Chapter 232

Christian ‘How could I have let this happen.’

Those were the only thoughts going through Christian’s mind. He held Siena in his arms and pushed her against him.

“I’ll get her back, Siena…I promise.”

Nothing could’ve prepared him for his missing good morning kiss or the letter Serena left him behind. Christian couldn’t help but blame himself for failing to detect Serena’s odd behavior. Was that why she told me about the pregnancy?

An uneasy Siena who could feel the missing presence of her mommy released a few whines, threatening to spill tears. “I know. I feel the same.” Christian kissed her head.

He had promised himself to get her back today, no matter what. Canceling his original plan to attack his uncle and turning his back on the families was not what he wanted, but Serena’s safety was a priority.

Other than the people who had the right to know, Christian hadn’t shared the news of Serena’s disappearance, and even Lucio was unaware. He didn’t want any judgment or backlash for failing to protect her.

“The Alfonzo’s will be here soon. Do you want me to take her?” Cesca entered the room. Christian turned his back.

“No.” He snarled. “Let me hold my daughter.”

“Christian…”

As much as Christian wanted to hate the guard and had even pushed a gun to his head, he couldn’t do anything. Wrapping people around her finger was one of Serena’s specialties, and anyone could’ve fallen for it.

“How can she be this stupid?” Christian shook his head. At times he couldn’t understand Serena’s thoughts. “She’s either smart or stupid. There’s no in-between.”

“I just don’t understand why she would do something like this.” He spoke, remembering his uncle.

Christian was aware that his uncle was not in his right mind.

What if he would hurt her?

What if he would hurt the baby?

“I won’t force her to be me with me if she doesn’t want to, but does she not care about Siena?”

Or the baby?

No matter what, Christian couldn’t understand why Serena couldn’t trust him enough. Only If she had told him his changed behavior wasn’t enough, he would’ve sunk to his knees to apologize.

“Look at you, having to deal with all of this while your dad is on the verge of dying.” Cesca folded her arms. “I hate to say I told you so…but grandpa and I told you she’s not good for you—“

“Not now, aunt Cesca.” Johnny made his presence known. He had been eavesdropping on the conversation for a while, but he couldn’t take it any longer.

“If you’re only here to tell him how the woman who makes your son happy isn’t good enough, you can take your crap and leave.” He said. “He doesn’t need your negativity, not today.”

“You rude little…” Cesca gasped, stomping out of the room.

“What aunt Cesca means to say is that Serena loves Siena, and she loves you. That’s why she felt like she had to do this.”

“I’ve never asked her to do this!”

“We know…”

While Dario, Marc, his brothers, and his grandpa took it upon themselves to confirm Berto’s location, Johnny had remained at the mansion to show his support. Christian could see the guilt wash over him but knew not to blame his cousin. After all, he didn’t choose his dad and his brother.

“Thank you.”

Johnny nodded, placing his hand on Christian’s shoulder. “We’ll get her back today—“

“Yes.” Christian cut him off. “I’ll get her back today, I’m not worrying about that.”

A tense silence was interrupted by the Alfonzo’s, who barged through the door. It was Matteo Alfonzo, with his three sons—Marcello, Emilio, and Beau—and they did not look happy.

Without a single thought, Christian handed over his daughter to Johnny to face his future father-in-

law and his furious sons. “You!” Beau lunged at him before punching his jaw. “You did this to my sister!”

Just as he was about to give him another punch, Christian held his arm to stop him.

On a regular day, Christian would’ve not hesitated to beat his friend to the pulp, but he could not blame him for his reaction. Serena was his twin, and the two had a strong connection.

“You can hate me all you want, but right now, I need you to keep it together.” Christian watched as Beau’s eyes softened. “I’ll bring back your sister—I promise.”

“He’s right, Beau.” Matteo agreed, stepping forward. “Serena is Serena, your sister makes reckless decisions, and this could not have been prevented.”

“So what?” Beau spoke, startled. “We’re all just going to put the blame on her?”

“That’s not what your dad is saying, but—“

“I don’t care.” Marcello opened his mouth. Christian was shocked to hear Serena’s older brother, who would usually keep himself in the background. “I don’t care, I only know one thing—and that’s that you’ll bring me back my sister today, and after that, we’ll take her back home where she belongs.

Christian chuckled. “She’s not your property.” He spoke, confused. “Yes, I let her out of my sight, and for that, I’m sorry—but if you’re willing to accept your parents’ apology for abandoning your siblings, you should accept mine as well.”

“What did you say?” Matteo growled, but Christian did not care for his outburst.

“You heard me—“

Matteo pushed his son to the side and held Christian by his collar, but Christian did not back down —looking the man in his eyes. Meanwhile, Johnny, who saw this as his cue to leave, stepped out of the room with Siena in his arms.

“You should keep this up and see who’ll remain at your side,” Matteo spoke. “You screwed things up with the Fabio operation and made decisions on your own, and now we had to call off a bunch of people for the attack on your uncle and cancel all our plans because you can’t take proper care of my daughter!”

“Oh, please—you haven’t taken care of her in years!”

“Hey!” Emilio called out. “All of you are fighting over someone who isn’t even here at the moment.

What’s wrong with you?” He spoke some sense into them. “All this time spent arguing could’ve been used to come up with a plan instead.”

Emilio glared at his dad. “Didn’t we say we would get Serena back before mom finds out she’s missing?”

Christian turned his head, thinking about Lucio. Also, he wanted to get her back before his dad could notice. If he would let his dad pass, he would do it in peace.

He stepped back but did not give Matteo an apology. Despite his grumpy personality, he always respected Matteo Alfonzo, mainly because he didn’t carry a burden but things were different now.

He was the boss of the Lamberti’s and could not back down.

If Matteo didn’t take him seriously, who would?

“He’s right.” Someone sighed at the door. All heads turned to the familiar voice.

“Vince?” Christian blinked a few times, confused about whether he was dreaming. “What are you doing here?”

It really was Vince, and most importantly—he was standing.

“What do you mean, what am I doing here?” Vince spoke, offended. “After Beau told me about Serena, I ripped all the tubes from my body to get here!”

Everyone looked at Beau, who shrugged his shoulders. “He had the right to know.” He mumbled, but Christian was not impressed.

“Vince, you need to get back to the hospital—we’ve got this handled.”

“I can tell.” Vince snorted sarcastically. “I think you’ll all end up killing each other before you can even get to Serena.” He said. “Besides, I had a highly unstable father, even got shot by him—so perhaps I know how your uncle’s twisted brain works.”

Christian didn’t want to admit it, but Vince was right. If anyone knew how to get her back without the possibility of her getting harmed, it would be him.

“Can you even walk?” Christian asked his friend. Vince shrugged. “I’m standing.” He spoke nonchalantly as he revealed an envelope in his hands.

He walked to Christian. “And I think this belongs to you.” He spoke. “Someone left this at the front gates.”

Christian didn’t waste any time and ripped over the envelope. He pulled out a letter and read it while everyone stared at him, full of anticipation.

“So, what does it say?” Matteo asked, not able to wait any longer. “Just know that I’m getting back my daughter today, with or without you.”

Christian’s hands trembled in anger. “It says he’ll give me back Siena’s money and the warehouse in exchange for Serena’s…service.” He spoke. “Whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean.”

Money? Christian never cared for that cash. It was never about the money or the warehouse. It was about him taking everything reserved for his one and only daughter.

“Serena’s service?” Beau spoke, disgusted. “H-her what?”

Christian took a breath. With someone as crazy as his uncle, it was unclear what kind of service he was speaking of.

“Vince, do you think there’s a peaceful way to solve this?”

Vince huffed. “No, I can’t see that happening.” He told him the truth. “In order for your uncle to let go of Serena, someone has to die first.”

Those were Christian’s exact thoughts. Even though he had promised Dario the honors of taking revenge on his dad by killing him, he wouldn’t mind doing it himself.

“He can put that money in his ass.” Christian crumpled the letter. He would’ve walked through fire to protect Serena. “I’m getting back Serena and my baby today.”

Those already aware of the pregnancy did not have that much of a reaction, while the others slowly processed the news.

Matteo cleared his throat. “Wait, baby—what baby?”