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“Thank you. You really don’t have to stay with me, I’m okay.”
“Nope. You’re stuck with us. I told Cavallo someone would always be here with you,” she says.
I’ve learned a few things about the Cimaruta MC. When they say you’re family, they mean it. Every one of them is willing to bend over backwards to help no matter what it is you need. They also like to hover and hug. Which isn’t bad, I’m just not used to it. My parents didn’t hug us much. I hug Maddie all the time because I want her to know how much I love her. Maddie. Why would Travis take her? And why now?
There’s so many fucking questions that I don’t have answers for and it’s making me crazy. Travis has his own family. He has zero need for my Maddie. Salvatore showed me the file they have on him. He has a wife. I’m guessing she’s who he left me for, and three children. And if the oldest is biologically his? That means he was cheating on me longer than I thought, which in hindsight doesn’t really matter anymore. But it still pisses me off.
A knock at the door pulls me out of my misery.
“I’ll get it,” Luciana says. “You need to eat.”
I sigh and keep eating the soup. It does taste really good and I know if I don’t finish it, she’ll just come back and make me. So I continue eating as I hear Sal’s voice getting closer.
“Did you find her?” I blurt out.
He gives me a sad look. “Not yet. But we did find something interesting. It looks like they had a baby recently, a little girl. She passed away a few weeks after she was born. The death certificate cites SIDS as the cause of death.”
“That’s sad. But what does that have to do with my Maddie?”
“It was a girl. The only girl they had. The other three are boys. I’m wondering if the reason he took Maddie was because they wanted a girl.”
“What the fuck? You really think he would do that?” Luciana frowns.
“Grief does things to people. I’ve heard stories like this before,” Sal explains. “You’d be shocked to know what desperate people will do. And if that’s the case here, it might be a good thing. That might mean she’s being taken care of and not hurt.”
I don’t know what to say to that so I just stay quiet.
“That is fucking nuts,” Isabella says. “We need to find them. Are you sure they’re still in Chicago?”
“I won’t lie, I’m not one hundred percent sure of anything. But I can say for certain that we won’t stop looking for her,” he says.
“It’s been eight hours. I’ve read the statistics,” I say as my voice catches. “After twenty-four hours, the chances of finding her decreases significantly.”
Hollis wraps his arms around me. “You can’t think like that, baby. We’re going to find her and bring her home.”
Hollis
I hate that we don’t know where Travis has taken Maddie. He must have planned this in advance, because they moved out of their rental. I hate having to leave my girl, but we have church tonight and I can’t not go.
“I’ll be back soon. Sal is going to stay with you,” I say to Lila. She nods at me as I lean in to kiss her.
“Thank you,” she says softly. “I don’t think I could do this without you.”
“You never have to thank me for being here for you. I will always be here.”
I head over to the clubhouse with Fuoco and Dolce. It’s not far from my house, two minutes on the four-wheeler. After we all pack ourselves into the room where we hold church, we find our seats and sit down at the table.
Forza bangs his gavel.
“I called this emergency meeting to discuss what’s going on with Cavallo and his family. It’s been almost nine hours since Maddie’s bio donor took her. I’ve called the Mancini family. They’re headed here now with the Southside Mafia. I figured we need as much help as we can get.”
“Thank you, Forza. I just wish we knew more,” I say. Everyone nods in agreement.
There’s a knock at the door, and Fantasma gets up to open it. The Mancinis and the Southside Mafia come into the room. The Mancinis are a mafia family and have been for a long time. Their founders came from Italy and Ireland, like the founders of our club. Enea Mancini is now the head of their family.
His wife Graínne, and our Forte grew up together back in Ireland, and then reconnected here in Chicago about four years ago. Whenever either family needs help, the other is there. No questions asked, and no matter what needs to be done.
And now they’re here for me and my family.
