“I’ll make a list. And can you please have that picture printed for me?” I point to his phone, holding the picture of Zoe and me.
“Of course. Anything for you.” He pulls me into his side and kisses my temple. “Anything for you.”
Kostas
My head throbs like a motherfucker. There was a time, when Talia disappeared, that I was clearheaded and hell-bent on finding her. I exhausted every resource I had into looking into what happened. Nothing ever came of it, though. She just fucking vanished.
Just like Michael and Tadd.
I remember torturing those incompetent fools because someone had to pay. It was their job to protect her. They had one fucking job and they failed. Adrian and Basil brought them in, strapped them to chairs, and handed me weapon after weapon until I drained them of every ounce of life.
It didn’t make her reappear. She was still gone.
Leaning back in my office chair, I ignore my phone as it buzzes. Another call from my father. It drives him insane that he’s stuck at his house in forced retirement. Aris and I visit him to share meals on occasion, but whenever he tries to talk business, we shut him down. I can thank my brother for that much—having my back against our father. Father is out of touch. It’s Aris and I who deal with the business day in and day out. In fact, now that I’ve given Aris more responsibility in the past year, we’ve thrived. Money just fucking floods in.
Unfortunately, I don’t give a shit about money.
I’m obsessed with finding Talia.
For the millionth time, I wonder about Alex. The scuzzy American fucker she dated before she came to be my wife. I know everything about the asshole. His flavor of the week. His favorite restaurant. His shitty taste in music. I follow him on every social media outlet because I figure one day he’s going to slip up. One day I’ll learn he has her hidden away while they play house together, laughing at the fact I’m finally out of the picture. In those dark fantasies, I slaughter Alex and make Talia watch. Then, I fuck her back into submission. It’s easier being angry with her. At least there’s hope threaded in with my anger. Hope that she’s alive and I’ll find her one day. It’s a helluva lot better than the alternative: her being dead.
My eyes drag from my phone over to the bottle of ouzo sitting on my desk. I practically shake with the need to drink. I’m not stupid. I’m well aware of the fact I’m drinking myself into oblivion. And the more I drink, the further from finding her I feel. But when it’s staring me in the face, it’s hard to push it away. At least when I’m drinking, my body goes numb. The bleeding in my fucking heart stops.
Ignoring the ouzo, I grab my phone and pull up Alex’s Instagram. He’s back in Florence with a brunette tucked under his arm. His eyes are hooded as he smiles crookedly at the camera. It boils my blood that Talia was once with this idiot. I’ve often thought about dragging him here to my hotel so I could cut off every part of his body that may have once touched her. Adrian’s eyes grew wide at my suggestion, which is the only reason I didn’t follow through. I know Adrian looks out for me and with one wild expression, I knew I was acting like a madman and not like the cunning mobster I am.
But so help me if that fucker Alex has Talia or knows where she’s at…
I scrub my hand down my face and begin scrolling through my contacts. I find Talia’s mother, Melody, and stare at her name. This woman used to hate me, but now we share a common goal: find Talia. Melody wears her heart on her sleeve when it comes to her daughter. If she were hiding her or knew where she was, I’d know about it. I put the phone on speaker and dial her. She answers on the first ring.
“Kostas,” she greets, her voice tight with concern. “Any word?”
She always answers right away, hopeful I’ve found Talia.
“No,” I grunt out. “Any news on your end?”
A heavy sigh escapes her. “None.”
We share a long moment of silence, both of us brooding.
“Emilio hasn’t heard any chatter?” I’m always hopeful with his governmental position and contacts with the police, he might hear of some organization somewhere bragging over the fact they got Kostas Demetriou’s wife.
“Nothing,” she says. “I spoke with him today and nothing. Niles?”
I wince at his name. “Still missing also.”
Another long moment of silence. It’s a theory we’ve discussed before. Niles taking her and hiding her away. The motive is unclear, but it’s one that makes a lot of sense. She is his daughter and he hates our family. It could be a way to stick it to us. He’s just not smart enough or rich enough for that shit. It doesn’t add up.
“I will be visiting Phoenix soon,” I tell her. “I’ll see what I can find out.”
“Don’t hurt my son.”
I smirk. She’s like Talia in that sense. Bossing around a crime lord like it’s not a big fucking deal. But, because it reminds me of her daughter, I give her allowances I shouldn’t. “We’ll see.”
She must not hear any threat in my words because she lets out a relieved sigh. “What about on Crete? My father said not long before she was taken, Ezio had an attempt on his life by the Galanis. Could they be behind this?”
It irritates me she knows so much about our world, but again, she’s her daughter’s mother. I can’t fault her for being dedicated to plucking up every stone to see if it leads to her daughter. I’ll take all the help I can get at this point.
“Most of the Galanis are gone,” I bite out. “The dickless one is still out and about, but he doesn’t have the spine to do something grand like kidnap my wife. Plus, he’d love to gloat. If he had her, he’d torment me with that fact. Since everything is silent, it tells me it’s someone new or someone who couldn’t care less about taunting me, but maybe someone with their own agendas.”
“She’s such a beautiful woman,” her mother breathes. “What if someone kidnapped her and sold her into a sex trafficking ring? Do you know people who do that sort of thing?”
No, but your ex-husband does.
“I doubt that’s it.” I fucking hope that’s not it. “But to be safe, I’ll bring it up to Phoenix at our meeting. Niles admitted to allowing passage with some new clients who were into that shit.”
She lets out a ragged breath. “Kostas, we have to find her. If she’s with sex traffickers…” A loud sob escapes her. “I worry we’ll never get the Talia we know and love back.”
I scrub my face in frustration. “Whoever has her will fucking pay,” I growl. “I will skin them all alive.”
My words don’t frighten her. “Good. They deserve it for taking my baby girl.”
Voices echo down the hallway just outside my office and I sit up straight. “I need to go.”
“Okay, cara mio, take care and let me know if you learn anything new.”
I hang up and let her words sink in. Lately, she calls me her darling like I really am her son. And fuck if I don’t correct her because it makes me miss Mamá.
Frustration churns in my gut. I rise from my chair and stalk outside onto the veranda. This afternoon, the air is warm and the salty sea scent evokes memories of my honeymoon. Taking Talia on the beach for the first time. The look of pure adoration on her pretty face as I made her mine. It’s times like these, when I’m sobering up, everything feels so crystal clear. I think back to that week when we located Estevan Galani in that apartment building. How he’d eyed up my wife like she was trash he wanted to burn. The fact he survived his injuries I gave him wasn’t surprising, but the fact he remains in hiding and not fucking with me is a disturbing fact. It feels important. Like I need to pursue why he isn’t fucking with me. I shot his dick off, for fuck’s sake. If someone shot my dick off, I’d try to destroy them, and would die doing it too.