We take the stairs two at a time and I struggle to keep up with his speed. He gets to the top and glances back at me before reaching back and gripping my hand. He pulls me along, his determination to get to his son like nothing I’ve ever experienced from him before.
He leads me right through the mansion, beelining straight for the east wing to the room he’d been staring at from the driveway. Reaching the last door in the long hallway, he stops and silently presses his back to the wall before seeking out my stare. Roman’s brow arches high. “You ready?” he questions. His silent warning is loud and clear; do not fuck this up.
I swallow hard and nod as my hand tightens on the gun. We have no idea what we might find in that room … or who for that matter. “You go for the baby,” he instructs. “And I’ll take care of anything else. You save my child and leave, even if it means leaving without me. Is that clear?”
The heaviness I’d felt earlier returns two-fold and I nod, knowing that no matter what, I will come through for him, even if he’s bleeding out on the ground. If I don’t, he’ll kill me himself.
“Clear,” I tell him, letting him see the conviction in my eyes.
Approving of what he sees, his gaze drops to his gun, and he quickly checks it before stepping away from the wall and positioning himself in front of the bedroom door. Nerves flicker through me and he spares me one last glance before his heavy booted foot slams against the wooden door and splinters it into a million pieces.
Roman barges through the broken door, gun held up as I race in behind him. He quickly scans the room, searching out whatever threats are hidden within. Seeing the crib in the far corner, I sprint like a motherfucker racing from the cops, trusting that Roman will have my back.
Four steps. Three steps.
Two.
Dread sinks heavily into my chest the closer I get. The room is nearly pitch black but there’s no mistaking the empty crib in front of me.
I pull up short, my momentum sending me right into the side of the crib as I grip onto it with everything I’ve got. “Fuck,” I breathe, spinning around to find Roman standing in the center of an empty room, watching me with wide, hopeful eyes. I shake my head, my heart splitting right through the center as the fear of the unknown washes over me. “He’s not here.”
Roman’s face falls and he drops to his knees, the overwhelming grief and terror for his lost child tearing up everything inside of him. It’s the most gut-wrenching thing I’ve ever seen, but now isn’t the time to break. That baby needs us now more than ever and falling to pieces on the ground isn’t helping him.
I race to Roman and grip his arm, trying to pull him up. “Come on,” I urge him, the desperation clear in my voice. “We can break down once we have him back. We need to go. We can’t stay here.”
Roman looks up at me with dead eyes and a tear falls down my cheek. He doesn’t move and I find myself moving closer to him, giving him this moment to come to terms with our failure tonight. “We’re too late,” he mutters, gripping my waist and dropping his forehead to my stomach. “He’s gone.”
My fingers curl into the back of his thick hair, and putting aside my own fears and haunting thoughts, I tear his head back, forcing his stare to mine. “Don’t you dare give up on your son,” I seethe, spitting the words through my clenched jaw. “This isn’t over yet. Felicity’s dying wish was for that baby to be kept safe. I gave her my word. Don’t you dare make me a liar, Roman DeAngelis. Setbacks happen, but breaking down on the floor while your son is still out there is unacceptable. Now get the fuck up and be the man I know you to be. We are not out of options yet. Victor is still in this house somewhere and we won’t be leaving until we get the answers we need.”
Roman meets my stare and I watch the determination and fight come storming back into his eyes like molten lava destroying everything in its path. He gets to his feet and stands right in front of me, gripping my chin and tearing it up. He crushes a bruising kiss to my lips and before a gasp can even escape from deep in my chest, he’s gone, racing out the door.
I stumble back on my feet, trying to find a grip on reality before rushing out of the room after him. I break into the hallway to find him almost at the grand stairs, and I hurry after him, not wanting to be left alone up here with who knows how many hidden threats lying in wait behind each of these doors.
Roman pauses at the top of the steps and I come to a stop behind him, my hand slamming up against his back to keep me from falling into him. His hand shoots out, stopping me before I tumble straight down the steps, and as he does, I find Marcus waiting at the bottom. “The baby?” he questions.
I shake my head and Marcus cringes, his jaw clenching as fire tears through his dark eyes. “Fuck,” he says, shifting his hard stare to Roman. “We’ve got Victor down here. The rest of the house is cleared.”
Roman nods and grips my hand before making his way down the stairs. I follow behind him as a wave of unease settles into my chest. I don’t know how this is going to go down or just how far the boys will go, but every cell inside my body is warning me to prepare myself. This is going to be brutal.
We reach the bottom of the stairs and I hate the way Roman releases my hand. He steps out in front of me and Marcus immediately takes his place, dropping his hand to my lower back as he leads me through the big property.
We step into a sitting room at the front of the house, the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the big circle driveway with the perfect view of the water fountain in the center and the gardens off to the right. If the sun were up, I’m sure it’d be an impressive sight, but right now, all I can seem to focus on is the man tied to a chair in the center of the room.
Victor pulls and tugs against his binds, but Levi and Marcus are skilled men. I don’t know which one of them tied him up, but they did a spectacular job. This motherfucker won’t be going anywhere.
Levi stands by the far wall, leaning against it to give him the perfect vantage point of the room, what’s beyond the window, and the exit. His gaze sweeps across to me, and without a word passing between us, he knows that Roman and I have failed. Pain flickers through his deep eyes and I want nothing more than to run across the sitting room and fall into his strong arms, telling him that everything is going to be alright. But for now, the main focus is Victor.
Marcus shuffles around the room, putting himself directly behind Victor while I trail to the front of the room with Roman, wanting to see Victor’s face.
My heart races.
Victor pulls against his binds, growling as his eyes flick between the three brothers. He knows what kind of shit he’s in and it leaves me wondering if he truly thought that he’d get away with it. Did he really think that the boys wouldn’t track Giovanni here? That they wouldn’t hold him personally responsible for allowing Giovanni to take off with Roman’s newborn son.
Shit, this motherfucker is done for.
A smirk pulls at my lips, and I hate myself for how obvious I am about his downfall. I can’t pretend to know all about the ins and outs of the DeAngelis Mafia, but this man has spent who knows how many years standing at Giovanni’s side. He carries out the jobs that Giovanni is too fucking pussy to do himself. This man is nothing but a swine, taking up too much space on this planet. I can only imagine the shit he’s done to the boys over the years, and today, they get vengeance.
I can only imagine what they have in store for him, and damn it, it shouldn’t excite me the way it does, but what can I say? The boys have well and truly dragged me kicking and screaming over to the dark side, and I’m not gonna lie, I kinda like it over here.