It s been a few days since I saw that horrifying video of Ivan torturing the love of my life. I have been trying to stay healthy for the baby and try not to over-stress my body. It s hard because every time I remember the video. I end up crying and overthinking about the horrors Stefano might be facing in the hands of Ivan.
I tried calling the number Ivan used to call me that day, but it never went through. He must have used a burner phone and threw it away once he was done talking to me. I watched the video through a phone Ivan mailed to me because he did not want to send it through a means easier to trace it back to him. I might hate him, but he is brilliant. If he emailed it to me or sent it through messages or through social media. It would be easier to track the phone he used, which would lead us to him.
The Costanzo family has been doing their best to find Stefano. I still can t believe he was kidnapped. Whichever way Ivan was able to kidnap Stefano, I can bet it was not an easy method.
I come back from my train of thoughts when I hear my phone ringing.
"Hello, mom," I say once I answer the phone.
"How are you doing, dear?" She asks, sounding worried.
"I am good. How about you?"
"I am good also, and how is the baby doing?"
"The baby is doing fine also."
"That s wonderful to hear, and how are you holding up? I am sure it s not easy being pregnant with Stefano missing."
"It s not easy, but I am trying my best to stay strong for the baby and me."
"That s good, dear, and I want to talk to you about something."
"I am listening, mom."
"So your dad and I were thinking with Stefano missing, do you think it s a good idea for you and the baby to still remain in Sicily. We think you should go somewhere safe until the Costanzo family handles Vladimir."
"I know it s not safe, and I should be far away from this city as much as possible, but I can t leave yet. I want to be close by when they find Stefano."
"I understand how you feel, dear."
"Thank you for not pushing the matter, and how his dad and Santiago?"
"They are both doing fine and send their greetings."
"That s good to hear."
"Yeah, and let me leave you to rest dear, I will call you later. Bye, love you."
"Love you too mom, bye," I say and hang up the phone.
After I drop the call with mom, I walk to the gang house to visit Thomas and find out how the search for Stefano is going.
I knock on Thomas s office door once I arrive.
"Come in," He says in Italian, but I still understand.
"Hello, Thomas," I say once I step inside.
"How are you doing today, Andrea?" He asks with concern laced in his voice as he removes his attention from the papers in front of him
"I am better than yesterday," I reply and take a seat on one of the chairs in front of his desk.
"That s good to hear, and I have good news for you. I was actually about to call you."
"Have you found Stefano?" I ask curious to know if my prayers have been answered
"We are not sure yet, but we have a location we suspect Vladimir might be hiding him"
"That s wonderful, so when do we leave."
"There is no we. You are not going anywhere close to that place while you have the first Costanzo grandchild in your belly."
"I don t plan to join the guys in raiding the place. I will wait in the car. I just want to be there if we find him."
"Even though I don t think it s a good idea if you come along."
"Please, I promise I won t leave the car," I plead. I can t wait at home till he gets back to find out if Stefano is there or not.
"I will think about it before we leave this night."
"Alright, thank you."
Later at night, Thomas arrives at my room with a bullet suit vest which means I am going with them. Aurora also comes along to keep me safe in the car.
We arrive at the place we suspect Stefano might be. Aurora and I wait in the car while Thomas leads a group of men into the abandoned building. We don t wait long before Thomas comes back to the car. He kicks the car tires and screams in agony.
"What s wrong," I ask, stepping out of the car.
"Nothing," He says, avoiding eye contact with me.
"Did you find Stefano?" Aurora asks, coming up to stand beside me
"No, we did not," He says, with anger
"What did you find inside that has you all worked up like this," I ask, curious to understand his behavior.
"Nothing" He lies as he tries to calm himself down.
"I can tell you are lying. What did you find inside?" I ask again. I am starting to get worried that even if he did not find Stefano inside. Whatever he found must not be good.
"I am not. We should leave," He says and tries to make me enter back into the car.
"I think I should see what is inside" I move away from him. He is preventing me from seeing what is inside, and I need to see what is inside.
"Me too, come on, let s go," Aurora says, grabbing my hand. We start walking towards the building, but Thomas stops us.
"I don t think that s a good idea," He says, blocking our path
"Why?" Aurora asks before I do
"Trust me, you don t want to go in there," Thomas says, shaking his head
"The more you don t tell me what is inside, the more I want to go in."
"I advise you don t let your curiosity get the best of you right now" I am about to reply to him when someone interrupts me.
"We have confirmed it, boss, the body, belongs to the old Don," Samuel says, and all the blood in my body leaves.
"No," I scream. I don t want to believe my ears. I run into the building and burst open the first door I come across.? I can t really see clearly, so I switch on my phone light to see properly. The first thing I see makes me drop my phone. I almost follow suit if not for Thomas catching me before I hit the ground.
"Please tell me it s not what I think," I say to Thomas with tears streaming down my face as I look at the body tied to the chair that is burnt to death.
"I am so sorry, Andrea," Thomas says with his eyes filled with tears.
"How sure are we that It s Stefano? It could be someone else," I say, praying the words from my mouth are real.
"We have a video that proves our theory, ma am," Samuel says, and I can tell he is trying his best to be strong and not lose it like me.
"Let me see, I won t believe Stefano is dead until I see it with my own eyes," I say and release myself from Thomas s hold and walk towards Samuel.
"I don t think that is a good decision, ma am."
"Show me!" I shout with anger surging through me towards Ivan for the pain he is causing me by killing the love of my life.
"This way, ma am," Samuel says and starts walking towards the room next door.
He opens the door and inside are computers. I think it s the camera room for the CCTV inside the room where the body is. Samuel plays a video on the computer, and I keep whispering to myself that it s not true the more I watch the video.
The video shows a liquid been poured on Stefano, who is barely recognizable from all the beating he suffered. I watch as Ivan walks away from Stefano and leaves the room, but before he does, he lights a watch and throws it at Stefano. His whole body catches fire, and I watch as he screams in pain as the fire burns him.
I can t believe the love of my life, and the father of my baby is gone. He will never get to watch the birth of his baby. I can t believe Stefano will never hold his baby in his hands or even watch our baby grow up. I will never get to see him again. I want to tell myself it s a lie and the video I watched is fake, but I know better than to lie to myself.
My head starts to ache the more I begin to realize Stefano is gone. I place my hand on my temple to massage the pain away, but it does not go away. I suddenly start feeling dizzy, and I see Samuel saying something to me, but I can t hear what he says. The last thing I remember is Aurora s scream before the darkness takes me away.