Page 72 of Unbroken (Russo Mafia)

“Charlotte!” I yell. Running into the living room, only to find it empty. “Charlie!”

Anna comes storming out of the kitchen looking worried. “What’s going on? What’s with all the yelling?”

“Have you seen Charlie?”

“Yeah, earlier today. Her and Oscar went to her dad’s I thought you knew.”

I shake my head, no they shouldn’t have left the fucking house. He knew better. She knew better. I reach for my phone, dreading the call I’m about the make. The last time I talked to this man was right before I shot his partner. When he finally answer’s he doesn’t sound thrilled.

“Yes, Lucca, what can I do for you?”

“Can we place our differences aside for once. I need to know where Charlie is?”

He’s silent for moment. “Why does my daughter concern you?”

“She never told you?” Of course, she didn’t. Why would she ever tell her dad about dating a man in the fucking mafia. I don’t blame her; I wouldn’t tell him either, we don’t have the best history. Almost nine years of fighting each other.

“What’s going on? Tell me now.”

“I need to know if she’s there or not, old man!” I yell.

“She’s not here, her and Oscar left hours ago.”

Then where the fuck is she? They should be back. That could only mean one thing. Without replying, I hang up. This cannot be happening. I only wanted her to be safe. Look at me go, right. Everything I touch I ruin. I sink to the floor burying my head in my hands.

“We’ll get her back, Lucca.” Rett’s voice breaks through my thoughts.

“How?” My voice breaks. “We don’t even know where she is.” I look up at everyone, each one wearing a grimace expression.

“He will contact us, eventually. Why else go through all this trouble? We know he wants you. That’s why he went after her,” Antonio said, with a troubled look.

The question is when. It’s been hours if what her father is telling me. We only just seen Seth so why didn’t he tell me his demands then? Nothing is making any sense to me. He’s planning something, and it isn’t going to end well. The next question is for what. What can he be planning?

I still haven’t heard a single peep from Seth. I’ve tried tracking Charlie’s phone, but it only took us to Oscar’s car, or what’s left of his car. The sight of it crushed me. Neither one of them should’ve been in that position. Most of the damage happened to the front passenger side of the car. All the air bags had deployed, giving me some reassurance that she wasn’t overly injured. The only thing I never noticed was skid marks from Oscar hitting the brakes. Did he know this was coming or was he not paying attention?

Sitting in my office I’m going over all the CCTV of the area they were last seen. I had Antonio hack into the system for me. I don’t have a time frame to go off, so this is taking a long time to narrow anything down.

“Any luck yet?” Antonio asked when he walks into the office.

Leaning back in my chair, running my hands through my hair. I let out a deep sigh. “Nothing. If I knew a time, they left her dad’s this would be easier.” I wave my hands in front of the screen in defeat.

“Want me to look? Maybe a fresh set of eyes will be good.”

“Sure, can’t hurt. Maybe I missed something along the way.” I move to another chair so he can take over. He’s smarter at this whole computer thing than I am. Who knows, maybe I did miss something and I’m losing valuable time. She could be dead, and I wouldn’t know it. It could be my fault.

“Stop thinking about that, Lucca. She’s strong.”

“I get that, but I’m still worried. You know what Seth’s like. He’s unpredictable. That’s why I’m worried. He hasn’t made any demands yet. I can’t find her. She’s a sitting fucking duck!”

I try to control my breathing. I don’t mean to lash out at Tony, he’s only trying to help. It’s my job to protect her. I failed her once already. I told her I would be there for her, and where the fuck was I? Trying to follow Seth around, because I thought he was more important than my girlfriend. Her needs were like a second-class citizen. You know how that makes me feel? Like king fucking shit. I should’ve been there; I’ll never be able to make it up to her.

“I think I found something.”

I blink a few times when Antonio’s voice breaks through. I straighten up leaning closer to the screen. He points to one of the four screens.

“Here is his car, leaving her dad’s neighbourhood. I picked it up on the intersection camera followed them, that’s when I noticed this black SUV.” He points again to the second vehicle that quickly closed in on them. “They must’ve noticed because they started driving faster and switching lanes.”

He types away and the screens change. It’s a different view and angle all together.

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