Page 88 of Taboo Flames

The man standing before me now doesn’t look like both him and health issues can exist in the same sentence.

“They’ve taken Aurora,” I growl, deciding to leave the matter that Estefan and I discussed for another time. I was getting the feeling that the less Giordano knew I knew, the better for me. “I don’t know how they succeeded in luring her out of the house, but she’s gone.”

His expression twists into anger. “They’ve gone a step too far,” he snaps. “Do you have any leads yet?”

I shake my head in the negative.

“I’ll call someone to look into it at once,” he says, dropping his hand down on my shoulder. “We’ll find her.”

“It’s just one dead end after another,” I mutter brokenly. “I have no idea where to start. She’s disappeared as easily as Il Sguardo Nero.”

“Don’t panic, son,” he says firmly. “There’s no such thing as a ghost. Someone has to know something. Have you located the cab she used tonight? Or the driver?”

At his words, ice coats my blood, and everything inside me goes very still.

“Not yet, but we will,” I say. “I’m not going to stop until I find her.”

“As you should,” he responds and nods.

“If you hear anything, Giordano, inform me. Anything at all,” I tell him.

“Of course. I’ll be searching with my own hand,” Giordano says with a smile.

“Thank you, father,” I say. I’ve not called him father in years, but I see the pleasure that lights up in his eyes when I do.

I turn and walk back to my car, and the whole time, I reevaluate every interaction I’ve ever had with Giordano.

I didn’t tell him Aurora had taken a cab out, and the only way he can know that is if he had a hand in Aurora’s disappearance, which leads me to suspect he’s been in cohorts with Il Sguardo Nero this whole time.

He’s been the one singlehandedly derailing my search for the man. I’ve been giving him valuable information about my search, and he’s been using it to go behind my back and thwart me. It all makes sense now why the enemy always seems to be one step ahead of me.

My phone rings in my pocket, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Speak,” I bark into my phone.

“We’ve caught the pimp. The one Aurora met the first night. We have him,” Fiore’s voice says over the phone.

My mouth pulls up into a smile at the thought of breaking the rat for information. “Good. I’m on my way.”

When I’m done with him, he’s going to be singing like a canary, and he’s going to give me everything I want and need to take down my enemies once and for all.

Just then, a sudden thought occurs to me. What else has Giordano lied about? He lied about my mother, lied about being ill, and is working for or with a diabolical asshole.

Who even is Giacob Giordano, and have I ever known the real him?

CHAPTER 24

Giovanni

“Where’s the son of a bitch?” I roar, marching into the safe house.

“This way, boss,” Fiore says, leading me deeper into the building to where a man is hanging from chains in the ceiling. He’s a skinny man who looks like he’s lived a hard life. The effect of both drugs and a life of crime is evident on his body.

I spot the spider tattoo across his palm and sneer.

“What has he said so far?” I ask.

“We haven’t asked him much," Fiore admits. “We just roughed him up a bit. We thought you’d like to do the honors.”

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