Deadly Vows - Chapter 33 (Patreon)

Luca

I can feel the bone smashing under my fist as it connects with this man’s face. He staggers back, falling flat on his back, completely knocked out.

“Matteo!” I bark at him. “Finish him off!”

I don’t even turn around as Matteo steps over the unconscious man’s body, firing several rounds into it. Fuck! I am literally going crazy. Elise is gone. Fucking gone! Right from under my damn nose. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, and every time I try to close my eyes, I hear that bone-chilling sound of her screams as the car crashes. That was the last thing I heard before to the phone shut off.

We can’t even track her. The chip was last activated at the sight of the crash. And by the time we got there, the police were already tainting it. There is no trail or anything. Her driver was already dead when we arrived on the scene. Which is lucky for him, because I would have killed him myself since Elise is missing.

My resources in the police department can’t give me anything on the crash. Each time they try to access it, their access is denied. So I tried asking my contacts in the federal agencies. None of them have gotten back to me. I am such a fool! Why I let Elise leave the estate without me, I don’t know. I let my damn emotions get the best of me, and now look where we are.

Someone has her, and whoever it is took her for the hell of it, because I haven’t received any threatening calls or ransoms. And that makes me all the more worried. At least with a ransom, I can negotiate her safety and find whoever it is before they hurt her. But with this person … there is no telling what they are doing to her.

“Luca—”

“What!” I shout.

Matteo is standing next to me and cringes at my tone. He’s probably the only person that can get near me lately. I know I won’t hurt him or kill him on accident because of who he is to Elise. So as of late, he is my right-hand man. Romelo is doing some serious tracking, trying to find Elise, and Nicolai is doing my duties for me.

“It’s Romelo,” he says, holding the phone out to me.

I yank it from his grasp, walking away toward the car. “What is it?”

“I think I got her trail.”

For the first time in weeks, relief floods through me. “Where?”

“There’s a pawnshop in the next state over that has her wedding ring.”

I immediately feel anger boiling up within me. “She ran away?” I hiss.

“Not likely. I spoke to the shop owner, and he said an older woman came in and pawned it. And get this. She sold it. So she didn’t want it back. I tracked the information he gave me to a woman named Sophia Vitale.” He pauses, waiting for me to catch on.

“Russian?”

“Yes. I followed her for a few days. She seemed to be working in an old factory, but it turns out the factory is actually an auction house … for women.”

“Fuck!” I shout, punching the wall next to me with all my might. The weak plaster gives way, and my whole hand flies through.

“We’re coming now. You have my utmost thanks.”

“Actually, I just did the heavy lifting. Matteo was the one that found out about the pawnshop. Thank him.” He hangs up before I can respond.

I look out the corner of my eyes and see Matteo leaning against a car door. He looks like I feel. Exhausted. In all my rage, I haven’t thought about how he feels in all this.

When he found out the news of Elise, he broke down. Apparently, he said some things to her he now wishes wouldn’t have been his last words to his newly found sister. He has been working just as hard as everyone else. And I have been screaming at him every day. I walk over to him, trying to rein in my anger. This is what Elise would want.

“Matteo, we think we may have a lead on Elise.” I place a hand on his shoulder. “Romelo told me what you did. Thank you. We’ll find her.”

* * * * *

The next day, we are standing in front of the auction house, waiting. All my men are behind me, waiting for my signal. Without hesitation, I step into the auction house that may be responsible for my wife’s abduction, and unleash the bloodbath.

About an hour later, we have everyone rounded up. The women that are to be sold are all in another room. Lucky for us, today isn’t an auction day, so we don’t run into anyone but the scum that runs this shithole. The Pasquinos don’t do sex trafficking. Which explains why they put her here. They knew we wouldn’t think to look.

I step over the girls. They are all shivering in fear. The men are all tied up, and some have looks of hatred, while others have fear in their eyes. And for good reason. I keep walking up the hallway in silence until I am standing right in front of the woman I am looking for.

“Sophia Vitale.”

Her shivering increases as she slowly looks up at me. I make sure to keep my face blank of any emotion. I squat in front of her and pull the ring out of my back pocket. This is the second time I’ve had to buy it out of pawn.

“Recognize this?”

Her eyes widen, and she begins sobbing loudly and begging for her life. I can feel excitement bubbling up within me. I love it when people beg. Especially this one. I already have my mind made up with what I am going to do with her life. The fact that she is begging makes that decision all the sweeter.

“Shhhh,” I tell her while placing my gun against her lips. “Tell me, what is your job here? You obviously aren’t one of the women being auctioned.”

She stares at me wide-eyed and begins begging for her life once again. I don’t even flinch as I shoot the nearest worker in the head. Her body strains forward against the rope. All the women around me are screaming. I point the gun back at Sophia.

“I won’t ask you again.”

“I … I … I … get the women p-primped a-and ready f-f-for auction.” She sobs. “Please, sir, I am so sorry! I … I didn’t know s-she was your w-wife!”

I can tell she’s lying. She knew exactly who Elise is. I have no doubt that every person in here knows who she is. The fact that they sold her anyway tells me someone high up must have given her to these people. High up enough that they thought they would be safe.

And they just may have been, if not for Sophia pawning that ring.

I bring my attention back to the woman.

“So what you are saying is that you ‘primped’ my wife for sale?”

I think back to how the girls that are about to be auctioned off are dressed. Skimpy lingerie. And I am betting Elise was a part of the private auction because of who she is.

“You put my wife in barely anything and had her sold to the highest bidder? But before that, you decided to take something as precious as her wedding ring off and sell it for your own personal gain?”

She doesn’t respond; she only sobs louder and louder.

“Who bought her?” I ask.

She shakes her head, claiming she doesn’t know.

I shoot the nearest girl, and screams erupt. I place my gun under

Sophia’s chin. “Who fucking bought her?” Sophia still claims she doesn’t know.

A girl near her pipes up, obviously terrified, “We don’t know! It was an anonymous bid! Everyone went in anonymous when they figured out who she was! B-but you can look at the surveillance footage outside and see if the car that took her is on it! Please, that’s all we know!” She is sobbing frantically.

I stand from the pathetic women in front of me. This is their jobs here. To dress these girls to look nice and sexy for the auction. To be sold. Like meat. I look around until my eyes land on Matteo.

His face is filled with anger. And hate.

“Matteo.” He looks up at me, and I nod in approval.

He pulls out his gun, and Sophia’s cries get louder and louder. Before Matteo can walk past me, I place a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

“I want their deaths to be slow. And painful. Understand?” He looks at me and nods, a sadistic gleam in his eye. Good boy.

Romelo is standing against the wall, awaiting orders.

“I want them all dead. Castrate them. Shove their dicks down their throats, and then you can kill them.”

A smile makes its way on Romelo’s face. Russians have dared take my bride, so we will kill them Russian-style.

I walk to the car and pull my bolt cutters out of the trunk. Elise has been sold to the highest bidder. She’s been fucking sold. I can only hope that whoever has her doesn’t have unprotected sex with her. I’ve taken her off her birth control, and I was secretly feeding her hormone pills. And there is no way in hell I am going to raise someone else’s child. I can already hear the cries of agony as I walk back into the warehouse. They are going to regret the day they dared to defy Luca-fucking-Pasquino.