The Billionaire's Plaything

Chapter Twenty Seven: Trouble In Paradise

CARLO ☀️

“There’s no way they could have done this with no help.” I growled, looking at the video clip that Lucio played for me.

The battle with the Bratva had gotten even worse and, even with us coming by, all the Capo’s wanted to help Daniel willingly.

Talk about loyalty.

“They definitely had help already fished out about three to four of them” Gillian replied nonchalantly as his fingers typed speedily on the keyboard.

“I think that now is not the time to handle some power play. What’s important is making sure the Cosa Nostra still belongs to us. It’s easy to take over from within but there’s no way we can think we want to overtake the Bratva once they are already in.” Lucio said, and Gillian paused and looked at me.

His reaction made it clear that he thought the same thing but had stuck to my plan because he didn’t have the courage that Lucio had.

“So you want us to join in now and do the overthrowing later?” I asked mindlessly while also allowing my mind to think it through.

“Yes, at the very least, we also get to allow the other Capos to see how strong just a little part of our force is.” Lucio added, which was the exact thought running through my mind.

“Okay, let one of the teams come out and fight.” I commanded while thinking of how to make sure Daniel didn’t know it’s me. Since this isn’t takeover, I didn’t want to reveal my hands yet.

“I’ll have the men let those people know where they are from discreetly. In the midst of all the war, I doubt Daniel would notice that some men are different.” Gillian said, as if he had read my mind.

I nodded approvingly. While stepping out to make the call. No one other than me could have the men I had trained painstakingly and led through different stages over the years come to their calling.

Growing up in the underworld, I learnt not to even trust myself on some days. I couldn’t imagine trusting any other person with that much power.

Thankfully, Lucio didn’t mind and had assured me several times that he was only here to help me and nothing more.

I was just about to step back inside after passing the necessary command when my phone rang, my brows raised in question subconsciously as I saw my home security number.

Was Elena safe? My mind wondered and even raced slightly. Since I knew that I wanted her out of my mind, in the past month, I had warned Lucio about giving me any news about her. The earlier I could get the throbbing feel I always got when I saw her name, the better for me.

“Boss, we haven’t seen madam in six days now.” Lance’s voice rang out with worry. He was trained by Lucio personally and always handled my estate any time we were both away.

“And why are you just deciding to tell me this?” I asked coldly and he must have felt my rage, from this end as he stuttered slightly.

“S..she… since she had been rushed to the hospital from home by a colleague, we had assumed that you would have been informed and perhaps know how she was faring. But since we noticed that we didn’t hear anything from both ends, I decided to call you.” He explained and his words only added to my rage.

She was rushed to a hospital.

“And do you, by any idea, know which hospital she was taken to?” I asked impatiently, ready to place a call to know how my wife was doing.

My lips curled in a mocking smile, my wife.

“You sure do know where she was taken to, right? Or don’t you?” Lance’s silence unnerved me, making my voice turn harsh and commanding.

Clearly, he had no idea and I hung up the call in irritation.

Colleague? I could bet my life that it was that damn Kyle who always stuck to her like some puppy. Even if he someday got the courage to tell her how he felt, he had no chance with her in this life.

I had made sure of her safety.

Elena picked my call on the third ring, her voice was groggy and soft like she was either just waking up or depleted of strength.

“Where are you?” I barked, my voice held no trace of the pure worry and fear I felt regarding how she was.

“Who’s this?” Her voice rang out, slightly clearer and more alert, and if I hadn’t picked that change clearly, I would have thought she had dared to delete my number.

“Crap.” I muttered as I ended the call. I had used my private number that was only used for Cosa Nostra matters and, of course, emergencies.

She didn’t have this number. She shouldn’t have it. Without hesitation, I blocked her number immediately. I was certain she would try to call back.

More than her knowing anything, I didn’t want her being targeted. She was easy target. With all that national princess and heiress identity, I would be damned if it needed a pro to have her tied up.

Although I had made such a mistake, I also felt slightly dissatisfied that she hadn’t recognized my voice. What kind of wife didn’t recognize her husband’s voice?

Unwilling to call her back with the number she recognized, I called someone else.

“Clearly, our telepathy still works, since you certainly just crossed my mind.” Dante’s playful voice rang out the moment the call connected and I chuckled at his dry joke.

He had always had the impression that they were connected with how we could always tell what the other was feeling without them talking.

I always felt it was nothing beyond our high emotional intelligence, but then, I allowed him to get away with it.

“I’m out of town and my little wife has been sick. Can you help me find what hospital she’s in and if there’s anything urgent?”

Even as I asked, I knew how terrible this sounded since, somehow, I should know someone close to my wife.

This point didn’t go for Dante too, as he chuckled before replying, “trouble in paradise? I already told you marriage wasn’t for you.” He reminded me while he rang his buzzer.

“Are you going to do this now or make me call someone else?” I asked. He needed some more pressure.

“I’m on it already. You should know I wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to meet such a heartthrob as your wife.”

Irritation and jealousy bubbled through me as I heard his words and remembered how he had looked at her during the fund-raiser.

“Goes around attracting every damn man out there” I grumbled and went back inside.

“What’s the matter?” Lucio shot out from his seat as concern clouded his face.

“It’s nothing to cause alarm. I’ll let you know as soon as we get things moving here.”

There was no way I was going to discuss Elena with Gillian here and also because, a part of me felt that Lucio would have me on the next flight to Los Angeles if he found out that Elena’s whereabouts for the past four days was unknown.

He nodded in understanding but his gaze strayed towards me more than once while we planned the best way to take down the Bratva men with as little man power as possible.

Using the live gps and several surveillance cameras that I had hacked into, we finally drafted a perfect plan in three hours and my stomach grumbled in protest.

I wasn’t sure I had eaten a meal in the past forty-eight hours.

“Let me get us some food, Gillian, go and confirm that the shadow men are not yet compromised. After all, they have some history with the Bratva,” Lucio instructed as he dragged his chair out.

“You should get some rest, you have been up for more than seventy two hours” he directed at me and continued before I could protest.

“We still need you to look through that plan and a lot more that would fall through if your brain is exhausted. Get some rest, I’ll have some men come up to ensure nothing happens.” Leaving no room for argument, Lucio and Gillian step out of my study.

As much as I wanted to stay up and work, I knew he was right. I needed to be in peak condition if I wanted everything to go well, then I couldn’t over look anything.

I glanced at my normal phone to see if there was any message from Dante. Seeing it blank, I took it with me as I left the study for my room.

As I locked the windows, I was reminded of the time difference between us and decided the earliest I could get a reply was when I woke up.

Since I have stayed so much here, I had and Lucio had several properties and, at the moment, this was the safest. Even with that, I set up noise detectors on my door and windows before finally going to sleep.

In the underworld, you could never be too safe….