Page 70 of Promise Never

“What is it, Mother?” Alessandro asksagain.

She flushes out a sharp breath,squeezes her eyes shut briefly, then lifts her head to him. “I’ve lost yourbrother.”

Confused, I blink profusely. “Wait. Ithought you didn’t know the whereabouts of your youngest?”

“I thought so too,” Alessandro grunts,shifting in the spot. “What do you mean you lost him?”

Regret falls over Sofia’s face. “I’vehad someone on Enrique ever since he ran off with his girlfriend.”

My jaw drops.

“You knew where he was all this time?”Alessandro yells, making even me cringe.

“I wanted to give him space and lethim believe he was free,” she explains. “SoI kept mydistance.But,the man who contacts me every monthwith an update just informed me that he was following his car the day beforeand lost them in traffic. He checked their apartment. They haven’t returned.”

“Perhaps Enrique realized you’ve beenwatching him,” Alessandro snarls, throwing his hands up. “Where was he?”

“Rome. They’d gone to France initiallybut returned to Italy soon after.”

“Cristo. He’s been here in Italy? Icannot believe you kept it from me!” He seems so livid with his mother. “Icould have put men on Enrique to keep him safe!”

“Safe?” Sofia barks out sarcastically.“Look around us, Ales! Our men are few. We do not have the means to hire many.We cannot even keep the ones we have alive.”

Shame curtains Alessandro’s features ashe cuts to me. He clicks his tongue and curses in Italian.

“Perhaps I should speak to Pietro,”Sofia suggests in a calmer tone. “Ask him to help track your brother.”

“No, he’s done too much already.”

“Then Emanuele,” she decides.

Alessandro stiffens, eyes expanding.“No! We do not need their help! Don’t you dare ask them for anything!”

Sofia raises her chin in defiance. “Iam the head of this family. If I can put my pride aside to ask my cousin forhelp, you can do the same. Your little brother could be in trouble.”

Soit appears she’d lied to me that day, saying she didn’t care thatEnrique had fled and denied his duty to his family. All the while, she hadsomeone watching him.

“If my contact doesn’t find Enrique bymorning, I’m requesting help from Emanuele.” She marches out of the kitchen.

“Fuck!” Alessandro shouts and archesover the island.

“What are you going to do? Yourbrother really could have been taken.”

He sighs heavily. “I’ll figuresomething out.”

“So much is going on. Between Zeno andyour brother. Don’t take offense, Alessandro. But maybe your mom’s right. Maybeyou should ask for help.”

“Help doesn’t come for free here.” Hemoseys to the other side, staring out the window. “You don’t understand, Tiana.It is so hard to gain respect. If they keep helping us, we’ll look pathetic toassociates and our men. They’ll think we can’t handle anything on our own andlook down on our family. We’ll lose face. It won’t matter if we rise in wealth.Money doesn’t buy loyalty.”

I go over and touch his arm affectionately.“What’s more important? Your pride or finding your brother?”

He drags his hand through his hair andlooks at me. “Of course, I want to find Enrique. But asking my cousins isjust….”

“I get it. Respect is power,especially in this world. But if something happened to Enrique, I bet he’shoping his big brother will save him despite that he ran off.”

“That idiot. For his sake, I hopenothing’s happened.” He roughly wipes his mouth with the palm of his hand andreleases a low growl. “If Mother’s contact hasn’t found him, I’ll callEmanuele.”

I trace his jaw with my fingers.

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