NINETY-FOUR

I felt dejected as I searched each room hoping to find him in there but I knew the truth, he was gone and I had no idea where he had gone to.

The wardrobe was empty as well, he had packed his bags and he was probably halfway across the world for all she could know.

Despite sitting in our room for hours, I knew I missed him and I could feel the tears stinging the back of my eyes.

This wasn't how I had envisaged my life a few weeks and it hurt now that I was faced with this shitty reality.

Our first conversation after he'd been discharged from the hospital didn't go too well.

I couldn't stop myself from blaming him for the disappearance of our son. I categorically told him that I believed our son was kidnapped because of the ties he has to him and the mafia.

Alessandro had tried to reason with me but I didn't want to hear any of it, all I wanted was my son.

My phone rang and I retrieved it from my pocket, it was Tiffany. She had promised to call back after a couple of hours.

"Hey, Tiffany," I said as I placed the phone on my ear.

"By now, it's safe to assume that you've spoken to him already, right?"

"About that," I began, at a loss for words. "Can I call you back soon? I'm quite busy right now."

"Good luck with talking to him. You guys will sort it out soon, I'm sure about that and I'm sorry about baby Ethan too." Tiffany said.

I merely nodded as I sighed into the call.

I couldn't bring herself to tell her that Alessandro left home for an unknown location.

Just as I made my way across the living room, my eyes caught sight of a piece of paper placed on the table in the middle of the room.

I hadn't seen it at first so I was rather interested in whatever it was.

At this point, I was going to take anything that would help me locate my son by any means possible.

"Thank you, I've got my fingers crossed on this one and I'm hoping it works out," I said as I walked towards the table.

It was an envelope and I guessed there would be a letter inside.

"Call me as soon as you're done talking to Alessandro and make sure you fix things with him before calling me back as well," Tiffany warned as she ended the call.

I returned the phone to my pocket as I picked up the envelope.

I was feeling petrified over what the contents might hold but I knew that at some point, I was going to have to read what was inside the envelope.

I didn't know what to expect and the fear of the unknown was pushing me over the edge.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

I didn't want to write this at first but after debating with myself, I figured it wasn't going to hurt because a small part of me believes you will come looking for me as soon as you figure out who I am at the end of this letter.

For starters, I want to apologize for putting you in this difficult situation because I failed to realize that Alessandro was bad news from the start. I was just desperate to get you and I missed a lot of things I should have taken note of and it's my fault.

If you're reading this, I want you to know that I have your son and I want to tell you that he'll be gone for good if you don't do what I say, Gianna.

I'll have someone contact you in the next 24 hours and you'll be required to come to a secured location-just you, no one else.

Lastly, I want you to know that I never forgot about you and I'm back. I don't die so easily and I'm going to take back everything Alessandro took from me and more.

***

I felt her knees wobble and I forced myself to sit down on the couch as she took in everything she had just read in this letter.

Syrius was alive? I watched him burn nearly four years ago.

I couldn't bring myself to read the rest of the letter.

Was that why Alessandro left without so much as a goodbye?

Did he know about this and decided to track Syrius himself or was he following a different lead?

I have a lot of questions with no answers.

My story with Syrius had ended in what I thought was the best way possible and I could feel my heart breaking into pieces inside of me knowing that monster had kidnapped my son.

I heard a knock and I rushed to the door, hoping that by some stroke of luck, Alessandro had come back.

"Hello, Ma'am." An elderly man stood on the other side of the door.

"Hello," I cleared her throat as I hurriedly wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.

"My name is Mr. Grant, and I have a letter for you. The man began.

"What letter and who sent you?" I replied, pushing the door wider to scan the hallway.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. But I have no idea who sent the letter. All I know is that I was told to deliver it to you specifically and I shouldn't give it to anyone else if I wanted to live."

I nodded briskly. The threat was real-I could sense it in the man's voice. He was scared and I was too. Syrius had come back to life to torment me and my family.

Before Alessandro left, he was talking about fumbling things with one of the most precious people he had ever met and how he had to solve this mess because he couldn't deal with the fact that he had done badly and wanted to stick to a promise he had made.

I grabbed the letter and slammed the door shut before tearing it open.

There was an address on the paper and nothing else. Syrius was adamant about meeting and I didn't know what to expect if I went in there alone.