Page 91 of Wretched Choices

I wait for men to come in. Gabriel has gathered a small army of thirty men that barely fit in the house.

My phone pings with a message and I open a long list of places Marco gathered.

Fuck, there are a lot of places he could have taken her. But first I need to know who called her and why.

“Could you trace who called her from that diner?”

“Unfortunately not. The call was made from the phone line.”

Dammit. It could have been just the story she was working on, but still, I need to be ready for anything. I call her one more time. It goes to voice mail again.

I turn to Gabriel, who has his eyes on me, his brows knitted. “Stay here with the men and be on standby. Marco should have sent you the address of the places we will need to check on. Plan the best way to approach the situation. I’ll take Dante with me. I need to check on something.”

He stops me with his hand on my shoulder, pressing slightly. “We will find her.”

I look at him with regret and sorrow. “I just hope we find her before it’s too late.”

The diner was destroyed. The moment I parked in front of it, I knew something was wrong.

Dante and I drive to the next place, an old warehouse. Gabriel had split the men into three groups. One of them is on their way to us. Before I even park in front of the warehouse, I can see it’s empty. Nevertheless, we sweep the place. And with every room corner I pass, there is a small piece inside me that shatters.

I will never forgive myself if anything happens to her. If anything happens to my child. The thought of that crushes my heart, and the air leaves my lungs. I clutch my throat and breathe slowly. Please, God, let them be okay.

The fear of losing them overpowers my promise to my father, making me realize they are more important.

With a heavy breath, I go back to my car, searching every place on that list.

I scream as I trash the room of the last property we’re in; it has been hours, and it is getting dark outside. I lost track of time and I still can’t find her. I will cut the bastard into pieces when I find him.

“What do you have?” I call Gabriel, hoping he has something for me.

“Nothing,” he says. “We checked everything.”

“NO!” I roar. “I will turn this neighborhood upside down until I find her.”

“Salvatore, be reasonable. You are losing your mind. This isn’t going anywhere.” I breathe hard as I clench my hand over my phone. If he was beside me I would have taken my rage on him.

“Goddammit, Gabriel! I can’t sit while he has her!”

“Where are you?” I can vaguely hear him over the pounding in my ears, but I don’t answer because something catches my eye. I end the call and turn on the flash on my phone as I approachthe corner of the warehouse. A shiny piece of jewelry has been lying in the dirt. I pick it up and all the blood drains from me. A necklace.Be brave, be strong, be fearless isengraved on the back of it. This is Isabella's, her mother’s, that she rarely takes off.

I palm the necklace and shout at my men.

“She was here. Turn the place upside down.”

We look around. This is a small warehouse. If she was here, we would find her. But to my devastation, she is not here now.

I look at my men as they all shake their heads.

My phone alerts me to a message and I open it to a video that is playing in front of my club. But as soon as the person comes into view with a sadistic look on his face, I know this is going to be bad.

“This is for you, Catalano. For you taking everything from me. For taking what was supposed to be mine. But I will tell you a secret. I will not let you have what was supposed to be mine. This is only a distraction so I can disappear, but not for long. You will be seeing me. You will all be seeing me. And this.” The camera shows the unmoving body of Isabella. “This is just the beginning for you and that bastard Ruggeri.” The sound of the sliding door is heard before Isabella’s body is thrown in front of my club.

My eyes don’t move from the screen as I drop to my knees, and all I can think about is how I hurt her and how I made her feel. All the hurtful things I said to her instead of what I really needed and wanted to.

Most importantly, that I love her.

thirty-seven

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