The Mafia's Maid

Chapter 38

Vlado POV

"What do you mean you haven't found her?" I demanded through gritted teeth.

We had been looking for almost an hour for Leah, and apparently, I needed to find some new people to work for me as well, because they didn't find her.

Romero's jaw tensed. "I mean we haven't found her. But we'll keep looking."

"Oh, yes, you fucking will."

"Boss!" The doors slammed open and Theo and Clarke came running in, waving something in the air. "We found something!"

I met them halfway, snatching the paper immediately from his hand.

My eyes skimmed the page, bringing only more anger and more confusion.

I glared over the paper. "What is this?"

"It's a surveillance photo from a few hours ago, outside of the house. And look-" He pointed at somebody in the photo, far away from the large crowd. "It's difficult to see, but if you look carefully enough..."

"It's Leah," I finished, looking at the small figure standing alone in the photo.

"Exactly," Clarke stepped forward, "but there's somebody with her in this picture." She waved another paper in her hand.

I took it and gripped the paper tightly, squinting on the zoomed-in photo.

Leah was barely visible in this photo, covered by a tall man with his back to the camera.

"Who is he?" I looked back at Clarke, feeling my hands scrunch the page.

"We don't know, we can't run any facial recognition because his back is facing the camera, but we're looking to see if there are any other angles-"

"I have an idea who it is." Everybody turned to see Mary walking into the room.

"Mary-" Clarke stepped forward, but Mary put her between them.

"No, Clarke, I'm talking now." Clarke's hands clenched at her sides, but stepped back.

"Leah had a boyfriend before she came here," she swallowed, "and he was aggressive."

My jaw clenched.

Was that the man that he was talking about? It had to be.

"We ran away from there, and moved to Italy. We didn't think anything would happen after that, but then..." Mary trailed off, and Clarke stepped over to her.

"The crash," Theo muttered. "That was him. That's why Leah was so shaken up by it."

"Wait," I stopped him, "you knew?"

Theo went wide-eyed for a split second before he recomposed himself. "I did. Clarke told me."

My eyes whipped to Clarke. "What?"

"Snitch," she grumbled before looking back at me. "Yes, I knew, but Mary told me."

Mary made a face. "What are we, kids trying to get out of trouble when Leah is nowhere to be found?"

The room went quiet again, the others standing by the side as they watched everything happen.

Mary rolled her eyes. "I'm not gonna let you idiots try to find Leah and fail because you won't listen to what I have to say."

Clarke comforted her, holding her by her side. "We're sorry. Please, tell us what you know."

Mary nodded, giving her a small, grateful smile as she took her hand.

"Leah told me that Lucas was the one there that night. And that he was talking about taking her back. We showed up at the right time."

"Do you know where he was going to take her?"

"Maybe back to his house in America. Otherwise, I don't know where he could have taken her."

"He wouldn't have guessed where you went. He had to have gotten access to whatever airline you guys used and found your tickets or something," Theo said.

"Rosa, Liam, look into it," I demanded. The two left and I looked back at Mary, folding my arms over my chest. "Continue."

"He was obsessive, never letting Leah go out without his permission. She didn't listen though. She came to mine sometimes, did some other stuff, and if Lucas had found out..." She paused. "It's easy to guess what happened next."

Romero chimed in. "What about when Lucas crashed into the car? You didn't think to mention it?"

"She didn't want to bring it up, not unless he showed up again."

"Why didn't you tell us? You should have at least told me."

Mary folded her arms. "And have you tell everyone in this house?" She shot back.

"What do you mean?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't play dumb."

Clarke stepped forward. "I'm not. What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying you're a hypocrite," she said with a fire in her voice. "You tell me not to tell anyone about you and Theo but you think that it's ok to tell him about Lucas?"

"That is just..s-so backwards. And then you make me keep his secret from my best friend, who I've known a lot longer than all of you." She pointed at me and laughed humouressly.

"It was to keep you both safe."

"How when she was the only one who didn't know about it? I mean, even Amelia does!"

My eyes narrowed on her. "We never told Amelia."

"Are you sure she knows?" Romero asked.

"Well, she seemed to know what I was talking about when I mentioned a gun in your drawer, so yeah, I think she knows." 

"Well, then where is she," Romero pointed out. She wasn't in the room. I don't even remember seeing for the past few hours.

"Scarlett, Rowan," I turned to them, "find Amelia and bring her here."

They nodded and left without a word. "Angelo, and Alexandra, keep looking for Leah, just in case, and don't let anyone find out about this."

"Now, Mary," I turned back around, shooting down Mary with a single glare. "I think it's time you tell us everything about Leah."

"And please," I shot her a look, "spare no detail."