Page 18 of My Sweetest Obsession

No.

Lo

We’ll find her. Don’t give up.

We have to. There’s no other option.

Just as I was about to close the chat, a call from Matteo came through.

“I need to take this,” I said, standing up before stepping out onto the patio. The cool night air hit me like a slap, grounding me for a moment.

“Matteo,” I answered, closing the glass doors behind me. “Is everything alright?”

“You motherfucker!” he barked.

“Watch you tone, Matteo,” I warned. “Remember who the fuck you’re talking to.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to Italy? I had to hear it from Lo.”

“Because Mya needed you.Aurelioneeded you.”

Matteo sighed. He knew I was right. There was no way I was going to ask him to leave their sides when they needed him most.

“Nothing Luca and I can’t handle without you, Matteo,” I assured him.

“Isthere something to handle?” he asked.

“Nothing yet. Just trying to formulate a plan to get Gigi back.”

“What’s the situation at the shipping docks? Any chatter or unusual activity?” I asked, needing to change the subject.

“Nah. Uncle Alessio is thorough with extra security. No unusual movements so far. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” he said.

“Let’s hope it means business is back to normal,” I said, trying to maintain a semblance of optimism.

“How’s Mya?” I asked.

“She’s been in and out of it, but the doctors are hopeful she’ll recover.”

A smile broke through my grim demeanor. “That’s good to hear.”

I glanced back when I heard the sound of patio doors sliding open and saw Luca nodding toward Alphonse, who was now on the phone.

“Matteo, I gotta go. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Alright, boss.”

We hung up, and I followed Luca back inside, noting Alphonse had just finished his call. He tossed his phone onto the table with a frustrated sigh.

“What’s going on?” I asked, closing the patio doors.

“My men have come up empty-handed. They couldn’t get a single trace of him. No face recognition, nothing.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I snapped.

“No. I don’tkid.” Alphonse’s brow furrowed deeper.

Luca shrugged. “Makes sense. He’s built connections in Chicago. He could be in one of our cities.” He turned to me. “We need to be smarter than him, Nico. We can’t just go busting down his door and not expect him to use Gigi to retaliate.”