Wrapped in Chains - Nicola Jane Page 0,62
another beat-down, brother?” he yells.
“We don’t have time for this bullshit,” yells Vinn. “We need to find Leia.” He storms from the room, slamming the door behind him.
Blade and Cree also go to follow. “I’m with him,” says Blade. “You two are tearing this club apart,” he adds.
We try every address I had and there’s no sign of Ryan. Vinn calls me. “Meet me at the Rose Ash Home on Harley Street. His mum’s there.”
“Ain’t that a place for dementia patients?” I ask, jumping back on my bike. “How the fuck can she help us?”
I get there in record time. Vinn is pacing outside impatiently. When we enter, a woman greets us inside at the reception desk. “We’re looking for this man,” says Vinn, sliding the photo of Ryan across the desk.
She looks at it. “And you are?” she asks.
“Vinn Romano.”
She nods and becomes flustered. “I haven’t seen him for some time. He removed his mother from the home shortly after the tragedy.”
“His girlfriend?” asks Vinn and she nods.
“He couldn’t afford our fees. He had to pay for the funeral. He had no other choice.”
“How far along was his girlfriend in the pregnancy?” I ask.
“I think the baby was due at the end of August. They were so happy. When he came to tell his mother about the baby, he was just so . . . ” She trails off and her eyes fill with tears. “Sorry. We were all really sad when we heard what had happened.”
“And you have no idea where he might be now?” I ask. She shakes her head and Vinn hands her a business card.
“If he gets in touch, please call me. It’s urgent.”
We step out. “Now what?”
“We keep looking. Someone somewhere knows where they are,” says Vinn.
LEIA
Tonight, I’ve been promoted for good behaviour. Dinner is served in the kitchen, and although I’m still chained at the ankle, I feel like we’ve made progress. I smile at all his jokes and touch his arm tentatively in a flirty manner. I top his glass up with wine for the third time and relax with each mouthful that he swallows in the hope that he’ll become so intoxicated that I’ll be able to make my escape. “Tell me more about Sara,” I say.
“It hurts to talk about her,” he mumbles, and I place my hand over his.
“I know it does, but talking helps the healing. Were you together long?”
He nods. “Since school. I never understood what she saw in me. I was a straight A student, never late, never in trouble, and she was crazy. She loved attention and drama. She was loud and fun. We were like chalk and cheese.”
“She sounds great,” I say, adding a smile.
“We tried for the baby. Once I got my degree, she was going to stay home and raise the baby and I was going to work and support us. We were so excited.” He falls silent and I gently run my fingers over his. “August twenty-eighth was going to be the day our life together really began. No longer a two but a three.”
“What happened to Sara?” I ask.
“I was at the hospital. I’d been wanting to train in theatre on heart surgery and one of the top surgeons invited me in. I didn’t have my phone with me. Sara was hit by a forty-tonne lorry. I didn’t know until that evening when I got home and two police officers came to the door. She died at the hospital on the theatre table in the room next to me.”
“Oh, Ryan,” I gasp, covering my mouth. My eyes fill with tears. “I’m so sorry.”
“They tried to save the baby.” He pulls out his wallet and opens it to show me a small photo of a tiny baby, not yet fully formed. “She didn’t make it either.”
“You never told me.”
“I was trying to move on. You reminded me of her with your laugh and you have this light round you. I thought it was a sign. But then I realised that the real sign was when Frankie told me you were pregnant. You didn’t plan the baby. I knew you wouldn’t want it, and when you said the father was off the scene, well, I just knew that Sara sent you to me.”
“Really?” I say sceptically. “You don’t think that was just coincidence?”
“Don’t you see? I can still be a father. I can love this baby just like my own and you can get on with your life.”
“But Ryan, I want my