Becoming Mrs DeLuca novel Chapter 106

Chapter 106

VALENTINA

Four days.

It has been four days since Stefan was taken, and life had stopped making sense. Everything seemed to irritate mic. and everytime a car slowed on the street, I ran to the window, heart in my throat, praying it was Adrian with our boy asleep in the back seat. And every time it drove past, something inside me cracked a little more.

I couldn’t stay here another minute.

Sofia was coloring at the kitchen island, and I couldn’t watch her tiny hand move across the page without remembering Stefan doing the same thing at her age. He was eleven now, and he was starting to not want to do things like coloring, but to me, he was still my baby.

I scooped Sofia up, grabbed her little backpack with the bunny ears, and texted Gemma before I could talk myself out of it.

[Can we come over? I need to leave this house.]

She answered instantly. [of course. I’m sure Sofia would love to see her cousins.]

An hour later I was sitting at Gemma’s kitchen table, sunlight pouring through the bay window, and the smell of fresh coffee and warm banana bread doing its best to replace the air of agony around us.

Sofia was in the backyard with Gemma’s three kids, shrieking with laughter as they chased bubbles. The sound was so painfully normal that it hurt.

Gemma slid a cup of chamomile tea toward me, and sat across from me, elbows on the table, eyes

“Talk to me, Vee.”

soft.

I wrapped my hands around the mug like its warmth was the only lifeline I had left. “I keep replaying it,” I said, voice barely above a whisper. “The second I stepped into that hotel suite I knew I was making a mistake. But I thought… if I could just get Rico to shut my parents up, everything would stay buried. Stefan would stay safe. Adrian would never have to know the truth. I was so stupid.”

Adrian never wanted his mother and sister to know what was happening at first, but with Stefan getting kidnapped, we had no choice but to sit everyone down and tell them the whole thing. Well… most of it.

Gemma reached over and squeezed my wrist. “You were trying to protect your family. That’s not stupid. That’s love.”

“Love got my son kidnapped,” I said. The words tasted like rust on my tongue. “Love made me think I could outsmart the . devil.”

Gemma remained quiet for a long moment. Outside, Sofia squealed as Gemma’s oldest lifted her high enough to pop a bubble with her nose.

“I keep thinking,” I continued, “what if Stefan thinks we gave him away? He’s eleven. He still believes daddies can fix anything. What if he’s waiting for Adrian to come bursting through the door like he does when Sofia has nightmares? What if he’s crying for me and I’m not there?”

My voice broke. Gemma got up, circled the table, and pulled me into her arms from behind, pressing her cheek to my hair.

“Listen to me,” she said fiercely. “Stefan knows you two would tear the world apart to get to him. He knows. Kids feel that kind of love in their bones.”

I wanted to believe her. God, I wanted to.

She let go and sat beside me this time, close enough that our knees touched. “Have you been sleeping?”

“An hour here and there. Adrian doesn’t sleep at all. He just… paces. Or sits in Stefan’s room staring at the empty bed like if he looks hard enough Stefan will reappear.”

Gemma’s mouth tightened. “And Rico?”

“Nothing. He’s not made a single demand.” I felt my lips wobble and I had to press a fist to my lips to keep the sob inside. *Adrian says Rico won’t hurt him…. he wants to keep him alive. He want to… keep him.” I couldn’t finish the sentence.

Gemma’s eyes darkened. “Rico has three daughters,” she said slowly. “Everyone knows he’s obsessed with having a son. A little boy he can mold into the perfect heir. Stefan fits that fantasy perfectly. He’s smart, he’s sweet, and he’s already in the mafia life, already carrying the name.”

I flinched. “He’s not a fantasy. He’s a little boy who’s afraid of thunderstorms and still sleeps with his rocket nightlight. Rico is going to turn my son into a monster. God knew not to give a man like him a son! He’s going to turn my baby into someone none of us will be able to recognize.”

“I know,” she said sadly. “But you know Adrian isn’t going to stop until you get him back…”

I stared into my tea. “No,” I whispered. “He’d burn everything down first before he let Rico keep our son.”

“And you?”

I looked out at Sofia… my fierce, sunny little girl who keeps asking when her big brother is coming home to finish their fort, and something dangerous slid into my spine.

“I’d hand Adrian the match.”

Gemma’s lips curved, proud and a little wicked. “That’s my sister.”

We sat in silence for a while, listening to the kids outside.

“I’m just scared Adrian’s going to do something that gets him killed.” I admitted. “He’s not thinking straight. Last night he cleaned every gun in the house. Twice. He keeps checking the magazine like the bullets might disappear if he doesn’t count them enough times.”

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