Page 11 of Stefano
Hot tears burn my eyes, but I blink them away.Crying won’t save me.
They talk in low Spanish, their voices harsh.I catch words,dinero, venganza, Cammareri.
This isn’t about me. This is about them.About Stefano.About the family.About the Cammareris and the business they do in the dark corners where no one can see them.
My stomach twists.I’m bait.
When the van finally screeches to a stop, I’m yanked out, stumbling.We’re in some abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city, the air damp and heavy.The men shove me toward a chair, zip ties biting into my skin as they secure me.
Matías crouches in front of me, his smile chilling.“You made this easy,hermosa.So trusting.So eager to believe in love.”
I flinch, tears pricking.“Why?”
He leans closer, his breath hot on my cheek.“Because the Cammareris took something from us.Now, we take something from them.”
My heart pounds so hard I can’t breathe.Stefano.The last thought I cling to before darkness closes in is his face, the way his eyes burned when he saw me in that dress.
And I pray he comes for me.
Chapter Seven
The Hunt
Stefano
The call comes just after midnight.
“Stefano,” one of our soldiers stammers through the phone.“It’s Andrea.She never came back from her date.We found her phone.Smashed on the sidewalk.And ...there’s blood on the scene.”
Cold fury slams into me, sharp and merciless.The room tilts, the air turning razor thin.Around me, the lounge explodes into chaos, Guilia’s panicked voice, Alceu’s curses, Callie gasping, Mancuso demanding answers.But all I hear is the pounding in my chest.
They took her.
I’m on my feet before the soldier finishes speaking, chair scraping across marble.“Where?”
“Downtown.Near the restaurant.”
