The Mafia's Queen

|Ch 38| The Mafia's Queen

Estephano spent the past two weeks searching high and low for Stephanie. Between him, his father's mafia, and Stephanie's father's police officers all looking for her it still wasn't enough she was still missing, completely vanishing from the face of the earth. With every passing hour, he grew reckless, the guilt of having failed at protecting her was eating at his heart. He felt like the most worthless fiance. If only he had followed after her instead of just sitting there like a log.

Leonardo's accusation from two weeks ago rang clearly in his ears, "You were supposed to protect her, this is your fault!" he had roared at a motionless grey-faced Estephano the second he saw him before having to be pulled away by Estephano's father.

However what Estephano didn't know was that what Leonardo had said was not what he meant, in Leonardo's heart he knew the right words that were running inside his mind were, "You failed her, this is your fault for not listening to her and causing her to run away."

Regardless Estephano could not help blaming himself every waking day that passed without her beside him. He didn't know how long his senses would stay with him before he lost it completely.

How could he live with himself if he never saw her again? He wouldn't be able to. She was his soulmate, his queen. They were supposed to marry and start a family together and grow old beside one another.

The thought of holding her in his arms motivated him to keep searching and he would never give up until the man that did this was dead by his hands and Stephanie was in his embrace.

The sight of men running in and out of the mansion trying to figure out where to search next was like deja vu for Estephano, it reminded him of that rainy night many full moons ago when Marquez had gone missing. He may have been too small to remember every detail but he remembered his mother's wales and his father's tears the look of shame on his eyes when he looked at Estephano still registered in his mind.

There was a knock at his door waking him from his thoughts, blinking he looks towards the door to see the image of a more dark version of himself. There stood his twin with a dark blank expression on his face.

Although he and Marquez where twins the two looked so different alongside one another both gave off fear however Marquez was colder and his eyes held a dark gleam in them. Both of which Estephano felt when he was around him. He doesn't remember it always being that way it wasn't until he came back after having been missing that Marquez showed cruelness towards Estephano. Almost as if the boy that returned from darkness was but the mere shell of what he once was. Marquez never once told him what had happened to him or where he was, he told no one. To this day it was a mystery of which he would take to his grave. No one dared to ask him as a result of fear.

"Any news of where Stephanie is?" Marquez asked Estephano his eyes indicating he was worried however the tone of his voice proved he was anything but worried about her well-being.

Estephano did not like the way Stephanie's name sounded coming from his brothers mouth. It made him furious, "No, maybe if you helped instead of disappearing all the time we can find her." Was all Estephano had told his brother before giving him a questioning look that indicated he wanted to know why he was acting more suspicious than ever, and he also did not like the smile he saw on Marquez's face anytime he was around Estephano who was clearly in distress.

He was mocking his misery and if it wasn't for the grief in his heart he would have lashed out on his brother demanding respect.

"Where have you been all this time anyway?" Estephano then adds accusingly when Marquez says nothing.

Coughing slightly Marquez adjusts the ends of his sleeves from his white button-up "Oh you know here and there, dad has me doing some of his business since he's been busy helping you and that distressed cry baby Leonardo find Steph,"