Chapter 44

Demetrio had not been able to sleep all night, his eyes swollen from the sleeplessness of knowing for Eva, he could not believe how it was possible that there was such a despicable being as Santino San Roman, capable of kidnapping a pregnant woman and taking her away from her children.

She got up carefully, leaving the sleeping children beside her. She had slept with them the night before, they were nervous because they did not know about their mother, and it was hard for her to fall asleep, they managed to do so after Demetrio got into bed with them. They put their little heads down, sighing at the sight of him, to go down to the living room and continue looking for a way to find Eva. Massimo had filed the report and it was only a matter of days to find her. But Demetrio was worried, he knew that Santino was a psychopath and that was what he was really afraid of, for the life of Evangelina and the children in her womb.

As soon as he cleaned up and went down to the first floor, some people were waiting for him in his living room.

Demetrio looked at them in surprise, especially at the woman who seemed familiar to him.

"Good afternoon, sir, Mrs. Evangelina hired us to drive your plane today for your honeymoon, but since we are not going to the private airport, we wanted to know what is going on," the girl said with a smile.

Demetrio's heart ached at that moment, Eva surely had a big surprise for him and everything had been ruined by that idiot Santino San Roman.

"She is traveling, an emergency happened and she had to travel, the wedding was postponed," he lied.

"Excuse me, do I know you?" he asked eagerly.

"Now that I remember, we met on the flight to France, I was the stewardess of this airline," the girl explained with a smile.

"Ah, right! Camille, you have a beautiful name, that was my mother's name," Demetrio explained, lowering his eyes as he remembered his mother.

"Well, sir, we are leaving, sorry for your time, all is well," the girl said with a smile.

As soon as Camille left, not five minutes had passed when Mássimo entered with some papers and a frown on his face.

"Did you see her?" asked Demetrio immediately.

"Who?" Massimo looked at him impatiently.

"Forget it, what's the matter, why do you look like you've seen a ghost? Do you know anything about Eva?" he asked anxiously.

Massimo swallowed hard; his pink pupils as white as paper.

"The police compared the DNA samples on the toothbrush from Santino's house with the semen collected from Alina's body and it turns out they match," Massimo blurted out between hesitations.

Demetrio put his hands to his mouth in surprise.

"Not only that, Demetrio, he apparently murdered her while making love to her."

"Fucking psycho, Daddy, he could do the same to Eva!" Demetrio shouted angrily, throwing everything in his path at that moment.

"Calm down Demetrio, the whole state police is looking for Eva, we'll find her," I try to calm him down.

"What if we don't, what if we don't find her?" he asks worried.

"Yes, we will, listen to me, son, Santino will not get away with this," he tried to give Mássimo strength at that moment.

Demetrio buried his head in the living room sofa, he was at a loss, he didn't know what to do, he couldn't just sit around with his hands folded and wait for the police to come looking for them.

"Any other way to get us out of here quickly?" he asked with a stoic look.

"Antonio hired a private detective to help us find Eva's whereabouts, he agreed to come in the afternoon, he's someone very professional and he might be able to help us faster Demetrio," Massimo explained, but Demetrio wasn't really convinced.

He took a deep breath and mumbled.

"Where are you, Eva?" he wondered as he wiped a tear from his eye.

...

Italy, two months later.

"Sir, the lady is waking up!" said a maid who was in charge of the woman lying on a huge bed.

Evangelina's gray eyes opened. She looked at everything around her, confused, not knowing where she was and who the people around her were, but she did not utter a word, just silently observing the place.

A large window with turquoise blue curtains, statues at the door, walls bathed in white paintings, and a strange smell of incense.

"How are you feeling?" the middle-aged woman next to her asked.

Eva looked at her in confusion. Platinum hair and green eyes. She looked nice.

"Who are you?" she asked in astonishment.

"I'm your lady-in-waiting, child, relax, don't strain yourself, I'll call the gentleman," the woman said kindly.

Eva refused, her eyes shining and on the verge of tears.

"Who am I?" she whispered, choking back her tears.

"Sir, sir!" the woman called hurriedly from the doorway.

Eva sat up in bed. Everything was spinning around her.

"Where am I, who are you?" she cried in confusion.

"Don't be upset, ma'am, please, you're pregnant." Eve looked down at her swollen belly from about three months of pregnancy, although the belly was so voluminous that it looked a little more.

"Pregnant! Who am I?" she exclaimed again.

A man with black hair and a deep, terrifying gaze entered the room with a smile.

"You finally woke up, my love," he approached Eva, who was trembling in this moment of shock.

"Who are you?" she asked nervously.

"What's wrong my love, don't you remember me? I am your husband, look at me, I am Sam, your husband," he shouted and took Eva, who was trembling at that moment, with his cold and strange touch.

Santino had planned to kill Eva, not only to satisfy the pain of her rejection, but also to make Demetrio suffer, but once he had her in his arms, he was unable to do so. He was so obsessed with her that he felt if she died, he would end up doing the same.

He kept Eva sedated for a long time while he injected her with drugs to make her lose her memory. When he heard that she did not recognize him, a malicious smile formed on his lips. He had achieved his goals; he had taken Evangelina to another country and he had changed her identity. Now he would have the life he wanted, two children and the woman he loved, what could go wrong?

...

Florida, USA.

"It can't be that my wife has been swallowed by the earth!" exclaimed the man, his face completely bandaged. The surgeon had contacted him a week later to have him operated on, it was easier to reverse the damage, only the scars on his face were fresh, although he did not want to be operated on, Massimo convinced him that he should do it.

"Sir, Santino San Roman has left the country, many of my men have contacted him, and he is not in the United States. If he managed to leave, he did so on a private airline and through extortion. I'm looking for a way to find out which country."

Demetrio clenched his fists in anger, Where will Eva be? Where did that psychopath take her?" he asked himself helplessly.

"We must not lose faith, son, my daughter is alive, I feel it deep inside me." Guillermo's eyes were dull and he seemed to grow older every day.

"I know she is alive too," Luisa interjected.

"I will send some men to Russia, Demetrio, it may be that Santino has taken her there."

"No Papa, Santino will not take her there, he knew exactly where we would look first. I just don't understand, where could she be?"

"I'll keep working on its Mr. Laureti, I hope to find your wife alive."

Demetrio's eyes crystallized.

Every day the detective told him the same thing, he was tired of waiting and not finding a damn answer to his question.

He always felt defeated, he had to go upstairs to his children to regain his strength.

"Daddy, daddy!" cried the three little Italians with joy.

Demetrio took them in his arms, crying as he held them.

Everything is going to be all right, I will bring your mother with me, I promise, he thought as he hugged them tightly, unable to get a single word out. They had told the children that their mother was away on business, but they were very smart and could see their father crying all the time.

"Daddy," Fernanda tugged at him so her siblings wouldn't hear.

"I know Uncle Santino is very bad, and he took Mommy far away from us," the little girl said hippiedom.

"How do you know, Fernandita?" the Italian asked, his voice breaking between cuts.

"I heard Nana Ramona say it to Jade," the little girl exclaimed through a pout.

"Don't think about it my love, soon we will all be together, ok," the girl nodded her head.

One year later.

Demetrio looked at his face in the huge mirror he had installed in his room. It was him again, even though he had to have two surgeries, he had his face back.

He blew the air out of his lungs; his gaze was always cold and dull. Although he could not lose hope, he knew she was alive, he felt it in his skin, in his heart.

He adjusted his tie, there was a new clue to Eva's whereabouts, in Italy. He had traveled through many of the countries the detective had told him about, but without luck.

"It's ready, the pilot is waiting for us when we leave," Antonio entered his room.

"I'll be right down, I'll say goodbye to my children and go," he replied despondently.

"I hope I can find you now, my beautiful secretary," he said to the huge portrait painted in front of his bed. He had had it painted so that he would see her every morning when he got up.

After saying goodbye to the children, he met Guillermo, Massimo and Antonio to go to the private airport and leave for Italy as soon as possible.

He had spent a large part of his fortune in the search for Eva, thanks to the business that was going well always tripled, and did not generate asked.

"What did the detective send you?" asked Demetrio to Antonio, who had been talking to him for the last few months.

"He sent me the photo of this woman, even though you can't see her face, she has two loaded kids," Antonio said.

Demetrio looked at the woman. She had short hair and no glasses. He sighed with a frown.

"What city is she in?" he carefully described her, then handed her to Guillermo.

"In Rome," Antonio replied.

Guillermo looked at the girl. His heart leapt with joy, and at the same moment his body shuddered. He could recognize her at once, yes, she was changed, but his father's heart could not be mocked, his little daughter was there.

"It's her!" he cried, almost in a whisper. He could not utter a word.

"What did you say?" Demetrio turned to him, his eyes wide with shock.

"This is my daughter, Demetrio!"