Chapter 10 Crazy

Chapter 10 Crazy
LUCIANA'S POV
I haven't said a word.
I didn’t even look at Liam when the words they’re missing landed in my ears.
Something inside my head went eerily quiet, the kind of silence that only comes before destruction. They will pay. They will pay. Was it Romano?
I pulled my phone out immediately, fingers steady despite the way my chest felt too tight to breathe. i just needed to distract myself.

My girls, they are missing. Gia can you please check the cameras around Liam's place.
I wrote in the group chat which immediately exploded. I ignored all the messages and kept looking at my phone. I was looking at the messages but wasn't reading them. The words blurred so i just watched it scrolled up on its own. Until it went silent.
I could not afford to fall apart. At least not yet.
The car door slammed shut behind us the moment we got home. I didn’t wait for Liam to park, I ran inside, calling their names, checking closets, bathrooms, behind doors, places they sometimes hid when they were playing.
“Lucia?” My voice cracked despite my effort. “Lyla?”
Nothing.
I checked again. And again. I ran out onto the street screaming for their names.
My heart started to beat harder, louder, like it was trying to escape my ribcage.
Outside, Liam was already shouting, his voice sharp, cutting through the night as he grilled the guards and the cook.
“When did you last see them?”
“You were supposed to watch them.”
“How long were they gone?” he had everyone outside. searching for them.
I stayed inside, my back pressed to the wall, phone clutched tight in my hand as messages started flooding in. Gia said she did not see anything. They must have evaded cameras.
Minutes stretched into hours. Until the soft glow of the morning sun began to shine.
And that was when I started to panic.
My hands began to shake. My breathing came too fast, too shallow. The control I’d been clinging to was finally beginning to crack, and fear seeped through every opening.
This was my fault.
Every threat. Every enemy. Every shadow that followed me, it all led back to me. I shouldn't have let things happen. I was the one with the giant target behind my back. And now, my babies were paying for it.
Liam crossed the driveway and stopped in front of me. His huge body, crouching to face me. His hand gently cupped mine.
“We’ll find them,” he said quietly. "it's my fault. I shouldn't have left. I should have destroyed everything. I should have made sure we were going to be safe before I came back. But I was so eager to leave. So eager to come back that I left without tying the loose ends"
Something about his voice, how low, certain and steady made me vulnerable and before you know it, I broke immediately.
The sob tore out of my chest before I could stop it. My knees buckled, and suddenly I was crying into him, fingers gripping his shirt like it was the only thing keeping me upright.
“I did this,” I choked. “I put them in danger. I was supposed to protect them. I failed.”
His arms came around me instantly, firm and warm, grounding.
“You didn’t fail, you’ve been doing a good job because you are just that amazing and strong” he said into my hair. “You hear me? I have every resource I own searching. Every single one. We will find our girls.”
Our.
That word shattered me all over again.
I clung to him, crying until my chest hurt, until my body felt hollowed out.
Then my phone buzzed.
I pulled back instantly.
Gia: Luciana. We got something. There was a black sedan that picked them up near the park. Turns out they snuck out on their own until the car picked them up.
Sending location now.
"Make sure Romano doesn't leave" The girls have snuck out once. they did that when they wanted to surprise me. Lucia will bring the idea but Lyla always end up leading them. now they've been kidnapped by God knows who.
My heart slammed violently.
I didn’t say a word. I turned and walked towards Liam's car.
“Luciana.” Liam started. Upon seeing the look on my face. He let me go and silently got into the car.
I was already driving.
The road blurred as tears streaked my vision. I wiped them away angrily, gripping the steering wheel so hard my hands ached.
I did not slow down.
When we pulled up, the building loomed ahead of us.
It was a hospital.
We didn’t even park properly.
I ran.
Inside, voices echoed loud and frantic. Another reason why I hate hospitals. I searched and searched, every room. Liam talked to a nurse and told me a room. I ran towards it. And that was when I saw them.
Lucia and Lyla were pressed together, arms locked tight around each other, screaming at a woman standing in front of them.
The moment I recognized her face. My head banged awake.
I crossed the distance and slapped her.
Hard.
The sound cracked through the room.
She gasped, stunned.
I slapped her again before she could speak.
My hands were shaking now. "You crossed the line this time"
I turned away from her and dropped to my knees in front of my girls, pulling them into my arms so tightly they cried out.
“My babies,” I sobbed, kissing their faces over and over. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Their little hands clutched my clothes.
“Mama,” Lucia whimpered.
“I’m here,” I whispered. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”
Liam arrived seconds later, his face white with fury and terror. He knelt too, wrapping his arms around all three of us. "I am so sorry, I'm sorry"
Security swarmed in.
Cassandra started yelling.
“What is this?” she shrieked. “You’re all insane! I was just trying to expose the bitch?”
“Expose?” I laughed bitterly.
She kept talking, words tumbling over themselves. “I needed DNA samples! They aren’t your children. She trapped you”
“You are truly crazy aren't you?"
Liam stood slowly.
“I warned you,” he said calmly.“Now you suffer the consequences.”
“You can’t do this to me!” she cried. “My father..."
He smiled at her.
“You kidnapped my children,” he said. “And you think your father will save you. I have taken your bullshit long enough, you and your father won't be able to stand by the time I am done with you.”
I stepped forward. “Leave her to me. I will deal with you later.”
He turned to me.
“Take us home,” I said quietly. “She’s mine later.”
He nodded.
At home, I immediately went to the kitchen, I cooked on autopilot. the girls needed food. I will scold them later. I stayed close, rubbing their head. Calming my nerves and theirs until they fell asleep in my arms.
When they were asleep, Liam turned to me.
“Rest,” he said gently. “I’ll take them.”
“I can…"
“For once in your life,” he interrupted softly, “please let me take care of you.”
The fight drained out of me. So has my energy.
I nodded once and the world went dark.