I caught sight of Luca, Lo, and Matteo making their way toward me.
“Have you heard anything new?” I asked them, stepping into my office.
“No. Nothing but silence,” Matteo answered.
“That’s what I was afraid of,” I said, moving to the bar and pouring myself a drink.
“Where have you been?” Lo asked.
“I went to see Mya.” I took a gulp from my glass and letting the harsh liquid spread through me.
“How is she?” Luca looked up from his screen, his expression shifting from one of focus to genuine concern.
“She’s better,” I stated, taking another long drink. “She knows.”
“Knows?” Matteo echoed.
I glanced at each of them. “I told her everything. About Mom and Gigi.”
Understanding flickered in their eyes. Not wanting to linger on that topic, I shifted the conversation.
“How are Tabi and Tristan doing?” I asked, glancing at my brother.
Lo exhaled deeply, rubbed his hand down his face, and leaned forward against the bar. “She’s having a real fucking hard time, brother. She has nightmares and shit. But Tristan’s like a typical kid. He bounced right the shit up. Although he’s been asking when Gigi’s coming home from her trip.”
“She hasn’t said anything more about that night she was taken?” I asked.
“No, she hasn’t,” came the quiet reply.
We sat in silence, each lost in our thoughts, when the ringing of my phone abruptly shattered the peacefulness. I reached for it and saw a text message from an unfamiliar number. As I unlocked the screen, a sense of foreboding filled the air. Witha swift click, the message revealed itself, and my world came crashing down. The glass in my hand slipped, shattering on the ground, the sound echoing through the room.
“What's wrong?” Matteo’s voice cut through my anger, his concern evident as he rose.
My hands trembled violently. On the screen was an image of Gigi,my Angel, captured in a vulnerable state, sending a surge of rage through my veins. She was stripped down to nothing but her underwear. She lay on her side, the sharp angles of her ribs and the hollowness in her cheeks evident. My gaze dropped to the chains snaking around her neck, and that's when I saw it—a collar. A fucking collar.
Zip ties dug into her wrists and ankles behind her back. She was on that filthy floor, soaked, water pooling around her. The image made me want to kill every fucking person who was in the same vicinity as Gigi. Lo snatched the phone from my unresisting hand.
“What the hell?” Lo’s whisper was laced with shock. Drawn by the commotion, Matteo and Luca approached, their eyes widening at the photo.
“Is she...” Luca's voice trailed off as if he couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing.
I closed my eyes, the image of Gigi’s seemingly lifeless body playing in my mind. She lay there, her once vibrant self reduced to skin and bones, restrained and helpless.
She was lying still.
Too fucking still.
Lo thrust the phone back into my hand. “There’s a fucking video.”
With a trembling finger, I tapped play, and a robotic voice filled the room.“Are you missing your little angel, Nico?”My insides twisted with hatred as the camera panned, revealing his sinister intentions for her.
“Gigi, should we show Nico how well you do under pressure?”The voice was sickeningly calm.
An unfamiliar female voice echoed over the video, her tone laced with desperation.“Please, stop it!”
“Wait. Did you hear that?” Luca asked. “Someone else is in the room.”
I didn’t respond because my attention was glued to the fucking screen. As the camera steadied, the sound of rushing water filled the air, and my breath caught in my throat. A powerful jet of water erupted, slamming into Gigi's body, forcing a scream from her lips. Her delicate skin couldn’t withstand the assault, and it broke from the impact.
