Chapter 6

• Six Months Later..
• ROMANO
• The sound of music is low in the dimly lit room; I look away with boredom from the several women dancing with their breasts and asses hanging out, trying to gain my attention.
• This place is every bit as disgusting as I've heard, I inhale my cigarette deeply, tearing my gaze away from the couple having sex in the open, the sounds of their screams and moans are irritating to my ears, his tiny limp dick can't be that good, the bitch is definitely faking it.
• I sit in my VIP area of the strip club, cursing myself for agreeing to come here in the first place, but my uncle had specially requested me to handle this deal for him.
• This place is a gutter where STDs fly even faster than a speeding bullet, but being that it is located in the centre of the town, it will be a good investment.
• My face is a mask of emotions as I stare at my potential business partner and the club owner, Hugo.
• One of my brows quirks when Hugo proceeds to slap the waitress's ass before yanking her against his thigh, nuzzling her neck with his nostrils.
• "Kiss me, girl!"
• The serving girl starts to scream, her eyes alight with terror, "N_no, please let me go!" She cries, and for a brief moment, I'm reminded of her.
• My wife who has escaped me for the past six months. I didn't expect my search for Jasmine to last for this long. This seemingly fragile, obedient woman, who always did as I told her, somehow had the ability to vanish without a trace. It was as if she had evaporated into thin air. I ordered my men to search every corner of the city, even every place she could possibly go, and yet, we couldn't find her.
• Well done, Jasmine!
• Some days, I find myself wondering if she is even alive, or perhaps she is long dead and buried somewhere.
• I shake my head against the pool of dark thoughts that drown my mind. I hope that she is alive; she still has a debt to repay me, and even if she is going to die, it will only be on my terms.
• No one else has the right to touch a single hair from her head or end her life, not even her!
• My eyes narrow to slits when Hugo suddenly gives a harsh, bruising slap to the waitress's face.
• "Stop resisting, whore!"
• "I'm not a whore, I'm only here to work, let me go!" The plea and defiance in her eyes spark up a heated memory within me.
• I discard the cigarette into the ashtray, already bored of the drama going on; I straighten to my full height and cast an impatient glance at my wristwatch.
• "Hugo, I don't think your club is interesting after all, we don't have a deal,"
• "Wait, w_what? Why?" I ignore the way his eyes widen with confusion and displeasure as he roughly pushes the girl away from him. The waitress meets my gaze briefly, I can see the gratitude in her gaze before she runs away.
• "You need to give me an answer!"
• My emotionless gaze slants towards Hugo, who starts to approach me aggressively, and my men surround him instantly, pointing their guns at his head, which causes him to halt, his beady eyes rounded with horror.
• My next words are cold and unremorseful as I pat his shoulder "It's not your fault, just that your place suddenly reminded me of something unpleasant."
• That greasy old man still wanted to argue. I gave my assistant a look, and he immediately stepped in to block him from a distance.
• I exit the club with my men, but my chest is tight with irritation. I just turned down a good deal, for what?
• Just the thought of the dangers a woman might face out there, especially my wife, who is not only beautiful but also pregnant, makes it hard for me to imagine how she could protect herself on her own.
• Why does she continue to interfere with my actions even though she is absent? I'm not as unaffected by her as I thought I would be and my whole body tenses with resentment at the mere thought of her. My hate for her has transformed into something darker, something that almost felt. . . intimate; I'm obsessed with finding her and each passing day with no news of her existence is rapidly driving me crazy.
• Fuck!
• My uncle is definitely going to be upset for ruining yet again another one of his deals.
• When Niko saw me come out, he hurried over, and I could already imagine that it was probably another business problem. Over the past six months, he had shown panic in front of me more than once, but none of those times brought any good news about my runaway wife.
• "Which warehouse caught fire this time?" I mocked.
• "Boss, a local pawn shop outside the city just called that someone just sold their blue rose diamond," Niko informs me as I enter the car. Niko handed me the picture of the blue rose diamond. I glanced at it irritably.
• "What the fuck has this gone to do with anything?!" I snap angrily, but even as I utter these words, my brain suddenly halts with realization and everything in me freezes.
• A blue rose diamond. This looked very similar to the ring I gave Jasmine. I struggled to believe my judgment, then I zoomed in on the picture until I saw the tiny engraving on the ring: "J.S." It was something I had specially engraved for my wife. Damn it! Six months later, she went out and sold the first gift I gave her.
• My heart is ticking like a bomb that is about to fucking explode, my phone rings in the next instant, and I inhale deeply before taking the call.
• "Boss, we've found your wife!"
• "Get me the nearest helicopter, this time she can't escape!"