world when people don’t get what they want. they take other things, like those you love.
“We’ll be on the island tomorrow. We’ll be able to stay there and no one will bother us. We’ll stay for as long as we need to.”
“It’s not good to cage something wild. It’s not right,” she says. It’s a saying she’s said to me many times. It was the first thing she said to me when we met many years ago as I attempted to cage a wild bird I’d tended to when it was injured.
I smile at her. “Bellezza, are you talking about me or you? When last I checked we were both as wild as the other.”
She chuckles at that, laughter which fills me with hope. When she schools her features, and the seriousness returns to her face, I get my answer. “You. I’m talking about you. The island is beautiful, and I can’t believe you actually got it, but a man like you isn’t meant to stay on an island. Kept away from everyone else, family and friends.”
“It’s our paradise. The castle for the princess. A refuge from harm. I will keep you safe Alyssa, no matter what,” I vow, and I sound like earlier when I pledged my life to her. “You hear me?”
She nods her head. “I do.”
“I got the island for us to make our home. Just like I promised.” I did promise that. She was ten, but she remembers. At the time I was dirt poor, and we were both living in Stormy Creek. A place known to house the poor and unfortunate.
When I release her, she stands on the tips of her toes and plants a kiss on my chin.
“You did promise. Can I have my husband to myself now please?”
“You may. Head upstairs and I’ll grab the champagne.”
“Don’t keep me waiting.”
“I don’t plan to,” I assure her.
She smiles and I feel at ease. I watch her and try to push away my fears as she saunters away.
Everyone is on high alert, the place is secured, my father and brothers are on the streets looking for the devils. I can take tonight. Take the next few hours as reprieve. A rejuvenation so I can be ready for tomorrow.
I just hate feeling like I’m being watched constantly by that devil Mortimer Viggo. Him and his bunch of assholes. It was him who ordered the hit on my girl and sent his animal Vlad to do his bidding.
Closing my eyes briefly I remove the stress from my mind and make my way into the kitchen. I had champagne and some other things delivered earlier in my attempt to garner some part of the celebration.
I grab the basket everything was delivered in. It’s one of those massive arrangements with an assortment of cake and wine.
It’s when I walk back out to the passageway something feels off to me. Something more than it already did.
There’s a presence about the place that wasn’t there before. The same sort of presence I’ve been trained to pick up on when danger is near. It’s the same presence that tells me I’m not being paranoid. I feel for my Berretta in my back pocket and continue up the winding staircase leading to the bedroom.
Glancing around I check the place. This house is small. Several times smaller than the home we live in on Redondo Beach. It has more land around it, though. Nevertheless, I should be able to tell if someone was in the house.
That’s what it feels like.
I walk into the bedroom, expecting to see Alyssa inside but she isn’t.
I set the basket with the champagne on the bed and look for her in the En suite bathroom but she’s not there either.
“Alyssa?” I call out.
No answer.
I make my way into the other two rooms on the floor. The only other two rooms on the floor which are another bedroom and a larger bathroom. But … she’s not there.
Panic assails me, making my heart gallop and my racing blood pump through my veins like liquid fire. I rush back downstairs into the living room and stop in my tracks when I see the front door wide open.
It definitely was not fucking open just now when I was down here.
Fuck.
“Alyssa!” I call out and there’s still no answer.
Reaching for my phone I call Gio. When his phone goes straight to voicemail a shiver of ice runs down my spine. He always answers his phone. My heart sinks into a chasm of hell when I