Page 45 of Stolen Bride
“Good. You were looking like a weak-ass bitch.”
“As angry as you were, you weren’t hurting your sister, other than her feelings. Those I can work in my favor. Now back to your problem. I think I can help when it comes to findingyour wife. I thought Gracie was being suspicious, and I had her followed when she went to Walmart, of all places.”
“Walmart?”
“Yeah. I thought it was odd, but I thought she was being strange. She had ice cream. I asked her about it, and she was watching a TikTok thing and had to have it. Something they only had there.”
“Let’s check their surveillance.”
****
She hasn’t turned on the fucking phone Gracie had gotten her. What the hell? How am I supposed to track her whereabouts? Two fucking whole days have passed, and I’m not any closer to finding my wife.
“Son, what about her ring?” my father asks. My face fell because it wasn’t something I’d had time to achieve or thought of because I foolishly believed I’d let her go in the end, ring included.
“I didn’t put a tracker in it.”
“You used my jeweler, Fierro, correct?” My eyebrows shoot upward because I can already tell where his mind is going, and I hope that he’s right. Although, since I’d been in a hurry, I doubt that’s the case.
“Yes,” I say. He calls him and puts it on speaker. “Fierro, my friend. I know you made a ring for my son quickly and as a special order, but I was wondering if you did what you always do for me?”
“A tracker?”
“Yes.”
“All of my pieces are so expensive, Sir. It’s a safety measure, but…” Fierro’s nervous, but my heart jumps in my chest with the possibility.
“So, it’s there?” I ask.
“Yes, but…” I cut him off before he started babbling.
“Is it possible to turn it on now, even with the ring not here? We’re trying to find it.”
“Yes, it’s activated, but I hadn’t wanted to pry.”
“Thank you. Please send it to me ASAP. It’s very important, and I will send you a bonus.”
“It’s not necessary, Sir. You are great to me and my family.”
“I assure you, it’s very appreciated and necessary.” A few moments later, I have a trace running on my wife. It takes about twenty minutes, but a location comes up, and my sweet beauty is hiding away in Tallahassee.
“I’m sorry, Son. I wish I would have thought of that sooner.”
“No. Not your fault. I have to find my wife.” I’m out the door and on the road before anyone can stop me. It doesn’t matter that we don’t have Jones yet because getting Stella to safety is my only priority.
****
Leaning over her sleeping form, I watch my wife’s tear-stained face. What the hell did she think she was doing? The risk she took to get away from me was foolish and dangerous. All for nothing, because there’s no way I’d let her go now. She messed up. I thought she was an angel, but it seems she’s a mischievous little thing, slinking away, planning to leave me with my unbornbaby inside her. I hold the little stick in my hand, thinking of the baby devil growing inside of her, and suddenly the past, the betrayal, the pain, faded. All I want is my wife to say she’ll stay by my side because I can’t let her leave me.
She has no idea what the past three days and nights have been like. I almost choked the life out of my sister when I found out what she’d done. Never in my life have I been so pissed. Even my grandfather’s accusations and attempt on my life meant nothing compared to her sending my wife away.
“Damiano,” she whispers. My eyes widen and I think my little wife is awake, and that’s when I realize she’s still asleep. She whimpers a plea. “Why?” A sob comes from her, cracking something inside of me. The anger I had fades.
“Wake up, my little runaway. Angel, wake up.”
“Dame,” she gasps, swatting at me, but I’m too fast and I catch her hands, pinning her to the bed.
“Calm down, Wife, or you’ll hurt yourself and our baby.”