The Heiress' Revenge

Chapter 175: He’s Been Kidnapped

Dante’s POV

Everything seemed to have disappeared; the only thing that mattered was the woman of my life.

I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want to speak. I didn’t want to do anything that might break this moment.

This is a perfect, healing, beautiful moment.

I had waited so long for this, I had dreamed of this, I had fought for this, and now it was real.

She was real.

We were real.

God! How I’ve missed her so much, you could only imagine.

I kissed the top of her head, and she sighed a happy sigh, a content one that said she was home.

"I love you," I whispered. "I love you so much."

She looked up at me. Her eyes were shining. "I love you too."

I smiled, she smiled, and for a moment, everything was perfect.

Then my phone rang.

The sound was loud.

Jarring.

It cut through the quiet like a knife.

I ignored it, not wanting to answer. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I didn’t want to leave this moment. I just wanted to stay here with her. Forever.

It felt as if I had left this; I won’t come back to it again, and the thought terrifies me.

Ariana pulled back and looked at me. "Dante. Your phone. It might be important."

I shook my head. "It can wait. Nothing is more important than this, than you."

The phone stopped ringing.

Silence.

I pulled her close again and buried my face in her hair. I breathed her in.

She smelled like flowers, like home, like everything I had been missing.

Then my phone rang again.

Ariana pushed against my chest. She looked at me. "Dante, answer it. It could be the kids. It could be an emergency."

She was right.

I knew she was right, but I didn’t want to be right.

I wanted to be selfish. I wanted to stay in this moment. I wanted to pretend the world didn’t exist.

I pulled out my phone.

Marcus.

Of course, it was Marcus.

Calling at the worst possible time.

I answered.

My voice is irritating.

"What, Marcus? This better be important. I’m kind of in the middle of something."

Marcus’s voice was panicked, breathing hard. "Dante. Thank God. Thank God you answered. You need to come home. Now. Right now."

I felt my heart drop.

Something was wrong.

"What happened? What’s wrong?"

Marcus was quiet for a second. Then he said, "It’s Asher. He’s gone; someone took him. He’s been kidnapped."

The world stopped.

"Dante? Dante, are you there?"

I couldn’t speak or move.

I couldn’t breathe.

My son was gone.

My baby was gone.

Someone had taken him.

Dante.

"Dante says something. Please."

I looked at Ariana, and she was staring at me, her face was worried. Her eyes were scared. She knew something was wrong, and she could see it on my face.

But how do I break it to her?

"What happened?" she asked. Her voice was shaking. "Dante, what happened? Tell me."

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. The words were stuck; they were too heavy and painful to say.

"Dante!" Marcus’s voice was loud in my ear. "Did you hear me? Asher is gone. Someone took him. The police are here. You need to come home. Now."

I hung up, unable to say anything. Still, I just dropped the phone. It fell to the ground.

Ariana grabbed my arms; her nails dug into my skin. "Dante. Dante, look at me. What happened? What did Marcus say?"

I looked at her as the mother of my children. At the woman who had already lost so much, we lost more.

That we lost our son.

"It’s Asher," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "He’s been kidnapped. Someone took him. We need to go home. We need to go now."

Ariana’s face went white.

Her hands dropped from my arms.

Her mouth opened.

No words came out; she just stared at me like she couldn’t process what I was saying, like her brain was refusing to believe it.

I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the car. She didn’t resist or try to speak. She just followed with her feet moving, but her eyes were empty.

She was still in shock, almost like she wasn’t the one smiling in tears just a while ago.

We got in the car, I started the engine, and I drove fast.

Ariana was quiet.

She still hasn’t said a word, but her lips were quivering. It terrified me that she wasn’t talking.

I reached over, I took her hand, and squeezed it tight, so tight it hurt. I didn’t care.

I squeezed back.

"We’re going to find him," I said with my voice, even though I was falling apart inside. "We’re going to find him, Ariana, I promise. I swear to you. We will find our son."

She didn’t answer.

She just stared out the window with tears falling down her cheeks.

Silent tears.

The worst kind.