Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 938 : A Locket Left Behind

*Leo*

It was late by the time I had left the warehouse. My eyelids were heavy along with my feet. The only thing I could really think about in that moment was crashing in bed.

I hadn’t heard a word from Bianca all day. Which I suppose I had taken as a good thing. Hearing nothing meant she wasn’t in need of going to the hospital or anything like that. However, I still worried about her now that I was on my way home.

Judging by the time, I’d assume she was already fast asleep. I had hoped she was, anyway. I didn’t have an ounce of energy in me to talk about anything. I needed sleep; and lots of it.

What felt like a lifetime, I finally pulled into the driveway of the estate. I dragged my tired body out of the car and into the house. All the lights were off except for a small lamp at the top of the staircase.

Bianca usually left that lamp on the nights she went to bed before I arrived home. It had become a symbol of comfort for me. Even if we were in some kind of fight or argument, she still always made sure to leave the lamp on.

Perhaps, there had been more meaning behind the symbolism. As if to have said, regardless of the state of our relationship, I still love you and care about you.

As I walked past the small lamp, I yawned a couple times before reaching the door to our bedroom. The door had been left wide open, which in my tired state, I hadn’t thought too much about it. Though, usually, she had always kept the door closed while she slept.

It was pitch black inside. I shed off my outer clothing as I blindly made my way towards the bed hoping I didn’t step on anything. Finally, I crawled into bed next to Bianca and pulled the blankets up to my waist. My eyelids closed immediately as I reached out my hand to rest it on Bianca’s back.

Quickly, my eyes shot open. My hand gripped nothing but fabric. Bianca wasn’t in bed at all. Panic ran through my veins as I jumped out of bed.

“Bianca?” I called out, walking towards the bathroom.

I opened the door to more darkness. The bathroom was as empty as our bed.

Shit.

“Bianca!” I called out louder as I walked out into the hallway.

Horrible thoughts had begun to override the coding inside my mind. Michael could have taken her. She could be in pain at this very moment. And for how long? While I was at work, she was being tortured. Or worse. I should have called her to check on her. I should have texted. Something!

“Bianca!” I shouted in a panic as I raced towards the room Taylor had been staying in.

Empty. Fucking empty!

Alright, I told myself. I inhaled deeply and exhaled heavily a few times to calm myself down.

It wasn’t Michael. If Taylor was missing too, then they were together somewhere. But where? And why?

Panic turned to anger rather quickly as other thoughts pushed their way through into my brain.

I stomped my way through the house until I reached the men I had stationed outside.

“Where are they?” I demanded.

“Who do you mean, boss?” one of them asked, looking stupid as hell.

“Who do you think I mean?” I growled. “Bianca. Where are Bianca and Taylor?”

“We thought you knew,” the other guy replied.

The two men looked at each other like they were about to get in trouble with their parents.

“If you two don’t fucking tell me something right now, I swear I will break your kneecaps,” I growled, steam escaping from my ears.

“Taylor said he had orders from Alessandro to take Bianca out into town,” one guy said.

“And you didn’t think it was at all concerning when the clock struck midnight and Bianca and Taylor never walked back through that door?” I questioned, angrily as I pointed at the front door.

They said nothing. Only panicked, dumbfounded expressions painted their faces.

“We’ll talk about this later after I’ve located my girlfriend and that backstabbing friend of hers,” I told them sternly as I stormed back inside.

I slammed the door shut and sprinted up the staircase. There must be something lying around that would help me figure out where they are.

Before I walked into Taylor’s room, I pulled out my cell phone and called Bianca. Of course, no answer. I typed her out a quick text.

Please let me know where you are. I need to know you are safe. I love you, Bianca.

Next, I pulled up Taylor’s contact number and called him. No fucking answer either. Now I was getting pissed.

I, also, typed out a text to him.

‘Taylor, if you don’t tell me where Bianca is right now, I will have all my men out searching for both of you. Going MIA with Michael on the loose is the most dangerous thing you could have done!’

I stuffed my cell phone back in my pocket angrily as I tore through his room. Except, there wasn’t really anything to tear through. All of his stuff was gone. The drawers were completely empty. The closet was bare except for a few wooden hangers. I found nothing except for a pack of cinnamon gum in the bedside table drawer.

This didn’t make any sense at all.

I stormed out of that room and headed straight for the room Bianca and I shared. I flicked the lights on and began to search everything. I had found that there were clothes of hers missing, but not all of them. Her toothbrush was still in the bathroom, along with all of her soaps and lotions.

It wasn’t until I walked over to the desk that I saw an envelope sitting on top of the cherry stained wood. I wasn’t sure what I had been expecting to find, but it wasn’t at all what I had thought when I opened it.

I pulled out the locket I had given to Bianca. My heart fell into an empty pit in my stomach. I opened the gold metal carefully and fought back tears as I saw the picture she had put inside of it. It was a tiny picture of the two of us from a few months back.

I held onto the locket as I pulled out a piece of paper that had also been tucked inside the envelope. I opened it and let my body fall onto the bed as I read it carefully.

‘Dear Leo,

I write to you with a heavy heart. I am sorry that I had to leave this way, but I knew you wouldn’t let me go otherwise. I’m not happy, Leo and I cannot live this way anymore. Please understand, I am not doing this because I don’t love you. It’s because of how much I love you, that I have decided to leave before things between us got worse. I don’t want to remember you, remember us, as something painful and negative. I didn’t want to let us get to a point where I grew to resent you or no longer felt love for you.

Taylor has escorted me home to Italy. I need to be around my family for a while. I am safe, Leo. And I’m sorry, but this is what is best for me, right now. I hope you can understand that.

Love always,

B’

Guilt slowly possessed my entire being. What had I done?

I let the letter fall to the floor as I clutched her locket in my hand. She left because of me. I had failed to make her happy. I had been so caught up in my plan to take Michael down that I neglected Bianca’s feelings entirely.

The awful thing was that I knew I had been neglecting her. I knew she wasn’t exactly happy all the time. We had spent more nights sleeping in different rooms the past few months than in the same room.

I was an asshole to take advantage of her love for me. I had thought that our love was strong enough to hold us together until I managed to get rid of Michael once and for all. I never actually believed she would ever leave me.

Now she had left. She was in an entirely different country with a different man.

I fell back onto my bed and laid there in silence for a while as I stared blankly at the ceiling. I felt as if I was being torn in half.

I had my responsibility as the Don to eliminate any threat to our family. To kill Michael.

However, I couldn’t accept that Bianca was gone. I couldn’t accept that I was just supposed to lose her completely and not have her in my life anymore. I loved her too much to let her go without a fight.

But what was I supposed to do? She was all the way in Italy and my fight with Michael was here, in the states. I couldn’t be in two places at once.

What was more important, I had asked myself. Being the one to kill Michael or getting Bianca back?

It wasn’t even a question though, was it? Bianca was the love of my life. I had never felt this type of love before with any other woman. I couldn’t lose Bianca forever. That much, I knew for certain.

I jolted upright and got to my feet. It was decided. I was going to win back Bianca. I just needed to come up with a plan and fast.

I pulled out my cell phone and texted Franky to let him know we needed to meet first thing in the morning. I’d have to let Franky know what was happening. We would also have to come up with a plan to distract Michael while I was gone. There was no way in hell we could let Michael know that I left the country.

I wasn’t sure if I’d even be able to sleep tonight, but I had to at least try. As I laid down, my mind raced as I thought of ideas of how to win Bianca back. I would have to do more than just a grand gesture. I needed to prove to her that she was the most important thing in my life.

I needed to show her how completely sorry I was for neglecting her needs and her happiness. I would make sure she knew I would never let that happen again if she gave me another chance. Another chance to prove to her I could be the man she needed me to be.

I couldn’t lose her. I would do anything to make her happy. Anything.