The Don and His Russian Bride

XXVIII

The taxi driver pressed the gas forward to follow the loop of the driveway. I couldn't call anyone to pick me up when I wasn't supposed to be in Sicily. Armando and Luc's men would have to follow orders to send me away as soon as they saw me. With such little options, I had hopped in the nearest cab and given the driver Luc's address.

The entire drive through the island, I was a nervous wreck. My mind was racing with questions. How will Luc react when he sees me? What if I am already too late? My heart thundered in my chest as the mansion came into view. The cab just barely stopped when I threw open the door.

Before I could get too far, the taxi driver called out, "Miss, you still need to pay."

"Yes." I admit that paying for the cab ride didn't cross my mind after I had become so accustomed to Luciano's men driving me everywhere. I thanked the cab driver as I handed him the amount for the ride, but didn't waste any time standing around to watch him drive off.

I ran up the front steps to the mansion. Despite the recent threats, the front door of the house remained unguarded. I let myself in as I had done many times since accepting the mansion was mine as well as Luc's.

"Luc!" I yelled out from the foyer. Flashes of Luc bleeding out raced across my vision. My hands pressed against my stomach as if I were the one wounded that night. Not wanting to relive the memories, I pressed forward into the living room. "Luc!"

My voice echoed throughout the room and into the halls. This was only the second room I had been in, but it seemed like the entire mansion could be empty.

In the kitchen, I called out for Carlotta. She was nowhere to be seen either. Luc had always cared about the people who worked for him. It was possible I wasn't the only one he sent away to protect. I hurried to the steps, thinking Luc could still be in his office.

My heart raced as I pushed open the door to his office, but when I spotted his empty chair, it stopped almost completely. I came back too late. Everyone was gone, including Luciano.

I trudged through the hallways to our bedroom. I refused to get my hopes up that he was in there while everyone else had evacuated. Luc had promised me he wouldn't be alone in this situation. Despite knowing I was in a vacant house, the silence of the bedroom still hit me like a strong wind. Turning on the light only revealed a room as empty as I had expected it to be.

The bed remained perfectly made as it did every day. Not a single item seemed out of place. I tried to convince myself it was a good thing that there wasn't a sign of a struggle. I moved to the closet, where all of Luc's clothes and mine remained. If only our possessions were missing, I could convince myself Luc had packed up and left the mansion of his own accord. Instead, it was as though someone else wanted him to disappear without a trace.

Approaching my side of the closet, I realized something actually had been misplaced. The jewelry box Luc had given me no longer sat on top of the dresser. I hadn't taken it with me to Gianna's house, assuming I would come back. Perhaps Cesare took it as it held a precious item belonging to his mother.

Before I could investigate the room further to find if anything else was missing, the smallest thud sounded from downstairs. If it had not been silent, I would have missed it. I recognized the sound as the door shutting. Someone had entered the mansion.

Heat rushed to my fingers and toes at the notion it could be Luc at the door. My hopes soared. Nothing bad had happened to him, he simply ran a business errand and now had returned. I raced down the steps as if my life depended on throwing my arms around Luc to greet him home.

I ran towards the foyer of the mansion, but didn't make it there as the person I saw in the living room stopped me in my tracks.

Armando faced me wide eyed. "Rina, what are you doing here?"