Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
I could see that happening only in his head because I’d never have let her sneak away. My men were doing their job incredibly well by averting several attempts on her, and she didn’t even know it. I had my eyes on her nearly all hours of the day, either in person or via surveillance systems. My obsession with Aria was sick and twisted to the point that I learned everything I could about her. "I need to find her and fix this. Even if I have to tie her down to get her to listen.”
“Ties work well, and they’re less likely to leave any markings,” he says. He turns back and adds, “She’s gone into your mother’s garden.” He leaves the door open after he walks out, tempting me to go after my wife.
I really have to make this right between us. The longer it festers, the more damage will be done. I swing around my desk and close down my computer. I’m just about to walk out the door when my phone rings, and I scoop it off the desk. I find the silent alarm has been tripped by Luigi.
He calls me. “Domani, they’ve taken Aria.”
“Who took her?” I snarl, running out of my office and out to the front of the house.
“Her guards,” Luigi says.
“What? Her guards?” Aria only has one guard around the house that’s actually assigned to her since John disappeared.
“Yeah, her guards. John’s back, and he had her guard, Torres, with them as Aria got into the car.”
“They’re dead. We need to get my wife back now.” I’m seeing red as we watch the surveillance video. I load up her phone tracking, but it shows the phone’s here in the house. “Fuck. She doesn’t have her phone.” Then I remember. “Her ring. Please tell me she didn’t take it off.” I pull up the trace on her ring and get a steady ping of it flying down the expressway. My men and I hop in several vehicles, many with hidden gun compartments. We give chase at a distance because I don’t want to give them any excuse to harm her. My men scope out the vehicle and report that they can’t see Aria, so she must be in the trunk or the back seat, which means they’ve taken her against her will. It’s a bit of a relief that she didn’t voluntarily leave me, but I can’t stop the dread that’s filling me.
“They’re exiting on the ramp that leads to an airfield,” one of my men says through our walkies.
“We need a plan. I don’t want any plane taking off before we find her. There’s no way I’m letting her get in the air. Understood?” I call out to my men on the walkies.
“Got it. I have a friend who works there. We’ll call in an issue.”
“Good. Stall.”
How did John get access to a plane to kidnap my wife? We’ve had no information on the fucker for weeks. His bank and apartment haven’t been touched since the day he disappeared. Torres has had a clean record working with the family for three years and never showed any signs of betrayal. I’m gonna string them up and torture them when I get my hands on them.
I silently pray that Aria is okay.
Chapter Nine
Aria
I dash into the back rose garden, blinded with tears until I run into a wall. I look up, knowing it’s probably one of Domani’s guards, but instantly I know I’m wrong because he hasn’t let go. Domani’s men know not to put their hands on me at all or they’ll be cut off.
Hesitantly peering upward, I see it’s my old guard, John. “John, what are you doing here?” I’m pleasantly surprised to see he’s not dead.
“They didn’t tell you I’m back?” He cocks his brow up, his lips firmly closed shut.
“No. I mean, well, he doesn’t tell me a lot,” I mutter, covering my mouth immediately. It’s not proper to share our business with others, no matter how mad I am at Domani. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“I won’t say anything. Well, I’m surprised that you actually married. I only learned of it today,” he grumbles as if he’s bothered.
“Why are you surprised? It was scheduled to happen for a long time.” Suddenly, I don’t feel so happy to see my old guard. There’s something different about his tone and stance. It’s not friendly in the least.
“Because I thought he’d been killed,” he snarls. I take a step backward, hoping to create some distance. I don’t hear anyone else nearby, which is expected since Domani’s men don’t usually follow me like hound dogs. Even my guard is pretty lax with my protection inside the house. It’s what I prefer, but I’m regretting that choice at the moment.
“Where have you been, John?” I challenge, saying it loud so someone can hear me.