Alessandro POV ~
The whole auction froze the second I stood up.
My voice hit the mic system before my mind even caught up.
“STOP THE AUCTION!”
Silence slammed into the room. Even breathing sounded too loud.
Camilla shot up beside me, clinging to my arm like a leech who smelled money slipping away.
“Baby, what are you doing?” she hissed. “This is the highlight of the night. I’ve been waiting for this. Why would you stop it!”
Her face twisted when she realized I wasn’t backing down. The sweetness vanished. All that was left was hunger and irritation.
Behind us, Damian clicked his tongue, swirling the wine in his glass like the whole thing bored him.
“Let it run, bro. It’s good entertainment. That girl’s probably crying somewhere but who cares.”
Roman raised his glass lazily.
“She won’t come anyway. Why bother playing hero now.”
I snapped before I even turned.
“Not. A. Damn. Word.”
I shoved Damian’s hand off my shoulder so hard the wine spilled across the floor.
He stood up. Roman stood up. For a second we were one breath away from breaking tables and necks but I didn’t give them the chance.
I walked out.
People called my name. I ignored them. Camilla chased after me, heels clicking like gunshots.
“Alessandro. Stop! Don’t embarrass me like this.”
I kept walking until we hit the private corridor the Camilla grabbed the file bag and smashed it against the wall.
I heard something inside rattle.
Glass.
I snatched it back and opened it.
Pulled out the small glass jar. Cloudy. Stained dark.
At the bottom was something small. Curled. Fragile.
Five weeks. Barely formed.
My chest tightened in a way I didn’t understand. Like someone was dragging a blade across my ribs from the inside.
Camilla’s face was drained of color.
“Wait. Is that a baby? Did Rosalie abort it? But she was excited. She was obsessed with you. Why would she abort it? Why would she put it in a jar?”
Her voice was shaking now. Not for the baby. For her own damn fear.
A torn piece of paper was taped to the jar.
Her handwriting. Rosalie’s handwriting. I knew it.
“You and your bastard twins can go to hell.
I know everything you did to me.”
My fingers trembled. I couldn’t stop it. Didn’t even try.
Fuck!
Behind us Damian and Roman had followed. They took one look at the jar and both went still.
Damian’s voice dropped, rough. “Is that the kid she was carrying?”
Roman stared. Eyes narrowing. “Holy hell! She really did it.”
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn't think. All I knew was that for the first time in my entire life. I felt like I was the one bleeding out.
…
I stormed out of the corridor, heart hammering, hands shaking so hard I thought I’d crush my phone if I held it too tight. I grabbed my phone and dialed Rancho, my guy who does whatever I tell him without asking questions.
“Find her. Now. Every move she makes, every call, every damn step. Track Rosalie. She does not get to do this to me without paying for it.” My voice was low, dangerous, full of venom.
Damian leaned over, smirking like the bastard he is. “Bro, chill. She’s probably just hiding. Or trying to play games with you. Let her try. She’ll pay for this. I swear it.”
Roman nodded, slow and deliberate. “Yeah, she thinks she can just mess with you, huh? That’s funny. She’s gonna regret it.”
“Of course I’m gonna make her pay for this,” I spat back, every word dripping poison. “She embarrassed me enough by aborting our child. A damn baby we made a bet on, and she goes and signs divorce papers without even looking at me. She’s testing me. She’s lucky I don't tear the world apart before I found her.”
Camilla tried to touch my arm, her voice soft, fake. “Alessandro, calm down. Think—”
“Not now, Camilla. Not now. I am so pissed off I could—ugh!” I shoved her hand away. My pride was shattered.
I called Rancho again, pacing like a predator in a cage, fists clenching until my nails cut into my palms. “I don’t care how you do it. I want her. Now. She has no right to disappear, no right to touch that baby, no right to walk away from me. She’s mine. Every move. Every breath. Find her.”
Rancho’s voice came back, cautious but firm. “Boss, we are everywhere. Surveillance is up, phones are tapped, every car, hotel, apartment she might have touched is being checked. But…” His voice dropped. “Boss… she’s nowhere to be found. It’s like she never existed.”
I froze.
Every muscle in me screamed. The calm bastard persona I kept for the mafia empire, for the world, for the brothers, it cracked. I slammed my fist on the steering wheel of my blacked-out car so hard the horn screamed. Tires squealed as I peeled out, burning toward the villa, the only place I knew she couldn’t hide from me.
When I got there, the villa was empty. Silent. Ghostly. Rosalie had vanished. Clothes, papers, personal stuff, everything gone. It was like she evaporated. My blood boiled. My empire felt like it could crumble in a second. I was obsessed. Desperate. Furious.
So I decided to crash her parents place.
