Undressed By The Mafia God

Chapter 504: I Haven’t Seen Her

Valentina stepped out of the mall with Matteo strapped to her chest and a couple of shopping bags looped over her wrist. She adjusted one bag against her hip and looked down as Matteo shifted sleepily against her.

Then she saw one of Vee’s guards standing near the entrance. Val slowed. He looked up, spotted her, and moved toward her quickly.

"What are you doing here?" Val asked.

The guard frowned. "Mrs. Genovese said she was meeting you inside."

"Really?" Valentina asked, her confusion deepening. "When? I haven’t seen her."

"About an hour ago," he said.

Val stared at him. All she could hear was the guard’s answer repeating in her head. About an hour ago. "What? No. I would have seen her." She shook her head quickly. "I was inside. I was right there. How did she even know I was here?"

The guard had no answer. He only looked unsettled now, and that frightened her more. He turned away slightly and spoke quickly into his earpiece, alerting the second guard patrolling the other entrance.

That was when Valentina’s fear became panic.

"No," she whispered.

Matteo stirred against her chest, disturbed by the sudden change in her breathing. Val instinctively placed a hand over his back. Her heart was beating too fast. Her mind was already racing through every possibility, every terrible thing that could have happened.

Val stepped closer to the guard, fury and terror colliding in her voice. "Are you not supposed to be watching her? How can you not know where she is?"

"Calm down, Mrs. Montgomery," the guard said. "We will find her."

"Don’t tell me to calm down!" Her hands shook as she reached for her purse, needing her phone, needing to call Vee, Marco, Luca—anyone. Her fingers dug through the bag once, then again.

No phone.

She searched again, more frantically, pulling things aside, nearly tearing the lining with her nails. "My..." Her voice cracked. "My phone is gone." Val turned around sharply, eyes scanning the mall entrance, the crowd, the bright storefronts, every stranger suddenly looking like a threat. Her heart pounded so violently she could barely breathe.

"My phone..." She hurried toward the guard, panic tearing through whatever control she had left. "Call Luca! Call Luca you fuckers. Now!"

The look on the guard’s face told Valentina everything. He did not want to make that call. She saw the calculation behind his eyes—the dread, the consequences, the knowledge that telling Luca Genovese his wife had vanished under their watch was not a conversation any sane man volunteered for. But Val did not give a damn about their fear. Her sister was missing.

"We will search the mall first," the guard said, trying to sound controlled. "Just give us a bit."

"She has already been gone for an hour!"

The guards moved fast after that. One went back inside. The other remained close to her, speaking into his earpiece, asking for security points, exits. Val followed anyway, refusing to be left standing outside. She searched every aisle she had passed. The clothing section. The baby store. The bathrooms. Every time she saw a flash of dark blonde hair, her heart jumped.

It was never Vee. Fifteen minutes later, they had found nothing. No sign of Veronica. No mall security had seen her leave.

Nothing.

By then, Valentina was beyond hysterical. Tears streamed down her face as she clutched Matteo close and fought the urge to scream.

The guards finally made the call to Luca. A call they would both live to regret.

*****

Luca was headed in the direction of David’s apartment when his phone rang. He answered without slowing, one hand on the wheel, fury still burning clean and cold through his veins. He was minutes away from kicking down another door, minutes away from putting David Vitale in the ground where he belonged.

Then Veronica’s guard spoke.

"What the fuck?!" Luca slammed on the brakes instantly.

The car screamed to a stop, tyres biting against the road. All he heard was the guard’s voice, strained and careful, telling him Veronica had gone into the mall and had not come out.

For one horrifying second, Luca did not breathe.

"Is Val safe?"

"Yes, sir," the guard answered quickly.

Luca shut his eyes briefly. "Did you try calling her?"

"We did. Her phone is switched off."

His blood went cold. "how is that? I charged it myself. Fucking hell!" Luca ended the call and immediately pulled up the tracker app.

For a few seconds, he simply stared at the screen, waiting for the signal to load, every muscle in his body locked tight enough to hurt. The app spun once. Then Veronica’s location appeared.

The mall.

His brows drew together. Maybe Valentina and Veronica had missed each other. Maybe Vee was still inside. Maybe this was nothing.

He made a sharp turn, tyres screeching against the road, and redirected toward the mall. His mind was already moving faster than the car. Luca reached the mall in record time, pulling up hard near the entrance. The guards were still there, faces tense, shoulders rigid, fear barely contained. Good. They should be afraid. Later, he would decide exactly how much blame they deserved.

Right now, Veronica mattered more. Valentina stood a few feet away with Matteo strapped to her chest, one hand pressed protectively over the baby’s back. Her face was streaked with tears. Panic had stripped all colour from her skin, leaving her looking too frightened.

Luca walked toward her, forcing his voice to remain calm. "Hey, Val..."

"Luca..." She stepped forward, her voice cracking. "They can’t find her. They can’t find her. I told them to call you immediately. I told them, but they wanted to search first, and I..."

"Its fine, Val."

Valentina was shaking, and Matteo was beginning to stir against her chest. The last thing Luca needed was panic.

He placed a steady hand briefly on her shoulder. "Take Matteo home, okay?"

Val blinked at him, tears still falling. "But Vee—"

"I will find her."

(Brought to you by Mar King 1/2)