Hide and Seek: Married to My Master Part 2

6. Alessandro

2 months went by surprisingly quickly. As soon as I was released from prison, Lara and I went into Damage Control Mode.

I went on tv talk shows and radio shows, talking about my time in prison, emphasizing that I never once pled guilty because I was innocent, that I believed someone set me up for their personal gain. Who wouldn't want to blackmail or frame a billionaire?? But luckily, justice had finally prevailed and I'd been set free.

The talk shows asked me about my wife and the rumors that had been circulating after my arrest that she had been pregnant. I confirmed that my wife had given birth to a son, and they were now living in Europe. I made it a point to clearly state that I was very excited to be reunited with them as soon as possible. I just wanted to hold my family and make up for lost time.

I donated obnoxious amounts of money to anti-human trafficking organizations and attended events and fundraisers. I was somehow even convinced to create a Tik Tok account to raise awareness about human trafficking and appear more relatable.

There were still some haters who were determined to twist my words and doubt my innocence—two of them being Ebony and Jade— but for the most part, comments and feedback were positive.

When I wasn't trying to repair my damaged reputation, I was checking in with my team in Iceland, getting updates on how Aria was doing. I'd been in a meeting at DFS, trying to reconfigure roles and resume my rightful place as the CEO, when I received a call from my top guy in Iceland, Chris. It had been a few days since Chris had given me any updates, and I was starting to wonder if he was hiding something.

"Um, I'm terribly sorry. I know we're not quite done with the meeting yet, but I really need to take this call. It's about my wife. I'll just be a few minutes..." I hurried out of the meeting room before anyone could protest, answering the call before I even made it to the door.

"Chris. What's up?" I really wanted to ask him why it seemed as if he was avoiding me all of a sudden, but I needed this conversation to be quick. Aria and our son were my top priority, but rebuilding my life was a close second.

"Sir..... I... Didn't want to be the one to make this phone call..." I pressed the phone closer to my ear, already ready to be pissed.

"Chris, for fucks sake. Just say it. I told you to report to me every day, and you haven't called or answered my calls in 4 days?? Just fucking spit it out. Where is Aria? Is my son alright?" I swear to fucking God, if they somehow lost track of her with that many eyes on her.

"Sir, we had a...feeling...that Aria...May be in a relationship with someone... We have eyes on her and cameras aimed at her front door, so we have noticed a...young man...coming and going from her apartment pretty frequently..." I was clutching my phone so tightly at this point, I was positive the case was going to crack.

"We didn't want to alarm you, in case he was...just a friend. The few times we've seen them out together, it's always during the day, and they don't appear to be affectionate in a romantic way." I exhaled a breath I hadn't even realized I'd been holding.

"So Evan decided to install a small, high powered audio recording device in her home. He didn't have much time; he could hear someone coming up the stairs when he was almost done disarming Aria's security system, so he just placed it by the door and moved her mat a little to hide it for now. I don't think she's noticed...yet. I mean... It's still working, although the sounds are pretty muffled... But we have gathered that the man is likely more than just a friend... It's unclear what their official relationship status is, but he...didn't leave her home last night.. And her apartment only has one bedroom. Some of the sounds we picked up last night...sounded like—"

I threw my phone at the wall.

Lara had provided me with an extremely sturdy, military-grade phone case, after I'd thrown several phones at walls before my arrest. So unfortunately, this one didn't have the satisfying smash I'd grown to appreciate.

It only pissed me off more.

But actually, I needed to make a few more phone calls, so I suppose it was slightly convenient that my phone wasn't in a million pieces right now. The first person I dialed was Lara. She answered on the first ring.

"Good morning, Mr. DeSantos! How—"

"Lara, shut the fuck up. You knew, didn't you?" I seethed. I should've killed this bitch the day she let Aria escape. I could hear the change in her breathing; she was scared.

She knew.

"Uh. Knew what, s-sir?" I pulled the phone away from my ear and counted to 10 to try to calm myself before I started screaming.

"Lara. You are on incredibly thin ice. You really must not like your Little Sister from that program all that much. How is her occupational therapy going? Is she adjusting at her new school well? No issues? No tires randomly popping on her way to class? No strange foods causing her to get sick? No random hobos trying to—"

"Stop! Please. Please stop. She is fine. And yes. I... I knew. Or I suspected... I was...afraid you'd be even angrier with me about her disappearance if you knew about that...man. I knew you'd most likely want to handle the situation yourself, but then—"

I mentally corrected my top priorities as Lara rambled. "Kill Lara" was now equal to or slightly above "Rebuild my life."

What the fuck was I thinking, trusting her after her massive, irreversible fuck up 3 years ago? She hadn't failed me again since then—I'd painted a very clear picture of what would happen to her and her loved ones if she did—but she certainly seemed to pick the worst times to be a fucking idiot.

"Lara, shut up. Tell me the situation is handled or I'll accept this GIANT FUCKING MISSTEP as your letter of resignation. But rest assured: I will make the rest of your life fucking hell, if you're telling me that you're resigning right now." I was trying to keep my voice low, but I was quickly losing control. All the fucking yoga classes, breathing exercises and stupid meditation sessions in prison had obviously been a huge waste of my fucking time.

Just then, one of the board members peeked her head out of the meeting room and smiled hesitantly at me. I glared at her and rolled my eyes, but eventually nodded. She paled a little and slipped back inside the room.

"Lara, I need to go back to my meeting. Tell me this has been handled. I can't go to Iceland for another fucking month." She hesitated for half a second too long, but when she answered, her voice was steady and sure again.

"Yes sir, it's been handled."

I ended the call and counted to 10 again before heading back inside the meeting room.

One more fucking month until I could get my hands on my wife and son.