Our whole team was replaced, shipped back to Sicily for further training, and new soldiers arrived for us to use in the meantime, with strict new protocols in place so nothing like this can ever happen again.

My house is no longer our home. The whole place has been gutted and it is currently nothing but a shell, ready to be remodeled. Leo, Maria, and I are living in another part of the compound, on the other side of Sebastian, with Goldie now taking care of them both while Sebastian and I continue to scour the streets all day and all night, looking for Dominic.

I haven’t slept. I can’t sleep without Little Red in the house, without Little Red in my bed. Every night, I continue to sit in my armchair, looking at the empty bed, hating myself more and more with each passing moment.

“Where the fuck can he be?”

“We have looked everywhere, my friend. Now we just have to wait,” Sebastian says calmly, eerily so, his anger buried deep. Like me, he doesn’t take kindly to anyone threatening our family, and we know Dominic has not finished yet. There is no doubt that he put Angelina up to the task of killing Little Red and taking Leo.

The target on Dominic’s head grows, because although Sebastian is still being asked questions, the entire fold knows what happened in my home. They now know who was responsible, and tides have turned. Everyone is searching for Dominic, because to have such little respect for the head family means that everyone is in danger of his crazy ways.

I stop the car outside on the street as we watch Nico and Little Red pull into the driveway of our safe house. Positioned on the other side of town, it is small, but secure, and I grind my teeth as I see Nico grab her hand and help her out of the car, her frail body needing his support. I am white-knuckling because I want to run over and pick her up and bring her home with me. My eyes zone in on them both as she takes his arm to steady herself, and they walk down the path and inside the house. Nico turns and gives us a small nod before he closes the door, knowing full well that we were watching.

“We need to get rid of this fucking house,” I spit out to Sebastian, and he nods.

“When this is over, we will demolish it and find somewhere new,” he says, in agreement with me.

I don’t like this house, not one bit. It is where I locked Angelina up to get her to dry out a few years ago. Her screams and her tears are still etched into my brain. The nondescript brown brick home is something that fills my nightmares. It is not good enough for Little Red, but at least she will be safe.