Page 57 of Vow to Me

“So, Izzy was in on it the whole time? That’s why she left?” I ask, trying to ignore the pain in my chest that’s been present since the second she left.

“For fuck’s sake, she didn’t leave man. She was taken.” He gives me a sympathetic look and the world blurs around me.

She was taken.

She was fucking taken. Kidnapped. She didn’t fucking leave. And while I’ve been drowning myself in whiskey, thinking about all the ways I’ve planned on punishing her. She’s been going through who the fuck knows what. Jesus fuckingChrist.

Where did they keep her? What did they do to her? Did they fucking torture her? Thoughts of Izzy hurt and beaten swim around in my mind and my gut tightens.

I dart up from the chair and hunch over the trash can just in time to empty my stomach into it. This time, instead of pushing the pain of Izzy being gone away, I let it consume me. I let all the emotion hit me at once. It’s the fucking least I deserve for turning my back on her when she needed me the most. For not trusting her when all she ever did was open herself up to me. All she ever did was love me, and I left her to the wolves.

“Fuck!” I roar, I swing towards my father and brothers. My dad and Marco are both pale, probably thinking the same thing as me. While Enzo glares at me from the corner. He doesn’t need to voice his thoughts. He’s been the one saying she was innocent all along and I’ve been too much of a dick, letting my hurt pride and ego get the best of me instead of listening to him.

“You lot can go to Chicago and deal with everything while I stay here and keep an eye on things,” he says with no emotion in his tone before walking out of the room without a backwards glance at the rest of us.

“She’s been held at her father’s estate for the last six days,” Alec says, and me, Dad and Marco immediately spring into action, preparing a team and planning the best way to approach the situation.

Alec gets ready to head out but clears his throat, so we all stop what we’re doing and turn to him.

“There’s something else, she wanted to give you a message…” he says while keeping eye contact with me. “She wanted me to tell you to… to go fuck yourself for ever doubting her.” He squeezes my shoulder in a show of comfort while I take a deep breath and close my eyes.

I’m so fucking sorry, baby.

Though I know, in the very depths of my soul that sorry will never be enough. In fact, I think I may have lost her for good, and it’d be exactly what I deserve. I failed her. I failedus.

We make it to Chicago within three hours, which still isn’t quick enough in my opinion. I’m fidgety as fuck as we pull up to the Bianchi home. I couldn’t sit still the whole flight here, I ended up pacing back and forth the aisle the whole twohours we were in the air, unable to think of anything other than the horrendous ordeal Izzy must have endured these last six days.

I’m opening the car door and climbing out before Marco even has the chance to stop the car. We brought forty men with us in three separate jets since we’re not sure of the security my asshole father-in-law has around his home.

“Everyone remember the plan?” I ask and there’s a breakout of murmurs around me.

We decided to have twenty men surrounding the property to keep an eye on things and to be on standby in case we need them while me, Marco, our father lead another twenty men inside.

My father, brother and I lead the men up the steps towards the entrance, the former steps ahead of Marco and me and uses a battering ram to breach the front door. My dad may not be as young as he once was, but he never turns down the opportunity to jump in and get his hands dirty, especially when it comes to his family.

We enter the home and are immediately hit with the sight of three dead guards laid out in the hall, all lying in a pool of their own blood. My brow furrows and I look towards Marco.

What the hell is going on?

Panic hits me at the realization that someone could have attacked the compound and taken Izzy. If what Alec said was true and Antonio is, in fact, involved in the flesh trade then this could be a revenge hit, and who the fuck knows what someone would do with the daughter of a slimy fuck like Bianchi.

“Luca,” my dad says and my head snaps towards him to see him holding out a note that contains one word.Basement.

I rush forward and make my way towards the basement; we studied the blueprints of the house when we were setting up the plan, so I know exactly where to go. I swing open the door at the end of the hall and run down the steps with my gun raised and a heavy feeling of dread setting in my gut. At the bottom of the stairs there’s a large metal door that’s been left cracked open.

I inch forward and slowly open the door while attempting to prepare myself for whatever the fuck I’m about to find inside.

I step inside the room and my gaze focuses on the two figures who occupy the space. I was preparing myself to find my wife injured, beaten, or fuckingdead.

What I did not fucking expect to see was my father-in-law tied to a chair or that little bitch Alessi strapped to a table whimpering. I let out a breath of relief before the realization that I have no fucking clue where my wife is hits me.

I walk over to Antonio and slap him, so he wakes up. His eyes pop open as soon as I make contact and he lets out an aggravated groan.

“Where the fuck is Izzy?” I bark.

“How the fuck should I know where my bitch of a daughter is? She’s the one who fucking killed half of my men, mirrored the marks on that sack of shit that he gave her…” He gestures towards where Alessi is tied to the table. “And then tied me to a fucking chair like a pig. The little cunt is fucking crazy, muttering to herself about how she wanted to leave you a fucking divorce gift,” he saysshaking his head and staring at me expectantly, clearly waiting for me to untie him and let him go. By now, Marco and our father have joined us in the room, but they stand back, letting me take the lead.

I have to force myself not to think about what he said about Izzy mirroring the marks Alessi gave her. The thought of her being hurt makes me want to burn this entire godforsaken city to the ground. And divorce?Over my dead, mutilated fucking body will that ever happen.

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