Forbidden Fate

Chapter Fourteen

Matteo

It's been twenty-eight hours since Harper was taken by Juan. I shouldn't have left her. I should have stayed. Why the fuck didn't I stay? I was gone most of the day, and not once did George phone me to tell me about Harper. I rang her, texted her and got nothing back; I knew she wouldn't be able to talk much, but not one text, and that wasn't like her.

I got Enzo to try, but he heard nothing too, and then I had a gut feeling, and my gut feelings are never wrong. I needed to get back, and when I walked in, or should I say ran in and saw George and Adriana sitting and having a fucking cup of tea as if nothing had happened. I lost it because I knew they wouldn't have let Harper out of their sights. I fucking knew they wouldn't, not after she told them she was going to leave; there was not a chance in hell that would happen.

"She has good as dead by now. Everyone knows what Juan does to women when he gets them." My gaze snaps to George's even though Holly looks taken aback by her dad's words about Harper. What kind of father would say that?

"Don't make me put a bullet in your skull. Because I'm this fucking close to doing it. Now again, from the beginning, you need to tell me what the hell happened."

I know he hates every second of this and that I'm the one in control. "How many times do I have to tell you? Harper being the way she is, wasn't happy with the whole marriage situation, so she took off. Adriana and I tried to stop her. We told her it wasn't safe, but she wouldn't listen. She left and told me to tell you both that she'd be better off dead than being here, especially with you, Matteo knowing you would never love her. That's when Juan's men turned up. They were too many of them, at least thirty of them, to our five."

This doesn't make any sense. I know he's lying. There's no way she would put herself in danger. She wouldn't do it.

"You have one chance to get your story straight now before I pull the trigger." I take the safety off, and his eyes widen. Adriana starts screaming like the little bitch she is.

"Fine, I'll tell you the truth but don't kill me, please don't kill me. I don't want to die. I don't deserve to die." She doesn't deserve to die? Really? After what she did to my baby? I should kill her right now, but I can't, not until I make her tell Harper what she did, and she will tell Harper every last detail, even if I have to force her to. Harper deserves to know.

"Shut up, Adriana; you'll get us both killed." Now we're getting somewhere. Holly walks to her mother's side and takes her hand. They look so alike it makes me sick.

"A man turned up, not Arthur Conan. I don't know what happened to him, but a man with a nasty scar on his face made his way in; he injected us both with something and took Harper. She's a lost cause, Matteo. We don't have to worry about her anymore. She was more trouble than she was worth." They chose fucking Arthur Conan to marry Harper? Are they fucking kidding me? They're lucky he didn't turn up because if he did, I would skin the fucker alive. He killed his last wife because she couldn't carry his child. What fucker does that?

I've never hit a woman in my life, but right now, this is where it all changes. The barrel of my gun hits Adriana in the side of the head, knocking her out cold.

Holly's screams are loud, and I'm about to do the same to her in a minute if someone doesn't shut her up. "George, you have two minutes to make her shut her mouth before I do it for her." The look on my face must say it all because Holly is quiet in seconds.

"Finally, my big bro is acting like the big bad boss that everyone is scared of." Enzo is smiling like a Cheshire Cat.

"What the fuck, are you hiding, George. What did you mean when you said she would get you both killed?" He doesn't meet my eyes which doesn't surprise me for a man as weak as him. He hasn't even checked on his wife to see if she's ok. I'm itching to pull the trigger already, but something in me is telling me not to; I don't know what it is, but it's this nagging feeling in the back of my head telling me there's a bigger picture to this whole thing and I know I have to listen to it.

"Tell me, Matteo did Harper satisfy you as much as her whore of a mother did me?" I know what he's doing. He's playing a dangerous game; he's trying to get me to bite. He wants me to pull my gun on him, but I won't.

Whatever he is hiding, it is big, and it's going to be his biggest downfall. "Dad, stop it. He will kill you. What are you doing?" He doesn't answer her. He only stares me out.

"Enzo, watch them. I'm going to check the security cameras." The smirk on his face tells me he's going to have fun with them.

Let's hope he doesn't have too much fun.  I walk away, leaving behind Holly's shouts, telling me to get back there to talk to her.

An hour later, I'm getting more pissed off. All the security cameras have been tampered with; there's nothing from the time frame that Harper went missing. I don't know if Juan has taken her to Mexico or elsewhere, and it's fucking with my head that I don't know if she's ok.

"You need to sleep; you're not going to be any good for her if you end up dead." When the fuck did he walk in?

"Exactly my point! You're off your game. You didn't hear me come in. Have you even slept since she went missing?" I rub my face. Feeling more exhausted than anything.

"No, I haven't, but I don't plan on sleeping until I find her. She needs me, Enzo. I promised her I wouldn't let anything happen to her, and look what's happened. Fucking Juan took her; Gino's lead came up to a dead end, so we're back at square one! I need to fly back to Rome. I have more Intel over there. I wasn't meant to be over here that long in the first place, and mum and dad are meeting us back there; they've cut the trip short after I explain everything to mum. She was getting the jet ready. She will probably beat me there. I need you to stay here to keep an eye on George and Adriana. Don't let them out of your sight."

I know Enzo would rather be with me helping find Harper, but he's the one I trust the most to keep an eye on these bastards.

"Just get our girl home safe." I raise my eyes to meet his.

"My girl Enzo, not ours. She will always be mine. And when this is over, I plan on making her, my wife."

That's if she will have me. I won't force her. She's had enough of men telling her what to do in her life when this is all over; I will give her a choice to walk away even if it rips my heart in two, but I will never keep her locked away like her father did not a fucking chance in hell.

I know he didn't want to hear that at this moment, but I'm tired of repeating myself. I know Harper isn't the one for him. He will find someone who is for him, and she isn't it, but now isn't the time to get into that shit.

"Get some sleep. You need it." With that, he walks out, leaving me thinking about what the hell Juan could be doing to Harper.