Siempre Mío

t h i r t y t h r e e

Lucía POV
I didn't speak a word of Russian so I would be caught out if anyone began talking to me.

I passed a couple people and noticed the way they walked, so I copied the same, pulling the man's cap over my head as I layered the hoodie on top of that too.

The change the man had was in euros so I knew we were still in Italy.

I walked down the corridor towards a staircase I noticed and headed up the stairs, passing two men.

One of them was holding a tray of food and the other began speaking to me.

"ты имел дело с девушкой?"
[did you deal with the girl?]

I ignored him and kept walking.

"Hey!!"

Instantly, I was pulled back by the jumper and attacked.

I dodged the first man's punch and took the tray that they kept the food on, using it to but the man in front of me.

He fell and tumbled down the stairs. The other man grabbed my arms and tried to pull me towards him, but I kicked him swiftly in the stomach and he tried to fight me again so I kicked him once more, letting his limp body fall down the stairs to join his friend.

I continued up the stairs, praying no one else would try and make contact with me.
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Lorenzo POV

"Come on Dante, you used to be able to find her in less than an hour."

"Puta Madre, it's not that easy you know. When Lucía doesn't wanna be found, she won't be found. The tracker I kept on her hasn't been live for years."  He replied frustratedly, slamming his hands on the table beside him.

"Anastasia took Lucía and we don't know where the fuck she is."

"Gentlemen, please." The Don shouted.  "There is no point in arguing, we don't have the time for it. We need to find my daughter and we need to find her fast. We have no sense of location when it comes to the Russians' hideout so we need to work fast."

"Dante," started Ivan, "the doctor told me to bring you these. Take them every four hours for the pain."

He handed two pills to Dante along with an unopened water bottle, then sat with us at the table.

"How are your injuries anyways?" I questioned.

"Sore. Getting into fights after a while hurts like hell."

"Did Lucía say anything to you before Anastasia took her."

"She just signalled not to follow her." He said, shaking his head no.

"What about the burner phone she had hidden in... on her." I stopped myself, knowing her father was in the room.

"No, she ditched that too. I had all of its messages forwarded to my regular cell but  nothing has come up yet."

I sighed, frustrated with how we had no leads.

"Lorenzo, don't worry. We'll find her."

"I need some air." I said, abruptly standing from my seat and walking out of the meeting room door.

I walked into my dolmas and went to sit in the bed. I took a deep breath and ran my hands over my face.

I may be angry at her but I can't lose her, not this quickly.

I closed my eyes and sat there, taking deep breaths to calm myself down.

What if this was a trick? She wanted to be taken away, and she didn't want to be found. What if that was the case?

"Lorenzo?" Came a voice from outside my door.

I stood up and opened the door, seeing it was Ivan.

"Anastasia made contact with Alexei. Since I know the address they reside at, I'm going to follow him; are you coming with me?"

"Yeah, give me two seconds. I'll be there."

I slid the rings that sat on my dresser onto my hands and then walked out of the room.

Ivan was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.  As I jogged down, a buzzing in my pocket stopped me.

I took my phone from my pocket and answered the call.

"Lorenzo speaking."

"Get paper and a pen." The voice said in a hushed voice.

"Lucía?"

"Obviously. Now hurry, I don't have much time."

I signalled to Ivan by tapping on the stair banister to get his attention then "writing" on my hand.

He quickly found a pen in his pocket and grabbed a receipt he found in his pocket, ready to write what I was going to tell him.

"Got one." I spoke as I put the phone on speaker.

"Riserva Naturale della Marcigliana. The Roman ruins to the far left of the rest of them. Pick me up there."

"We'll be there as soon as we can."

She hung up quickly and I pocketed my phone.

"I'll go. You go tail Alexei; we don't know if he's going there."

"Take some men with you Lorenzo. She may be safe but you don't know if you'll
be once you get there."

I nodded at him, then watched as he walked off.

I sent a quick message to Antonio and Javier, calling them to the garage.

I went ahead, unlocking my car's doors and sliding into the driver's seat. A few minutes went by until they both came and took backseat.

"What's going on?" Antonio asked me.

"I got a call from Lucía. She gave me an address on where to find her. The Russian's hideout. We need to go now."

"Have you told the Don?" Javier questioned, a hint of worry in his voice.

"I'll let him know now."

I typed out a quick message, saying "We have a location. Antonio, Javier and I are going to get her. We don't have much time."

I put the phone on the car magnet stand and started the engine.

As I drove towards the garage doors, they opened slowly and gave me time to read the message that had popped up from the Don.

"I'll send cars with you. We don't know how big of a fight you three are throwing yourselves into."
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