Chapter 37

Nikolai

"T hey were only gone for a second. They went to the restroom and then they just disappeared. Oh my god, my baby! I've only just got my sister back and they've taken her too!. What will they do to them? Oh god, if they harm one hair on Mads' head…" Arianna rambles, on the verge of hysterics.

"Arianna. I know it's difficult, but I need you to calm down and let Endo explain what happened. The sooner we know the situation the sooner we can find them, okay?" I say, looking into her eyes.

She looks so utterly terrified and worried that it gives me the strength I need to be the brave strong one, to not lose it like she is, to ignore my own concern and focus. Arianna nods, allowing me to envelop her in my arms as she sobs quietly.

Once more, I'm cursing myself for not following the usual protocol of traveling in convoy with one vehicle in front and one behind. In my rush to get out of the house and get away as quickly as possible, I didn't think everything through. I forgot that the danger wasn't just at the safe house. The journey is just as dangerous, if not more. I can't believe I let the news that I'm a father distract me from the one thing I'm good at, and the one job that's now my biggest priority, keeping my family safe.

I nod at Endo to proceed. Without needing to be told, Dimitri and the others set about looking around for clues.

"Mads needed the bathroom and Adelina said she'd go with her. When they didn't come out after ten minutes, we got concerned. When Arianna went in to check they were gone. There's a back exit from the restroom. We think that whoever took them came in through there and grabbed them. They didn't come back through the restaurant, I'd have seen them. No suspicious cars or people that I saw came in or out the whole time we were here. I've secured the perimeter and there's no sign of them, so we don't think they wandered off on their own."

"Could Adelina have taken her?" I ask, I had to consider all possibilities, no matter how farfetched they might be.

"No, she wouldn't," Arianna protests.

I ignore her, awaiting Endo's reply.

"It's possible, there was no sound or sign of a struggle, so if someone took them, they went quietly. Though if there was a gun pointed at them, they wouldn't try to fight back."

Arianna lets out a strangled wail at the suggestion of them being held at gunpoint.

"So yes, there's a chance Adelina left with Mads alone. No one saw them leave, so we've no way of knowing. But, if she was acting alone, she'd have to have had help. There aren't many people here, no cars missing. There's no way they left on foot," Endo explains.

"Why the fuck didn't you call me sooner?" I growl.

"Because I know you wouldn't have acted rationally, and you'd be on your way as fast as possible. I also know that we've no idea what car they might have left in, so there's no way you could have kept an eye out for it either way. There was also the very real chance that they'd simply come back to the car for something, or we'd find them here, so there was no point worrying you until we were certain that they were definitely gone," he reasons.

He's maddeningly right.

"De Luca has to be behind this. He'll make his demands known. In the meantime, we get every man we have looking into it. We find them, and we fucking destroy De Luca in the process. Nobody touches my child and gets away with it," I roar.

Endo nods and heads over to the others, they all start making calls and sending out orders.

"We'll find them, I promise," I say to Arianna. "I will find them, and I will make whoever took them pay. I will burn everything to the ground and kill everyone De Luca has ever spoken to, to find her. To save our daughter. And once we have her back, I will never let either of you out of my sight again."

I won't let myself think of the alternative. That the thing I feared most has already happened. That I failed to protect my child. That she's in the hands of a monster. I know now that I forgive Arianna completely. It's been a day since I found out Maria Adelina is mine and already my enemies are using her against me. No wonder Arianna wanted to keep her paternity a secret.