Mafia Billionaire’s Forlorn Wife
Chapter 63

Rhys

“Water…I need water…please…”

Her gravelly voice grates at my ears as I walk inside the cell that I am keeping Amelia trapped in.

A devious smirk appears on my lips as I stare at the way her hollowed out cheeks look and I imagine the day my beautiful wife will finally come back to decide this poor woman’s fate.

Amelia is currently sitting on the spring bed with her back pressed against the wall as her cuffed hands are in her lap while her whole body looks measly and weak.

She hears the sound of my footsteps and when she slowly raises her head, horror seeps into her eyes that I can see all the way to where I am standing. Even in this dimly lit room that I am keeping her in, I can always make out the way her features tremble with fear whenever I am present in her vicinity.

It’s because she knows just how far I can go if provoked. She knows that I can always ruin her in ways that will be incomprehensible to her.

“Rhys…” she croaks out before pathetically breaking into coughs as she places her hand on her abdomen, trying to gather her bearings.

Once she catches her breath again, she takes in a few deep puffs of air before looking at me with her best portrayal of pitiful sadness, “Rhys…it’s been years…” she whispers, her voice coming out weak and tired, “please, just kill me or let me go, I have suffered enough.”

I take a few steps towards her, looking around the small prison cell hidden in the depths of Tartarus where I keep only the most dangerous offenders considering that the conditions here are unsuitable for any decent human being, and then smirk down at her, “isn’t that similar to what my Bella said to you after you locked her in that bathroom stall? Wasn’t she begging you to release her before you left her to face the content of her nightmares?” I chide, my voice darkening towards the end as I glare down at her with nothing but pure anger.

Amelia tries to press herself further against the wall, almost as if she wishes to disappear into the concrete as she gulps, “b-but that was so long ago, Rhys…please…my father must be looking for me. And Arabella is nowhere to be found, right? What’s the point of keeping me here? I have served my sentence. Not even the actual prison will keep someone for so long over the things that I did.”

My lips curl up into an insidious grin, “then it’s a good thing that this is not a regular prison, right?” I ask her and I can feel my mind drifting into the dark corner where nothing except for my anger and regret remains and all I can think about is destroying this entire world and myself along with it to ensure that Arabella doesn’t have to suffer because of anything ever again. “And as far as your father is concerned,” I say with a grin, “he already knows where you are.” I shrug.

Amelia’s eyes widen listening to that as her hands begin to shiver.

“Wh-what?” She stutters out.

I grin, looking around at this poor excuse of a room comprising of just a metal bed and a small bathroom.

“Well, you didn’t think that your father cared about anything other than money and status, did you?”

She looks at me with horror and I smirk…

|Flashback|

The liquor slithers down my throat but doesn’t do anything to calm down the storm raging inside me.

It has been two days since I got the divorce papers delivered from Arabella.

Two days since I threw them in the bloody fireplace and watched her signatures get burned off in the flames.

And for the last two days I have been trying to track her, to find her somehow, but it seems that my wife knows exactly how to go undetected even under the best of my radars.

Viktor too has been losing his mind because he has never faced this problems and I am here wondering how could she have evaded my resources this well.

I know that Dominco isn’t helping her, and I know that she doesn’t have any other such efficient connections that could help her escape so well.

And for the last two days, I have been losing my mind, worried sick about Arabella.

A fat cigar hangs loosely from one of my hands while I gulp down the alcohol before taking a long drag from it.

This is what my life has come to.

I haven’t slept in almost a week now and even though Vernon and Frida have been doing their best to be by my side, I know they blame me for what has happened.

Hell, I blame myself for what has happened.

I hurt Arabella so much that she was forced to go in hiding from me.

My heart hurts just thinking about what I put her through.

Why can’t you love me?

Who can ever love the daughter of a monster like Mancini?

I close my eyes in reflex as yet another torturous memory flitters through my mind.

Her voice sounded so full of longing that day.

She wanted me to see how much she loves me…she wanted me to see how much I am hurting her…

I was all alone, Rhys…

Her words from when I found her in that wretched motel, all tied up and bruised with her face filled with cuts and tears.

I did all that to her.

Not Amelia. Not Christopher.

I did.

“No, he’s not in the mood for visitors right now, please just leave…”

“NO, I HAVE TO SEE HIM!”

Frida and a familiar voice argue and their sounds do reach me but I ignore them as I just rest my head back against the velvet couch that Arabella loved so much and try to forget the rest of the world.

“Where are you, you bastard!” The voice grows closer and an irritated scowl appears on my lips as I lay there just before I hear footsteps approaching me.

“What have you done to my daughter?” The man growls and I finally open my eyes to find Amelia’s father staring down at me with nothing but rage present on his face.

“Clark.” I growl.

This is the man whose deviousness has resulted in Arabella walking away from my life. He is the one who was instructing Amelia on what to do.

And I know from the look in his eyes that he’s aware of the fact that I have found out about his plans.

Grabbing my gun from the coffee table, I stand up in the blink of an eye and pull the trigger just as his eyes widen and the bullet pierces through his thigh.

A loud scream of pain escapes his lips and some of his b***d splatters on the front of my shirt because of our proximity while Frida gasps slightly but stares at the scene in front of her with no remorse on her face.

And when he has fallen to the ground, screaming and grunting, I use the tip of my shoe to turn his face so that he can look at me.

“You shot me…” he accuses, “I will send you to prison, you d**k!”

That is when I remember how little he knows about the actual impact that the Bratva has in this world and the justice system.

“You know you can’t do that, Clark.” I say in a deathly sweet voice. “Now, how about we have a chat?”

|End of Flashback|

“All I had to do was remind him of who I was and it wasn’t too hard to convince him to stop searching for you in return for his own life.” I say with shrug, knowing well enough that this piece of information is going to break her further.

A person can live a long time while holding onto the hope that someone is coming to their rescue.

Once that hope breaks, everything starts to go downhill.

I intend to break that hope for Amelia.

Rhys

“Water…I need water…please…”

Her gravelly voice grates at my ears as I walk inside the cell that I am keeping Amelia trapped in.

She starts shaking her head, “no, that can’t be true…he won’t do that, I did everything that he wanted!” She shrieks but her voice cracks and she breaks into coughs.

I look down at her with pity in my eyes, staring at the husk of a woman she has become.

If only she hadn’t harmed my Bella.

“Oh, but it is exactly what happened. The world thinks that he runs my companies, tell me, Amelia, do you think I would let him do that willingly? Do you really think I’m that weak?” I jab, watching the way her eyes glimmer with realisation and I enjoy watching that expression on her face.

Nothing satisfies me more than seeing her and Christopher squirm, and sob, and beg me for their pathetic lives.

But alas, the longer it takes for me to find my wife, the more painful their time here is going to become.

“Rhys…” she cries out, reaching towards me but I can see that her body— deathly pale and thin— doesn’t even have the strength to move properly. “Please…just kill me if you won’t let me go. Please don’t prolong my suffering any further.”

That is when a surge of anger rises inside me as I reach out and grip her by her throat, making her gasp out before I snarl, “you caused Arabella to suffer and now I don’t know where or what condition she is in. She was pregnant when you kidnapped her, b***h! And your suffering will end if she decides it. The day I find her again, that is when it will be decided whether to end your existence or make you suffer some more. Is that clear?” I hiss.

Amelia, deathly scared and with tears in her eyes, slowly nods her head and I leave her like the piece of scum that she is before standing back straight.

“How long is this going to go on?” She asks meekly as I turn around to walk away.

Without looking at her, I answer, “for as long as it takes for Arabella to accept her justice and my apology.

And with that, I let her rot in her prison cell all alone.

⚜️⚜️⚜️

Finding Jordan in the courtyard, I approach him, “what’s the status on the Cabrera mission?”

I need Franco Cabrera in front of my eyes so that I can take his life with my own hands.

Arabella’s involvement in the Cabrera family of organised crime and Dominico’s urgency to have him killed are both signs of trouble and I will not have my wife involved in a crossfire that can potentially harm her.

Never again.

“Franco Cabrera was last seen in his palace in Ibiza. Our men are moving in, they will have him in their custody in the next ten hours. He’ll be here by tomorrow.”

I shake my head, “not here.” I mutter, knowing that too many things can go wrong in an ocean spanning transit. “Hold him in the facility in Valencia. I’ll personally deliver him to the gates of hell.”

Jordan’s eyes widen, “sir, are you certain?”

I nod my head, knowing well enough that I cannot take any chances with this deal.

Arabella’s safety depends on that and after five years this is the first clue that I have gotten about her whereabouts and I will do everything I can to find her.

Even if it means taking Dominico’s help and doing his dirty work.

⚜️⚜️⚜️

Arabella

“Are you in position?” Kian’s voice speaks from the ear piece lodged in my ear as I touch it slightly to answer.

“Yes, just waiting for Nyx to be done scanning through this building.” I mumble softly.

“Almost done, boss.” Nyx, my personal AI states from the ear piece that I am currently wearing. “Reinforced steel in front, an air passage suggests that there is a lift downwards towards the main facility and from the heat signature there are at the very least thirty individuals inside.”

“And mostly armed.” I murmur as I stare intently at the building in front of me from the tree line that I am using to stay hidden.

At the moment, I am outside one of the warehouses owned by the Bratva in the outskirts of Valencia, and like most Bratva operations, the k********g of Franco Cabrera was also done discreetly and kept hidden from most of the underworld.

If it wasn’t for the advanced technologies of Salazar, I wouldn’t have been able to find him this quickly.

“You’re not going in there alone!” Kian hisses and I roll my eyes at that.

“You all need to be in place and I will tell you when it’s alright to enter. I need to find Franco before they get spooked or feel threatened and end up killing Franco. You know why we need him alive, Ki.” My voice is firm as I read through the information that is visible on my monitoring screen that is connected with Nyx, giving me a a map of how I need to proceed.

“Reigna, you need to be very careful. We cannot have anything happening to you. I will be willing to sacrifice Cabrera but without you everything would fall.” Kian’s voice is formal since he is currently surrounded by our team, ready to come in at the first sign of trouble for me, but I can still hear the heartfelt concern that I know he feels for me.

The bond I share with Kian is something that is extremely precious to me.

I know how much he cares about my safety and even though it started off because he was assigned as my bodyguard and trainer by Leo but soon after our deep friendship became the reason why he worries so much.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be alright.” I mutter, “I’m going in.”

And with that, I step out of the tree line right as my snipers shoot the men patrolling the roof so that I can get inside undetected.

Their bodies fall to the ground, two of them right in front of me and the other two probably on the other side of the building.

The same fate follows the guards posted near the entrance and by the time I am reaching the door, there is no one left to stop me.

“Alright, Nyx, do your work.” I say as I use my monitoring screen and place it over the keypad just outside the door.

Nyx scans it for fingerprints and running multiple algorithms, it gives me a scan of the four digit code that helps me unlock the door.

I smirk, “there are two armed individuals inside, ma’am.” Nyx’s voice speaks through my ears and my smirk only widens.

“Bring on the party, love.” I murmur, takin out my glocks which have been muzzled with silencers just when the door finally opens and I find two guns pointing in my direction.

Both of them are held by two Serbs, both double my size.

Sadly for them, I shoot them both in the head before they can make their move and I smirk as I enter the building before looking to my either sides and shooting the two guards that began to approach me.

Luckily for me, this floor above the ground is not as guarded as the one underneath it.

Instead of taking the elevator and announcing my presence like a bloody fool, I take the corridor to my right and try to look for any open vents that I can use to lower myself under the ground.

“Talk to me, Reigna, what’s happening?” Kian’s worried voice speaks up and I continue walking before turning a corner and finding exactly what I am looking for.

“Jackpot.” I mumble, and grinning victoriously, I open the vent opening in the ground before jumping inside and closing it so that I am not followed.

Once I start crawling through the vents, praying that there are no mice infesting here, I hear Nyx again, “take the next left, boss, I’m sensing an opening. My scans show that there is a storage closet that isn’t manned by anyone.”

“Got it.” I whisper, smirking as I feel my b***d singing in my ears with the thrill that comes with missions like this.

“Got it.” I whisper, smirking as I feel my b***d singing in my ears with the thrill that comes with missions like this.

I have always enjoyed this side of me since the first time I discovered it. I never knew I could be violent or even remotely diabolical, but Salazar has helped me realise multiple layers to my own personality and I will forever be grateful to Leo for that.

My heart aches every time I think about my best friend whom I used to meet every single day but haven’t seen more than a handful times in these five years.

I pray that he is alright wherever he is.

“Right here, boss.” Nyx informs me as I come up over the exit.

Smirking inwardly, I pull up my mask to maintain anonymity as I open the vent panel and then placing both hands on the edges, I jump down in the small storage closet.

I use my own flashlight to look around the space and I find nothing but shelves hoisted on the three walls around me and a door right in front of me.

“Sensing something outside, Nyx?” I ask my AI— another one of the advanced technologies at Salazar.

“No heat signatures nearby. The air passage suggests a long corridor. There could be danger ahead.”

I grin maniacally under my mask. This is what I live for.

The thrill of the chase surges through me as I keep my weapons handy and then slowly open the door and step outside in the corridor that stretches a few good meters on either side of me.

“Go through the map of this facility and show me the direction to the potential places where they could have been keeping Franco.” I tell Nyx and as it starts its configurations, I turn my head to the side just in time to find another Serb turning the corner into the corridor.

I slide right back in the closet before he can see me and wait for his footsteps as I watch him approach through a c***k between the door and the frame.

Right when he crosses the closet, I slide out behind him and use my garrotte wire to strangle him with all my force as his body starts to struggle and grunts escape his lips as the thin and sharp piece of wire cuts into his skin and the moment he starts falling weak, I snap his neck relishing in the sound of his bone breaking.

Catching him from the back of his shirt, I somehow manage to drag his body inside the closet before closing the door shut and exhaling an exhausted breath.

f*****g Serbs.

“Are you done, boss?” Nyx’s voice lined with slight sarcasm falls into my ears and I almost scoff.

Rolling my eyes, I mutter, “lead the way, love.”

“Gladly,” she tells me and I swear if she was a human being, she would have been smirking at me right now, “take the right and then take the second left.”

I start walking in that direction, “how many?” I ask considering that I am currently walking towards the direction where this Serb came from.

“I’ve sensed three so far.”

I tighten the garrotte around my hand as I continue walking against the walls to ensure that I am not caught in the line of fire if someone spots me.

The moment I reach the corner I press my back against the wall and slowly look out from the corner of my eye to find two men guarding a door as they chat between each other, completely distracted.

I scoff.

They’re making it so easy for me.

I take out a gas grenade from my belt pockets before removing the clip and throwing it in their direction as smoke starts pouring out of it and I watch them watch it with horror but the dense smoke is so potent that it doesn’t take more than a few seconds for them to fall unconscious.

I observe, breathing easily because of the mask on my lower half of the face as I wait for any signs of movement.

When there is nothing, I approach the door these doofuses were guarding and press my back against one side of the doorway as I slowly reach out to turn the knob.

The moment the door clicks open, I slide inside the room expecting danger.

And I find it too.

Two more armed soldiers, one man and another a woman, startle when they see me and pull their weapons in my direction.

My lips curl up in a smile even though they can’t see it. I raise my fingers towards their flabbergasted faces, “hey, fellas, how’re you doin?” I ask turning my head to the side.

I wait for a moment.

One.

Two.

And right when I see the woman’s finger curling around the trigger, I shoot.

Three.

Two shots, both hands, holes in their foreheads.

Their bodies fall to the ground and I find my precious cargo tied to a chair just behind them.

Seriously?

It was this easy?

“Reigna!” Kian’s voice finally registers in my head again as I realise that he has probably been calling me for a few good minutes but I have been too focused on finding Franco to notice.

“Flood the place in ten.” I mutter.

That is how long it is going to take for me to secure Franco.

“On it.” He mutters signing off.

Franco’s eyes are wide as he stares between the two Bratva soldiers that I have just killed and me.

He has a gag preventing him from speaking and honestly, that is how I prefer him to be.

“How many times will you have me clean up your messes?” I mutter, rolling my eyes as I turn around and lock the door before looking around the spacious room lined with shelves and tables carrying weapons to make sure that there won’t be any surprise attacks.

Once I am certain, I stride over to where Franco is tied up in handcuffs and zip ties around his ankles and shake my head as I turn his chin to observe the bruises on his face.

He hisses but I ignore him as I find his bronze eyes giving me the stink eye while his lower l*p is swollen and slashes and there is blackness under his left eye along with a dark bruise on his otherwise sharp cheekbone.

With curly brown hair and sun kissed tan skin, Franco Cabrera has the looks of the perfect Mediterranean prince, with his aquiline nose currently looking roughed up from a punch, and his full lips that I know he got from our mother.

The only reason I am not allowing this bastard to die is because I cared about my mother and finding out about the Cabreras helped me feel a little closer to her in spirit.

“Come on, we need to leave.” I mumble to him, not wanting to waste my time as I bend down and cut through his zip ties.

He grunts and I look up at him to find him trying to motion towards the gag with his eyes.

I grin at that, “yeah, I’m not interested in listening to you talk.”

I might have to keep him alive but I don’t have to put up with him if I can help it.

However, just before I can start working on the handcuffs, the last lights in the room turn red and a warning siren starts to echo through the entire facility.

I stand up straight and find Franco’s eyes widen as I too look around.

And right at that moment, I feel someone sneaking up behind me.

I swiftly turn around to evade the attack but instead I calculate wrong and the person sprays something in my eyes.

The burning sensation makes me scream out in pain and right at that moment, something hits the back of my head.

Hard.

The last thing I see before losing consciousness is Franco’s eyes telling me—

I told you to remove the f*****g gag.