Page 57 of Vicious Rule

“Where could she be?” my mother asks, sounding genuinely worried for the first time.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I answer, “I have no idea, but I’m about to find out.”

I quickly call my head of security who would have seen her if she left the villa or the grounds. “Marco, have you seen Sasha tonight? I’m thinking within the last hour or so.”

“Yeah, I did. She and Andre left a while back. They looked like they were headed into the city. He told me he was watching over her while she went on some errands. Something wrong? Was she supposed to be back by now?”

“No, but she’s not, and I want to know where she is.”

“I don’t know, but if Andre is with her, she’s safe. You can be sure of that,” he says with far more confidence than I have in my guard at this moment.

That doesn’t help me feel any better about her not being in the villa or on the grounds. I end the call and stuff my phone back in my pocket, confused where she could be. She’s never left here without mentioning something to me first. She knows how dangerous it is for any of my employees to be out at night, and with this Olivetti problem right after I’ve been shot, she could be in real trouble, with or without Andre.

“Does he know where she is?” my mother quietly asks.

I shake my head as a hundred terrible thoughts flash in my mind. “No. He saw her leave a little while ago, but he knows nothing else. It’s not safe out there for her.”

“Should we call your father?” she asks.

Turning to look at her, I glare at that suggestion. “No. I don’t need more of my goddamned family causing me grief. Stay in the villa here and don’t go anywhere. Do you understand?”

She nods and tries to smile even as she looks like she’s about to cry. “I will. I’m sure she’s fine, Alex. Sasha is tough as nails. Isn’t that true?”

“She’s tough when it comes to a lot of things, but if she’s up against people who want to hurt me, that smart mouth of hers isn’t going to help much. I need to go find her. Remember what I said about staying inside the villa. Even better, stay in your room so I know you’re safe. I’ll be back soon.”

As I turn to leave, she softly touches me on the arm. Looking down, I see regret filling her eyes. “I really am sorry, honey. I didn’t mean for anything like this to happen.”

I want to bark that I’m curious what the fuck she thought would happen when she decided to blame my brother’s life choices on Sasha, but I bite my tongue. I’ll let her have her say when I find her. It’s the least I should do considering my mother chose to insult her.

“Just stay in your room, Mom. I don’t need to be searching the city of Rome for two people tonight.”

I hurry back to my office to get my gun and wish I could take one of those pain pills the doctor gave me. I can’t afford to be fucked up if I’m dealing with people who want to hurt Sasha, though. I need my head straight to take care of her if that’s the case.

Just as I’m about to call Marco to let him know he and a few of his men need to join me, my phone vibrates. Instantly, relief washes over me. It’s probably Sasha calling to let me know she just needed to blow off some steam. I’ll still remind her she can’t go walking around the city at night, even if she does have one of my guards with her, but at least I’ll know she’s safe.

I quickly answer the call without looking at the screen to see her name and say, “Where are you? My mother told me what happened, and I get you’re pissed, but something could have happened to you.”

My heart skips a beat when I don’t hear her voice but a man’s answer, “Something did happen to her, Rule. Your girlfriend seems to matter to you, so let’s see how valuable she is.”

“Who the fuck is this, and where is Sasha?” I ask, feeling like I know that voice.

“She’s safe for the moment,” the man says. “As for who this is, let’s just say I speak for the Olivetti family.”

Then I realize who it is. Andre. Good old trusty Andre who never failed to make himself indispensable all these months. Andre who was right there when I got shot.

Andre who’s betrayed me and now has Sasha.

“Listen up, motherfucker. You better pray to whoever you think is God that she’s unharmed, or I’m going to make the last minutes of your life worse than you can imagine. Don’t hurt her, or I swear to God I’ll slice you and every one of the Olivettis up into little fucking pieces and nobody will ever find you. Understand me?”

I wait for him to answer, but the phone call goes dead. He better hope she doesn’t have even a cracked fingernail when I find her because if she’s not as perfect as she’s always been, I’m going to follow through on my threat.

Taking a shot at me was bad enough. Taking the most important thing in my life means every single one of that family and anyone who even dares to stand on their side is going to wish they were dead before I’m through with them.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Sasha

The rag in my mouth used to gag me tastes like cheap wine and is making me feel like I’m going to throw up. I should puke all over the next one who comes over to check on me. They deserve so much worse, but that’s about all I have at this second.

---