Page 14 of Rise

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8

Antonio

Whoever took her,they're going to fucking pay.

Every damn person who played a part in her kidnapping is going to pay.

They’ll pay with their fucking useless lives.

I was willing to die for her, but now I'm ready to kill for her.

Again.

Lorenzo Pinucci won’t be the only casualty of this war. Cristiano will pay next, and then, everyone else.

Romano is still in hiding.

Fuck, he might be dead for all I know.

It's been over two months since he drove off in that piece of shit Chevrolet. He told me he’d get in touch with me within days. I don't know what to think.

But I have to follow my gutand trust what he said.

I have to follow his wishes.

I need to act like he expects me to.

I have to protect what's left.

Nonna Romano, Mrs. Romano now, she said that she’d keep working on Mauro.

I'll move Heaven and Earth to find Natalia. No matter what, I have to track her down before the boss comes out of hiding. I wouldn’t even know how to look him in theeye if he returns before Natalia is safely back home after all this time.

If anything happens to her...

As Mrs. Romano pats my forearm and starts for the door to leave, I can’t stop my mind from going back to the day everything went to shit. I’ve tried to pick everything apart, every detail, every move, piece by piece.

Still, nothing adds up.

There should be some signof Natalia.

There has to be a trail to follow.

Cristiano is the only real lead.

I have to find him. He’s gone underground. I’m sure he’s paid off a lot of people for their silence. So I need to be willing to pay more to track him down and find out what he and his father did, who they hired, and where Natalia is.

I don’t want to know why.

I don’t care why theybetrayed the boss.

I only care that they pay for it.

And with Mrs. Romano’s order to make him suffer, Cristiano isn’t going out the same way that his dad did.

He’ll fucking suffer.

Slow.

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