Page 126 of Mafia King of Lies

A sharp exhale from the other end. “What?”

“Her car is at the fucking airport,” I say, my voice deadly calm. “If she got on a flight—any flight—she would’ve told someone. You or your wife.”

I take a breath, my mind already racing.

“Wait. I need to make a call.”

Before he can respond, I hang up the phone and dial Ginny’s number. I hold it to my ear, praying that she answers the phone.

“Hello?” Ginny’s sleep-laden voice croaks through the phone.

“Have you spoken to Maria?”

“Wait—what’s going on?”

“Goddamn it, Ginny, focus.” My voice is a growl of barely restrained panic. “Have you spoken to my wife in the last three hours?”

I hear some rustling and then a clearing of a throat. “No, I last spoke to her last night when she—what’s wrong? Did something happen to her?”

“Maria is missing, and I don’t know where the hell she is.” I try to keep the panic out of my voice, but it slips through. “Her car’s at the airport, and her number isn’t going through. With Giacomo running loose, I… I need to find her.”

I pause, swallowing the rising dread. “If you haven’t heard from her, and neither have her parents, then something’s wrong. Seriously wrong.”

“Oh my God,” she gasps. I hear her shift away from the phone, her voice low as she speaks to someone beside her. “Hold on—I’m handing you over to Dario.”

“Matteo? What happened?”

“Maria’s gone. I tracked her car to the airport, but her phone isn’t going through. No one’s seen or heard from her in hours.”

I move to the closet, pulling on clothes as I speak, my voice tight with fury.

“That bastard took my wife. I know he did.”

“I thought you had men watching that place. Clearly, your security is a joke.”

“Not the time, Dario,” I hear his wife hiss in the background.

“Matteo, go to the airport. We’ll start mobilizing things on our end. We’ll find her.”

I agree with her, stepping out of the closet and heading for the door. I hang up on Dario and immediately call my second.

He answers on the first ring. “Boss?”

“There’s a situation,” I grit out, slipping on my jacket as I stalk toward the door. “Meet me at the airport.”

No questions. Just a sharp, “On it.”

I hang up, shove my phone into my pocket, and step into the hallway. My mind is already racing through every possibility.

If Maria had left me, I could’ve taken it, giving her space, if that’s what she needed.

Even if it tore me apart to watch her walk away.

But this?

This feels like something else. Something worse.

Her being taken—that’s what truly unsettles me.

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