Alexandar's POV

"Maybe she just needs time to cool off. You know how Talia usually is." Tyler tried to reassure me.

"We should go after her," I frowned.

"I don't think she'll want that. Maybe give her some time?" Nathan suggested.

"Yeah...I guess. You're probably right." I sighed.

I slumped down on my seat as I recalled the conversation earlier. I regretted lashing out on her since we all knew all soft-hearted she was. We barely fight and I'm pretty sure we can't go for a day without talking to one another.

I checked my watch to see that it was already 5 pm. The sun was setting soon and the shop was cleared out except for us. Talia didn't have her bodyguards with her today because we insisted that she won't need them.

Worry starts to sink in as I realized she was alone right now. Suddenly, my phone rang.

"Yes?"

"Alex, could you bring Talia home? There are some things I need to discuss with her," her father was on the other side of the line.

"Of course sir, right away."

The boys raised their heads up to me in question.

"It's Mr. Vanderbilt. He wants her home now." I explained.

They all nodded and got up. We walked out of the shop to find Talia nowhere in sight. That's weird. She's usually just outside.

"You guys go look there. Gabriel and I will go this way." I ordered.

As we split ways to look for her, we still could not find her. I was getting very worried and judging by Gabriel's actions, he was also getting anxious. We then met with the boys again to find out they also couldn't find her. This was getting out of hand.

"Should we call her father?" Nathan suggested.

"No, not yet. I don't want him thinking we're not capable of protecting her. Maybe she just wandered off somewhere and got lost." I replied.

"Wait, on a scale of one to ten, do you think Talia would be dumb enough to go in a sketchy-looking park?" Tyler scratched his head.

My head whipped in his direction.

"Why? Did you see something?" I questioned.

"N-no it's just, that was the only place we haven't looked and I don't know man. Do you think she would go in?" Tyler replied.

Nathan facepalmed, Gabriel, sucked in a breath, while I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Tyler, that's exactly something she would do!" I yelled.

We looked at each other for a minute then rushed over to where the park was located.

"It's empty. Are you sure?" Tyler asked.

The park sure looks creepy. Now I'm really not sure if she went in here.

"Guys! Over here! Look." Gabriel called out to us.

"What is it?"

He held up a shiny necklace in the shape of a butterfly. Everyone's eye widened into saucers and we took a look at it. I immediately recognized it since it was me who gave her that for her birthday.

"Wait-does this mean-" Nathan started.

"We're too late." Tyler came up with a conclusion.

"Oh no." Gabriel started again.

I was on the brink of lashing out, I needed to hit something.

"What is it now?"

"Look at these footsteps. She wasn't alone. And look how it's all over the place. There was struggling evident." Gabriel told us.

"Oh god no." Tyler gasped.

"What should we do?" Nathan asked.

"The only thing left, call her father."

After calling her father who immediately lashed out with cuss words, we all stood there trying to figure out what the hell happened. We were all put out of our thoughts when rows of black cars arrive.

Talia's father and brothers came out of the car looking displeased.

"You boys have three minutes to explain what the fuck happened to my daughter." Mr. Vanderbilt yelled.

"We had an argument sir. We debated on going after her but decided to let her calm down first." I explained.

"What were you boys thinking? Of course, you had to go after her. Her bodyguards were not there!" He screamed at us.

"I-I know sir but we didn't want to make her feel any worse," Tyler tried to defend.

"Her safety is MUCH more important than her feelings."

Before Tyler could go on, I jumped in.

"Yes sir, it won't happen again.

For the next few hours, Mr. Vanderbilt and his men tried finding her. The outcome was disappointing since we all still failed.

In the end, we decided to go home first and regroup later. That night, I couldn't sleep at all knowing it was my fault Talia was in this situation. If I was just a tad bit calmer and open, she won't have had the need to go out.

I pulled strands of my hair as I paced around in the living room. I have already emptied a bottle of whiskey and was on my second one. Mr. Vanderbilt has assigned a search team to look for her but there was still no news.

The boys have all decided to crash at my place since they also wanted to be informed about Talia as quickly as possible.

I stood there staring into the fireplace as memories of Talia came up. Her beautiful blue eyes, her easy but capturing smile, her innocent face. They all brought a lonely tear down my cheeks but I wiped it off before anyone can see. Talia would need me to be strong and that's exactly what I'll do, be strong for her.

The room was quiet and only the sound of the fire flickering in the fireplace was heard. The ice in my whiskey was melting and droplets of water were dripping down to the floor.

All of a sudden, my phone starts ringing. I immediately accepted it wanting to know news from the search party. What I heard from the other line made the hair stand up on my skin and adrenaline rushed through my body.

"Alex, please help me, I-"

"YOU LITTLE BITCH"

Then, the line went silent. The phone call ended.

"Talia? Talia!" I threw the phone across the room, "FUCK."

Due to the sound voice, the boys came rushing down the stairs.

"Alex?"

"Alex what happened."

"It's Talia, she called me," I answered.

"Wha- what do you mean she called you?" Gabriel asked.

"She said she needs help. Her line cut off before she had a chance to explain," I replied sitting down, still in shock.

"Cut off or not, it's perfect! We can track her through her phone." Gabriel's eyes lit up.

They all rushed to the phone to track the last call. Phone calls were made and tasks were assigned. Hope was restored as we had a chance to find her.

Her family immediately came to my house. After telling them the story, they all poured themselves whiskey and tried to calm themselves.

Suddenly, the person who was in charge of the tracking yelled out the words I've been wanting to hear.

"I've found her!"

We all rushed over to look at the location. It was at a dock near the waters where our businesses were usually done.

"Wait for a second, is that Gambino shippings?" Mr. Vanderbilt asked.

"Uhh, appears that it is."

"Fanculo!" he threw his glass until it shattered on the wall.

"That son of a bitches had a debt to my family and ran off when they couldn't pay. Now they have Talia. Shit!" He glared at the GPS.

"We can pay them money, right? Talia won't be hurt?" Nathan questioned.

"No, no no no. I did something to them that made them hold a grudge against me. In the crossfire, bullets were fired and mine hit his wife." he said.

"We can't let Talia pay for my mistakes. We need to get her back, now! Call my assault teams." Mr, Vanderbilt called out.

"Alex.." Gabriel started.

"You know what this is Gabriel, it's either them or Talia. It's war."

________________________________

A lengthy chapter for my patient readers! Thanks for your support and 7k likes!

Laura🪐✨