Word count: 2305

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Eros's POV

*

"And make sure they don't take their eyes off her." I told Nate and he nodded in response.

I heaved a sigh and decided to go in search of Angela despite what she had told me earlier about the groom not seeing the bride in her gown before the wedding day.

I bet she would be so beautiful both now and also on that day in her bridal gown and she would take my breath away when she walks down the aisle. They hadn't even left for up to fifteen minutes but I was already missing her like crazy. Sleeping together recently had made me more addicted to her.

I couldn't wait to spend the rest of my life with her.

I slowed my steps as I received a notification on my phone and clicked on it while still making my way towards the direction I'd seen them walk, which was on the third floor.

There weren't many people in the store today because I had made a call to the manager and issued it that way. The last thing I wanted was for my angel to get stressed by so much amount of crowd more than she already was.

I glanced at my phone while climbing up the stairs after mentally deciding not to take the lift.

Unknown sender:~ *Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock...tskkk tskkk. There's no time to waste*

I frowned at the content I'd just read shook my head at the weird words, walking towards the direction I had seen my mom, sister and angel turn before they were out of sight earlier on.

Then my eyes widened and I came to the realization that the text might've come from the enemy.

I couldn't rule out the possibility of what would have probably happened. Ever since the break-in at Angela's place, I'd been more careful with her.

My mind eased a little when I saw my mom and Malia smiling at what the male attendant was saying as my mum had a gushing look on her face and I rolled my eyes.

"Mom."

"Eros," she turned around to face me with the smile ever present while I looked around. "Where is Angela?"

She chuckled. "That girl is so nice and kindhearted. She saw an ancient peacock cup two on the way here and stopped to check it. I think so she has gone there to get it for your Nana because I heard her saying something about that. She should be back in a bit though."

"When did she leave?" I frowned.

"About three minutes ago. She will soon be-" I didn't even wait for her to finish the sentence before turning around and making my way towards the door.

Then I heard a gunshot and a scream.

My heart instantly slammed against my ribcage.

Alarmed, I looked back to see the male attendant stare wide eyed for only a couple of seconds before falling to the ground with a thud. There was a bullet hole on his head and blood was gushing out.

My mom and sister let out horrified screams and instantly ran into hiding as they kept screaming, looking around fearfully. I looked behind me and saw Nate standing at the door with a gun in his hand.

Then someone whistled and a lady wearing the store uniform ran past the store we were in and Nate swiftly pulled out two a pistol from his holster, threw them at me while conversing with his eyes about what I should use them for and chased after the lady.

I motioned for my mom and sister to stay still but they were still staring with terrified eyes at the dead man who now had blood pouring down his temple. My mom was silently sobbing but Malia was just staring straight ahead, hugging my mom as they both trembled.

I pushed the gun into Malia's left hand but she shook her head, blinking the tears from her eyes.

"Something might have happened to Angela. If anyone looking suspicious moves close to you, pull the trigger. Okay?"

"Yes." Malia said in a croaked voice and just kept herself glued to my mom's side while clutching the pistol. 

"Eros, please don't go." My mom held out her hand with a strangled cry that wrenched my heart but I shook my head. Angela was out there. "This man had a gun pointed at your head without us even noticing it. If not for the bodyguard behind you..." Tears poured down her face and her shoulders shook.

"Help will be on the way soon." I told her firmly and left without looking back.

I took a peek out and looked from left to right with the gun in hand, taking slow steps and listening for any sounds as I tiptoed towards the store. There was no one in there. Playing GTA and Call of duty for years was proving helpful to me now because I had just started taking shooting lessons but I knew I was still an amateur. I didn't even know how to protect myself but I would have to do just that at this moment.

"Boss."

I turned around with clenched jaws as six of my bodyguards marched in. I shouldn't have asked them to take formation outside. The mall had been emptied as per my instructions to the manager, still someone managed to kidnap my angel and a man had even pointed a gun at my head.

Thank goodness Nate was around.

Something wasn't right. These people knew we were coming and I had made sure Angela was extra careful with how she gave out information. My mom and Malia also hadn't told anyone because I made sure to explain things to them clearly that someone was after Angela.

Something wasn't right. How did the people know where we'd be?

We heard screaming and ran out towards the sound.

Things might have been messier if it was the usual hustling and bustling going on in malls where people were usually going and coming and I was glad they weren't. Even most of the attendants weren't around. Something clicked.

"Get me the manager!" One of the men fell behind and went in search of the manager.

"Go to the control room and keep things in order. Nothing must be deleted and nothing must be tampered with!"

"Yes boss!" Another bodyguard fell behind and went the other way.

"Angela? Baby?" I called frantically with clenched jaws, hoping she would come out of one of these stores and run my way. But there was nothing of such.

"Rock, call Donatello and tell him to track all the notifications I received in the past one hour! Also, he should check if there has been any attempt to track me or Angela. Give him the needed details!" I barked, loosing my calmness as we entered the hallway where Nate and the lady who had been in a gun battle with him was.

She was on the ground, not dead I hoped. "Alive?"

"She's alive, she was running towards the back passage and it seems only employees know of that place. That's where the people that almost shot you must've gone through."

"How did you know this?"

"I chased this lady back there and there was an inked word beside her left eye, the dead guy had something bigger. She's a skilled fighter, kungfu. She has a rebellious spirit too." Nate narrated and I realized he wasn't just a bodyguard but also a trained fighter. It would take a fighter to know a fighter. "Also, they definitely have miss Angela."

That caught my attention as my heart started beating frantically and my words died on my tongue. My vision blurred and I had to quickly hold onto the wall for a few seconds.

Nate continued. "From my observation, there was no screaming and no sign that miss Angela struggled but I don't think she also would have followed whoever it was willingly. Possibly she was knocked out or she was suffocated with chloroform."

The anger came in full force as the urge to punch something or rather someone became overwhelming.

My phone rang again and I slid my thumb over the screen to end it, unwilling to listen to the sound right now.

"Rock." I called Rock who approached us.

"Yes boss. I've called Donatello and he'll get back to you in a few minutes."

"Good." I gritted with clenched hands, feeling anger surge through me. "Now go and get my mother and Malia back to the house. Don't answer any of their questions no matter how frequent they ask. Drop them off, have a chat with the guards back at home and call me. I'll give you instructions then"

"Yes boss." Rock left after that.

The other bodyguard who went to get the manager hurried over. "No sign of him sir. His office has been trashed and things were turned upsidedown."

I nodded meekly and told him to join the other bodyguard in the control room and they should gather whatever they can find and meet me at Stephano's place.

Nate was on the phone himself and he was as tense as I felt. "Alright, thank you. Yes."

He ended the call.

"Who was that?"

"Angela's friends. I asked them to stay where they are till I contact them, just in case the people that did this are kidnappers demanding ransom. We don't know who kidnapped her yet or why."

I heaved a deep sigh and my mood dampened further as I realized the emptiness in my chest got stronger.

"Let's get on the road, I need to see Stephano, her brother."

"Okay." We left there and one of my guards carried the knocked out girl. I sent him in another car to Luca's place. My grandad would be extra pissed to know that Angela was kidnapped, especially when she was under my watch. 

Then it clicked in my mind and my eyes widened. "I might know who this kidnapper is. Pedro Denaro, he has threatened her before."

"Pedro Denaro the Spanish mafia boss and businessman?" Nate finally had a reaction as he asked hurriedly. All these while he'd shown no expression.

"He's Italian."

"Yes but he is known for his Spanish accent. His mother is Spanish, I once worked for his father years ago. He was registered in the state's hospital at that time and was going to therapy for some medical conditions he had."

"What medical conditions?"

"We should make an official inquiry with the hospital but he has a severe case of bipolarism and also a mild case of some personality disorder."

My eyes widened. I didn't know much about those but I knew what bipolar meant. Changing mood constantly. Also, the other case sounded even more severe.

The personality disorder. That would be horrible. Some people's personalities were horrible and you could hardly put up with it so how would my angel cope if she was with Pedro Denaro? He'd probably be cold at one moment and then hot the next moment.

Just then my phone started ringing again. It was Donatello, my maternal cousin and a computer guru. He was popularly known for hacking into companies and even stealing databases but he always destroyed the evidence before it could be found.

His codename was 'SixZero' but no one knew 'SixZero's' real identity.

"Don." I grunted.

"Long time no see, cousin! I got your message and quickly did some processing. Are you ready for this?" I kept mute so he continued. "Alright let's get straight to the point, I have all I need right here. So in the last one hour, you've gotten some calls or messages from numbers recorded as business associates as they are affiliated to your mail then at ten fourteen, you got a weird text from an unsaved number and probably someone bored with his life that says, 'Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock...tskkk tskkk. There's no time to waste' and then a call from your scary grandpa minutes later, which of course you missed or chose to ignore. So now can you tell me why you're too lazy with your life to merely go through your phone and I have to do all these?" He stated, sounding genuinely bored.

"An-angela, she was kidnapped." I replied with dry throat. Saying it hurt me more than I would admit.

There was a pause for a second before screeching of an ironing chair penetrated my ears.

"Shít man, Angela with the angel face? Crap! Not your sexy fiancée. What do you need me to do next? Do you have any leads? Let's bring the mofuckin bastards down. I'll call Tony right now and we'll meet at Luca's place. Have you told him?"

"No. Do something right now without hanging up. Check the location of that number that sent the message."

"Okay, give me a second." There was silence for a while, "the address is blocked but I'll track it down anyway....Boom, it's at crescent avenue, third building?"

I frowned in confusion and even Don had sounded confused while speaking just now. That was where Luca stayed and it was full of bodyguards all around.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Let's head over there." Donatello spoke chirpily, sounding excited. This meant he was ready to kill if it came down to it.

"Okay," I replied with a nod and ended the call before facing my driver. "Change of plans, I'll call Stephano instead. Drive me to grandpa's home. Fast."

*
Boom!

What's happening now? Who's the culprit from Eros's side? Who leaked the information that they were going to the mall to Pedro? What's happening?? Haaaaaa

Another update tomorrow. ❤