Page 113 of Maddest Temptation

“Speak, for fucks sake.”

“The police found your car. Someone crashed into it and there were bullet holes all over it. The front seat was stained with blood.”

“Fuck.” I grabbed my hair. That probably meant Vince was dead, and someone had taken my principessa.

I arrived at Vitelli’s house minutes later. I could smell Francesca’s cherry scent, which still lingered in the air. I tried my best to act cool, to remain unfazed, and to deal with this as I would have done a few years ago. But I was afraid, terrified that I would lose her like I had lost my sister. I knew Grigori was the one responsible for this; it had his name written all over it.

There was no way I’d survive this. No way I’d want to. If Francesca was harmed in any way, I don’t know what I would be capable of, what kind of monster would arise and take control of my body. A part of me wanted that monster to surface. At least I wouldn’t have to deal with the fear.

“Where is he?” I asked one of my soldiers who shot from the sofa the second we walked in.

“In the living room.” I nodded.

“He doesn’t know anything, Boss,” he said.

I stopped and looked at my Soldati. Anger dripped from my voice when I answered. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

I entered the room to find Marco sitting at the head of the table, four of my men guarding him—not that he posed such a threat.

I walked over toward him and leaned closer, crowding his space. “Where is your sister?”

His eyes were wide with fear but clear. “I-I don’t know,” he croaked.

“Marco, you have one chance to save her—where is your sister?”

He shook his head and the first tear fell. “I don’t know.”

I would never harm a child in my life, but if Marco didn’t speak, I would be forced to do something I would probably regret for the rest of my life. “Marco, your sister was taken, she’s probably hurt. If you love her, then you need to help me.”

He nodded and a tear ran down his cheek. “My phone,” he said. I looked in confusion, but he asked for his phone, and I had one of the guards hand it to him.

Marco searched for something until he showed me a picture of his father and two other men I instantly recognized. Grigori and Mikail Petrovich.

“What is this, Marco?” I tried to keep my composure when all I wanted to do was hit someone.

“Papa met them a few months ago, and at the lake house. I didn’t know who they were?—”

“Russians, Marco, they are Russians,” I snapped. “Our enemies.”

I knew that already, Francesca had told me about what Marco found out, but seeing the pictures for the first time was like being stabbed in the back all over again. I already knew Donato was working with the enemy, but it still made me feel like a fool for ever believing in him.

He looked down. “Please, don’t kill me,” he begged and suddenly my heart shattered for an entirely different reason.

He was Francesca’s little brother. Her family. If I intended on spending the rest of my life with her, then he was going to be my responsibility, too. He was my family now.

“Do you have any idea where they might be?” I asked trying to sound softer.

Marco shook his head. “Papa left to visit his mistress this morning and didn’t come back home.”

“Get him something to eat and drink,” I ordered my men.

“Will you find her?” Marco called as I left.

“Yes,” I vowed.

Vitelli was waiting for me in the living room, I shook my head before he could ask me his question.

I was about to…do something, anything when my phone chimed. I clicked on the message and froze. My phone almost slipped to the floor. My eyes took a second to adjust as my hands trembled with both rage and… terror. Something I hadn’t felt since the day my sister was killed.

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