We hit the foyer and headed outside. “What the hell happened?” Dante demanded. “We were supposed to keep her in sight at all times.”
“What the fuck was I supposed to do—go into the women’s bathroom and watch her take a piss?” Luca fired back. “I was sitting outside the bathroom waiting for her to come out. I told her before she went in that I was going to take her home. I said the risk was too great, and I wanted to keep her safe. She just had to go to the bathroom first.”
Both Dante and I stopped on a dime. We turned inward to stare at Luca. His face twisted in a combination of fury, guilt, and anguish. So, he finally came to his senses. He finally realized that she was worth a thousand times whatever a war against the Vittorios could get him.
He wanted to take her home, to keep her safe, and now this happened.
Dante clapped him on the shoulder and squeezed. “It could have happened to any of us. They must have had a panel in the bathroom.”
Just then, one of our lieutenants hurried up to us. “The perimeter is sealed. They won’t get through without us seeing them.”
Luca gritted his teeth, glaring at the mansion gleaming in the distance. “They won’t take her out through the perimeter. If they planned a panel in the women’s bathroom, they’ll get her out another way.”
I grabbed Dante. “The warehouse! We have to get over there. We can ambush them when they bring her to that room.”
Dante turned to Luca, but Luca waved us away. “Go! I’ll call you if I hear anything from the Vittorios.” He turned back to the lieutenant. “Break the perimeter and head back to Archhurst.”
Dante and I didn’t wait around. We charged across the estate, headed for the garage. In a second, the three of us loaded into the limo and burned rubber back to Archhurst.
Dante and I got in his car and made for the warehouse, but when we got there, it was all dark and deserted. We staked it out for over four hours, but the Vittorios didn’t show up. They never brought Ari here.
Dante and I stood shivering in the dark, but I didn’t dare tell him it was time to pull out. I didn’t want to admit that we failed her. That would be the worst.
After hour number five, he bumped my elbow. “They aren’t coming. We need to fall back.”
I squinted up at the dark windows. How the hell did the Vittorios pull this over on us?
Dante laid his hand on my shoulder. “It’s time, son. We need to head back to Archhurst.”
“You go on. I’m staying here. They might bring her here.”
He tugged at my shoulder to pull me backward. “They won’t bring her here. They must have either seen us or anticipated us finding out about this place. She isn’t here, and she isn’t going to be here.”
I still didn’t respond. I couldn’t leave. Where else could I go—back to Archhurst? I couldn’t imagine anything worse than standing around waiting for something to happen. I couldn’t face Luca after we all failed.
Dante took hold of my shoulders and spun me away from the warehouse. He turned me around to face him. “I’m talking to you. We’re leaving. Stop looking at those windows. She isn’t here.”
I started to fight him, but he reacted in a flash. He gave me a hard shake. “Hey! Wake up. She isn’t here. We’re leaving.”
I resisted, but those strong hands on my shoulders wouldn’t let me go. I couldn’t deny the stricken look on Dante’s face. He was as upset about this as I was. He just kept his head.
I slumped before his terrible grimace. “I’m… I’m sorry. I just…”
He chopped the air to cut me off. “Forget it. We’ll find her. Come on.”
He steered me back to the car and parked me in the passenger seat while he drove back to Archhurst. I hated the estate now that she wasn’t here anymore. I wanted to go door to door looking for her. I wanted to be anywhere but here.
We went into the living room to find Luca wearing a hole in the carpet. He grasped his phone in a death grip and kept casting flinty glares across the grounds.
Dante and I walked in, but neither of us spoke to him. Being in the same room with him somehow made this whole thing so much worse. How could we lose her after we all just woke up to how much she meant to us?
Luca was the one who told us just a few hours ago that she was a means to an end. He said she was a tool and the family came first, but all of that came crashing down now that she was gone. Nothing mattered but getting her back.
Dante sat down on the couch and pulled out his phone. He took a few calls from our lieutenants and enforcers, but they always ended the same way. “Okay, cool. Keep looking. Let me know if you find anything.”
Luca never turned around while Dante was talking. He didn’t field any calls from anyone. Only one call mattered to him.
I stood in the threshold and stared at my cousin. Why did I ever think he didn’t care about Ariana? Why did I threaten to hold him responsible if anything happened to her? How could I be so insensitive? He punished himself so much worse than I ever could.