Chapter 93 - Greatest Fear 1

Dimitri.

"We will make sure Alexander pays for all that he has done."

I cannot tell who says the word. All I can focus on is the name. Alexander. The man I looked up to. The man who was like a son to my grandfather,a brother to my father and a father and mentor to me. In my life, I have been dealt bad hands multiple times. Even from the parents that gave life to me. But of all the betrayals, this is the one that cleaves my soul. This is the one that robs me of my words. That catches the breath in my throat.

I exposed all my cards to him. He saw me in my most vulnerable states. He saw the raw parts of how deep my wounds went. He saw the marks. And those were his plans. We should have known better. I should have known better. And because I didn't, I have to pay the price. He took everything away from me. Took her away from me.

“But we have to find him first. It's like he dropped off the face of Earth." Four days have passed and there is still no sign of them.

“And the man. The one on the video who worked here?"

“Everything about him is fake. His name is made up. Cannot be traced back to anything."

“A package just came in." I look up to see Diana walking inside with a white box. Similar to the one used for our ‘Wedding gift'. I snatch the box and open it. What I see knocks the breath out of me.

It's a cloth. Silk. The robe she wore over her nightdress on the night she was taken. But now, it's a mess and bloody. Diana nearly faints as she sees what it is. “Why would they do this to her?! What did you do that was so bad that they would take it out on her like this? She is pregnant for God's sake!!"

Stephan is behind her in a second trying to hold her back before she tackles me. I see it in her eyes that she wants to attack me. She blames me for what happened and she is not wrong. I am at fault. “Let's get you out." She reluctantly follows him out and her eyes are still on the robe.

“Check every record with his name. Both the former and new names. I want every property checked. He could be hiding her in one of them."

“We already checked. They are not there." Where could he be hiding? She isn't dead. I'm sure of it. This is a challenge. He wants me to find him. He is enjoying the chase. He wants to use them to lure me out. He could be in the most obvious place.

“How about his home?" Their heads turn to me. “Not the one we know but the Lombardi home. He has a penchant for the arts. It would only be poetic that he ends his e enemies where his family was killed. That would be his best chance at revenge. A great satisfaction."

Noah is the one to pick up his phone first “On it." The others follow. I take my time to assess him. To find something to on him. To check if he is truly loyal or if he is doing us to screw us over. He looks tired just like the rest of us. His mother was the first to be attacked and they got his mother too. Our mother.

The news got to him when we got back into the country. Hayden was used as a smokescreen to distract us and we fell asleep it. On the same night, Vanessa, Alana and his mother was taken. I feel that Stephan's mother's saving grace was that she was out of the country on a vacation with Vanessa's mother and they were not able to get to her. But they came back immediately they got the news, despite my disapproval. Vanessa's brother, Dylan came home also. The entire family was brought into it. We cannot keep anything from them anymore. Stephan says we have to be United as a family because everyone is in danger.

“I got it. It says here that no one would take the property because they thought it was haunted. The bloodshed in the house was so much. The land was later given to the priests and a church was built on it." He shows the picture of a fairly sized church and there is no trace of a house. That was where the Lombardi home was once seated on.

“We leave at once!" I make a move and everyone is on their feet.

“I am coming with you guys." Hayden says from the door post.

“As much as we would love you to, you have to sit this one out." Stephan says, tapping his shoulder.

“You cannot expect me to stay here and do nothing."

“I do not expect you to sit here and do nothing. You are staying back to look after the ones here." There is no way he is coming with us when he still hasn't fully recovered.

“Don't think about starting an argument. They already took three of them. We cannot allow them take more." Noah adds and walks out.

“The other guards know what to do but they will take orders from you. I need to be sure that everything is under control back here."

“And you trust me to do that?"

“No. I trust that you wouldn't want me to kick your ass."

“Thank you, boss. For saving my life."

“Try to loose some weight before we get back. He nearly lost his shoulder." Carter says before walking out."

We are about to walk out of the house when Stephan's mother stops us. She is about to say something but I hear her to it.

“Don't worry. I'll bring her back in one piece." I refer to Alana, my foul mouthed, mannerless sister.