Blood Means Nothing

THIRTY-EIGHT

"Where the hell is Astrea?" I demand, bursting into Anna's room. " I have no clue, " she says in a mere whisper. I clench my hands at my sides to try and control my anger.

I no longer trust Anna. I should've believed Saint when he said he didn't trust her, either.

" Don't bullshit me. Where the hell is my daughter?" I shout, taking threatening steps toward her.

Anna chuckles. "She's somewhere you'll never find her," she says, her lips curling into a sinister smile. I feel my heart racing as I take another step forward.

Fucking bitch.

"What did you do? Tell me!" I demand.

Anna's expression turns serious, and she looks straight into my eyes as if to test if I'm ready for the truth. " You don't know who I am, do you?" she asks.

"My name isn't Anna," she says darkly. "My name is Ivana Gage. I'm the daughter of Silas Gage," she says, her voice full of fury. I stare at Anna in disbelief.

Me and Ivana and her brother grew up together, but when Ivana learned that I was going to be the donna of the German mafia, she was furious. She hated me because of it. I can't believe I didn't recognize her.

" You took my fucking daughter because you're upset I'm the Donna of the German mafia?" I ask, gripping her throat. She lets out a strangled gasp.

Ivana's eyes blaze with anger, and she nods. "Yes," she rasps, her breath ragged from my grip on her throat. "I wanted to make you pay for what you have done to me and my family!"

My stomach churns as I realize the truth.

" Tell me where my daughter is?" I demand. Ivana narrows her eyes and shakes her head.

" Who has my daughter?" I ask, tightening my grip. Ivana shakes her head again, and a flicker of fear passes through her eyes. She knows she is at the mercy of me now.

" Tell me, or I will make sure you never see the light of day again," I threaten. " Fuck you," she spits.  "You'll never find her."

In a rage, I slam Ivana against the wall, and she slides to the ground. " I'm going to ask you one more time. Who has my daughter?" I seethe.

"If you lie to me, I will show you why your father chose me to be Donna, " I seethe, staring down at her.

Ivana glares up at me and finally relents. " Igor Volkov, if Saint would've finished what he started, none of this would've happened," she spits, looking up at me.

Why would Saint's dad take Astraea?

I smile down at her before kicking her in the face, leaving her knocked out cold on the floor.

I quickly make my way back to Saint. " What the hell did you do?" I spit, marching up to him.

" What are you talking about?" Saint asks, staring at me in confusion.

" You know what I'm talking about," I say through gritted teeth. "Ivana told me that if you had finished what you started, none of this would've happened. So, what the hell did you do?"

Saint's face pales, and he looks away from me. " I threatened to kill my father, but I wanted to track him down before I killed him. So, I had let him leave," He admits.  "I didn't know he was going to take our daughter."

My anger boils over, and I lunge forward, pushing him against the wall. "You idiot!" I roar. " because of your fantasy of chasing your father down and killing him; our daughter has been kidnapped. We have no damn idea where she could be. Do you realize the damage you have caused?"

"Do you?" I shout, tears forming in my eyes.

I push away from him, my entire body shaking with rage. "We have to find her," I say through clenched teeth. "No matter what it takes."

I stare blankly at Saint as he apologizes numerous times.

Right now, his apologies mean nothing to me.

" I don't care. all I want from you is to find our daughter!" I yell, then storm out of the room.

My mind races as I pace up and down our living room, trying to devise a plan. My heart is pounding as thoughts of worst-case scenarios flood my head.

I'm going to get information from Ivana then I'm going to kill her in the most painful way possible.