Mine Forever: A Dark Mafia Romance

Chapter 18 Dante -Relief

I've been searching the property all day. I have all of my men out looking for her.

God, how did this happen?

Heavy rain has begun to fall, and it's hard to see anything. The land is muddy and hard to walk through. But we press on.

The fact that I let Sonia slip through my fingers isn't lost on me. She was my prisoner, the one person who I was supposed to keep an eye on, and I let her escape. I feel like a fool for doing so.

I should never have trusted her when she said she wanted some air, to walk the grounds. I should have kept her under lock and key. But here we are.

As nightfall descends around me, I peer through the blackness, hoping that any shadow or large rock is Sonia's body, but I'm always wrong. It's not her. She's not anywhere to be found.

I hate to admit that there's a massive part of me that feels betrayed. I trusted her to have some freedom, and she took it and ran. What made her do that?

All I want is to have her back safely in my arms. Knowing she's all right is my number one priority. And so I press on through the cold, hard rain looking around every corner for my angel.

Adolfo comes up to me. "Boss, we haven't found her. It's beginning to get dark. What are your instructions?

I look at him, realizing that my men are tired, worn out from the search. But it doesn't matter. We need to continue until we find her.

"We have to be getting close," I say. "We've looked through all the fields and all the land immediately surrounding the house. There's nowhere else she could hide."

He nods towards the forest. "She's likely gone in there."

I look towards the looming, dark woodlands. They're the only place on the property that I don't have my effective security systems in place. And deep in my heart, I know that she's in there. It's a truth that I came to hours ago, but I haven't wanted to let myself think about it. Finding Sonia in there will be like finding a needle in a haystack.

"I know," I say. "I think it's time to go in."

He looks towards me warily like he's not sure of this plan. But still, he nods towards the other men, and they turn to us, ready to follow us into the dark, shadowy forest.

If Sonia went in here, she was a fool. It's no place for someone to run to as there are bears in there and god knows what else.

I walk towards the woodlands, determined to find her. My angel is in there, and I won't stop looking for her until she's safe with me again.

Stepping along the border of the trees, I cast one final look at the sun as it makes its final descent over the horizon. The night is about to fall. I have to find her now before it's too late.

Then, with Adolfo and the other men in tow, I walk through the canopy of trees. It's so dark that it's almost black, so hard to see with the rain falling overhead.

I call out her name, "Sonia!"

But there's no answer. I can hear only the eerie sounds of the forest—an owl hooting in the distance, the faraway crunch of an animal walking through the trees.

I have to find her. There is no other way.

We walk through a thicket of trees, pushing aside branches as we go. It feels like a race against time because once the last of the light's gone, it will be even harder to find Sonia. But I won't lose her. I'll look all night and every day if I have to. I know she hasn't left the property because I have cameras surrounding every mile of the place, revealing nothing. No woman has been seen leaving. So she's still here. Somewhere.

"Sonia!" I cry out again.

There's no sound, no callback. But I walk on.

Eventually, after an hour or so of walking, we make our way to a little clearing, and in that clearing is a large boulder. Slumped against it is the figure of a woman. My angel. She's there, fast asleep, leaning against the rock.

Yes.

Fucking yes.

I walk over to her, relief filling my veins like a cool tonic, and then I lift her into my arms. She's soaking wet and freezing cold, but at least I've found her.

"You're here," she murmurs against my chest when my holding her forces her awake.

"I'm here," I say as I stand up, looking down at her beautiful, luminescent face.

"I—I got lost. I couldn't find my way out. So I decided to have a rest. But then it became so dark." She wraps her arms around my neck. "Oh, Dante, you saved me."

I try to ignore how my name on her lips causes a shooting, searing pain of lust to spiral through my body. I try to bite back the way I feel such a longing for her. But it's too late. The happiness I feel at having found her, at knowing she's safe, is too much. It fills me up with warmth.

I grip Sonia tightly, vowing inside that I will never let her go, that she will always be mine, and then I march her back to the house, walking her through the thick forest.

"It's okay, baby. You're okay now. I've got you." The words escape my lips as I know that there's nothing in this world I want more than to keep her safe, to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again.

She rests her head against my chest as I take her back to where she belongs. It's a long walk, and it gives me time to think about what I'll say to her when we return.

Never leave me again.

What the hell were you thinking?

These are some of the things that come to mind that I want to say. But what will come out of my mouth when I have her safe and warm in the mansion?