Blackmailed to the Altar (Caputo Crime Family #2)

29. Chapter Twenty-Nine

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

S ebastian

My head pounded like a drum as I woke up, disoriented, the sheets tangled around my legs. Every muscle in my body felt heavy, weighed down by a restless, dreamless sleep that clung to me like fog. I rubbed my eyes, forcing myself to focus, but the room was too damn bright, the light stabbing at my temples.

I spent the night showing Mya that I cared about her far more than she could imagine. I didn’t want to put a name to this feeling, but my chest ached at the thought of my wife. She was perfection personified, like she’d been handcrafted by God for me.

I reached for her when I didn’t feel her weight on my chest any longer, and my cock wasn’t cocooned in her warm sheath. I opened my eyes and saw that the bed was empty.

The sheets were cool to the touch.

I slid out of bed and threw on a pair of boxers, then went to search for my wife. I walked around for a good fifteen minutes before panic set in. I ran to the back of the villa, and noticed that the back door to the servants’ entrance was wide the hell open.

I rushed outside and saw a coffee mug on the railing of the porch. I grabbed it, and it was cool to the touch. Mya had been out here for a long time, it seemed. I looked, but couldn’t see her anywhere, so I headed to the security office.

One of the men wasn’t at his post, because the office was empty when I arrived. He would pay for that. I watched the tapes for hours, before finding what I was searching for.

Mya had been grabbed from the back entrance, when she stepped outside with her fresh cup of coffee. She hadn’t tried to leave me. She’d been kidnapped, and without Samuel by my side, I was going to have to rely on another ally.

“Cowen, I need your help,” I said when he picked up on the first ring.

“What can I do for you?”

“I need to hunt down who stole my wife.” I could hear the keyboard in the background. Cowen never left his house. He was a liaison of sorts with my family. A criminal hacker working for the FBI.

“Are you going to give me the number for your sister-in-law?” he joked.

“Not on your life. Besides, she’s happily married.”

“Just how my daddy likes them,” he joked.

I didn’t hide my gag. We didn’t speak of his father. The Late Cowen. That asshole was the worst.

“I need the person who took my wife yesterday. When will I have my information?”

“Before the plane is finished fueling.” He clicked off the phone and got to work.

Even though it pained me to do it, I hopped in the shower, washing away the scent of my wife.

I can handle this , he said in my mind.

I shook my head in the mirror as I straightened my tie. “I don’t need you.”

He sighed, and it was like a caress in my mind. You created me because you needed me.

“No, I’m fine on my own.” I glared at my reflection. It was as if I could see his reflection in my orbs.

I ran a hand through my hair, trying to keep my shit together. The room felt too small, too damn stifling, and every second she was missing felt like an eternity. Images of Mya, tied up, scared, hurt, flooded my mind, each one worse than the last. My fists clenched, and I slammed one against the wall, the pain a welcome distraction from the panic gnawing at my insides.

Is it worth her life?

I scoffed. “Is what worth her life?” It was crazy that I was essentially talking to myself.

Your pride.

Your arrogance.

Your sense of entitlement. She will never be just yours. Accept the fact that she will always be ours.

“I don’t need you,” I seethed.

And yet I have more connections than you.

I knew he was right, even though I didn’t want him to be. I closed my eyes, blocking out everything, and allowed him to take over. Maybe he could find Mya quicker than I could. The longer time went by without her in my arms, the worse it would be. We were going to destroy whoever had the balls to take her.

Riccardo turned toward the door, my mind racing with a million possibilities. We were going to find her, and when we did, the whole damn world would know what happened when you crossed Sebastian Caputo.

No one touched what was mine. Not without paying the price in blood.