tr-trying,” I cried.

“Eyes on me,” he commanded, and I did just that. “Focus on the sound of my voice. I want you to take a deep breath for me. Good. That’s it. Now, let it out…good girl. Do it for me again. In. Out.”

I didn’t know what kind of spell he had me under, but it was working. Slowly, the nerves left my body until I settled down. Capone held onto my hands for a few minutes longer before releasing them.

“Thank you,” I told him as he stood to his feet.

“No problem at all, babe.” He winked and I could feel the heat in my cheeks. I looked away, not wanting to get wrapped up in whatever was happening. There was something about this man that drew me in, but I couldn’t give into it. Finding Gabi was the only thing I could give my attention to.

Cara cleared her throat, gaining my attention. “We’re going to wrap this up for the night. It's after eleven and I am dead on my feet. Sara and I will pick back up where we left off early in the morning.”

“Okay. I’m sorry for freaking out.”

Cara patted my shoulder with a reassuring smile. “I understand, Giovanna. No one is upset with you. You’re human just like the rest of us. I would be worried if you didn’t freak out. This isn’t something to take lightly but look on the bright side of things. We have a trail to follow now.”

“You’re right. You all managed to find out more information in a few hours than Danny and Nicole did in a week.”

“Girl, please don’t say that in front of Nicole. That will for sure drive her ass crazy.” Cara laughed as she shut down her computer.

“Well, it’s only the truth.” I shrugged as I pulled my phone out. “I’m going to call a cab to take me back to the hotel.”

“Absolutely not,” Capone spoke up.

“Excuse you.” I looked at him perplexed. He might have helped me with my panic attack, but in no way was I about to start taking orders from him.

“Don’t bother arguing with me, sugar. There is no way you’re getting in a car with a complete stranger in the middle of the night. I’ll drop you off.”

I opened my mouth to decline his offer, but the subtle shake of Cara and Sara’s head had me closing my mouth.

“I’ll be out front waiting in my truck.” He walked out of the room not even waiting for my response. I stared at the door completely baffled.

“What just happened?” I rubbed my forehead, staring at the girls.

“I don’t know, but he’s right, Giovanna. Taking a cab, this time of night alone, is dangerous.”

“You’re right. I just didn’t want to inconvenience anyone.”

“Understandable. Come on, we’ll walk you out.”

I followed behind Cara and Sara as they led me out of the clubhouse.

When we made it to the common room, there were a few brothers lingering around.

Just like earlier, the men stared but no one said anything.

I released a breath I didn’t even know I was holding once I was on the other side of the threshold.

Capone stood next to an SUV, holding the door open. I gave Sara and Cara a hug before descending the stairs. As I approached him, he held a hand out to help me inside the truck. Once I was seated, he grabbed my seatbelt and buckled me in.

“Can’t have anything happening to precious cargo.” He shot me another wink while giving me a panty-melting smile that made me clench my thighs.

After he shut the door, I closed my eyes, willing my body to simmer down. I had never had this kind of reaction to a man before. Not even with Derek did I feel such an intense connection. Capone was doing something to me, and I felt that this battle would only get harder to fight as time went on.

I was in so much trouble.