[Aldo]
“Screaming isn’t helping anything along.” Luca retorts calmly.
“Not that you tried!” I’m being childish. I’m freaking out.
Luca looks me in the eye. “Aldo, calm down, or you’ll say something you regret. What has happened? Exactly.” He emphasizes the last word heavily.
“I got home, and the door was wide open. There was broken glass in the hallway. They’d tied up Isabella and threatened Dawn with having her go with them. It’s all about Andre.” My head hangs.
“She tried to pay them off with her life savings too.”
Luca’s face has darkened, especially at the mention of Andre. “Anything else?”
“What else does there need to be?” I’m pacing back and forth now. I can’t breathe.
Luca tries to slow me down. “Don’t fucking touch me. You kicked me out of this family, remember?”
Luca keeps his hand raised, though. “But I did not stop being a friend.”
“Fuck off with that shit.”
“I will only remind you once again to watch how you speak to me, Aldo. I did offer to help Dawn.” He says.
“And she was never gonna go for it. You knew that. Her brother had just fucked you over, why would she stay under your roof?” I snap.
“You’re offending me now, Aldo. None of this is getting Dawn found.” Luca’s eyes are on fire, and I don’t care. I’ll fight anyone at this moment.
I scream into the sky and kick over the reclining chair. I turn and glimpse Sophie inside with Isabella, Michael is at the glass window crying for his father.
It breaks my heart, and I slump onto the chair I just booted. Looking at Sophie, I know instantly by the way she’s watching me too that Dawn has told her of the pregnancy.
Her face is broken and her eyes are wide with fear.
Or she’s remembering her own kidnapping.
“The fucking Russians, Luca. The ones you refused to help us with.”
“There’s a difference between helping someone and paying a three hundred thousand dollar debt.”
I still want someone to blame, and I’m perfectly happy for it to be Luca. “Whatever you say.”
“Yes, it is whatever I say because we’re on my property. I’d hope you remember that too.”
“She’s fucking pregnant!” I yell, standing up and confronting Luca. “Do you understand that?”
Luca reflexively swings back and jabs. I take the punch to the gut as Sophie emerges screaming.
“Stop it!” she yells. Michael is crying in her arms. “Stop it, please.”
“He started it.” Luca looks pissed the fuck off.
“It doesn’t matter.” Tears are streaming down Sophie’s face. “I’ve been speaking to Isabella, and I also heard part of what you just said. What else do you know?”
I take a breath and try to control myself. I close my eyes. “The other day, well these last weeks, I’ve felt like I’ve been being followed. And judging by what Andre knew, it was true.
Someone told him about Dawn and I, and that’s what pushed him to do what he did with the van. But they were still here. At first, I thought he’d been hiring them. But then, after his death, the feeling of being watched was still there. Last week,
I spotted a car outside Dawn’s mother’s house. It tore off before I could get out there, but it put us all on edge.” My throat is closing up the more I speak.
It’s threatening to overwhelm me again. I feel like I want to cry. I’ve never felt so helpless in my life.
“So what happened today?” Sophie comes over, placing a hand on my shoulder.
Michael looks at me unsure; he’s stopped crying, but he’s not convinced by the loud and obnoxious man who crashed their pool party.
“I hadn’t received a text from Dawn in a while-and she’d called. I tried to call back and text, but, well, you know, all things considered, she’s napping more now.” Sophie nods.
“But when I got home, we were supposed to have an appointment for our first scan.” Sophie nods again.
“The door was wide open. It was dark. Broken glass on the floor. And I knew. Then Isabella called out.” It finally hits me right in the chest, right in the heart.
I feel so pathetic. I’ve just lost everything…
“So what’s your plan then?” Sophie says, keeping herself in check. “Is this all related to Andre?”
I look at Luca. “Yes.”
“What were Alexei’s exact words?” she asks, turning to Luca.
“You don’t think I want to help Aldo?” Luca responds.
“But I know you, Luca,” Sophie says. “You don’t want to help Andre.”
“He stole from me…”
“Yes, but now our friend is gone..” Sophie’s eyes are on fire.
“I don’t give a damn about your feelings at the moment. You’re being macho idiots. I shouldn’t have to remind you, Luca, that Aldo dropped everything to come and help you when I was in trouble.”
Luca bites his words off and swallows them, looking away angrily. “He did it because he had a crush on you.”
“He did it because it’s the right thing to do, didn’t you?”
I nod. I’m staring at my feet.
“He wasn’t even Colombino, then Luca. He was a Russo. He was one of mine. And ever since we’ve merged, don’t think I haven’t noticed who you’ve favored. Aldo is working harder than any of your other idiots who’ve been on your coattails since we got married. You know it’s true.”
“Fine,’ Luca spits. “We will help.”
Sophie rolls her eyes. “You men and your egos are as worse as each other. Now, up,” she says to me.
I stand and look at her. I see how she was Don’s heir now. She may have handed the reins to Luca, but there is no loss of power in her command.
“Andre is the key. What’s in his room? What did he leave behind that may give you a clue to where the Russians may take her? Or anything else he had going?”
“I haven’t been home since the car incident,” I admit. I feel even more stupid.
“Then I suggest you do.” She begins rocking Michael and looks between us. “Both of you. Phones on. Messages to me every thirty minutes. Anything significant, message it. Let’s create a trail. Does Dawn’s phone have a tracker app?”
I shrug. “It’s not connected to my account. So I couldn’t tell you.”
“Fine.” Sophie turns and heads inside. “You two get going. I’m going to call Leandro and find out all I can about Andre’ debt to Alexei.”
“Leandro is my cousin,” Luca says, following her around the pool.
“And you’re busy finding my friend.”
He stops in his tracks. Her eyes are burning. She’s more pissed off and as driven as me. It fires me up.
I bet she can’t believe something like this is happening again in this family, and neither can I. Why the hell didn’t Dawn just stay with Luca and Sophie to be protected? Why didn’t I force it?
Luca pulls on a shirt and picks up his phone and wallet. He gestures for me to follow, and we head around to the side gate and are soon sitting down in my car.
As we drive out of the gate and hit the main road that leaves their community, Luca turns to me.
“There are things you don’t know about your friend Andre. Things that you’re going to need to know to understand what is about to happen going forward…”