Chapter 75: The Devil’s Truth

RONALD

I watched through the security footage, seeing every moment as Annabel told the guards about going to the mall, and they let her go like idiots.

"Have everyone who saw her leave punished. Properly punished in mafia ways."

I gritted my teeth, feeling so disappointed in my men. How could they be this careless?

Each second that passed felt like I was losing my mind. I needed to find her quickly before something bad happened to her.

Then I saw her walking toward a car in the footage, and the car driving off with her inside.

"Zoom in on the front glass of the car."

Carlo zoomed in, and that's when I saw her. The driver.

I closed my eyes tightly, recognizing the woman in the picture. She was Anna's friend, and I'd seen her countless times in the surveillance photos my men sent me.

"I want her here now."

Carlo nodded his head. "I'm already on it."

I started pacing around the room, but then a thought flashed through my mind. How the fuck could I forget about this? About the bracelet.

"I think I can track her..."

I said, quickly pulling out my phone and opening the tracking app. I was hoping the tracker was still active, but to my complete disappointment, it wasn't.

"Fuck!" I threw my phone across the room but then picked it up again quickly.

Wait. Even if the tracker was off now, it would still show the last location where it was active. The last place it picked up a signal before it died or got destroyed.

I opened the app again and scrolled back through the timeline. There it was—the last ping from the tracker.

"Carlo, come here. Look at this."

He rushed over, and I showed him the screen.

"This is the last location where the tracker was active. About three hours ago." I pointed at the map. "It stopped working right here."

Carlo studied the location. "That's up in the mountains, boss. About a hour's drive from here. There's some old warehouses up there, abandoned buildings."

"Perfect place to hide someone," I muttered, my jaw clenching. "Get the men ready. All of them. We're going up there now."

"What about the girl? Christiana?"

"Bring her too. I want to know exactly what she told Annabel and why she took her there." I grabbed my jacket and guns. "And Carlo?"

"Yes, boss?"

"If anything has happened to her, if they've hurt her in any way, I'm going to make everyone involved wish they were never born."

Carlo nodded, understanding exactly what I meant. "I'll get the cars ready."

"No, get the helicopters ready. I want to be there as soon as possible. I'm not wasting my fucking time."

As he walked out, I stared at that location on my phone one more time. That had to be where she was. It had to be.

"Hold on, cupcake," I whispered. "I'm coming for you."

ANNABEL

"Who do we have here?"

His voice echoed through the room, and I moved back, watching as he nodded at the men who walked towards me. Each move they made sent my heart pounding rapidly. They pulled me towards the chair and instantly tied me down with a rope so tight I couldn't move, and it hurt a lot.

"What do you want from me?"

I said, struggling eagerly to get away from him, but I was bound.

"Well, well, you see, your sugar daddy has something that belongs to me."

He said, and I winced at his words. Fuck, I hated him so badly.

"He's not my sugar daddy."

I said matter-of-factly, and he threw his head back, laughing out so loudly.

"Hmm, I like you. Now I know why Damon loves you. You know, I haven't seen him in love before. I never knew he'd believe in love."

He said, caging me in with his hands.

"And how do you know Damon?"

I asked. He smiled devilishly as he placed his hands on my neck, slowly trailing them down, and I shook at his touch, trying to push him off. He stopped.

"Oh, darling, I'm so sorry I never introduced myself to you. My name is Ronald. I am Janet's father and Damon's old partner. You see, there's a lot of things your dear Damon didn't tell you, but I believe you know one of them."

He snickered, his voice irritating me more, but I wasn't shocked he was somehow related to Janet. She was a bitch, and it was something she got from blood—it ran in her bloodline.

"I don't care what you say. I won't listen to you."

I said, pushing my head sideways.

"Really? So you don't want to know that your precious Damon is a mafia boss and he had something to do with your father? That he was the last person your father saw when he died, when he took his last breath, when he was shot?"

He said, and I froze at his words. No, this wasn't possible. I wouldn't believe him. He was definitely lying, but it was impossible not to consider it, given the fact I had suspected him to be in the mafia and him cheating on me with Janet. But my father...

"You are lying. I could believe whatever else you said, but Damon would never... He never saw my father. My father died in an accident."

My voice croaked. I was now finding it difficult to speak. I was breaking, and he seemed to enjoy every bit of it.

"Ooh, but you are breaking. You want to sweep the truth under the rug for Damon, for someone who cheats on you with my daughter. You want to ignore the fact that he was there with your father when he died, and the question is: why was he the one there when your father died, and why did he lie about it, about the true cause of your father's death?"

He said.

"Stop, please stop talking..."

I screamed, shaking my head quickly, tears now pouring down from my eyes as I felt dizzy, felt so lost with his words. Each word he said stabbed my heart and shredded me into tiny pieces.

"Don't you want to know everything he did? How the man whom you have fallen in love with is a murderer, a liar, and a user? Daughter, you are so done for."

Ronald said, sounding sarcastic.

"I said stop talking."

I screamed, but a hand came slapping me across my face, sending me reeling.

"If you dare talk to me in that manner, I swear to God I will cut out your tongue."

He snarled loudly as the men brought me back up. My face stung from the slap, and I felt blood coming out from my mouth as I whimpered in fear.

"Hmm, so now you are quiet."

He snarled.

"What do you want?"

I asked. My voice was quiet. My head had gone numb. I wasn't sure I could take any more information he gave me now.

"You remember Michael?"

He asked, now bending down to my level as he lifted my chin up, but my eyes failed to meet his as they sparked with fear at the question, hoping this wasn't another piece of information that would break me.

"Well, your darling Damon almost killed him, tortured him that night, and then sent him to the hospital to recover. Who does that? The devil himself."

He said, throwing his head back while he laughed out loudly. His words shattered every bit of righteousness I had for Damon. How could he? He lied to me, to my mother, about my father's death, about Michael, and about everything.

I couldn't hold it anymore as another wave of tears broke through me.

"What do you want?"

I asked. He still hadn't stated why he had me kidnapped.

"Oh, you are so smart, so straight to business. Well, I want something which Damon holds so dear to him, and you will get it for me."