Finding Isabella

| 3 - Alexi |

What the fuck? She hung up on me. Not only that, a kid called her "mom" right before she hung up on me. Who the fuck did she have a kid with?

"She had a fucking kid?" My rhetorical question lingers in the air, and I know both Matteo and Leo are just as confused. "I don't care what you have to do," I say, "find her and bring her home. I'm not letting her get away again." Both guys nod their head and begin to stand up, but they're interrupted by someone bursting into my office.

"Boss," the guy is waving a folder around in his hand and sweating like a maniac.

"What made you think it was okay to enter my office like this? And without permission?" I scold, letting the anger that was already building up explode.

"I'm sorry, boss, but it's major news. Isabella Garcia is alive and there's photographic evidence."

"Give it to me," I demand. It's been years since I took my dad's place as the leader of the Italian mafia, but I'm still struggling to find the revenge that Marcus Garcia deserves. And his precious daughter is the perfect target, but instead, I flip open the folder to find photos of my beautiful Cassandra.

"What the fuck is this?" I yell.

"It's the photos," he says as his head tilts and eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.

"Why the fuck are these photos of mio amore, Cassandra, being spread as photos of Isabella Garcia?"

"It's a confirmed match; I don't know how, and I don't have details, but it's confirmed," he stutters. I dismiss him abrasively and tell Leo to find out what he can. As Leo's fingers dance around the laptop's keyboard once more, I try to stitch together memories of Cassandra and me. The vivid memory of her dancing on the sand of the private beach where my beach house sits plays in my head repeatedly. Her flowy sundress somehow defined her curves even when blowing around in the wind.

Leo's voice breaks me from my daydream, "Cassandra Jackson is, in fact, Isabella Garcia. Also, I had to go through some seriously hard firewalls, but I found the birth certificate for one Christian Alexander Garcia. She only ever changes his last name, I guess it makes sense considering he only legally exists on paper behind a shit ton of firewalls and security. It wouldn't surprise me if some government officials don't even know he exists."

"Who's the father?" I ask with a scowl spread across my face.

"Well, there's not another signature on the birth certificate. Oh—" Leo gasps, cutting himself off before making eye contact with me and then looking back to Matteo. "The kid was born about eight months after she disappeared for the final time."

"Are you saying that's my kid?"

"I mean, I can't say for certain, but it seems highly likely. I can't find photographs of him for reference either, but we might be able to get a location on them now that we know Cassandra Jackson is an alias."

"Find her, and do it fast. I don't want anyone else getting to her first," I say.

Matteo scratches his neck before cautiously speaking, "Alexi, she's Isabella Garcia, that means she's a major weak spot for—"

"I know what it means," I cut Matteo off, "but I don't care. It doesn't matter what her name is, she's still my queen and possibly the mother of my child. Fuck Marcus Garcia, I can worry about what this all means after I know she and Christian are safe."

"And what about the other guy we heard on the phone? What if he's her boyfriend or something?" Leo asks.

"Then I'll torture him until he begs for death," I say.

Our conversation is cut short by my phone ringing. An unknown number flashes on the screen, but knowing it could be Cassandra, or, technically, Isabella, is enough incentive to answer. "Hello, who is this?"

"Alexi Romano?" a male voice asks.

"Who is this?" I ask again cautiously.

"This is Calum Garcia," he pauses. "I want to talk to you about my sister and nephew."