Chapter 33

Luca's Pov

I pull up into the driveway of the estate, prying the key from the ignition. I open the door and get out of the jeep. Straightening the lapels of my jacket, I close the door behind me running a hand through my hair.

I stroll up the stairs, acknowledging Lorenzo and Gabriele with a curt nod, pushing the grand doors open I saunter into the vacant foyer. Going up the stairs two at a time, I make my way down the long hall, walking leisurely towards Iris and I's bedroom.

My eyes scan the room, searching for my wife who has failed to respond to any of my texts or calls. In our bedroom instead, I find Rosie, making the bed. Her head perks up as she notices my presence, gray eyes meeting mine in confusion.

"Cosa diavolo stai facendo qua?" She asks as she straightens up to stand at her full height, hands on her hips.

"I'm here for Iris, I've been calling her and......" I trail off, eyes narrowing in an inquiring manner. "She isn't here?"

"No, she left this morning. I haven't seen her since." She shakes her head, eyes growing wide with worry.

I lick my lips, pinching the bridge of my nose and take in a deep breath, glancing at the woman with a calculating gaze. I say, "Did she say where it was she was going?"

Rosie shakes her head, no, once again. I close my eyes and draw in another deep breath trying to calm myself, jaw tense. Blindly I pull my phone from my right pant pocket, dialing her number once more in hopes that she will answer this time.

Again, her phone goes to voicemail instantly.

Cazzo!

Clenching my phone in my hand hard, I peel my eyes open, teeth gritted so hard they might fucking shatter. I turn on my heel and stroll briskly from the room, going two steps at a time down the staircase moving towards my study.

Pushing the doors open I make my way over to my desk, switching the monitor on and typing in the password once the screen has come on. Logging on to the tracking system designed by a friend of mine, of the name of Zevenous. I click the bar which holds all the names of each person and devices I have traces on.

Tapping on her name which is at the very top, I wait impatiently for the information to come up. 8th Avenue street, it reads.

She's at her office.

"You're surprisingly calm," Rosie comments as stood by the doorway, hands clasped in front of her.

"I have to be, the second I lose my cool, Game over. " I respond, eyes flicking up to hers briefly. "Plus we don't know if she's really been kidnapped."

Rosie purses her lips, averting her eyes. I slip my phone into my pocket, straightening up I move to stroll past her when her hand shoots out to grasp my wrist.

"Bring her home, Luca." She whispers desperately.

Nodding I give her a silent promise, her hand falling away from my wrist to lay limp by her side. Strolling from the study I make my way back outside, going down the steps hastily. I pry the door of the black Hummer open, sliding into the red leather seats.

Pulling the key from my pocket, I insert it into the ignition starting the jeep up once more and I pull it out of park, hearing as the wheel skids over the snow and ice that lay beneath it. I drive full speed out of the estate, barely giving a fuck as I break every road law.

I take a shortcut to her office, one, that will get me there in less than 15 minutes, Slowing the jeep to a stop in front of her Rolls Royce which is oddly parked between two parking spaces. I hop out, slamming the door behind me.

My eyes scan the perimeter looking for the familiar bellezza, where the hell is she?

My gaze lands on two objects laying on the frosted ground of the parking lot, they're rectangular and lay about an arm's length away from each other, the one on the right significantly larger than the one on the left.

I walk closer, bending downstairs the knee in front of a trash can, my eyes running over the rectangular objects which turn out to be cell phones, both of them iPhones. I reach for the one on the right first, by inspection, it seems to be an iPhone X.

The very same one as Iris'.

My finger pushes the on button at the top of the phone, the cracked screen lighting up, showcasing a picture of Iris, looking off to the side, one of many I'd taken of her when she wasn't paying attention.

I'll find you, il mio amore, I promise.

Sighing, I clench my teeth reaching for the smaller phone on the left. It's an outdated iPhone 5 which seems to be falling apart at the seams, held together by only bits of duct tape. Turning it over in my hand, I run my thumb over the back of the phone which has letters scratched into it, the letters bold and threatening.

GOTCHA' it reads.

I click at the on button but the screen doesn't light up instead it stays black, standing to my full height, I deposit Iris' phone into my pocket, turning the other over in my hand. I saunter over to Iris' car, tugging the door of her Rolls Royce open.

Her bag is thrown carelessly onto the passenger's seat some of the contents spilling out, the key is still lodged into the ignition and when I try to start the car up it doesn't give even a splutter.

So if I was to deduce what might have happened I could say that she was in some type of hurry and that's judging from the key still left in the ignition not to mention the hastily done parking. I'd say she was also waiting or looking for someone and once she couldn't find said person, she decides to call them.

When she calls this said unknown person, she finds the phone somewhere near the vicinity of the trash can where she probably grabbed and hence in her shock and fight she drops both phones.

Glancing at the ground, I look for track marks or anything else that can give me anymore hints.

I slam the door close, eyes darting around the area for a security camera of any kind. My phone rings out disturbing me from my investigation, rubbing my temple I slip my phone from my pocket.

And accept Rosie's call with a swipe of the finger, I tap the speaker icon waiting for her to say whatever it was she had to say, hopefully, something useful.

"Luca, I just spoke to Ezra. She said she and Iris were at Central Park this afternoon, she also said they spent almost an hour together but she isn't sure where she might have gone off to when they split up." Rosie informs me.

Dammit, that's not very fucking useful.

She clears her throat before adding. "I uh...also called your brother and the boys. They're all happy to help."

Wonderful.

"Grazie, Rosie," I mutter resentfully, annoyed at fact that she had asked for help without my consent though also grateful for it as I did need help but my pride prevented me for requesting it.

Hanging up I sigh, heavily, scrolling through my contacts I select the saved contact '. As I dial his number I can practically see the gleeful smug smirk on his face.

"Ciao, grande fratello." Arsenio answers. "I'm assuming you need my help?"

"Si, I do." I glance at the office doors that are chained and padlocked.

Iris' Pov

My head throbs wickedly with pain, it feels as if it's l been driven over by a motherfucking steamroller. My throat is impossibly dry and I'm dying for a drop of water. I also can't move my arms, it's as if they're bound against me.

I lift my head from its downward position, cracking an eye open I then crack the other open as well. My neck hurts and the room is spinning and I feel like I'm about to puke, a frown settles on my parted chapped lips.

"She's awake." Someone comments on my recent consciousness.

I blink my eyes a couple of times trying to clear my hazy vision, once my vision has settled somewhat and the room has quit spinning. My eyes scan the dark room, taking in the dirty smudged brown walls and equally dirty, black looking concrete floors.

A table sits on my far left and what looks like glinting knives and other scary torture devices are lain out. I sit in the center of the room on a metal chair bound to it by rope which digs into my uncomfortably into my flesh, a lightbulb overhead lights what little of the room it can.

There seems to be a doorway on my right and if I squint hard enough I can see the faintest outline of what might be a staircase. The room smells acrid and it smells of death and piss. It's also really hard to breathe in here as the air is stuffy and hot, so fucking hot a bead of sweat slips down my forehead.

Despite this my nose does pick up the faint scent of baby powder and books with just a hint of what you might associate the smell of a hospital with. Fans can be heard yet I don't feel even a inch of their breeze on my sweaty, overheating skin.

Fuck, why is it so hot, it's freaking winter and I'm in a basement.

The sound of feet makes me perk my head up, my eyes finally landing on two figures who stand shadowed in the dark, definitely my kidnappers.

The figure on the right walks out first into the light and my jaw literally drops to the floor and stays there as I gawk dumbfounded.

"G-Grace." I splutter, eyes moving up and down over the woman who refuses to look my way.

The baby powder and books scent, Of course.

"That's Sergeant Claire Griffins of the US Navy to you." The other figure corrects ominously from the shadows.

It's a familiar voice, one that I scratches at my mind, its one I've heard so many times. One I should have placed automatically but I didn't, my brain it was still high on chloroform.

Glancing at Grace/Claire I noticed her lack of glasses and the way she pulled her hair back into a sleek bun away from her face though wore a frown and haunted look. Her hands held behind her back as she keep her head down.

The figure in the shadow speaks again and I can hear the smirk in there voice."You know I kinda expected you to realize who I was already but I guess you aren't as bright as you let everyone believe." The voice torments.

I tilt my head, noticing how the speaker is obviously a female and clearly the one in control.

Damn why is this voice so fucking familiar. My shadowed captor has the speech pattern of a New Yorker one from Manhattan like myself. It belongs to someone educated and someone who clearly has a fucking vendetta against me.

"I'll put you out of your misery, Ri, so you won't have to beat that pretty little brain up."

Ri?

The shadowed captor pushes off something possibly a wall and struts confidently towards me, her boots come into sight first burgundy knee high boots, then a pair of black jean covered legs, next a white doctor's coat and finally bobbed black hair paired with a face I'd grown up with, sporting a triumphant smirk.

Okay, what the fuck!?!

"Lila?" I furrow my brows, trying to make sense of the situation with my muddled brain. "What the hell is going on? Why the hell am I tied up in this piece of a crap basement? If this is a joke it's not really funny." I wiggle around in my confines.

"Firstly, Iris darling, this isn't a joke. This is serious. Dead serious." She runs her hand over the knives as she says this. "You are my prisoner. And I am going to make the few days of life you have left a living hell."

"What the fuck are you talking about, Lila?" I shake my head, utterly in disbelief at the crazy words coming from my best friend's mouth.

"You know you're such an entitled dumb little whore." She slaps her hand across the table, eyes blazing as she stares down at me with a crazy, underpins look in her eyes. "You have no idea all the pain you've caused me." She murmurs to herself.

"Lila, you sound like a loony." I struggle against my restraints, my heart beating wildly in my chest, as I realize the woman in front of me is someone unknown to me.

Lila's lips quirk up and she slips a smile on her face, turning around to look at Grace-Claire. "Claire, sweetheart, could you fetch me my syringe? " She assumes a loving persona, batting her eyelashes and all.

Grace bites her lip and nods curtly, looking up at the girl who stares down at me with wide, malicious green eyes. Her soft eyes switch to me briefly and for a second I can see a sorrowful look in the eyes of the girl I had also called a friend.

Giving Lila an adoring look she strolls away disappearing in to the pitch black, possibly out through the doorway I'd seen.

Lila's loving facade drops and a scornful look crosses her face along with a scowl. "She is such a clingy little bitch. Stupid too. Can you believe all I had to do was tell the dumb bitch I loved her to get her to do my bidding?"

"Fucking child's play. No wonder the army kicked her ass out, she's so easily manipulated." She cracks a grin, folding her arms over her chest. "She's good at tactical skills though, thank God for that." She chuckles.

"Why are you doing this, Lila?" I ask, staring up at person who I thought was my best friend.

"Doing what Iris, honey?" She turns to me, feigning mock innocence.

"You're acting like a crazy-" My words are cut short as she grabs my hair, yanking my head back sharply. Tears spring to my eyes as I let out a pained screech.

"Don't use that word. It's fucking belittling, Doc. You should know that." She hisses in my ear as sobs threatening to rack my body. "Call me crazy again and I'll show you crazy, bitch."

And with that, she releases my hair. Grace-Claire remerges from the darkness, and she smiles at Lila who returns it with a kiss on Grace-Claire's cheek as she was handed the needle filled with a yellow tinted liquid.

"Thank you so much, baby." Lila pulls her into an embrace, arms thrown around her neck. Grace-Claire grins softly, a blush tinting her cheeks as she buries her head in the crook of her neck, closing her eyes as she breathes in deep.

"You're welcome." She mumbles quietly as they pull away.

Lila gives her one final fake grin before she saying. "You can go now."

Grace-Claire scratches the back of her neck sheepishly. "Yeah, yeah, you're right. I should get back to the orphanage. I uh....love you."

Fuck no, she can't go back to the orphanage. The kids.

"No, don't you fucking dare go back there." Tugging aggressively at my restraints, I shake my head furiously but the ignore me.

Lila rolls her eyes and sighs heavily before replying with a less than loving. "I love you too."

Grace-Claire doesn't seem to mind the lack of enthusiasm and I'm sympathetic as a large smile spreads across her face.

She kisses Lila's cheek and bounces out of the room, looking like she's won the fucking lottery.

"Sometimes I really regret marrying that bitch." She shakes her head with a sigh, turning back to face me.

"So why did you marry her?" I inquire watching the girl with cautious eyes.

She's crazy unpredictable and can fucking snap at any moment.

"Well, your sitting here, there's that and she has connections that can get me certain stuff." She winks.

"So, you're using her?" I sum up, looking at her with so much distaste, it's unreal.

"Clearly." She rolls her green eyes in a duh manner. "Look as I said she's easy to manipulate and even then, she just does whatever it is that I ask, willing and without question."

"Because she's stupidly in love with you." I spit.

Lila snorts. "Yeah fucking dumb move on her part. See as soon I kill you and drop you body in the ocean, I'm gonna pin everything on her. This is where it gets good, when I've done that I'm going to screw your husband and live my happily ever after with him." She smiles accomplished.

"You must be on some really good shit, cause that is the most delusional shit I've heard in a while." I laugh humorlessly. "I don't think you thought your plan through."

She cocks a brow, her smile never leaving her face. "Is that so?"

"Yeah cause Luca would never screw the likes of you." I purse my lips into a flat line as I glare at her.

"Well, if you say so." She smirks with a shrug of the shoulders before reaching for the needle which rests on the table.

"What is that?" I question eying the needle with wary eyes, swallowing hard. "Is that going to kill me?"

She laughs, a real menacing laugh. "Relax, Iris. you won't be getting death that easy, in fact, I'm going to torture you," She steps closer, each step taunting as she voices like a fucking maniac. "mentally, physically and emotionally. Until then, this is just to help you get some sleep. Now hold still."

I tense up as she shoots me with some unknown sedative. I glare up at her, hoping my new found hate for her blinds the crazy bitch, Lila, however only gives me a smile and pinches my cheeks. She places the empty syringe down and lifts her wrist up, glancing at her watch.

"We've been best friends for a really long time, Lila, why are you doing this?" I swallow, my heart squeezing in pain as I stare up at someone unfamiliar to me.

"Don't get teary-eyed on my now Iris, I gave you the signs, you just never noticed." She snickers, lips pursed.

What signs?

"What could I have ever done to you to.....make...you..." I slur, eyes drooping close as the drug starts to take its toll. "so......angry?

"Don't worry you'll find soon enough until then sleep tight, Ri." She mutters bitterly, eyes filled with malice.

My vision spins as my head rolls to the side and my body sags, my flutter close and with that, I plummet into the bliss that is sleep.

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