Page 196 of Stalking Ginevra

After plucking his phone out of the ring light, Valentino strides toward the exit, his heavy footsteps echoing with each step. The door slams shut behind him, and I sag.

Forty-eight hours. That’s what Victor gave Benito, but it’s also what he’s given me. Time to plan, time to strike. The clock is ticking, and I’ll be damned if I wait to be saved. I’ll find an opening and make him regret ever thinking he could use me as a pawn.

And even if Benito paid my ransom, I’m never taking him back.

EIGHTY-NINE

BENITO

Less than an hour after receiving Bellavista’s emails, we traced the movements of Carla’s vehicle to a run-down district at the edge of Beaumont city.

I grip my binoculars, watching the derelict at the end of the road. The place is a weather-beaten mess, its Victorian structure snapped and splintered by time. Ginevra could be in there, beaten, unconscious, and needing my help, but we can’t make a move until we have confirmation.

A man like Victor Bellavista wouldn’t make extracting my wife so easy. Not when he’s holding her ransom for a hundred million.

Reaper stands beside me at the back of an armored truck, his eyes glued to the tablet, trying to make sense of the thermal readings flickering on the screen. We’ve stationed men at strategic points around the district. If Victor attempts to fight his way out, he won’t get far.

“What have you got?” I ask.

“Two signatures, maybe three,” Reaper replies. “Could be guards. Could be Victor himself. Could be nothing.”

I lower the binoculars, my nostrils flaring. My pulse throbs, loud and relentless. Every muscle in my neck is ready to snap under this relenting pressure. “There’s only one way to find out.”

If it were up to me, I would storm the building, cutting through Carla and Victor to reach my wife. But my blood is running too hot and I can’t afford to risk Ginevra’s life, so I open the truck’s door, letting out my prisoner.

Leo Carlini, my head of procurement’s son and fiancé of the woman behind the counterfeit casino chips, steps out in bulletproof armor. He fumbles with the helmet cam with trembling fingers.

I stare him down, breathing through the heat of my rage. This bastard and his family still owes me, and tonight, I’m cashing in.

“Get in there, walk around, and film every goddamn inch of that basement,” I snarl. “And if you see any men, shoot.”

He flinches. “Then you’ll forgive our debt?”

“Yours only,” I say through clenched teeth. “Screw this up, and you’ll spend the rest of your life in agony.”

Leo nods, a jerky movement that wobbles the oversized helmet camera.

Reaper shoves a pistol into Leo’s trembling hands, tightens the equipment’s straps, and claps him on the shoulder.

“Move,” I bark, making him flinch.

When Leo glances down at his pistol, I can already see the thoughts running through his head. Shooting Reaper and me would solve his problems. He’d be free to start a new life.

“Don’t even think about it.” I push him forward, making him stumble. “We wouldn’t equip you with a weapon that could penetrate our armor.”

His shoulders sag, confirming my point, and he ambles down the broken sidewalk to the house. Each slow footfall grates onmy nerves, every step a reminder of how many people have fucked with my family.

Ginevra and I were happy before a cohort of backstabbing bastards decided they wanted Dad’s wealth for themselves. Not content with killing him and sending Roman to Death Row, they took our mother, sent my little brother into a drug-fueled despair, and ruined my Ginevra.

If anything happens to her, this entire city will burn.

By now, Leo has reached the house’s front steps and is halfway to its crumbling veranda. Reaper and I watch in tense silence, waiting for Leo to gain entry.

He pauses at the door, looking like a man with second thoughts.

“Get on with it,” I growl into the comms.

Startling, he yanks open the door, making its hinges shriek, and disappears inside. I turn to Reaper’s tablet, which displays a feed of the house’s interior through Leo’s camera.

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