Alexander pov
"Were you able to keep this out of the press?" I asked, taking a drag of my cigarette as my eyes skimmed through the tablet in my hand.
The contents of what I was seeing were disappointing, to say the least. My patience was wearing thin, and I was this close to throwing the tablet away, but I held it in—held every ounce of anger bubbling inside me and narrowed my eyes.
"Yes, boss," Sebastian replied, his tone calm and measured, "We've bribed and threatened the news stations. The moment they realized it involved you, they promised not to release a word."
"We were also able to eliminate all those who could be a threat for now. The rest are in hiding, but we're tracking them down as we speak."
I arched a brow at his words but didn't look up. "Track them down by the end of today. I want no mistakes. Understood?"
"Yes boss"
"What about the man who killed the cop, has he been taken care of?"
"He's been caught, boss. He's currently at the warehouse," Sebastian reported, and my fingers froze mid-swipe on the tablet.
"Alive?" I asked, my voice sharpening slightly. When he confirmed, I took a deep breath and rubbed the bridge of my nose in frustration before speaking again.
"You're testing my patience, Sebastian," I said as I lowered the tablet. "You've been lagging behind, slow to take action when it's needed. Do I need to address that?"
I didn't miss the way he stiffened beside me. For a moment, as the car glided smoothly along the road, the air between us grew thick with tension.
"I-I'm sorry, boss," he stammered. "I'll make it right."
"Of course you will," I spat, sarcasm dripping from my voice. "You can't even take a life with your own hands, and now you think you will? Useless."
"Adrian," I called, and he turned from the front seat of the car.
"Yes, boss?"
"Kill that bastard, and everyone else involved in the cop's death. Make no exceptions"
"Understood, boss."
Without sparing him a second glance, I turned my attention back to the tablet. But if I were honest, I wasn't really processing anything on the screen. My thoughts were elsewhere, and I couldn't stand it—couldn't stand how my focus was slipping when I needed it the most.
Two weeks ago, I'd received a call about my men in Russia, who had killed a cop while trying to evade authorities. The incident had instantly drawn attention, and the situation spiraled out of control faster than I could handle. The mess was much larger than I'd ever expected.
Who was I kidding? If something needed my attention urgently, it wasn't just a mess—it was a disaster waiting to happen. I had to meet with Xavier Harrington, another powerful mafia don, to figure out how to sort this problem before it came back to bite me.
In this business, there were two crucial rules: build connections, and keep everything buried. It was an illegal operation, after all, and drawing attention was the last thing anyone could afford.
And that was exactly why Nico—that bastard—had seized this moment to go behind the scenes, spreading the news more than it should have. He knew how to exploit a situation for his own gain, and this time, I was the one left cleaning up the mess.
My mind drifted back to his daughter—Valentina—the woman I had in my grasp. A sickening, twisted smirk spread across my lips as I tilted my head, letting various thoughts swirl in my head. My fingers instinctively drummed on the armrest, the rhythm matching the beat of my growing impatience.
Hmm, what should I do with her?
I hadn't fully thought this through yet, what would happen next, or why I'd gone to the trouble of changing her identity. But I had my reasons.
Two, to be exact. First, there was Felix. And second, I needed an outlet—someone, something—to channel all the frustration and anger that bastard Nico had stirred up in me.
I knew Nico all too well. He wouldn't care what happened to his daughter. Hell, this was the same man who hadn't even bothered to investigate the body I'd placed in his path, the one meant to be his daughter. From what I heard, he'd barely glanced at the corpse coldly before ordering it to be buried. Even her husband hadn't mourned her. A week after her death, he remarried his mistress.
The sound of my phone buzzing snapped me out of my daze. I glanced at the caller ID and saw it was Daniel.
With a swipe of my finger, I ended the call and threw the phone onto the seat beside me. But almost immediately, a series of text messages started flooding in.
I picked it up and scrolled through the messages, each one more frantic than the last. My jaw clenched as I read Daniel's desperate texts.
'I know you are ignoring me, Alexander! When are you coming back? You can't just leave the girl back home after what you did.'
'Alexander, pick up. I need to talk to you, I can't sleep a wink after what we did. The girl might not remember anything now, but there's a chance in the future she will regain her memories. And when she does, what will we do?'
'Dammit, Alexander! I'm going to jail because of you. The least you can do is comfort me!'
I stared at the last message, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. Daniel's desperation was palpable, but this last text... it was almost pathetic.
'At least, tell me, Alexander... do they shave prisoners' hair off?'
I tossed the phone back onto the seat and powered down the tablet as we drove into the mansion's grounds.
The men guarding the gates bowed as the car passed, and I flicked the cigarette butt into the ashtray, straightening up as the vehicle came to a halt.
When the door swung open, my heart pounded against my chest, though I managed to keep my composure, masking the unease that churned inside me.
I stepped out of the car, and nearly everyone bowed in respect, but my gaze was fixed on the figure ahead—on Valentina. She crouched down, meeting the sparkling eyes of the smiling child whose warmth reminded me of something I thought had been lost forever.
My eyes narrowed as I took in the scene. Emily and Felix used to greet me at the door whenever I returned from a trip—her bright smile always there, her arms wide open, and Felix's laughter filling the room. It felt like home. But now, everything was different. The warmth was gone, replaced by a heavy silence. The boy who had once been so full of life was quiet, his gaze distant, as though the spark had left him with her. The house, once alive with joy, now felt cold and hollow.
Yet here he was now, so different in just two weeks.
Valentina lifted her head, her confusion evident as she noticed the guards, then slowly turned her gaze in my direction.
Her eyes widened in delight, and her lips curled into a smile when she saw me. In that instant, everything seemed to freeze, and the world around me became a blur. My breath caught in my throat as she uttered the words that hit me harder than I expected.
"Welcome back home, my dear husband."