Chapter Thirty-Three

~~ Two Weeks Later ~~

"I don't understand how the fuck we haven't found her yet!" Alessandro roared out in anger.

It had been two weeks since the charity event. Two weeks since his saving angel had been taken from him. They had been searching for her ever since she had been taken and they hadn't been able to find her. He didn't know how much longer he would be able to keep himself together. He wasn't able to eat or sleep that much. He's been doing everything he could to find Evangeline. He was a ghost in his own home most of the time. Everyone did their best to avoid him due to his rage. It seemed that he would go into furious outbursts at the most random of times.

"I'm sorry Alessandro. Wherever they went it's difficult to find." Richard said cautiously.

Alessandro couldn't control the anger that seemed to take control of his body. He let out a roar that was full of rage and desperation as he swept everything off of his desk and onto the floor. "Fucking find her!" He shouted as he threw a picture frame against the wall.

Richard jumped and quickly rushed out of the office. He ran into Luca and Aurora as he made his way to the boardroom where they had a map set up of where they had been looking for Evangeline. "Hey, Richard," Luca said as he held Aurora close.

Richard sighed heavily. "Hi, Luca." He said in a rough voice.

Luca frowned. "How is he doing?" He asked as Aurora held Selene close to her chest.

Richard shook his head as he looked back towards Alessandro's office. "It's not good. He hasn't eaten or slept in three days now." He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't think he's even gone back into his room since the night she was taken. Now his office is most likely destroyed." He explained.

Luca swore under his breath as he turned to Aurora. "Maybe you should wait in the family room." He said softly.

She shook her head. "No. Maybe seeing his niece will help bring him back quicker. I know he won't hurt us though."

Luca groaned. "We don't know that. From what Richard just told us it sounds like he's too far gone from Evangeline being taken."

Aurora gently caressed his face. "He would never hurt us. Even before Evangeline. Now it'll be for her. He knows that it'll devastate her if something were to happen to us."

Luca thought for a minute before finally nodding. "Alright fine, but stay behind me."

They walked into Alessandro's office and Luca kept Aurora and Selene behind him. "Alessandro." He said softly.

Alessandro spun on his heels to face them with anger and desperation on his face. "What?" He snarled out.

Luca held his hands up to show that he meant no harm. "It's just me Alessandro. You need to lock the beast back in its cage." He said calmly.

Alessandro glared as he clenched his hands into fists. "I don't need to do anything besides find my saving angel."

Aurora took a small step to the side to stand next to Luca. "Alessandro." She said softly. "We only want to help you." She gently bounced Selene in her arms. "Selene also missed her uncle." She whispered.

Alessandro's eyes zeroed in on Selene and he felt the beast hesitate for a single moment before willingly retreating into the cage that Alessandro kept it in. He took a small step forward and gently caressed Selene's head. "Evangeline would want to be here for her." He whispered. "She wouldn't want to still be in that bastard's hands." His voice was low and scratchy.

Aurora gently touched his arm with her free hand. "I know that we are one of the only reasons that she's holding on right now." She said softly. "I also know that she knows that you're coming for her. That you're going to find her soon."

Alessandro took a deep breath before pressing a kiss to Selene's small head. "Thank you, little princess." He whispered against the baby girl's head.

As if Selene understood she squealed in joy and swung her arms around in excitement. He let a small grin slip onto his face as he leaned down and pressed another kiss to Selene's head. He sighed heavily as he looked around his office. It was in complete disarray from his outburst. "Let's head into the family room while I have someone clean this up." He shook his head as he roughly shoved a hand through his hair. "I can't spend too much time with you guys today. I have to find Evangeline. It's getting too difficult to control the beast and the darkness. I'm not going to be able to hold out too much longer without her."

Luca nodded in understanding. "Alright. Just for a few minutes today. Then we'll let you get back to finding Evangeline. I know how hard it is without her."

Alessandro blew out a rough breath as he sat on the couch with his family. Aurora gently handed Selene over to Alessandro. He held her close as he leaned back into the couch cushions. "I feel so lost and out of control without her." He said quietly as he kept his eyes on Selene. As much as he didn't want to admit it he needed to talk about how he felt. He knew that if he didn't it would simply feed the beast and make it stronger.

Aurora gently touched his arm as she said. "It's hard on all of us but we know how difficult it is for you right now. We will do everything that we can to help you. Just don't shut us out."

He swallowed thickly as he squeezed his eyes shut. "Thank you." He whispered.

She gave him a soft smile as he handed Selene back to her. He cleared his throat as he stood up. "Thank you guys for coming over today. I needed it." He sighed as he rubbed tiredly at his eyes. "I'll be in the boardroom if anyone needs me."

Without waiting for a response he made his way to the boardroom where they had all of the information they had on the camp where Evangeline was being held. He simply stared at the map, hoping that he'd find the answers that seemed to be hidden there.

He spent hours staring at that map when Richard came rushing into the room with one of their scouts behind him. "Alessandro," Richard said breathlessly.

Alessandro turned to face him with a distraught face. "What is it?" He demanded.

"We found her." The scout said as he stood in front of him with his arms behind his back.

Alessandro took a small step forward with hope in his heart. "You truly found her?" He asked in a rough voice.

The scout nodded. "Yes. The camp is very well hidden. It took us a while to find it but we finally found it."

Alessandro felt the breath leave his lungs in relief as he gripped the table tightly. "Get everyone ready." He said in a scratchy voice. "We all leave in twenty minutes."

Richard gave him a nod before leaving the room.

Alessandro pressed a hand against his chest as he closed his eyes tightly. "I'm coming for you, my angel. Please hold on just a little bit longer." He whispered as he looked out of the window.

Evangeline let out a shocked gasp as someone splashed cold water on her to keep her awake.

Nikolai smirked as he knelt in front of her. "You don't get to sleep until I say you can sleep, Evangeline." He said in a cruel voice.

She glared at him as water dripped down her face. She stayed quiet as he grabbed his knife and started cutting it into her side. He wanted her to remember what he had done to her. To remember him no matter what happened. So he carved a symbol into her side that would remind her of him anytime that she saw it.

She ground her teeth together as she stared blankly at the wall behind him. She didn't know how long she had been in that dungeon. She knew that it was going to be difficult for Alessandro to find her. Nikolai wasn't a stupid man. He knew how to hide when he wanted to. She just hoped that it didn't take too long. She knew that she would be able to easily get out of the chains that he had put her in but she also knew that she wouldn't be able to get very far without help. So she had to wait until Alessandro found her. She had to be patient and bide her time. She had to hold on for Alessandro.

She endured everything that Nikolai did to her without making any type of sound. She may not have known how long she had been in that dungeon but she knew that Alessandro would find her. No matter how long it took.

She must've endured hours of torture and torment before Angel came bursting through the door. "They found us." She said breathlessly.

Nikolai let out a snarl as he turned to face her. "Grab Belle and take care of it."

Angel smirked as she grabbed her swords. "With pleasure boss."

She took off back the way that she came while Nikolai knelt in front of her. "I underestimated you, Evangeline." He chuckled. "Now you get to live with the knowledge that you're the reason all of those people are about to die."

She gave him the darkest glare that she could as she watched him turn towards the door as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. She knew that it was time to escape. So she easily broke her wrist and slid it out of the chains that had been holding her. Once she had one hand free it was easy and simple to release herself from the rest of the chains.

She stood up and quietly snuck up behind Nikolai. She quickly slipped her arms around his neck and held tightly. She maneuvered them so that they were on the floor with her legs wrapped around his waist and one arm still wrapped around his throat. She used her other hand to grab the knife that he had kept attached to his belt. She yanked it free from the sheath that he had it in and used it to stab him multiple times in the chest and stomach. "You're never going to get anywhere near my family." She whispered into his ear as the life slowly faded from his eyes.

Only when she was sure that he was truly dead did she shove his body off of hers and get to her feet. She rushed to the table where they had laid out all of her weapons and made quick work of strapping all of them to her body once again. She frowned as she took a quick second to assess her body. Her dress was almost destroyed and there were so many cuts and bruises on her body that she was surprised that she was even able to stand, let alone move around as she was. She pushed all of that to the back of her mind as she raced through the halls of the camp. She knew that she had to get to her family before Angel and Belle did.

Alessandro felt restless as he jumped out of the SUV to join the scouting team that had found the camp. "Alright, this is how it's going to go." He said as everyone stood around him. "The scouting team will lead the way through the forest, into the side entrance that they found. Once we're there the assassins will split up. Half in front of us. Half behind us. Your job is going to be the assassins. Any assassins that may be in the camp. The rest of us will handle the foot soldiers and find Evangeline. Is everyone clear on what to do?" He demanded.

Everyone agreed before they all followed the scouting team into the forest. As they had planned, four assassins led the way into the camp and four followed behind, taking out any assassins that attempted to attack them. They made their way through the camp, searching for Evangeline while taking out any soldiers that got in their way.

Jaxon was walking next to Alessandro when he heard it. Footsteps were racing towards them. "Do you guys hear that?" He questioned as he looked at the other assassins.

Jennifer and Mark both nodded. "Yes. Footsteps. A lot of them." Mark mumbled as he looked around.

Jennifer cocked her head slightly to the side. "They're not assassins." She said with a scoff.

Mark chuckled. "Not all of them anyway."

Jennifer shrugged. "I'm sure Angel and Belle are with them."

Mark gave her a single nod as they waited for the small army to head their way.

"We have to find Evangeline." Alessandro hissed out as he firmly held onto his pistols.

Jaxon let out a small laugh. "I'm sure she'll find us a whole lot sooner than we'll find her." He said as he sheathed his two long swords and exchanged them for his two firearms.

Mark nodded his agreement. "I can guarantee that she escaped whatever restraints Nikolai put her in and killed him as soon as she learned we were here."

Alessandro looked at him for a minute before focusing on the group of heavily armed men heading their way. "It looks like I'm going to have to trust you then."