SIX
RAFFAELE
"What?" I groused, finally picking up on Amadeo's third call at two in the fucking morning.
"You need to come to level one. I am five minutes out," he sounded hurried.
I sat up quickly, shoving the covers aside. "What happened? What's the emergency?"
"I took Cesar and a few others to Kyla Donovan's apartment—"
"Did you find her?" Eager, I cut him off because I how sly this woman was.
"No, Kyla was gone, but there was someone else. You need to come down now."
Putting on my shirt, I hurried downstairs, marching through the dim lights of the villa. The whole place was articulately built, looking over the rugged hill scrape and constructed in such a way that there was only one way in and out. Save aside for the safe passage only Amadeo, and I knew of, it was both a safe haven and inescapable complex.
Level one, as my brother suggested, had two sections – one, used for discreet purposes. And the second part was dominated by the living quarters of the house staff whom I required twenty-four-seven for all intents and purposes.
Two cars screeched inside the villa. I watched Cesar from afar, carrying a human slung over his shoulder, followed by two men and Amadeo stepping out of the black SUV. I met him halfway, going after the guys ahead of us.
"Couldn't you wait till morning?" I knew he was a night owl, functioning mostly in the dark when the world was asleep, but rousing me made no sense. The ten-fucking-million Kyla Donovan owed me wasn't worth my sleep. But the sole reason I pursued her because I damned well resented thieves.
"You aren't going to believe what I found. The keyword is who."
I pressed my temples in exhaustion and sighed. "Well, I am not playing 'Guess-Who' right now, Amadeo, so would you care for God's sake to tell me what, rather who, you found?"
"I don't have a name yet," he stated, spiking my irritation. "You have to see this yourself."
Growling, I followed him into the room where my men laid a sleeping girl on the leather couch while the black hood was still over her face. When Amadeo reached out and took off the black material, I could help but gawk for a tiny second there.
"How did you find her?" I asked, sauntering closer to get a better look. Her face was serene like unruffled waters of a lake while the full lips were slightly puckered even in drug-induced slumber.
"She was at the apartment, hiding. We were combing out the entire place for Kyla when we found her in one of the bedrooms."
"Was she alone?"
"There was a guard in the apartment, but it didn't take much us time to knock him down." He took out a passport and handed me. "If this was to be believed, her name is Celestia Donovan – not some Jessica Woods from Miami – and she is also Kyla Donovan's daughter."
It wasn't possible. Bruno and Kyla never had a child in the first place. "Was there anything mentioned about an adopted or foster child of Donovans?"
Amadeo shook his head. "That is what rattles the hell out of me. There was no trace of a child in any document whatsoever. And given her age – nineteen, maybe twenty? – it is difficult to raise a daughter without paperwork."
I turned to gaze back at her. "Let's not beat ourselves up. We will have all the answers once she wakes up. By the way, how much dosage did you inject in her?"
"Quite a lot, I am afraid." He grimaced. "Given how delicate she looks, she won't be waking up for the next eight to nine hours."
I scrubbed a hand over my tired face. "I was right, Amadeo. Her presence in the club wasn't coincidental. Do you think Kyla sent her there?"
"Kyla doesn't appear to be an idiot. Even if she did, this girl wasn't supposed to bump into you or spill drinks on your shirt," Amadeo countered.
Fuck, I needed a clear mind to think this, though. "For now, keep her here and restrained so that when she wakes up, she wouldn't be tempted to do anything stupid. And station two men outside. I want to know the minute she wakes up."
While Amadeo ordered the men, I threw her a last glance and left. Tomorrow wouldn't be much of a pleasant day.
CELESTIA
My eyelids were heavy and tired like I went into some deep slumber in one century and woke up in another. Blinking, I adjusted my vision before trying to swallow past the huge lump in my throat, except I was cotton-mouth. All of these cognitive reflexes went into overdrive when I realized that my hands were bound, and I was in a different place.
A flash of memories flooded in, of the men in the dark, of the abductors in my room, and ultimately being taken. Fear gave away to the rush of adrenaline in my veins as I squirmed and struggled to get rid of the rope. It wasn't too tight yet knotted impossibly well.
At one point, the exhaustion gave away, and I rolled off the couch with a thud.
"Shit!" A man rushed into the room and plucked me off the floor like I was a ragdoll.
"Please...help," I croaked out vainly.
"Boss is coming down," I heard another voice…a familiar one. But my drugged mind and foggy brain were too entangled to recall.
The next couple of hapless moments I spent groaning and wriggling uncomfortably. Until the door burst open and there stood the man I had the misfortune of meeting – twice. He stood at the doorway in all his fierce masculinity rolling off him in waves, with his six-foot-and-over tall frame and inscrutable expression. Unlike other times, his brown hair was damp and sleek. Everything about him screamed ruthlessness and power.
His gaze moved to the guard next to me. "Bring me a bottle."
When the door closed, the grey of his eyes was just as steely, and his full mouth set in a firm line. With every step he took towards me, I flinched under the weight of his stare.
"Third time lucky, are we now?" His lips, smooth and well defined against his five o'clock shadow, twitched.
Words were lost me, withered down my throat.
The guard arrived with the bottle and handed him, which he briskly uncapped and brought to my lips. "Drink," he ordered. "We have a long conversation ahead of us, and you can't be dehydrated or passing out on me. I would be highly disappointed then, Celestia."
My gaze snapped to him – wide and gaping. The use of my name was both terrifying and personal, so much so, I began to splutter and choke on the life-saving water.
"Shh, careful now." A steady hand closed over the back of my head, petting and soothing.
As the violent coughs slowed, I finally managed to recoil away from his touch. "Don't," I warned in my terrified, shaky voice. "Don't touch me."
To my surprise, he actually backed away and sat himself down across from me. Oddly, even the distance between us didn't feel safe because this man – Raffaele Roselli – exuded danger in waves.
"Where am I? Where have you kept me?"
He tutted loudly and shook his head. "In here, I ask the questions, and you answer - not the other way around. But I am going to be generous this one time. You are in my home. And before you overwork your brain, the knowledge of your location won't help you in any way. This place is a fortress."
"What do you want from me?" I cried out.
Jaw clenched, his lips pressed into a thin line as a forewarning. When the last embers of rebellion ebbed way did he sobered his expression. "What were you doing in the club?" he asked conversationally, fixing his shiny cufflink.
The nonchalant attitude annoyed the hell out of me. He was talking as if I wasn't the abductee, and he wasn't the abductor. "Don't you know what people do in your club?" Shit. It was too late to take back the words and shove them down my throat.
"My club?" A pretentious brow arched. "So you knew who I was? Nice." He nodded to himself. "That brings me to my next question: why did your mother send you there?"
"What?" It was either the drugs they injected, or he was blabbering crap. "I have no idea what you are saying. Why would…how do you know my mother?"
Raffaele held up two of his fingers. "Twice now, you asked out of turn. Make it the third time, and I promise you that you won't get lucky."
I never regarded myself as an overly brave person, but at that moment, my courage and spirit were all I have. And despite all the odds, I wanted to hold on to my strength.
Matching the fire in his eyes, I snarled, "You can go to hell."