112| Tantrums.
ANTONIO
My men and I had tried every possible means to look for Rosalinda, but there was no cue. Nothing at all. I was frustrated, scared of losing her. Even the thought of it blocked my airways, making it difficult to breathe. There was nothing I wouldn’t do to get my woman back. Nothing at all.
Vito and I had just finished looking through the footage from the security camera from all the buildings around the gas station, but we got nothing.
My phone started ringing, and I picked it up, hoping it was one of my men calling me to give me positive feedback, but I drew a long hiss when I realised it was Sofia calling. She had been buzzing my phone for over an hour now, demanding to speak with Rosalinda. I had told her that she was fine and was only sleeping, but she wouldn’t buy it. Fuck! She was fucking adding to my frustration with her persistent calls.
“Don’t you think you should tell her the truth?” Vito suggested, as I rejected the call.
“She’d tell Roberto, and I don’t want him to find out that his daughter was kidnapped while in my possession. Not until we find her!” I groaned.
The more I thought of her, the more the guilt of leaving her alone in that car stabbed at my heart. That piercing pain had been a constant since I realised she was taken and wouldn’t stop until she was found. I fucking left her and our unborn baby alone in the car! I couldn’t live with myself if anything ever happened to them.
The frustration and anger vibrating through me reached their peak, my mind threatening to explode. In a fit of frustration, I grabbed the keyboard on my desk and smashed it against the wall in intense fury, all the veins in my body protruding. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold on. I needed to find her!
My chest heaved up and down in rapid succession as I tried with everything in me to control the intense urge to destroy everything in my office.
“Boss. Calm down.” Vito said as he tried to touch my shoulder, but I yanked his hand away.
“Do not fucking tell me to call down.” I groaned furiously.
Just then, the door was pushed open, and Carlo came into view.
When the fuck did he learn how to open the door?
At the sight of my son, I forced the anger within me to subdue, and it obeyed, but reluctantly.
“Carlo.” I breathed.
“Daddy, where’s my mommy?” He asked as he approached me with short, quick steps.
“Mommy? Uhm…” I asked, scratching the back of my head and blowing out a sharp breath as I tried to think of what to say to him.This is from NôvelDrama.Org.
“I want my mommy.” His voice sounded desperate as he spoke.
Leaning in, I took him in my arms. “Mommy stepped out for a moment, but she’ll return soon.” I lied.
“I want my mommy.” He repeated, flailing his arms and legs.
“She’ll be back before you know it.” I insisted, but he wouldn’t listen.
He screamed as he continued to writhe in my arms.
I was confused. Carlo had always been well-behaved; he never threw tantrums. Why today of all days? Fuck!
“Where is she?” Sofia’s loud voice suddenly pierced through the air, and the door flew open afterwards.
“Here you are!” She exclaimed as she trotted towards me, with Oliver walking right behind her. I used to ignite fear in her, but now she seemed fearless.
I immediately handed Carlo over to Vito and instructed him. “Take him to Camilla.”
I didn’t want my son to experience what was about to happen.
“Where is my sister?” She demanded.
I raised a brow, trying to act composed, when I was shattered within. “Aren’t you supposed to be on a honeymoon or something?”
“Leave me to worry about that. Where is my sister?” She demanded again.
I pressed my lips together, sighing. “You guys go days without talking to each other. Why are you so worked up just because you haven’t heard from her in hours?”
“Because we were supposed to meet today, she wanted to tell me something, and I know my sister would never leave me hanging unless something happened. Where the hell did you keep my sister?!” She yelled at the top of her lungs.
“She-” I raked my hand through my hair in frustration.
Before I could continue, she gasped, a look of perplexity masking her features. “Oh, my God. Did you kill her?”
“What? No!” My brows immediately drew together. “I didn’t kill her. I would never hurt her.”
“Then where the hell is she?” She demanded.
I shut my eyes tightly closed, and as I shot them back open, I blurted out. “She was kidnapped.”
“By who?” The worries saturating her features intensified.
Exhaling sharply, I replied. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean by you don’t know?” She snapped. “My sister was kidnapped under your watch, and here you are, saying you don’t know. What the actual fuck?”
I wanted to warn her for daring to speak to me in that manner, but I refrained from doing so. She had every right to be furious about her sister’s disappearance, and it was all my fucking fault.
I sighed. “I’m working hard to find her.”
“You better!” She yelled. “Whoever your enemies are, I don’t care. You would find her and save her from them. My sister must return safe and sound, Antonio. She’s pregnant for God’s sake!” She slammed her palm against her forehead, blowing out a sharp breath. “Who could be so heartless?”
“I could speak with my father to help you find her.” Oliver offered, finally speaking since they came in.
“And my Papa? Does he know about it?” Sofia questioned.
I sighed. “No.”
A call came in, and an unknown number flashed on my screen. Sofia snatched the phone from my hand and immediately picked up the call, putting it on loudspeaker.
Someone sighed from the other end of the phone, and the call abruptly ended even before any words were spoken.
“Oh, my God. Rosa!” Sofia exclaimed, her eyes widening as she quickly dialed the number that just called.
I tensed. “Are you sure she’s the one?”
“Hundred percent.” She breathed out.
The call rang, but there was no response. The stabbing pain in my chest intensified, and my entire body tensed as we dialled the number a few more times, with no avail.
“Fuck!” I groaned in frustration as I dialled Michael’s number-a private investigator.
He picked up almost immediately, and I spoke into the phone. “I’ll send a phone number to you now; find out who owns it and their location.”