Page 40 of Ludovico's Vengeance

Milo and Abel are reviewing recent surveillance images, the two of them bent over the small table set in front of the couch. Rand is explaining the plan to the others who have been brought in on this, the same men who brought Nina to me. They’re the only men I can trust to join us on this mission. Michael looms over the desk in front of me as I continue to wait.

“Hello Mr. Ludovico. It’s nice to hear from you.” The mayor’s commanding voice chimes on the other end of the line while my office door crashes open simultaneously. The sound from the impact echoes around the room as Brittany stands drenched in sweat, her chest heaves as she takes in the group of ten men with guns aimed at her. Michael holsters his gun and pulls her into a protective hold while everyone else registers who just barged into my secure space. Once the threat has dissipated my friend releases the woman that he’s not ready to admit is he wants.

“What is it, Britt?” I hear Michael’s quiet question as I watch the exchange from where I stand waiting for my world to be destroyed.

“She’s. Gone.” Brittany pants out each word as she tries to catch her breath.

My body goes rigid, when my eyes find Michael, he’s already turning toward the door to find her. Before he can step through the threshold, Brittany wraps her tiny hand around his large bicep which stops him in his track. I narrow my eyes on Nina’s friend as I speak to the mayor who has been listening to the commotion.

“I apologize, Mayor Ricci, something urgent has come up. I will have to call you back.” I press the button and end the call immediately after I finish my statement. I stand to my full height and cross my arms against my chest while I glare at Brittany. “You’re going to want to talk really fucking fast since you won’t let him leave to figure out where the fuck Nina went.” I snarl.

“She’s gone!” Brittany cries out as she continues, her hands moving wildly as she speaks. “She got a call from a number she didn't have saved, so she ignored it. Not five minutes later she received a cryptic text and bolted.” The explanation doesn’t do anything to comfort me. Brittany must realize I’m not happy with what she’s shared because she holds up her hands in surrender with Nina’s phone in her hand. I blink rapidly before I grab the device from her hand.

"What the fuck!” I snarl as I tap the screen furiously until I find her messages. I read the text and hand the device over to Michael. Anger pulses in my veins and I grab the closest thing to me, which happens to be a statue my grandfather had purchased years ago. I throw the heavy metal against the wall, the impact from my fury leaves a hole twice the size of the figure itself.

Brittany gasps and steps in the opposite direction just before she clears her throat to grab my attention again before she continues, “She took my phone. I assume so you had a way to track her. She shoved that into my hands after she snagged mine and bolted.”

A deep growl reverberates through my chest as I begin to pace the length of the office. I feel everyone's eyes on me as my feet carry me back and forth across the room.

“What the fuck is she thinking?” A fire is lit in my eyes which only burns brighter when I hear a laugh from behind me. I spin on my heels to see an expression that matches my own emotions.

Michael chuckles darkly as he tests the weight of the phone in his hand. When he lifts his gaze to meet mine, he shakes his head.

“She’s thinking that she wants revenge. Possibly more than you did when you returned.” His insight startles me, and I freeze in my tracks. “He did some fucked up shit to her while she was growing up, hell even as recently as a week before we got her based on what she shared while we were training.”

The darkness in his eyes has my skin prickling with tension. My imagination is getting the best of me knowing she’s likely going into a fucking trap.

“He killed Cece and tried to shove Nina back into her old room where he left the body that is all but decomposed.”

A guttural growl crawls up my throat as I take the phone back from Michael. When I read the address again something clicks, and I drop the device before I rush out of the room. I hear a stampede of footsteps rushing after me as I race toward my car.

As soon as I get behind the wheel of the black sports car I arrived here in what feels like a lifetime ago, I feel a sense of control. The moment the engine roars to life I slam my foot against the gas pedal and leave a cloud of dust in my wake. Knowing I have the mayor on my side that I can call in a favor if needed, I ignore every traffic law known to man as I drive across town. My fury only grows as I get closer to my destination as my imagination takes over with every fucked-up scenario that I could walk in to. When I finally pull up to the front door, I barely shift into park before I jump out of the car. The keys are still in the ignition as I pull the gun from the back of my waist band and prepare myself for what I am about to walk into as I open the door to Threads.

My throat bobs as I swallow hard, steeling myself when I pull the door to Threads open. I knew I recognized the address. I’ve been here a total of two times since the incident. But each time, the familiar space with the beautiful aesthetic that Tabatha has created has welcomed me inside. The first time my experience was shrouded in a cloud of evil. My breath hitches as I step into the space and find that same evil standing next to my dad with his arm wrapped tightly around her waist. He looks better than he should, given how badly I beat him the last time we saw his face.

I take a step toward the woman who tried her damnedest to break me all those months ago. Her appearance hasn’t changed much, apart from the way her hair is styled, now the platinum blond hair cascades in waves over her shoulders. However, there is a change she’s not aware of which I’m reveling in. She doesn’t realize I’m no longer the broken girl who was afraid of her own shadow. Now I’m a woman who will not hesitate to end someone who tries to hurt the people she loves.

“Janelle?” Her name holds a thousand questions.

The woman stares at me with a vile grin.

“You don’t recognize Mommy, dear?” Her voice is laced with a fake sweetness that leaves my skin crawling.

My jaw drops to the ground, burrowing itself all the way to China. That’s how shocked this revelation has made me.

“Sorry, what? I thought he killed you?” I shake my head and glance around her to find my father smirking like he’s won the lottery.

Janelle meanders closer to me and slowly circles me like a predator who is ready to pounce on its prey.

“You see, I was never interested in being a mother.” She admits as she looks me up and down. Her critical gaze looking for anything to taunt me with. “Daddy dearest over here begged me to go through with the pregnancy and said he’d take care of you. However, when he found out that you were going to be a girl, he couldn’t bear to announce your existence to the world. Shame and all that misogynistic bullshit that comes with his lifestyle.” Her explanation leaves me speechless.

My eyes gleam with unshed tears as I absorb everything this woman is sharing. I never thought that someone could be as evil as Mateo Barone. Fuck me, was I wrong.

“I asked him to spread the story that we both died during childbirth. He can bury you and I’d disappear. It wasn’t until I returned with my partner to address some concerns about our business arrangement with Mateo that I found out you were still alive. He asked for my help when the Ludovico shithead took possession of you which is why I opted to get a job here with ‘Auntie Tabs’,”Janelle mocks the relationship Giovanni has with Tabatha, the owner of Threads, with air quotes. “You’d expect that their closeness would have been held under wraps, but no. It was easy to find after some cyber sleuthing. His mother was here almost daily for a visit until you arrived at their home.”

She continues her trail around my still frame as she proceeds with the monologue she so clearly has been dying to have since she last saw me.

“My idea to abduct the Ludovico kid for my own vengeance, given how rudely he treated me the last time I saw you, was supposed to end with a trade for you. Not with this.” She scoffs as she gestures to my dad who is still leaning against the counter. “I never expected when I ran out to grab lunch that I’d return to the mess you left.” She stops moving and stands still with her eyes trained on me, a wide grin spread across her face. “That’s when I decided I needed to make my existence known.”

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