[ARTEMY]
3 weeks later
My head was buried in Rebecca’s pillow. It still smelled like her. I refused to have it washed. I needed something of her, and her sweet vanilla smell was the only thing left of her.
I inhaled and felt my eyes burn. I felt pathetic.
But I was too far gone. Almost three months without Rebecca and I was slowly losing myself. Every day, it was worse. Every day, it got harder until I didn’t know how to live anymore.
I forgot to eat. Sometimes I even forgot to sleep. Just stared at the wall, lost in the memories of my Angel.
I never stopped searching. Not a single day. But no matter how much I searched, how far I looked, she was nowhere to be seen.
It was as if she never existed. Never here. Sometimes I wondered if it was all a dream. I wondered if she had really been here. With me.
But she was here. I could still smell her. See her sometimes. Hear her laughter and sweet voice. She was everywhere but still gone.
And I was empty without her.
Was that how my father and Howard felt?
The whole house had been in a despairing mood. Nobody really talked. We all stopped caring about everything else. The only one we cared about and thought about was Rebecca.
Lynda lost a friend who was more like a sister. To Nona, Rebecca was a daughter. Another child to pamper and love. My men felt like a failure.
While I lost the woman who was my everything.
With a sigh, I rolled to my back and stared at the ceiling. Through my pain, I thought about what Rebecca was going through.
Her pain was no comparison to mine. It hurt more knowing that she was hurting. My pain didn’t matter, but hers did.
I felt her pain, and it was enough to break me.
Raffaele used to call, but it had been three weeks since his last call. Three weeks of nothing but silence from the other side.
I realized that I was somewhat thankful for his daily call. At least I knew Rebecca was alive. Now, I didn’t know. I knew nothing, and all I could do was hope.
But hope was such a silly emotion. How could I hope when I felt so helpless and hopeless? It was all jaded hope.
Instead of hoping, I chose to believe in our love. Maybe it was strong enough to keep Rebecca alive.
I knew that when I found her, Rebecca would never be the same again.
But I also knew that when the time came, I wasn’t going to give up on her. I would heal her again, like I did before. I would teach her how to live again, how to smile, laugh, and love again.
Raffaele may have clipped her wings, but I was going to make sure she would fly again.
***
2 weeks later
I stood in the driveway and watched Avim going through the lock, and then the door opened. I walked inside the house, my men following behind me.
The house was quiet, almost seeming empty. But the woman in the living room betrayed the perception of the house being empty.
Her back was to us, and at the sound of our footsteps, she swiveled around quickly, her hand going to her chest in panic. Her eyes flared in fear, and she took several steps back, hitting the wall behind her.
“Hello, Casey,” I started, walking further into the house, making the air seem more dangerous and deadly.
Casey trembled against the wall, her whole body quaking with terror. To say I was surprised that she came back was an understatement. She must have known what to expect the moment she stepped foot back into New York, but she still returned.
And now she would lead us right to Dalton.
“How was your trip?” I asked, taking a seat on the sofa in front of her. I sat back and crossed my ankle on my opposite knee, watching her reaction like a hawk.
“You…what…are…?” she stuttered, looking wildly around the room and at my men. She looked for an escape, but there was none. Not this time.
It didn’t stop her from trying, though. She ran into the kitchen, and I sighed in frustration.
“I don’t have time for a game of cat and mouse, Casey,” I called out loudly enough that my voice echoed across the walls.
I heard her scream, and she yelled at someone to let her go. Rubbing my face in frustration, I waited for her to come back to the living room.
I turned around to see Avim dragging her back as she flailed. Casey threw her body on the ground, trying to stop Avim. Instead of stopping, he just grabbed her arm, dragging her body across the floor.
“No. Let me go! Don’t hurt me, please,” she whimpered as Avim deposited her in front of me.
“If you cooperate, I won’t hurt you,” I replied stoically, leveling her with a glare.
She flinched and scrambled backward. Shaking her head, she whispered, “I don’t know anything about Rebecca.”
My eyebrows raised up high in surprise, and a heartless chuckle vibrated from my chest. “How do you know I’m here for Rebecca?”
Her eyes widened, and she snapped her mouth shut. Too late. She was already caught.
“Where is your husband? Tell me where Dalton is, and I will let you go,” I snarled, sitting forward so that my face was mere inches from hers.
She shook her head repeatedly. “I don’t know. I really don’t know. Please, I’m telling the truth.”
“I really hate when people lie,” I tsked before sitting back, giving the frightened woman some breathing space.
“I’m not lying,” she begged, her eyes wide with fright. She looked at my men, her eyes begging, as if asking someone to help her.
But no one was going to help her. She was at my mercy.
“I know the things you have participated in. Every single detail. You might have an innocent face, but you are far from innocent,” I hissed, my voice getting louder with each word.
Dalton was part of the human trafficking business with Raffaele. What surprised me was when I found out his wife was part of it, too. She trained the victims to become slaves.
It made me sick to think that a woman would do that to another. It made my heart ache to know that Rebecca could have been one of those victims.
Her shaking worsened, her face crumpling as tears slid down her cheeks. It didn’t faze me one bit. Her fear was useless, and she was helpless.
“Start talking!” I bellowed. Her back straightened as she flattened herself against the wall, cowering in the corner. When she said nothing, Avim stepped forward and pulled her up.
Brayden brought a chair and placed it in front of me. She fought Avim as he pulled her down on the chair. She screamed and cried when Brayden tied her body to the chair, rendering her useless and at our mercy.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she whimpered in horror when I took my gun out. “Please. Believe me, I don’t know anything.”
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I simply replied, my voice as emotionless as before.
“Have mercy,” she begged when I stood up, towering over her much smaller body.
“As I said, I’m not going to hurt you,” I scoffed at her attempt to beg. If only she would talk.
Leaning forward until our faces were close, I continued. “I will never hurt a woman.”
It was the truth. I would never hurt a woman or even lay a hand on them in an attempt to kill them. It wasn’t how my men and I worked.
Her body sagged against the ropes, and a look of relief flashed in her eyes. “You won’t hurt me? You will let me go? Please, I don’t know anything.”
This time I smiled. A cold, heartless smile.
Her eyes widened. The look of distress on her face almost made me laugh. How naive of her. Panic and horror painted her face as she trembled with the uncertainty of her fate.
I waited.