His Tesoro: An Arranged Marriage Age Gap Mafia Romance (Empire of Royals Book 1)
His Tesoro: Chapter 63

Watching the helicopter fade into the distance joined with the memory of hearing the gunshots that took my parents and replaceing Sofiya lying still on the floor of that cell.

All my worst moments were my own fault.

Romeo put a tentative hand on my shoulder. “Let’s go back downstairs. Figure out a plan.” When I failed to move, he tightened his hold on me. “Come on, fratello. Sofiya needs you focused.”

“I’m the last thing she needs.” My voice was as flat and cold as my heart felt. My wife had taken all the warmth and light in the world away.

“That’s not⁠—”

“She ran from me, Romeo. She couldn’t stand to be around me because of what I’d done, so now she’s run into the arms of fucking sex traffickers!” I clutched my hair and spun around, needing something to destroy, when my eyes caught on Noodle struggling to pull himself onto the roof. I sprinted over to him and grabbed him by his harness, pulling him into my arms. He was breathing heavily and rested his head against my chest. I clutched him close, pressing my face to his soft fur. “How could everything go so wrong, huh?”

He whined softly.

“I will get her back. I promise you.”

He lifted his head and licked my face, and I realized there were tears falling down my cheeks. I wiped them away and cleared my throat. “Alright, we’ve got to pull ourselves together and get our girl back.”

I took a deep breath and moved Noodle off my lap. He sat, meeting my gaze with a solemn expression, and I nodded. I pushed myself off the ground and buttoned my suit jacket, standing tall as Don.

I returned to where Romeo stood with the rest of my men. “We need to track where the helicopter is landing and contact Rustik for backup. The Irish have taken my wife. We are at war.”

Romeo and Enzo dragged a large table and chairs into my office, and everyone gathered around. Franco had emerged from whatever dark lair he usually worked in and was currently tracking the helicopter’s flight path.

“They’re landing in western Massachusetts, not Boston,” he said.

“Romeo, get the jet ready to follow them,” I commanded.

Franco pushed his long, messy hair out of his face as he bent over his laptop. “Once they land, we should be able to track their exact location with Sofiya’s necklace, if she still has it on.”

I froze. In my panic, I’d forgotten the tracker. For the love of God, I hoped she still had it on. I opened the tracking app on my phone and held my breath as it loaded. And there it was, the tiny dot representing the love of my life flying over Connecticut.

“We’ve got her,” I said. “Everyone needs to be armed and ready. We can’t know how many of the Irish and Albanians will be there, but they’ll likely be ready for us.” I nodded at Romeo to take over prepping our soldiers while I stepped out to call the Pakhan.

My heart pounded when he answered. I cleared my throat. “Ivanov. The Irish have taken Sofiya.”

My father-in-law, the Pakhan, this man I despised, let out what I assumed was a curse in Russian. “How could you let this happen?” he roared.

I clutched the phone, my desire to shout and curse tempered only by my own self-blame. “I’m calling upon our alliance to rescue her and take down the Irish. They’re allied with the Albanians to bring the skin trade to New York.”

Rustik cursed again. “Send me the location. My men and I will be there.”

This man had no love for Sofiya, but in our world, image was power, and the kidnapping of his daughter made him look weak.

I hung up, sent him the coordinates of the Massachusetts airport, and returned to the office. My men were ready, and more soldiers would meet us at the airport.

“Fuck, does Sienna know what’s happened?” I asked Romeo in a low voice as we exited the office.

“She’s been kept in her apartment. She knows something has happened, but not what.”

“I’ll stop by her apartment right now and meet you in the garage.”

Romeo nodded, and I called Noodle to my side. He kept pace with me as I flew up the stairs to Sienna’s floor.

I nodded at the guard who was positioned outside her door and let myself in. She jumped up off the couch and ran towards me.

“Matteo, what the fuck is going on? They said you’d been shot?” Her eyes roamed down my arm. “And I just heard something on the roof.”

“Sofiya’s been taken by the Irish,” I bit out. “We’re going after her now. You need to watch Noodle.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, Matteo.” She pulled me in for a hug I didn’t deserve. “What happened?”

“I don’t have time⁠—”

“I swear to God, Matteo, you are not walking out of this room until you tell me what is going on.”

How was it that everyone feared me except for the women in my life? “I got evidence that Sofiya was a traitor—that she was feeding information to the Albanians.”

Sienna’s jaw dropped. Then she shook her head slightly. “There’s no way that’s true.”

Her immediate dismissal of Sofiya’s betrayal made me feel even worse. How could I have believed it even for a second, even when faced with a shit-ton of evidence? “Yeah, well, right after I got the news, I was told Arben was attacking one of our warehouses.” Now it was so obvious that Domenico had orchestrated the whole thing. “So… I had her put in the basement until I returned.”

Sienna took a step back, her eyes transforming into judgemental slits. “Are you fucking serious?”

“She was only meant to be in there for a couple of hours to scare her, but then I got shot. When I woke up in the hospital, I assumed she would be waiting for me in our apartment, but she was still in the basement.” I turned away from Sienna’s horrified expression. “I never meant for this to happen. It was all a setup by Domenico. He was working with the Albanians, but he’s dead now.”

“And the helicopter? The roof?” Sienna’s voice was ice cold.

“Sofiya and Angelo left with the Irish. And—” Fuck, I didn’t want to speak the words. “The Irish have an alliance with the Albanians to expand the sex trafficking trade into the city.”

Sienna’s expression turned horrified. “What? Are you sure?”

“Yes. Now I have to go.” I gestured at Noodle. “His stuff is in the apartment.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re just going to leave me with that and walk out? How could you put your wife in a fucking cell for what, hours? Days? No wonder she left!” Her hands landed on my arms and she shook me, sending shocks of lightning through my injured arm. “What is wrong with you?”

“Everything, apparently!” I screamed. “I’m not cut out to be a husband, or a brother, for that matter. I know all I am to you is a disappointment! I’m the reason you don’t have parents, the reason we spent two years in hiding and poverty. I have failed every single person in my life, so why bother with relationships?”

Sienna took a step back, blinking. “Is that what you think, Matteo? You’re the reason I’m still alive! How can you be this stupid? Our uncle would have killed you! And that means I would also be dead, or worse. How long are you going to punish yourself for something that wasn’t your fault? You don’t allow yourself to be human, and now it’s lost you the love of your life.”

My jaw clenched. “I’m not capable of love.”

She threw up her hands. “You wouldn’t recognize love if it shot you in the face. Which is why you don’t understand that I love you. Romeo loves you. Sofiya…well, at least she did love you.”

My limbs felt weak and my chest, hollow. “And I ruined it.”

“Yeah, well, fix it.”

“How?” My voice was a hoarse whisper.

“Figure it the fuck out. But start by bringing her back here.”

I nodded curtly as I spun on my heel and strode to the door. I paused with my hand on her doorknob. “You know I love you. It’s not enough, but I love you.”

And then I walked out.