MATTEO’S POV
The unanswered call only added to the uneasiness that roiled inside me. My gaze roved the room, but it was as if the very space had swallowed them whole-Aria and Dennis, leaving behind an eerie emptiness. I tried once more, my fingers tapping the digits in a desperate rhythm, but still, there was no response.
Their disappearance left me reeling. I was becoming frustrated, but then I saw her friend, Rose, staring at me. When our eyes met, she tore her gaze from mine. I found it suspicious, so I rushed to her for answers
“What do you want?”. She asked.
“Where is Aria?”. I asked
“She’s your wife. Why ask me?”. She said. She had a smart mouth, and I found it annoying.
“I can’t find her anywhere”. I said, and then I looked at her. “You know something”. This time, Rose walked away from me.
I followed her like a dog following it’s favorite bone, and she hastened her pace.
“Stop”. I said, but she wouldn’t listen. “Stop right there”. But she kept moving.
I reached for her arm and pulled her to me. Her eyes stared into mine. Never blink and never backing down.
“I’ll ask you one more time, and I expect an answer”. I said through clenched teeth.
“Or what are you going to do, Matteo?”. She asked, holding my gaze.
I let Rose go and smoothed out my suit, maintaining a cool composure in the face of my suspicions.
My eyes swept the room, vigilant in their search for any hint of danger or deception. I moved to where Alonzo stood guard, keeping watch over the event from a private nook, his unwavering gaze ensuring our security from any potential intruders.
“Apparently, my wife’s gone missing”. I said to him in the calmest way possible.
“Would you look at that”. I chuckled. “Find her”. I said through clenched teeth, already pissed at what was happening.
Barone approached me, his face aglow with happiness, the very picture of contentment. He remained blissfully unaware of his daughter’s departure, but my attention was diverted to the green tuxedo that hugged his frame.
A momentary pang of disappointment stung my heart, for the tux was not the one I had recommended. Despite my fleeting disappointment, I welcomed his warm embrace, the smile on his face a balm to soothe my inner turmoil.
“Oh, my daughter’s lucky to have you, I must say”. He said, patting my arm. I laughed and pretended to search the room.
“I can’t find her anywhere”. I said, trying to draw his attention to the problem at hand.
“Oh, she must be with dennis. They’re probably catching on. He’s a good lad. Her one best friend in her uni days”.
“Best friend?”. I asked, confused
“Yes, Aria and dennis are best pals. That’s what she told me”. He laughed.
“Ah…I see…”. I said
“She probably took him to her flower garden at the back of the mansion. She loved that place so much, she showed it to everyone”.
“Really? I’ll go have a look myself”.
“Of course”. He said and excused himself.
I found myself wandering off to the back of the mansion, and I saw car tracks. Did she leave with him? I took to my heels running as fast as I could to follow the tracks, and I saw it leave the compound through the back gate.
“Fuck”. I whispered staring at the gate. “Fuckkkk!!!”. The word left my lips like a sigh, an exasperated whisper of frustration that only encapsulated a fraction of the fury churning inside me. As I turned back toward the house, my sense of decorum returned, masking the storm within, and I navigated my way to Alonzo with a composed stride
“Get our men on the move. Block all exit. She can’t leave Venice. Do not let her leave”. I said in a small voice
“And the boy?”
“Shoot him till you’re sure he’s dead”
He looked stunned for a few seconds before saying “Yes boss”.
I returned back to the party, chatting and talking to business associates like my wife didn’t elope with her lover. It reminded me of daya, and it pissed me off even more.
Why do they try to run away from me? Am I that horrible of a person? I was lost. Lost in my head as I was driven home by Alonzo.
When I got home, Elizabeth had my food ready, and I ate as I waited for my wife to get home. It was almost midnight, and I heard nothing from any of my men, and then my phone rang.
“Boss, they haven’t left Venice yet. We have men at every exit, and we’ve checked all the flights. There was no flight booked in their name. She’s somewhere here in Venice”. He said, and I hung up
With a sharp inhalation of air, I shoved my plate to the floor, ripped my tie from my neck, and let loose a scream that echoed through the halls. It was an explosion of rage, as though my sanity and self-control had been set alight. In that moment, I felt Dennis had bested me, reduced me to a shadow of the man I was.
“Find her”. I whispered to myself. “FIND HER!!!”. I shouted, and I could see all of them shaking where they stood. But it was Carter’s gaze that truly struck me, his eyes cast low, his expression heavy with a familiar pain. It was a pain I knew all too well, for it had been etched on my own face not long ago.
I looked away from him and headed for my room, but he followed me. When I reliazed that, I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to him. His face was hard, and he didn’t look like the Carter I used to know.
“You lost her”. He whispered
“I lost her?”. I asked, completely confused. “I lost her. What the fuck is she? Some property?”. I asked.
“What if he does something to her?”
I was too in my head to react to that. I sniffled
“What do you care”. I said and walked away
When I was safely behind the walls of my bedroom. I fell to my knees, and a tear threatened to leave my eyes, and that was when I knew she was no good for me.