When The Wrong One Loves You Right 3: Forever And Always

Chapter 23: Taken

Vince's POV

Ana had just given birth to two beautiful baby boys an hour ago. I'd helped her, we all had. I was scared for a moment we were going to lose her. If not for Dante, we might have.
I stood leaned against the window frame holding one of the babies, occasionally looking down at his beautiful little face.
I'd watched a black Tahoe pull up in front of the house and watched a couple men get in the back seat about twenty minutes ago. I could've sworn one of them was caring Ana but that was crazy. It was dark. I must have seen something else. Ana had guards outside her door. There was no way anybody would get her out of the house quietly. Just in case I made a mental note of the license plate before looking back down at the baby in my arms.
I spent the evening looking into his giant blue eyes that looked back at me curiously studying my face. He had Ana's eyes. 
"Your eyes are going to get you in to trouble one day." I said to him quietly.
"Almost everyone of our kids has Ana's eyes." Sandro said behind me.
I turn my head slightly and glanced over at him for a moment but quickly turned my attention back to the baby. Sandro was laying on the couch, his eyes closed, with the other baby sleeping on his chest.
"How'd you put him to sleep so fast?" I sniggered. "It's like you've done it before."
Sandro smirked and looked over at me sarcastically replying. "No, never, what gave you that impression?"
"I remember Luca being this small. Sometimes I wish I could go back and do it all over again." I smiled.
"Did you start your period? Your starting to sound like a sentimental little bitch." Sandro sneered.
I chuckled. "Well fuck you too then."
Sandro lay there smiling and didn't say another word. It was silent in the house for the first time in hours. The silence, as always was short lived.
"Sandro!" Aldo's voice echoed through the  house.
Sandro carefully sat up doing his best not to disturb the baby.
"Sandro, come quick!" Aldo yelled for upstairs.
"Mom, will you take him." Sandro said to his mother, Pia, who was sitting by the fireplace reading some sappy novel.
He was passing the baby over when Rosie ran into the room.
"Sandro, She's gone! Mom is missing!" She said.
Sandro and I exchanged looks for a split second. Then he took off running.
"Lexi, Take him." I said almost throwing the baby at her.
I followed close behind Sandro. Aldo ran out of Ana's room in a panic.
"She's gone. Mom is gone. She left these." Aldo said handing us sealed envelopes with our names on them. I took the one he held out to me and opened it. Sandro took his envelope and stuffed it in his back pocket before walking into her room.

Vince,
Sweet Vinny, I'm so sorry.
I wanted to do this in person but there was no time. If your reading this you know now that I'm gone. I wanted to go with you. I wanted to disappear with you, however if I did that I don't know if I'd want to come back. It's true that I'll love you, Forever and always, no matter what. When I'm ready I will reach out and go with you but for reasons I can't explain right now, I can't.
I wanted you to know that I am safe. If ever that changes, You will be the first to know. I will keep contact with you. I'm not sure how yet, I'll figure that out later. Please don't try to find me. I will come back when it's safe. Ian and Uri are with me. They will protect me until I reach out to you.
All my love,
Ana

Dante walked out of Ana's bedroom and past us without a word with a pissed off look on his face clenching an envelope of his own.
"I need a drink." I said turning and walking away.
We walked silently to the den. Sandro didn't say a word. He walked past me to the mini bar and grabbed a full bottle, opening it before taking a couple full swallows and lowering it to the halfway mark. He sat the bottle down and leaned against the walnut table top. His jaw was clenched but still quivered. I could see the hurt in his eyes. I could see the worry. He took a deep breath and then another swig, fisting the neck of the bottle. I sat in front of the mahogany desk and watched him drink for a half hour.
"She's okay. She's safe Sandro. I'm sure of it." I said trying to reassure him.
"No!" Sandro said chucking the bottle.
It sailed through the den in to the entryway and crashed against the wall, shattering. His chest rose and fell quickly. The sound of his heavy breathing filled the room for a moment.
"No Vince. No she's not safe. She's not as safe as she could be HERE with ME! Do you not understand? My wife feels she is safer without me. Do you know how much that hurts? Do you know how it feels to have her basically spit in your face and disappear?"
"Yeah I do actually." I said relating.
"I have been nothing but loyal to her. I've done everything I could think of to make her happy. I solved one problem after another to keep her safe and this is how she repays me. She can't even tell me to my face that she is leaving. Instead she cowers and runs away, like she is fucking scared of me. Like she doesn't love me."
"First, she doesn't fucking remember loving you." I replied slightly annoyed. "That doesn't mean she doesn't still love you. She just doesn't remember the life you've had together. She is scared, and lost and lonely and she does not know what's happening to her. She didn't want to be in the way Sandro.  As far as being safe goes, this is an unpredictable move and nobody will know where she is. Everybody expects her to stay somewhere close to you. This may be the best way to keep her alive."
"The best way to keep her safe, the best way to keep her alive is for her to be here with me. It is going to drive me crazy not knowing where she is and who she's with."
"Sandro we will find her. She will be fine." I said trying to comfort him.
As if to answer my prayers my phone began to ring. I glanced down at the screen that read, unknown number.
"I'm sorry Sandro, I have to go. I will help you find her but I have some business I have to take care of first."
I didn't give him time to respond. Instead I left the room and walked quickly out of the house to my car. I slipped inside and answered my phone.
"Pronto."
"Hey, it's me." Ana's voice said quietly through the phone.
"Jesus, Ana are you okay." I asked after urgently pulling the door closed before I spoke.
"Yes I'm fine. I just wanted to let you know that I'm alright. I'm safe."
"Are you sure?" I asked detecting something in her voice that I couldn't quite place. "What's wrong Piccola?"
"I'm second guessing myself. Did I make a mistake leaving?"
"No Ana. You did what you thought was right, but if you changed your mind I can come get you, just tell me where you are."
"No Vince. I'm fine. Really. I just .... I miss you already and I'm having a hard time sleeping. I slept in the car on the way here and I woke up when Ian laid me in Gray's bed. Now I can't go back to sleep, my brain won't shut off. I just keep thinking and I'm overthinking everything. What am I doing? Was this a dumb idea?"
"It was not a dumb idea Ana. I wouldn't have expected anything other than a brilliant idea the wasn't completely thought through. I just want to make sure your safe Piccola."
"I am." Ana sighed. "I'd be safer if you went with me, but that would defeat my disappearing on my own-ish."
"How far away from the city are you?" I asked.
"Your not going to stop asking are you?"
"No Ana, I'm not. I want to know where you are."
"I'm not going to tell you Vince."
"What can you tell me?"
"I'm safe and I'm with a friend."
I sighed in frustration. Stubborn girl.
"Ana," I said as I started the ignition. "I just want you safe. I want to be the one by your side protecting you. Just because you think you're safe, doesn't mean you are." I turn on my Bluetooth and synced my phone with my car. "Wherever it is you're going, I want to go with you. Please Ana, I'm begging you."
I drove slowly down the driveway as we spoke.
"I can't tell you Vince. I'm sorry."
"Ana, if you won't tell me were you are and you don't know what you need then I'm not sure I can help you. What can I do to help you Piccola?"
"Will you sing to me so I can fall back asleep?"
"Only if you can answer one question for me." I said as I pulled on the street.
"Yes."
"Are you running away from me or Sandro?"
"Neither. Dante, he..." Ana sighed and paused briefly before she continued. "I'm sorry Vince, I want to, but I can't tell you what happened."
"I will find you one way or another Ana. Are you wearing your locket?" I asked.
"Yes. I have it on."
I sighed, celebrating a silent victory as I pulled to the side of the road and began singing the song I always sang Ana to get her to go to sleep. I pulled my laptop out and quickly hooked everything up that I needed to find her.
Within five minutes I could hear her steady breathing. Then I listened. Listen for a sound, for a voice, for something, anything as I sat in the darkness.  
I'd come to the conclusion that I knew who she was with.  I heard her say that Ian put her in Gray's bed. I only know one person with that name. Gray O'Callahan.
Last time I saw him was twelve years ago. Ana had just disappeared and I was drinking my sorrow. Gray was asking about Ana and telling me about a place he'd just bought on the west side of buffalo, outside the city. Then some guy walked in and started a fight that I didn't want to be part of. Gray had decided to participate and quickly regretted his decision. I pulled him away from it and we went our separate ways.
Ana was friends with Gray while she was In school but to my knowledge, hadn't spoken to him since she'd lived with me. They only seen each other a couple times a year up to that point.  How would she have known how to contact him, unless her memory had started to come back. But she shouldn't be able to remember that quickly right?
I listened to Ana breathe as she slept. I heard her mumble something, But couldn't make out the words.
"Shh, I'm sorry darlin. I wasn't trying to wake you." A man said in an Irish accent.
"Gray, definitely Gray." I whispered to myself.
"Sorry, let me move over. Where are we?" Ana mumbled half asleep.
"We are in the bedroom on my plane." Gray said. "You don't have to lay so far away Ana. Come here."
I heard fabric rustle.
"Are you comfortable?" Gray asked.
"Yes. Where we going?" Ana asked.
"We are going to my grandmother's in Ireland. We were going to leave in the morning but I changed my mind. This way you can sleep on the plane and be awake when we get there. Nana is very excited to see you."
"I remember your grandma hating me." Ana said.
"She doesn't hate you Ana."
"She was always yelling at me." A groggy Ana mumbled.
"Well we weren't very good kids Ana. She yelled at both of us. We were always running through the house being noisy and breaking things. We caused chaos and both of us got in trouble for it, you should have seen what she did to me after you left."
"When did you talk to her?"
"In the car on the way here. Right after you fell asleep I called her."
"Why are you doing all this for me?" Ana asked.
"Because your important to me. I want you to be safe." Gray answered.
"Is there another reason?"
"I love you Ana. Your mom promised my father that we would end up together one day. I was raised believing that you'd be my wife. The day I gave you that phone I knew by the look on your face when you were telling me about how happy you are with Vincenzo that I would never have a chance with you. I knew that you would choose him over me every time you had the option. That day I realized I was raised believing a lie. I was taught to love you and yet I would never be with you. It crushed me. I kept both phones activated hoping that you would call me. I waited for so long to hear from you that I was beginning to think that I would never hear your voice again. I've loved you since we were children. In all this time, that still hasn't changed."
I was waiting for Ana to say something back, but there was nothing but static on the phone.
"Are we stopping?" Ana asked finally breaking the silence.
"Yeah, let me figure out what's going on. Ian, Uri, come with me."
Fabric rustled and I heard Gray walking away. Several minutes later I heard a crash filled by gunshots.
"Ana hide!" Grayson yelled.
More gunshots echoed through the speakers of my car. Then my Ana screamed. Panic gripped my chest. I needed to be there. I needed to protect her. I held my breath so I could concentrate on the sounds coming through the speakers.
"Ana!" I yelled loudly hoping she'd hear me. "Ana what's happening?!"
"Vinny." Ana said. Her voice getting louder. "Hold on."
She must have picked the phone back up. I could hear her moving around.
"Piccola, what is going on? Talk to me, anything you hear or see. Where are you?"
"We are at an airport. I don't know where." Ana said panicky. "We we're taxiing on the runway getting ready to take off. There was a crashing noise, then an explosion, and we stopped. Then someone got on the plane and Gray yelled for me to hide. Vincenzo help me!" She cried in a whisper. "Roman Petrovitch, Mark, And Matt. They are here."
"Ana they are going to take you. I need you to hide the phone. Put it in your bra. I want to hear what they say. Your locket, I can track it as long as you have it. I will find you Ana. It's important the you keep your locket on. I will know where you are as long as you have it. Where are you hiding Ana."
"I'm behind an access panel in the closet." Ana answered.
"Stay there and be as quiet as you can baby."
"Vinny, I'm scared."
"I know baby. I know." I said "Okay, Ann I have everything hooked up I'll know where you are in just a minute, okay?"
"Okay."
"Ana why did you leave? If you would have come with me you'd be safe right now."
"You couldn't promise that." She replied.
"You'd be safer with me than you are with Grayson."
"I'm sorry Vince. I made so many mistakes. I cheated on Sandro. Dante had some wacko plan to take me with him and never look back. I didn't want that." Ana sighed. "I love my husband and I want to go home eventually, but there is a part of me that wonders what it would have been like to be with you. Your family is my family. Your brothers are some of my very best friends. Our families have always been so close."
"I wanted to be with you Ana. It was you that decided Sandro was the better choice."
"You hurt me Vince. You abandoned me after you promised me forever."
"I tried to fix it Ana. I thought you'd forgiven me when you were seventeen. Apparently I still have some work to do. I love you Piccola. I want to be with you. Do you not understand that? You are so important to me. I want you to be happy, even if that means I'm not. Damn it Ana, what do I need to do to prove that to you?"
"They are here, in the room." Ana whispered.
"Hide the phone baby. Stay as quiet as you can. Do not let them take your locket off. Ana, I love you."
"I love you." Ana whispered.
Several minutes later I listened to Ana scream as they drug her out of the closet. My heart shattered. I knew where she was now. I knew who had her. I would find them and kill them all. This had become a very personal vendetta.