Chapter 5

"What the helldo you mean she moved? Where did she go?" I snap at Romeo as he continues typing away on his laptop.

The last time I checked, Rosie was still staying with her friend in the city. Now that I"m having Romeo log into the house cam, he can"t seem to find any sign of Rosie. She"s gone, and I"ve got no idea where she went.

Panic begins to bubble up in my gut at the thought of Rosie somewhere in the country without me. She"s always been within reach. Always been where I could just walk in and see her. I need to find her...now.

"I"m checking her accounts right now. Maybe I can pull up a new hit on her credit report or something." Romeo says, a little bite to his tone.

It"s not unusual for me to come to my little brother to help me with surveillance. The issue is everyone knows Babbo wants me to stay away from Rosie. If he found out that my brother was helping me there"s going to be hell to pay for both of us.

"What the hell is taking so long." I pace back and forth.

"You want to do it yourself?" He stops typing and pushes the laptop in my direction.

"No, I want you to find my woman!" I bark.

Romeo blinks and releases a breath before he speaks, "She"s not your woman anymore, Gian." He says it like he"s a doctor delivering bad news to a patient. "Brother, you"re losing it. Losing who you are."

I don"t need him to tell me that. I know what"s going on with me. Know that I"ve got a few screws missing right now but it"ll all be better once I know where Rosie is and that she"s safe.

"I just need to find her. That"s all. I need..." My words trail off before I finish. Romeo knows what I need, even if I don"t have the strength to say it. He groans and pulls the laptop back in front of him.

I move away from him, giving him space to work. Romeo"s apartment is in the heart of Manhattan. The living room is small but sparsely decorated. The kid is barely home to need furnishings. Babbo has him on constant foreign assignments. Romeo is our link to the main land. Our father gets all of his information about the families back home through Romeo. At times, I wonder if Romeo lives a gilded life.

For one, he doesn"t have to worry about Babbo constantly being around or in his business but I know it"s not the case. If there were any of us who wished for a simple life, it was my little brother. I can"t imagine having to run around the globe without a chance of settling down.

I walk over to the window and look down at the congestion and stream of people walking the city streets. Romeo"s apartment may be small but it did have one hell of a view. I could see all the way to the river from here.

"Got it." Romeo announces and all thoughts of enjoying the view vanish from my mind.

"Found what? You know where she is?" I quickly make my way in his direction.

"No. I don"t know exactly where she is but she did pay a realty place what looks like first month"s rent and security. I"m looking up the recently vacant properties now."

Relief washes over me. I may not have an exact location but I"m closer than I was a few minutes ago.

"There"s only two. One in Staten Island and another up near Croton-on-the-Hudson." Romeo scribbles the addresses down on a paper and hands them to me.

"Thank you." I hold the paper as if it may fall apart at any moment.

"Gian, you need to listen to me, man." My brother stands from his seat and captures my attention. "This isn"t going to end well and you know it. Babbo is going to find out, and it"ll be worse for both of you. You"ve got to let her go."

It"s the same word of caution that I"ve heard from everyone in my family. None of them can understand why I"m so stuck on Rosie. They don"t know what she means to me. I never got a chance to really show them. Show her.

"Don"t worry about me. Be safe." I pull my brother into a hug and kiss both his cheeks before I turn and walk out of his apartment.

His warning is valid. If I get caught snooping around Rosie again there"s every chance my father will kill the both of us. He doesn"t stand for rebellion.

I don"t have a choice.

I"d rather live in secret than in the public with a woman I can"t stand.

* * *

Her place is inadequate.

It doesn"t take me long to find the small one-bedroom house Rosie chose to rent. Takes me even shorter to break in to it.

It"s neat, which I expected, but the furniture isn"t up to par for my girl.

I walk into the bedroom and her smell permeates into my senses.

God, I want her.

I run my hand over her clothes in the small closet and pull some of the fabric up to my face. I inhale deeply, and my cock springs to life for the first time in what feels like ages.

This is what I"ve been searching for. What Marie will never be able to do. Rosie is embedded in my body. She"s the only one who makes me come alive like this.

I drop the clothing in my hand, not bothering to rearrange it back in the way that I found it. I don"t care if she knows I was here.

My eyes drift to the small bed in the middle of the room. It"s nearly too small for my frame, but still, I find myself lying down. Burying my face against the pillow I inhale deeply, and it feels like every last nerve in my body comes to life.

My cock is hard as a rock, as I continue to let her smell wash over me. My hips begin to thrust against the unforgiving mattress without my say-so.

There"s nothing like being buried deep inside my girl. The way she moans and gasps. The heat and the tightness of her pussy.

"Mmm, fuck." I groan and grind myself harder against the bed.

The scrape of my jeans is too much against my dick. Without thinking, I open my pants so my bare flesh is against the bed.

I close my eyes and I swear I can hear my sweet girl"s voice in my ear. A voice I"d taken for granted. I miss her. So fucking much.

My abs tighten up as I continue to thrust against nothing besides the memory of Rosie. Her name falling from my lips like a prayer.

"Shit!" I hiss as I erupt like a geyser on her sheets.

My head spins as I suck in huge mouthfuls of breath. That was the best orgasm I"ve had in months, and it wasn"t even with a woman. Just thinking about being in the same space as Rosie is enough to get me off.

I push myself off the bed and look down at the mess I"ve left in her bed. The rational part of my brain tells me I need to hurry and clean it up, but the caveman part of me wants to leave it there, a way to mark my territory.

The caveman wins.

Fixing my pants, I walk around her small room and take in more of what she"s been doing in the past few days. According to Romeo, she"s only just moved in. I don"t see any boxes or anything like that but I know she didn"t take much from our home.

My eyes focus on a small piece of paper on her side dresser. On it is a list of dates and times along with an address. It looked like a work schedule. A pang of disappointment washes over me. My girl shouldn"t have to work. I offered to give her money but she didn"t want anything from me. Now she"s having to stay in a shack of a house and work a full-time job when she"s never had to before.

I"m grateful for one thing though, at least there"s a place I know she"ll be for an extended period of time. I can pop in on her. Maybe make it look like an accident. I just have to see her.

Committing the address to memory, I leave her house and make my way over there. I"m not sure what I"m looking for at first, but when I get on the block, I know where I"m going.

Of course, she"d get a job at a library. It"s quiet and she loves to read.

Checking my surroundings once just to make sure I"m still not being followed, I walk in and scan the initial area but I don"t see Rosie anywhere. There"s a woman at the front desk, her feet are kicked up and she staring at something in her hand. Her phone from the looks of it.

"Hello," I speak loud enough to get her attention.

She"s so concentrated on her phone that she didn"t even realize I"d come in. She moves too fast and nearly topples over backward trying to pretend to be professional.

"Sorry, I didn"t see you...holy crap." Her eyes go wide as I lean forward on the desk, and she gets a good look at me.

I know what I look like and most of the time I"m grateful for my handsome exterior, today isn"t one of those days. I don"t have time to deal with any flirting.

"Is Rosie here?"

The woman"s eyebrows furrow and her mouth ticks down into a small frown, "Rosie? What do you need her for?"

"Is that your business?" My tone is harsher than it should be. I"ve always been the type to draw people in with honey and not vinegar. "I"m sorry, I don"t mean to be rude but I"ve been searching for her for a while."

"Oh, no problem. Well, she"s not here right now. She"s on a break but I"m sure I can help you."

I wave my hand and take a step back, "No, I need to speak with her. Do you know what time her break is over?"

"She should be back in about twenty minutes. She went for coffee." The woman behind the desk leans forward, her eyes slowly roaming over my body," Are you sure there"s nothing I can help you with?"

I scoff and turn my back on her as I stroll to the door, "Not in this lifetime."

The bright afternoon sun beats down hard but I think I"m sweating for a different reason. I"m moments away now. My blood is buzzing with excitement. I wonder if she"ll be surprised to see me, or if she"ll be expecting me to show up. Rosie knows me so well, I wouldn"t put it past her to realize that I can"t stay away from her too long.

I look in both directions, leaving out from the library. Rosie is as punctual as it comes, so if she went out for coffee I know it must be in walking distance. I see a bustling shop at the end of the block, a few folks walking out with coffee cups in their hands. That must be where she is.

There is nearly a skip in my step as I make my way in that direction.

I look through the window and my heart hardens in my chest.

A second ago, it felt as if it were going to beat out of my body but now it feels like it"s about to sink to my feet. The sweat building up on my skin turns ice-cold as I see her seated in the busy shop.

Seated with another man.

Who the fuck is that?