Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 142640 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 475(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142640 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 475(@300wpm)
My hands are burning from the ice…and why the fuck aren’t I wearing gloves?
I slip again and fall hard and flat on my ass. I try to get up and fall again, I try again and fall even harder.
Fuck!
I pant as I lie in the ice.
What the hell are these stupid fucking shoes I’m wearing?
On my hands and knees, I crawl down the mountain, every second longer I take I know that Francesca is more at risk.
I hear screaming and I look up to see Alex trying to follow me and being absolutely smashed as he somersaults out of control down the mountain. He crashes at high speed into a tree.
This can’t be fucking happening.
I finally get to the bottom and run into the hotel to see Lorenzo in the foyer, his face falls when he sees me. “What’s happened?” he cries.
I’m panting, gasping for air, and I point to the top of the mountain. “Call for backup. We…need….”
“What’s happened?” he cries again.
“Lombardi has Francesca.” I put my hands on my hips to try to catch my breath, I can’t even speak. “And Carlo…took them in a chopper.”
I put my hands on my knees, fuck, I’m about to have a heart attack.
“Where’s Val and Alex?”
I point up the hill. “Giovanna is dead and Bruno too,” I pant. “And probably Alex has now fallen to his death in the snow on the way down as well.”
“Oh, dear God,” he cries, he takes out his phone and dials. “We need help. Shit’s gone down.”
Far, far away on a Caribbean Island.
Enrico
I sit on the deck and watch my family.
Olivia and our five children are walking along the beach with our dog.
We’ve been here on our island in paradise for ten years now, it’s been the happiest time of my life.
I’ve given my children something that I never had. Something that I never knew I was missing.
My undivided attention.
We have two sons and three daughters, and Olivia is my queen.
I never knew that love could be like this, not until I met her. I wanted to give her more from life than being in a Mafia family in Italy. She deserved more.
My phone beeps, notifying me of a text, and I get up to check, it’s from Lorenzo.
Francesca has been kidnapped
I pick up the phone and dial his number.
“Hello.”
“What’s going on?”
“Lombardi has Francesca.”
“How?”
“We are in Switzerland, she and Giuliano were getting married on Christmas Eve. She was skiing and a chopper landed and killed her guard and Valentino’s girl.”
I close my eyes, the horrific scene playing out in my head. “Fuck.”
“I have to go, I’ll keep you posted.” He hangs up and I walk into my office and turn my computer on. I drop into my seat and with my heart hammering in my chest I do something I have never done before.
I click on the program and hit,
Activate Satellite
I wait, the program zooms out and a map of the world comes up.
“Please work.” I close my eyes and say a prayer.
When our father died, I put a microchip in a diamond necklace and gave it to Francesca in the instance that something like this ever happened.
“Please still be wearing it.” I close my eyes, if this doesn’t work…. “Please, please, please.”
A red light comes up with a beep that sounds like a heartbeat. I watch it flash as it comes to life.
I zoom in on the picture and lean into my computer screen as I concentrate.
Switzerland
“Bingo.” I sit back in my chair. “Got her.”
27
Enrico
“No,” Olivia snaps. “You’re not going.”
I glance up from the suitcase that I’m packing. “I wasn’t asking for your permission.” I walk into the bathroom and retrieve and then throw my toiletries bag into the suitcase as it lies open on the bed. “I’ll be gone three days…tops.”
“You left that life behind for a reason,” she snaps. “What are you going to do?” She throws her hands up in the air in disgust. “They have a million fucking guards at Ferrara, Enrico. If they couldn’t keep her safe, what in the hell makes you think that you can?”
I throw my shoes into the suitcase with force. “Don’t.”
“Don’t?” she cries. “Don’t?” She puts her hands on her hips. “Don’t you dare don’t me!”
I grab her by the arms. “Listen to me. Francesca is my baby sister and I left her there unguarded.”
“She has guards,” she spits.
“None that can watch her like I do,” I growl.
“So…you’re going to put yourself in danger to try and save her?”
“I have to try.”
“What about your children, Rico. Who will guard them if you die?” Her voice cracks, betraying her hurt. “I have not lived here hidden away for ten years for you to risk your life at the first thing that goes wrong back home.”
I throw a stack of shirts into the suitcase.
“She is my sister.”