Sold to the Capo-Chapter 47: RAGE

ADRIANA’S POV

"Excuse me?" I repeated when he was still staring at me with trepidation in his eyes.

He sighed and leaned back, hitting his head against the headrest repeatedly. "Look Adriana, this sounds stupid..."

"You think?" I retorted.

How could he just come up with something like that? What was his plan?

"Look you just... you don’t belong in this type of world; I see you trying to fit in, and that’s the problem," He explained, gesturing wildly.

"It’s a problem because I want to learn to defend myself? It’s a problem because I want to find my father?" I asked, my tone a bit incredulous by the sheer irony in his words.

"You could have just stayed where you were, Adriana. You didn’t have to come to Italy," He pointed out, and that made me flare up.

"Don’t you dare bring that up! Do you think I wanted to come back? They knew where I was, okay? They kept sending threats, and yes, it was safer there, but after the last attempt on my life in Italy, I saw the tex,t, and I immediately flew over the next morning..."

"You could go somewhere and start afresh"

"Not without my father. He’s the last thing I have. The only thing I have, and if there is just the slightest chance that he’s alive, then I’m going to find him!" I pointed out through gritted teeth.

He watched me silently from the corner of his eyes and he sighed. "I don’t want you to get hurt. Vincenzo and his family... they’re not your type of people, Vincenzo especially"

"Are you seriously saying something against your boss?"

He whipped his head to look at me, anger flashing in his eyes. "Don’t you get it, Adriana? I care for you, okay?..." He paused, seeing the look of astonishment on my face, and he paused, rubbing his face while letting out a low curse. "As a friend, okay?"

"Yeah? Well then let me make my decision now so that you know.... My father is likely out there somewhere and before I die, I want to find him. You know how far someone would go for family?"

"He hasn’t been there years of your life, Adriana" Henry muttered even as he switched on the ignition again.

"But he is alive"

"What if he’s not" He avoided my piercing gaze as he started driving again.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

"Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that..." his tone was clipped and I knew he was hiding something.

"You know something about it, don’t you?" I sat up in my seat, my heart pounding as I stared at the conflicted look on his face.

"I don’t want to get into any trouble. You knowing could also get you into trouble" He muttered.

"Tell me. Now" I demanded.

"Your father..." He paused just as we came to a stop at the bookstore. "We’ll talk later, hm?"

I bit down on my lip wondering where he was going with this.

"Fine" I muttered, getting out of the car, Henry following suit while we walked into the bookstore.

The girl at the desk quickly came to us, smiling widely at Henry and I. Henry scowled at her and she got the hint, focusing on me instead.

"Mr Frankfort is in his office" She informed, leading us forward to a small door by the end of the shop.

I thanked her and instructed Henry to wait outside the door while I walked in.

As soon as I closed the door behind me, I was hit with the smell of paper and old books. The room was bright, and an old man, hunched over his desk, raised his gaze to look at me.

"Miss Rossi?" He asked, his wrinkled face creasing as he squinted his eyes through thick-rimmed glasses.

"Mrs LaRosa, but Miss Rossi works too," I muttered, going to sit. "I got your text"

"Yes, indeed. I should have just texted what I wanted to say, but I did want to see you in person." The man looked me over again.

"It’s really nice meeting you. I spoke to Rachel severally and when you didn’t come to the shop but called to say you know nothing about it, I just lost hope anㅡ." I stopped myself, taking a deep breath; the episode with Henry had left me more shaken up, and I could feel my heart rate spiking up.

"It’s fine. I did know your father, and when you called introducing yourself as his daughter, I knew I had to see you... to answer your heart question, I do not know his exact location; in fact, when he came here, it was to meet someone" The man’s voice lowered. "I don’t know why I’m telling you this but you have clearly gone through so much trouble to find him"

I leaned forward in my seat, my ears perking up. "You don’t know how much this would mean to me if you could help me..." I muttered.

"He used to hang around the Bratva often. Now, I’m not sure of this, but this man he used to meet... looked Russian, and there was a tattoo on his neck that indicated he was part of the Bratva. They used to meet here, very quiet place this is and I welcomed all but about a year ago, I didn’t see them both again"

My heart leapt. The chances of my father still being alive were high, but what was he doing with the Bratva?

"Thank you so much for this" I quickly thanked the man, dropping a wad of cash on the table for him.

He eyed it warily and sighed. "I wish you all the best in finding your father, Mrs LaRosa"

With a smile, I walked out of the office, smiling at the girl outside who was arranging some stuff on a bookshelf.

Henry was hanging about the door, his eyes surveying around till he saw me. "Finally" I could hear him mutter under his breath as I neared him.

"Let’s go"

He led me out of the bookstore and helped me into the car before he got in himself. "So what did you find out?"

I was hesitant. Should I tell him? He trusted me but could I trust him? He had told me some stuff already that I knew he wouldn’t dare to say to Vincenzo so perhaps we were on the same side.

"You do know you can tell me, right? I can help you, Adriana." His tone was sultry and convincing, and I sighed heavily.

"You know you’re not supposed to help me, right?" I joked without mirth.

He switched on the ignition, reversing skillfully before we started driving back to the mansion. "You know you can trust me, Adriana" He repeated, eyes fixed on the road.

"What are the chances of the Bratva in Italy?" I asked suddenly.

His brows furrowed like he didn’t understand what I was saying. "Why do you wanna know that?"

"Just tell me"

"Not too high. They don’t come to Italy unless it’s something really important. Why?"

I smiled to myself. "I think my father might be with them... he used to see them a while ago. A year ago actually"

He shot me a worried glance. "Don’t tell me you’re planning on finding the Bratva. That’s absurd" He scoffed.

I bit down on my lip, refusing to answer.

We continued to drive in silence and when I noticed that we were almost back at the mansion, I spoke up.

"What did you want to say in the morning anyways?"

His hands around the steering wheel tightened again and he cleared his throat. "You can’t tell anyone, okay?"

"Yeah sure"

"Vincenzo... he... he was responsible for your father’s disappearance at the time when he went missing," Henry said. "They were looking for him to get the debt and... I don’t know what they did to him or what it has to do with this whole Bratva shit, but my guess is that they’re holding your father captive or something while also playing you," He breathed out, sending me a glance.

I stiffened in my seat, unsure if I heard correctly. "You’re telling me Vincenzo was responsible for all this in the first place, and I can’t find my father because he’s responsible for it and..." I paused, realizing we were already at the gates. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Adriana. Don’t do anything rash" Henry muttered under his breath as he pulled up to the driveway of the house.

My bottom lip was quivering and tears stung my eyes. Was I being played again by Vincenzo? Was this some sort of cruel joke to him?

I didn’t answer Henry, I simply got out of the car, one destination in mind.

As I opened the door to the house and walked in, my knees buckling, I looked around the small company gathered there in the living room talking.

Val, Salvatore, and Vincenzo. Our little guest was nowhere to be found.

I zeroed in on Vincenzo, my fists clenched by my sides as a tear dropped from my eye.

Vincenzo who was listening to the doors, stood up on seeing me, his expression a bit soft as he walked up to me.

"Tesㅡ"

But I didn’t let him finish. With a swift motion, I slapped him across the face, the sound echoing through the silent room. Vincenzo’s eyes widened in shock as his head turned to the side, his face reddening from the impact.

The room fell silent, with all eyes on me. Val and Salvatore looked on in stunned disbelief.

Vincenzo’s mouth opened, his eyes still wide with shock. "Adriana, I—"

But I didn’t let him speak. With another swift motion, I slapped him again, the force of the blow making his head jerk to the side once more.

"How dare you?!" I screamed.