Ghost Attack

**Damiano**

“How’s your head?” I asked Rafaelle who had gotten a bandage wrapped around his head. Ellie followed me and finally had me sit still to finish the stitching. I had gathered Antonio, Giovanni, and Luca to Rafaelle’s room to get an update on everything. They had minimal injuries, nothing that would affect them which was good as I needed my best men in the game.

I had lost men and even though Gaetano took us by surprise by being one step ahead, we still managed to overpower them as we still had prepared for a war to break out.

“They knocked the shit out of me before I could warn you.” He groaned and winced as he touched the back of his head. Ava was next to him, looking more pissed than ever.

“What happened?”

“I got hacked. The entire system was hacked and gave them access to the cameras I was watching, controlling the power, and even picking up the mics we were using. Before I could even gain back control and block them, I got knocked out.” Rafaelle had a sullen look as he explained.

“Before that, I got the trademark of who’s working for Gaetano. It’s Ghost.” I rubbed my jaw at the information. It made sense that we were having difficulty tracking the phone calls in the beginning. No one had ever seen him before but he was reputed to carry out any scheme without being traceable in the least. Hence, the name Ghost. The interesting part was that Ghost didn't work for anybody and only performed a one-time task. This meant Gaetano was paying him millions to keep him around for longer.

“I should have known but given that this is unusual for Ghost to do, it didn't cross my mind it was a possibility. My pride is hurt and I’m going to show him who he’s fucking with.” If there was one thing about Rafaelle, it was he took pride in what he did. And the look on his face right now told me he was ready to get into war with Ghost.

“Good, because I need you to find out where Althaia and Cara are.”

“You will have to find someone else do to it. Rafaelle needs to rest.” Ellie commented when she finished bandaging me.

“I don’t need to rest. Just give me some pain meds and I’ll be good.”

“You have a concussion! You can’t be in front of screens for at least 48 hours.” She scolded him.

“That’s not going to happen. Sorry to disappoint you, love.” He barely got to finish his sentence before he yelled out in pain when Ava smacked his head.

“Sorry, love. Your head was in the way.” She gave him a fake smile, having Rafaelle grin at her.

“Shit, you’re hot when you’re jealous.”

“Focus.” I glared at him, not having time for them to flirt.

“Your symptoms will only get worse. You really need to rest. Why do I even bother fixing you if you’re only going to hurt yourself even more!”

“Ellie.” Antonio pulled her into him, holding her tightly as she became distressed.

“I can help.” Ava offered and we all looked at her.

“Rafaelle can guide me, that way he doesn’t have to be exposed to any screens for too long.”

“Love the enthusiasm, babe, but that’s not how it works. It’s about coding.” He chuckled and she crossed her arms, looking at him with a light scowl.

“I know how to code. I studied it.”

“What, really?!” His eyes went wide as he gaped at her.

“Yes.” He wasted no time and stood up in front of her, looking at her seriously.

“Listen to me Ava, the minute this shitstorm is over, I’m marrying you.” I raised a brow, having never seen him look this serious before. She leaned into him with a slight smirk.

“Then you better get me a nice ring.”

“Are you done now?” I glanced at them, letting them know we had more important matters to focus on. I got my shirt back on and carefully stood up for the sake of Ellie. She took a deep breath, fighting against the tears while Antonio talked to her softly.

“Thank you, Ellie, for everything you do. Now, I really need you to go home and focus on your health and baby.” I ordered her softly and she sighed. She wasn’t supposed to be here but she was too passionate about her job to not step in to help. She was the best doctor around here, but I couldn’t risk anything happening to her, especially since she became very emotional due to the pregnancy. I knew Antonio was only happy about the decision and left with her to take her home.

“Althaia is wearing her ring so you should be able to track her.” I told Rafaelle and Ava.

“About that.” Giovanni said and held out her engagement ring.

“We found it tossed away along with other jewelry.” Luca informed. I took the engagement ring, holding it in my hand as I stared at it. I closed my eyes for a second and let out a breath.

“Any news about Lorenzo?”

“Not yet.” The more they talked, the more pissed I was getting. Nothing was working in our favor, and now it would take us even longer to figure out where the fuck Gaetano took them. Lorenzo missing wasn’t easing me in the slightest. There was no way he was still in the castle when it blew up. I knew for a fact he made it outside but the question was where the fuck did he go.

“I want the premises completely searched -” I stopped when I heard a commotion coming from the hall, and quickly stepped out to see what was going on. Lorenzo was making his way toward me, out of breath and sweat covering him as he angrily ripped his shirt open. He looked like a bull, ready to attack at any moment and everyone stepped out of his way to not trigger his anger.

“Get him some water.” I had him sit down to catch his breath. Luca handed him a bottle of water, and Lorenzo poured it over his head to cool down.

“Where were you.”

“I tried to follow them. I ran for as long as I could.” Luca handed him another bottle, and I waited for him to tell me something useful.

“Hold on, were you able to get the tail number, or anything to identify the helicopter?” Rafaelle asked.

“I did. They were headed Southwest.” Rafaelle raised on clenched hand in victory.

“Okay, good, awesome! I will be able to track down the transponder by the air control and radar system. We will be able to narrow it down to what helicopters are, or have been flying to the Southwest.” I crossed my arms and rubbed my jaw as I listened to him.

“Just a thought, wouldn’t Ghost already have covered for them?” Giovanni commented.

“No. It will bring attention if he removes the tracking from the flight radar. It will be marked as missing and a whole search party will be sent out.”

“Get at it as soon as possible and have everyone gathered at the manor.” I ordered them, feeling more at ease now there was a chance we would get to them sooner rather than later. My hands wanted to twitch so badly, eager to get hold of them all and have them suffer as much as possible.

They went on their way to get everyone gathered to plan our next move while I updated Lorenzo. I had lost too many men already but most of them managed to get out with minimal injuries that wouldn't affect them.

“Arianna was stabbed.” Lorenzo stood up to look at me, fury written all over his face.

“What?!” He sneered. “Where is she?”

“Down the hall to your left.” He ran a hand over his head before stepping closer to me.

“I swear to God, if she dies, or my wife dies… Hell, even Althaia, I am going to rip that woman into pieces.” Lorenzo said lowly, his voice laced with threat and promise.

“I will let you.” I reassured him. If it were to happen, even though I was praying with everything in me it wouldn’t, there was no way I would stop him. He nodded and went going to Arianna’s room but I put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“She’ll be okay. There is no way she will leave us when she lives to annoy the shit out of us.” I reassured him. I patted his shoulder and made my way out.

There was still one person I had to talk to who would be able to confirm all my speculations.

֎֎֎

I got out of the car with Antonio and made my way inside the house I had heavily guarded. I walked down the hall to the living room and saw her sitting on the couch with a mug in her hands. She stood up when saw me but I gestured for her to sit back down again. I sat in front of her, and her eyes followed my movements when I pulled out my gun and placed it on the table.

“You’re going to tell me everything or I promise you, I will be the one ending your life. Speak.” I looked at her coldly. She looked down at the mug she was holding, let out a sigh, and nodded before looking at me with eyes of a color that reminded me too much of my wife’s.

“I will tell you everything.”

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