Page 27 of Winter Love

“The truth? Are you sure you want to know?”

“Your papà said I’m a Mancini now, right? Well I need to know.”

Sebastiano sighs and nods.

“No. Blaine is not alive.”

“Did you kill him?”

“No. But Blaine wasn’t the one who took my wife. Blaine is the one that abused her, but I didn’t kill him. I did kill the man who took her.”

“And do you regret that?”

“No.”

“And neither will I.”

Sebastiano stares at me and finally nods.

“Let’s go and bring Emmanuelle home to you.”

“Thank you. No matter what happens. Thank you.”

“Family.”

It takes us fifteen minutes to get to the store. There’s already police there.

“Lukas,” Officer Jared Taylor says as he comes over to me.

“Hey, Jared.”

“I’m sorry you’re going through this. Enea Mancini filled us in on who you all think took Emmanuelle. We have officers posted on the roads leading out of town. And we’re checking every car.”

“What if they left before those got set up?”

“We’ve alerted the towns around us to be on the lookout. I promise, we’re doing everything we can. We all like Emma and don’t want anything to happen to her.”

I know Jared’s right, small-town living means most of us know each other. I’m just scared and I want my Emma back in my arms. When I think about what they could be doing to her, my blood boils.

Emmanuelle

I can hear voices around me, but I cant seem to get my eyes to open. Which is probably a good thing because I really don’t want them to know I’m awake just yet. My hands and feet are bound and I’m guessing tied to the bed I’m on. I recognize William’s voice and there’s another with a British accent. I can hear a few other voices but they sound farther away. I don’t think they’ve done anything to me. But maybe William’s waiting for me to wake up? I’m trying to keep my breathing steady but it’s getting harder.

I’m sure by now they know I’m gone. But how will they know where to look? I don’t even know where I am. I try to stay still and listen to their conversation.

“Now what are you going to do with her? I told you we weren’t ready to take her. But did you listen? No. Because you’re a fucking moron,” the British accent guy says.

Could that be Pee-Rex? I remember he had a dinosaur name. But they all called him funny names, that was the guy that took Celestino and Francesco’s sister.

“Don’t talk to me like that. Emmanuelle is mine and you need to just fuck off. I told you what I wanted out of this. I don’t even know why you’re here.”

“I told you, I want to get my revenge on Giacomo Bastianini.”

“But you had no idea he would come here.”

“I followed Celestino here and that whole fucking family can’t help but be martyrs. So when you said your girl was here, and she was the one that I saw with them? It was perfect. I get my revenge and you get the whore.”

“Don’t fucking call her that. How are we related again?”

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