Untangle Me

Chapter 63

Andrea

I'm right about on the edge of losing my shit when my phone rings. It's been about an hour since I last saw Giada and am currently walking up and down different roads which are close to the restaurant we ate at.

I've scared about a hundred people, everyone that walked by, really, by asking them if they saw Giada- I gave them a description. I must look crazy. Must've seemed even crazier when my voice started shaking as much as my hands.

Let me tell you, I hate the constricting feeling in my goddamn body. It started at my chest but has easily expanded all over. It feels wrong.

Which is why I snap rather harshly at the person ringing me right now. "Who is this?" I ask.

"Boss. Oh, boss, so great you could answer. I finally did it, boss. I know it was your father's wish for me to continue my work even after he died- may he rest in peace- and I finally did it," an excited voice I've never heard before in my life explains hurriedly. He sounds out of breath and speaks Italian so I guess whoever this is works for me here somewhere.

Wish I knew what he was talking about. Would normally care more. Might even be interested under different circumstances.

Only get angry now. I hate how happy he sounds. He doesn't get to be so fucking cheery. No one does until I fucking get Giada back.

"I don't know what you're talking about, don't even know who you are, and I don't have time for it," I say, about to hang up but the man stops me.

"Of course. You're busy, I know. But I wanted you to decide what to do with her." That's enough to get my attention. What the hell kind of business did my father have with that her and what is this man asking me to decide.

"Who?" I ask, then cursing quietly, "What business did my father have?"

"But, surely you must know about the woman he loved?"

Ah. And this is where the unbidden hate towards the man that raised me jumps in. Sure, he was a good father but I know he was worth nothing as a husband. Affairs, "Work trips", that kind of things.

"I couldn't care less. Let the poor woman go," I reply distractedly, more than ready to get back on track with my search for Giada. The last thing I need is to traumatize some poor woman who happened to capture the attention of my father once upon a time.

"No, sir, with all due respect, you cannot mean that! Half of my life- I was on this task for half of my life. Please, let me finish this," he begs quite desperately. For a beat, I consider letting him do whatever it is he wants to just so he's off my back.

Then I take a breather and am shocked with myself for the mere thought. We're talking about a woman's life. I'm sure as fuck not going to have an innocent's blood on my hands because I'm stressed, fuck.

"Let her go," I repeat.

"Sir, but that would mean tolerating the worst kind of disrespect anyone has ever shown your father. Surely, you can't ask me to let that slide," the man tries again. I'd be impressed by his persistence if it didn't piss me off so much.

"What did she do?" I ask. To say I'm disinterested is an understatement but sometimes you have to go through stuff no one cares about.

"Well, it's not her I got. It's her daughter. But that's the thing. She is a reminder of the disrespect her mother showed your father, a reminder of the love she was never allowed to have. Your father told me to destroy her family if they ever dared come back."

Has that man lost it? Is he simply making this up or was my father really that spiteful? That disgusting. I grit my teeth. I don't have time for this.

"I'm busy," I say curtly. Though again, before I can hang up, he adds something.

"Wait. What do I do with Monti?" he rushes out. For a beat, I simply freeze. Maybe I'm hearing things now. This whole evening is a mess and maybe that on top of the jet lag is taking its toll on me.

"What did you just say?" I ask, my voice weirdly quiet.

And there comes the calm I've been wishing for. Followed closely by a silent, vicious bloodlust just in case I did, in fact, hear correctly.

Suddenly, the man seems more reluctant to talk to me. A sadistic part of me feeds off his fear. I am not my father but I am my father's son and fear is power. Power is good.

"Monti's daughter?" the man says slowly.

"Where are you?"

"The old factory where we used to take prisoners, sir."

"Have you hurt her?" I ask through gritted teeth. I'm already running towards their location. It isn't far and even if it were, my body is buzzing with so much uncontained energy that I'm sure I could run for miles and not feel my muscles burn.

"No, sir. She practically ran into me and then passed out," he explains, his voice small.

"I hope for your sake that she's okay. Stay the fuck away from her, I'll be right there," I order before hanging up.

I push my body harder, my heart racing for all the wrong reasons. What the actual fuck is going on. Why did Giada leave the restaurant, why did she run into one of my father's- my- men, and why did she pass out? Worry gnaws at me, urging me on further.

The way couldn't have taken more than fifteen minutes. Still, it felt like the longest time in my life, and when I burst through the door of that nasty, old factory, I don't grace the man in the room a second glance. Instead, I head straight for the crying woman.

"Andrea!" she sobs, trying to pull herself onto her knees and closer to me despite the rope tied around her wrists but it's holding her in place. I've never felt such fury.

"I'm here. It's okay, I got you," I mutter as I drop to my knees in front of her. I make quick work of untying her restraints and then pull her into my arms. She's shaking, trembling all over all the while crying uncontrollably.

Meanwhile, my heart feels like it's tearing into two.

With a quick turn of my head, I tell the man, "Leave. Now. If I ever see your face again, you're a dead man." I distantly hear disappearing footsteps and heavy doors being swung shut but I don't care about him right now. What's important is Giada and how the fuck I get her to stop crying.

"Baby, please talk to me. What happened? Did he hurt you?" I ask, soothing her hair away from her face all the while holding her close. Sure, my body's tense with the desire to track whoever's responsible for this down and hurt them but it's secondary.

She shakes her head against my chest and I breathe a little easier.

"There's a car ready for us. Do you want to go back to the hotel? We can talk there," I say, trying to sound reassuring since she is not calming down in the least. I'm getting desperate here, so unsure of how to help as long as I don't know what she's upset about.

Without uttering a word, she nods. I pick her up since the idea of letting her get any further away than she is now sits utterly wrong with me. That and I'm not sure she can walk, as shaky as she is. She doesn't seem injured but something clearly happened. Giada hugs me around the neck, buries her face in my chest and stays quiet.

I get in the backseat of the car, my girl on my lap while I try to say soothing things to get her to calm down. "Shh, my love, I got you. You're going to be okay."

Only when we're back in our hotel room and I've got Giada covered in a million blankets and in my arms do I speak again. She's uncharacteristically quiet and it's making me fucking nervous. Even though she's stopped crying, her hands are still shaking and her puffy eyes have taken on a far-away look.

"Giada, can you tell me what happened? I promise you we'll figure something out, whatever it is."

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1. Sorry for the cliffhanger in the last chapter💀

2. This is yesterday's chapter lmao bc it's technically 1am so dww y'all will get another one today:))

Getting close to the end, my people. I hope y'all liked it so far and tysmm for all the support and reads. I mean, over 25k damn! Y'all are great

Have a great day/ night whatever<33