Santi's Downfall

Chapter 1: The Encounter

Genuine love is so rare that when you encounter it in any form, it's a wonderful thing, to be utterly cherished in whatever form it takes.

-Gwendoline Christie

Santi Marchesi's POV

I stared outside my floor-to-ceiling glass window overlooking the beach outside where locals and tourists clad in skimpy bikinis enjoying Los Angeles's sun. A light knock sounded on my office door before I heard someone enter my office.

"How's your trip?"

"What do you expect?" I asked sardonically, still looking outside my window and enjoying the view. "What do you think I feel crossing the Atlantic Ocean just to fetch someone and sit on the plane for thirteen hours?"

Nico was silent for a moment and then I heard him exhale a deep breath. "Well, you have no choice. You have to fulfill your mentor's dying request to take good care of his only daughter until she turns twenty-five. The good news is, Haven, is already twenty-one so you'll just have to look after her for four more years and then you're free from your obligation."

As if, that's hardly reassuring for the past nine years I refused to think about that girl since that incident when she visited Sicily with her father. I tasted that worst kind of fear that day when they took her right before my very eyes. Until now, I was still haunted by that nightmare from time to time.

"I don't understand how James' mind works," I grumbled, tucking my hand in each pocket of my handmade Italian trousers. "How could he name me as the legal guardian of his daughter after what happened in the past? It was my fault that his daughter had been kidnapped for three days before we found her."

"You still haven't forgiven yourself about that incident almost a decade ago?" My cousin asked warily. "We all know that it was an accident and our family's enemy had been keeping eyes on us and ready to attack when we let our guard slightly."

I gritted my teeth. That's exactly the point I should have known that our enemies were just waiting for an opening to attack us and I gave them one. Stupid of me. That one mistake almost cost me everything including my father's trust.

I learned my lesson the hard way that fateful day. I swore I would not let our enemies catch me off guard just like that again.

Nico cleared his throat, dragging me out of my reverie. "We can't do anything about that now. Technically, you are now the legal custodian of James' business until his daughter's twenty-fifth birthday."

"What choice do I have?" I asked bitterly. Even if, I am also busy with my organization now this adds to my work.

"I gather some information about Haven Pierce's whereabouts lately," I heard him drop something on my glass table. "I thought you might like to see."

As expected, Nico was an ever-efficient consigliere I could never ask or trust another human being other than him. I reluctantly turned around and faced my cousin and right-hand man. I shot a gaze to the folder he placed on my table with great reluctance I opened it and stared at the content. I raised an eyebrow in Nico's direction when I saw a stolen shot of a woman at the top right corner of the file. "Is this her?"

"Yes," he answered in a no-nonsense tone.

Of course, this man would not make any mistake when it comes to detective work. He's one of the best in the business, after all. I stared at the picture once again. She barely resembled the woman I met in my youth. The woman in the photo was a full-grown woman with pastel pink hair. "What's the deal with her unusual hair color?"