Day five without my Ari and I'm ready to kill every mother fucker that even thinks of looking in my direction. Ivan's fallen off the map and gone MIA. Moretti isn't answering my calls. Her brothers have stopped answering me as well. My brothers won't stop 'checking on me'. Can't everyone understand, I won't be ok until I have her back?

In my arms.

In my bed.

In my sight.

Hell, in my zip code.

Ever since the call ended abruptly yesterday, I've been overanalyzing and obsessing over what could have happened; the call was untraceable. Vinny called to check in and I filled him in on what she said. I have a feeling they think i did this, maybe this is all my fault.

Maybe I should have let her go.

Maybe I should have accepted that our worlds shouldn't mix.

Maybe, but I'm selfish and I need her.

Need her like my next breath.

Need her like the blood in my veins.

Missing her comes in waves and lately I'm drowning in her absence. My phone ringing brings me out of my thoughts,

"What," I answer without caring whose on the other side of the line.

"Santoro we need to talk. Now," Alessandro says. I scoff,

"Oh? You can't be bothered to help me find your sister, but now we 'need to talk'. Go fuck yourself I'm busy," I spit out before he cuts me off with the most unbelievable words.

"The Bratva has her..." he sighs with a deep pain bleeding through. "They sent a picture and it doesn't look good."

"What the fuck are you talking about," my words come out breathless as he explains everything he knows. Everything they kept from me from the moment she disappeared.

She ran from me.

She thought I wanted to hurt her.

She was taken by Uncle Sergei.

She's hurting.

Fuck. This is my fault. FUCK. How could I not see it?

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

"Ok this is what we're going to do..."

-----

Staring at the pool of blood around my feet, lost in the thoughts of those ocean-blue eyes that haunt me. The deep crimson coating the concrete thickly provides a certain peaceful similarity to that of the tides against a sandy beach.

Fuck I miss her.

My obsession over her grows deeper with every minute that ticks by.

I can't eat.

I can't sleep.

When Alessandro sent that picture of what my so called 'Family' is doing to her, I lost my mind. 

I can't trust anyone in this Bratva. 

I can't trust anyone at all. 

Except her. It's only ever her. 

"What the fuck did you do," Dante asks from behind me with disbelief in his voice. I can only shrug in response.

"What I had to," I gesture to the many bodies laying around the building. "They've all betrayed me. They helped take her from me and I'm going to make sure they feel every bit of my pain."

"You don't know all the facts yet,-" he tries to reason with me, but I cut his words off by raising my gun up toward him.

"Are you defending them? Did you betray me too," my voice is calm yet cold.

"What?! Of course not! You know I love Bambina like a little sister. Go fuck yourself if you think I would help them," he sneers. Lowering my gun I walk toward the entrance, kicking the bodies out of the way. "Do you want us to just burn it down?"

"No. I want them to find this exactly the way it is. Let them know what's coming for them. Then, I will burn their entire world down. The Shishkanov line ends with Ivan and me. I'm fucking done," I reply over my shoulder before continuing to leave and allow thoughts of their blood to soak into my soul.

----

"So, Mr. Moreno," I pause and turn around to face the man hanging from the ceiling  by his wrists. "Or do you prefer Cruz?" He uses as much strength a he can muster to yank on his chains, causing a sadistic smirk to pull at my lips. Turning back to the table I grab a knife and blow torch before moving to sit in the metal chair in front of him. "Let's be clear. You will not be walking out of here today. Whether you die slow and painful or quick and easy is up to you though."

"Fuck you bitch! I aint no snitch and I'm glad you lost her," he hisses through grunts of pain.

"I see. Well let's get started than," I stand up in front of him with a satisfied sigh. Slowly and painfully I dig my large serrated knife into his thigh. I make sure no vital arteries are touched, just the right spot to cause enough pain without letting him die. His screams of pure fear and pain bring a peaceful calm to my nerves. His screams get louder and more pathetic as I yank the blade out. Lighting the torch I bring it to his flesh and cauterize the wound, the smell of his burning flesh would make a normal person gag; not me, his pain only brings me more pleasure.

"Aghhh, FUCK! Come onnnn... I didn't take her. Why the fuck..." he attempts to ask. I take another seat and watch him hang, suffering a little longer before speaking.

"Let's talk while that festers a bit, sound good? So I have it on good authority, you helped to get my girl into the hands of Diavolos. You helped him locate her, you helped who ever it was that tried to shoot her, and you helped the Bratva take her away from Diavolos. Am I right? Did I forget anything," I ask with raised eyebrows while wiping his blood spatter from my hands.

"Look...I wanted her, but couldn't do what they asked so I came up with a plan to help Diavolos. He was supposed to only take her from you to hurt you, he had the resources. He was supposed to hand her off to me, but..." he pauses to take a deep breath.

"But..." I ask impatiently.

"But the fuckers twisted. He just took her to hurt you, he didn't like losing. Fuck that though, the bitch is ruined now. YOU RUINED HER! She was fucking perfect and you fucking took her from me. I don't know where they took her, but I hope you never fucking find her. The whore deserves to be put on a corner-, Uggghhh" his words are cut off by the knife I jam into his hip. Seething with anger at how he speaks about my girl, I pull it out harshly and jam it back in.

Over and over again.

The sound of the door opening catches my attention. Without looking I yell,

"Get the fuck out! I'm busy."

"We have something," is all it takes before I'm headed straight toward the man interrupting my therapy session.

-----

Looking over the building blueprints and geographical maps scattered across the table in front of us, I'm lost in thought until I hear my name being called. Moretti is staring at me with raised eyebrows. Pulling the earbuds out I ask, "What?"

"We need to talk about the situation at hand," he says taking a cautious seat in front of me. "There are a lot of moving pieces and people hidden at play here. We still don't have all the parties involved and we still don't know all the motives. She also may not even be alive any-" his words are cut off by my hand squeezing his windpipe.

"Listen fucker, she is not dead! My Ari is strong and will be just fine! She has to be, so do your fucking job and keep your fucking opinions to yourself." Releasing his throat as he gasps for air, I pull back and continue looking over the plans.

"Whatever Dom, but as someone who used to be a close friend I thought I would try to help. Fuck it though, dead or alive we are even after this," he croaks through a swollen throat before leaving. Just as he leaves, Dante and Roman sit at the table opposite me.

"You two have something to say?"

"Nah bro, just want to make sure you're good," Dante says with hands up in surrender. I only nod without even a glance.

"When do we leave?" I only offer a silent shrug before I peal my eyes away from my papers, sitting back into my chair with my knees spread and elbows resting on them. Analyzing them,

"What?!"

"Dom, we're just concerned you've gone off the deep end. You know if you go through with this plan there is no coming back right? We just want to know that you're sure," Roman cautiously offers.

"I didn't ask for your fuckin opinion, I asked when do we leave? Nothing else matters right now," I reply without feeling.

"We board in 15 minutes and we'll meet the others their on the outskirts," Dante replies in irritation. I know I'm being an asshole to everyone, but I'm just empty right now. My own blood betrayed me, and for what? I still don't know. My only goal is her and our baby.

-----

After hours on this plane we land. Me, my brothers, and our trusted men. All together their are about fifty of us driving through the busy streets of St. Petersburg. The night lit up from the city makes me think of how much Ari would enjoy this. Just thinking of her sends an ache to my chest as we approach the warehouse. Pulling in, I expect to see all of her brothers and their men, but I only see a few.

"Something feels wrong about this," I mutter to myself with a sinking feeling hitting me. When we come to a stop we jump out and move swiftly to the men in front of the blacked out SUVs.

"Moretti! Where the fuck is everyone?! Why are you alone," I grit out through clenched teeth.

"Chill Dom, plans changed a little. They advised us to go in without them and we'll meet them later," smirking he offers. What the fuck is going on? Why would her brothers not be here to go get her? Fuck it. I can deal with them later, I need to end this now.

"Lets go. Now," commanding everyone to load up. Me and my brothers get into our own vehicle, we are not trusting anyone at this point.

"Why do you think they changed it?" Dante asks quietly with just as much concern in his voice as I feel. Meeting Roman's eyes in the mirror I answer,

"Don't know, but we'll get to the bottom of all of this." 

-----

Pulling into the darkened warehouse district outside of the city in Leningrad, a nagging feeling continues to pull at my gut. We arrive in the back of the SUV caravan line, with Moretti leading the way. The only lights illuminate the doors to each of the warehouses, I've only visited these once before, but I recognize them as my uncle's. Coming to a stop, I take a deep breath before we exit the car; mentally preparing myself for whatever is on the other side of that door.

"You head in first," I motion to Moretti and his men. He rolls his eyes and proceeds to enter silently with his men following. We follow suit and make our way through the dark corridors, the only sound being a light dripping of water in the distance. As we get further in a light comes from a far off doorway comes into view. Moving with a little more quickness we begin to hear a gurgling sound from the room. My blood runs cold as I realize I've heard that sound before, the sound of someone clinging to life while they choke on there own blood. My feet move faster than my mind can process and I am the first one in the room.

"Holy Fuck," the words fall from my lips at the sight before me. It's the room from the picture, but I couldn't even fathom this to be the reality. Looking around, I realize the one person I want is not here. My veins ignite in rage as I slam my fist into the concrete wall over and over again. Roman places his hand on my shoulder, I guess to comfort me, but I just shake him off and begin shouting orders. 

"I want ever bit of camera footage you can find for the last two weeks here! EVERYTHING! I want to know everything that happened here," orders fly from my lips as I analyze the scene in front of me. 

Blood.

So much fucking BLOOD.

How much of it is Arianna's, I couldn't say. However, my heart feels a little lighter seeing her small bloody footprints leaving through the opposite door. At least she walked out, that has to be a good sign. The room is littered with Bratva members loyal to Sergei and Ivan, with Sergei laying face down in a pool of his own blood.

Good. 

The gurgling continues as  I move toward Ivan laying in the center of the room. Something metal is sticking out of his neck, but it's covered in blood and hard to see what it is. Squatting down as I pick my cousin's head up by his slick hair, I lean into his ear and whisper,

"It's a shame I wasn't able to be the one to end your life. Don't worry though bruh, I will be seeing you in the next life. I'll make sure to pay you back every ounce of pain you caused me and my girl. Bet on it," my final words are hissed in anger as I pull the metal object from his jugular allowing him to finish bleeding out as I watch the life drain from his eyes. I'm pulled from my thoughts when a phone rings,

"Dom, it's for you," Moretti moves behind me and places a phone in my hand.

"What," my voice still holding the rage of not finding my girl.

"Hi Nic, can you meet me at the airport? I think I need a ride to Italy," her sweet melodic voice comes through the line and my entire soul comes alive again. She sounds tired and weak, but happier than the last few conversations.

"Sweetheart if you're not there when I arrive I will lose my shit. Give me a few." 

Thank Fuck!