𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 |𝟏𝟖+ (#𝟏)

𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚁𝚃𝚈-𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙴𝙴 |

33
ALESSANDRO VITALE
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I prided myself on being relatively cool-headed, but I felt like a chicken with its head chopped off. Every level of logic was thrown out the window in this scenario, especially with regard to her, and my mind suffered a degree of stress it often did not. "What the fuck do you mean she isn't there?" I didn't mean to yell at the woman seated in front of me, but every single word that came out of her mouth was shredding me apart minute by minute.

Jade calmed herself by caressing her swelling belly as she sat in front of me, not bothering to wipe the tears that were streaming down her face. She just showed up here looking much like I felt - a fish out of water. She had a curly, messy hairstyle, and her hole-ridden trousers and matching hoodie were clear signs that she had come immediately after the discovery. Due to her circumstances, I was being uncharacteristically patient with her, but when she repeated the words to me, my brain nearly exploded. "She isn't there. When I got home, the roses you sent were withering by the front door, and her room was still as dirty as she left it two days before to attend the wedding."

She takes a ragged breath in an attempt to relax herself, and I bring her a drink of water in the hopes of keeping her as calm as possible. I regularly had men monitoring their building, but on the night of Georgio's wedding, they took the day off because she would be within reach. Then I fucking kicked her out because my ego was fucking hurt. It's not like I didn't know anything like this could happen; it's why I took these safeguards. I didn't trust the people with whom I did business, and I didn't trust the feds. Amber didn't have to attend class every day because all of her lectures were recorded, but she chose to attend the majority of the time, so it wasn't unnatural for her to stay at home and work if she decided to.

"She doesn't just run off Alessandro and I can't call her because of her phone..." she trails off pointing to the bag she handed me as she walked through my front door.

I grab for the bag and toss everything onto the desk. Her cellphone, makeup, keys, and gum. "Ok." I grunt at her, taking a deep breath. I return to my chair, reclining back and contemplating the sequence of events. If I hadn't had my guard escort her out the wedding maybe she'd still be home safe and sound. Jade was right, Amber didn't run. Before I turn to confront Jade's solemn demeanor, I send a text to Franco and Gianni asking them to come over as soon as possible.

Her face was that of a woman who wanted to let words slide through her lips, but fear gripped her tightly, blocking even a syllable from escaping through her lips when she opened her mouth to tell it all.

"I know she hasn't been open with you, but you think she's in trouble, right?" My nod is reflexive. Even if she wasn't in trouble, it was the assumption on which I would conduct my search for her. If there was one thing I was consciously aware of in myself, it was that I didn't gamble with the lives I cared about, Amber being one of them, and to me she wasn't safe until I had my eyes on her and my hand near touching her.

Conversations will always linger with you depending on your level of excitement, astonishment, intrigue, or grief. This one, I knew, would be one of the latter, especially after the first words she spoke. At first the past tense of her statement flew over my preoccupied mind focused on the possibilities of who had Amber and why. Garzas? Callahan? "I was pregnant," she says out of nowhere, and my gaze shifts to her swollen abdomen, taking in the obvious reality.

She lets out the first chuckle since she arrived. "No, I mean before this. I was pregnant before all of this. It's one of the reasons she chose not to say anything. It's one of the reasons she looks after me so well. I never got around to telling Liam because I had to frame the story in a way that he wouldn't ask too many questions." She takes a deep breath, clicking her nails against each other occasionally tapping her belly. "He deserves the truth too and I hope one day soon I can tell him but I know I've been selfish in keeping you two apart. She doesn't want to hash out a story that will make you look at her differently, but given who you are, I'm guessing you don't care."