Rio's POV.
I haven't slept, haven't eaten a damn thing since I got information that Elena is missing. I have a sick feeling about it. One minute I was with her at the office and the next she's just... gone.
Her best friend Sam refused to say anything. Usually, I would have tortured the information out of her, but that's Elena's best friend ,her literal unbiological sister. I can't lay a finger on her.
The asshole I had stationed outside their building is dead. But I made him spit what happened in less than thirty seconds before I pulled the trigger on his stupid head.
He had one job... one fucking job. To keep Elena in sight, but he failed because he got flushed by a pair of boobs.
I'm pacing in my mansion. Marco is making calls, Leo is trying to track Elena's phone, but nothing.
We don't know anything and I hate not knowing. I don't know if she just left or if she was taken.
I gulp down the whisky in my glass and pour another. I freeze mid-sip when I suddenly think of something. Someone.
My father.
My father and his friends have wanted Elena dead since they found out who she is, and about the key. I haven't spoken to him since I saw that video ,the one I wanted to show Elena, the one that made me realize I can never be anything other than a monster.
Because I pulled the trigger on the father of the woman I'm in love with.
The video has been replaying in my head since that day. It's on repeat on my laptop, like watching it too many times will erase what I did.
"You were a child"—is what Marco has been telling me, but that doesn't change anything. It doesn't change the fact that every time I look at Elena, all I see are her father's terrified eyes that night. And how he begged me not to do it.
Marco asked me how I didn't remember that, and I gave him the reason. I don't have memories from when I was a kid up to when I was fifteen. I got into an accident , an ambush on my father's convoy. It almost killed me and my mom. Our car rolled down the road, down a hill, and into a damn river.
Both my mom and I surviving was a miracle, even though they took her away from me a few years later when someone shot her while she was pregnant.
I got into a coma after that accident, for six months, and when I woke up I couldn't remember anything. My dad and my mom had to remind me everything from my own damn name.
"Rio." Marco's voice snaps me out of my thoughts, and I look at him, hopeful they found something, but he shakes his head.
"We have nothing. No one knows where she is..." he whispers, disappointed.
I nod. Grabbing the whisky bottle and my car keys, I walk out to my car, deciding to drive to my father's house.
He's gonna tell me where Elena is or I'm going to fucking kill him.
Moments later, I pull up in front of his house. There are a few cars outside, so I figure he has people over, but do I care? Absolutely not.
I step out , shirt untucked, alcohol on my shirt and pants, my hair a mess , and I know I look like a fucking zombie. I walk up the steps. The guards give me a weird look, but I push past them once they open the door.
Inside, it's quiet. I spot one of the housemaids.
I grab her hand when she walks past me; she flinches.
"Where is Rocco?" I ask, voice low, dangerous. She points upstairs with a shaky hand and I let her go. I stagger my way upstairs. I hear voices, chatter and laughter, and I know it's coming from his office.
I make my way down the hall and stop in front of his door. I take a sip of my alcohol. Finishing it, I drop the bottle ,it clatters and breaks. I turn the knob, step inside, and draw out my gun.
Inside, Alfredo, Enzo, Storm are all staring at me, but my focus is on him.
My father.
I raise the gun at him. He doesn't flinch, doesn't cower , in fact he smirks at me, and I cock my gun.
"Where is she?" I ask—no hey, hello, bullshit. He sips his wine and rounds his desk. His friends scatter. He shoves his hands in his pocket and walks toward me, stopping in front of me, so close the barrel of my gun is pressed to his chest.
"Good evening to you too... son..." his deep voice booms in the quiet room , mocking, sick, and wrong.
"Where. Is. She?" I ask again.
"Who are you talking about, Rio?" he asks with a sick laugh. My jaw tightens, my knuckles white from how hard I'm holding the damn gun.
"Elena. She's missing and I can bet my life you assholes..." I say, pointing my gun around at all of them.
"Had something to do with it. Talk... or I'm painting your brains on the fucking wall," I warn, my voice deep and controlled.
The room falls into a deep silence, when suddenly my father breaks into a sick, mocking laugh that makes my skin crawl.
He steps closer, my gun pressing into his shirt now.
"I don't know where your pretty girlfriend is..." he whispers in my ear before pulling back , a grin on his face.
Anger boils through me. My face red. Veins protruding on my arms and probably my forehead too. My hands shake .
"You made me do it..." I suddenly blurt out, my voice hurt and shaky.
Rocco's eyebrows shoot up in confusion.
"You made me kill her father..." I whisper. I see Enzo shift uncomfortably behind my father.
The smirk on my father's face drops. Color drains from his face. He steps back, eyes narrowed , and if I'm not wrong, I actually spot a moment of fear in his eyes before he masks it with a cold expression.
"Who told you?" he asks, and I scoff in disbelief at this excuse of a father I'm ashamed of.
"That doesn't fucking matter. You made me pull the trigger on a man when I was seven years old—a fucking child. What kind of father are you?" I ask. My voice comes out shaky, hurt, and filled with anger. My eyes gloss up, my throat tightens.
"Rio... it's—" Enzo's voice booms from behind my dad, and before I can stop myself, I change aim from my father to him and I shoot him in his shoulder.
He drops with a groan. Storm and Alfredo draw their guns, aiming at me.
My eyes lock on Enzo on the floor, hand on his bloody shoulder. The only reason I didn't shoot his brains out is because that's Elena's revenge, not mine. She told him she will come for him. And I'm not about to ruin that for her.
My father raises his hand, and Alfredo and Storm lower their guns. They help Enzo get up.
"You can hate me all you want, Rio... but I made you. Who you are. I wasn't about to raise a weak son," Rocco snarls.
He steps forward; I step back. Hands shaky now, and I hate how pathetic and small this man makes me feel.
"I don't know where she is... but I do know one thing..." he whispers with a sick smile, hands in his pockets.
"You're not about to shoot your old man over some girl..." he chuckles and slaps the gun out of my hand. It drops to the floor. He turns around, walks back behind his desk, and sits, eyes on me.
"Maybe you should ask her ghost brother..." he says with a shrug, lighting a cigar.
I step forward one step , confused, hurt, too many emotions at once.
"Oh, she didn't tell you?... Hunter is Elena's brother," he says, blowing smoke in the air.
What the fuck?!