Chapter 151: Creeping Doubts
LORENZO
“Let me come with you?” Savio said as he parked the car in the private hangar. I raised my head from my phone and scoffed.
“What next, you’re gonna hold my hand and take me to take a shit?” I growled calmly, but he could tell he’d pissed me off.
“Of course not, boss.” The only reason why I didn’t knock his teeth down his throat was that he’d phrase it as a question.
I nodded. “Good, there’s something I want you to investigate in addition to what you’re already investigating, while I’m gone.” He nodded, listening as I relayed my orders.
“I will report back to you if I find anything,” he replied when I was done.
“I’ll be waiting. Also, keep this a secret from everyone.”
“Yes, boss.” Rico opens the back door of the SUV, and I step out, walking towards my plane.
London was the same as it always was the last time I visited, at least the one I remember. I don’t even know if that was my last visit. Just like I told Savio, I did have business to take care of in London.
Although it’s not the main reason I was here. I’ll attend to the business at hand before I attend to my personal matters.
The city blurred past through the tinted windows of the black SUV, as always, my thoughts spiraled from Luca to Elena. Still wondering why he never told me about her.
“Boss?” Frederico, who was seated in the passenger seat beside Sal, who was driving, asked in a cautious tone. “Are we going to the hotel or the casino?”
The two men are the only men I’d brought with me, and that’s because I’ve known them all my life. I trust them slightly more than the rest of my soldiers. If you take out Savio, Gino, and, of course, Luca, despite his omission, I still trust him, and unless he proves me otherwise, nothing is changing that.
“To the casino,” I replied absently, my eyes on the road.
“Yes, Boss.”
My reflection stared back at me in the glass, sharper now, leaner, the scar running through my scalp. I’d kept my head shaved, so I don’t forget how close I’d been to death.
I’d long since stopped dreading death; there are just so many times a man can dance with death before he stops fearing it altogether.
That, however, didn’t mean I wouldn’t make anyone who endangered my life pay dearly.
Marco had paid; I’d sworn I would make him, and I kept my word. Every other person who had dared after him and met the end of my sword, Elena Rossi would too, for daring to pull the trigger.
The light ahead turned red. The car slowed near a busy crossing, pulling me back from my thoughts.
Morning commuters clustered at the curb; it’s a bit crowded for a Friday morning, some holding briefcases, phones pressed to their ears, and a few teenagers skate in their skating shoes.
As though pulled by an invisible force, my eyes flick towards the left, my breath suspended in my chest. Eyes narrowed. Right there. The woman who haunts my days and nights.
Elena. What are the odds of seeing her just as I was thinking about her? Could my mind have conjured her up? Fuck no!
She’s real, and she’s right before my eyes, standing at the edge of the pavement, one hand wrapped around the strap of her bag slung over her shoulder, while the other holds a paper coffee cup.
Dressed in jeans and a beige trench coat, her dark hair frames her beautifully deceptive face. Seeing her in person for the first time was a gut punch. She looks different, small, and breakable.
But it was her, the same pouty mouth—the same sharp line of her jaw, the same piercing eyes. Even from across the street, I recognized them. I’d thought there was something sad and haunting about those eyes, and seeing them now confirms it.
My heart thumped violently, rage clouding my mind. Elena Rossi has some serious explaining to do, and I won’t rest until I get every detail, no matter the cost.
“Stop the car,” I ordered. Sal blinked in the rearview mirror. “Boss?”
“Stop the damn car!” I growled, colder than I intended.
“Yes, boss.” Sal eased to the side just past the crossing as the pedestrian light turned green and the crowd surged forward.
My entire focus was on her as she moved with the crowds, stepping off the curb, and she raised the coffee to her lips. Her steps were casual; you could tell she’d walked this same street hundreds of times, going about her life without a care in the world.
Just living life without the repercussions of what she did. As if she hadn’t aimed her gun at me, as if she hadn’t haunted me for months. I shoved the door open before the car had fully stopped.
“Boss, what’s wrong?” Rico asked, already pulling out his gun, about to step out of the car with me.
“Wait here,” I snapped. “Boss, we’re….”
The rest of his words fade away as I hurriedly jump out of the car, cold air whipping my long coat, horns blaring somewhere behind me as I weave between vehicles, moving towards her, oblivious to everything except her.
A hand unexpectedly grabbed my arms, throwing profanity. “Fuck off,” I growled menacingly, glaring over my shoulder.
Instantly, the middle-aged man’s hands fall off my arm, and he fearfully takes a step back. I didn’t spare him another second of my time.
I glance back to where she was, and she’s… gone, swallowed by the crowd almost instantly.
I move forward, my heart pounding, eyes searching through the moving crowds,
“Watch where you’re going!” a woman yelled as I brushed past her.
A man cursed as I shoved him out of my way, as I caught a glimpse of her- dark hair, beige coat. My pulse thundered; I grabbed her shoulder; she turned… a different woman, confused, wrong face, wrong eye color. My hand dropped from her shoulder, and my brows creased.
Elena Rossi was gone.
I stepped onto the opposite pavement just as traffic resumed behind me. The horns and sounds of engine brakes swallowed everything, my roaring heart included. I stopped dead on the pavement.
People walked around me, and, not for the first time, I wondered if it was really her. I mean, what are the odds? But even if she was gone, I knew deep down that it was her and she was real.
I looked once more into the crowd flowing every which way and wondered if I was mistaken: was my obsession with finding her messing with my head?
I turned back toward the car, face hard with determination. It’s okay, even if it’s not her; Elena Rossi is not going to escape me. I’m going to fucking find her, even if she hides beneath the earth.
Several Hours Later.
It took less than 2 hours to obtain full information on Elena Rossi, including her home, work, and school addresses. Apparently, Elena is a single mom and a student who works at a neighboring hospital, a couple of blocks from her home.
I raise my head to the three-story mansion, close enough that I could see all the way to break in, but far enough from the mounted cameras. I was surprised to find two of my soldiers secretly guarding this woman.
The entire thing is ridiculous and shocking. I didn’t want to sound stupid in case I was supposed to know this woman, so I didn’t ask questions. Instead, I warned them not to tell anyone I’d come over and told them to take a break.
Luca had bought a freaking mansion for a woman I knew close to nothing about, and the bastard had said nothing about it.
He clearly could afford it, but that’s not the point. The point is, he must be serious about her; he could have gotten her an apartment or a condo, but he bought her a mansion.
I snicker, guess Elena is high maintenance. Clearly, Luca had been way more generous than I thought, and I don’t doubt that he bought this house.
This knowledge did nothing but confuse me further. Just who the hell are you, Elena? Why the fuck is Luca going this far to protect a random woman? Sure, she’s beautiful, and although I’d only seen her from a distance and the little picture attached to the files I’d gotten earlier, I still don’t understand it,
For years, I’d known and seen Luca pining over only one woman, and I’d always believed he was going to make his move when he was done hiding it, but now I don’t know what else to believe.
Although I knew where all the security cameras were, I moved slowly and cautiously. I was dressed in all black, black jeans and sneakers, navy-green hoodies that melded with the night. I grabbed the walls, and in one swift motion, I was on the other side.
I wipe my hands on my jeans as I continue deeper into the house, each step deliberate until I’d scaled the wall of her window, a detail I’d gleaned from Leo, one of her guards.
It was hard to pry the window open from the outside. I took a couple of seconds to check the room before I slipped inside.
Shadows loomed in the dark room, big and small, until my eyes adapted to the darkness. I took out the flashlight, making it easy for me to walk around the empty room. My steps are light as I open and check the shelves, closets, and drawers.
A framed picture of Elena holding a baby caught my eye on the side of her dresser. I grabbed it. Despite her smile, it was that haunting sadness in her eyes that made me pause.
I find myself staring for too long, wondering why I feel some kind of way when I see that look in her eyes, wondering what could be special about her that Luca is willing to betray me for her.
My head pounded, pulse hammering. I grip the frame so hard that my knuckle aches. I gritted my head through the pain until it subsided.
Although I didn’t want to believe it, that’s really all it came down to: betrayal. Luca had lied straight to my face about not knowing her; meanwhile, he’d hidden her far away from me, the very same woman who had shot me, probably was the reason I almost died and lost some of my memories.
The question is, why? Nothing makes sense anymore.
I throw the frame on the bed and yank open another drawer, something hard slamming against my ribcage at the sight of the golden ring inlaid with diamonds that even in the poorly lit bedroom glinted brightly.
A fucking wedding ring, did Luca secretly marry her or what? Did he have a child with her? The baby’s face wasn’t clear in the picture, so I couldn’t tell if he looked like him, but fuck that; what the hell do I know about babies? As far as I know, they all fucking look the same.
But if that’s the case, at least I’m closer to the truth; it still doesn’t answer why he betrayed me, though. For his secret family? Why hide it, though? Anger so hot and blinding rose inside me, making my blood boil.
Voices from the hallway drag my thoughts from the deep abyss. I plaster myself against the door. Waiting, because something tells me it’s her, Elena, and I can’t fucking wait a second longer to meet her. The woman who could make Luca turn into a rat.
“Momma, would you tell me a story?” a sleepy child’s voice asked, making me frown just as the steps stopped right out the door.
I throw the ring over the bed, move towards the window, and slip out just like I came in, soundlessly.