CHAPTER LXXII
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THE MOMENT HE walked through the front door of his mansion with his underboss and Consigliere beside him, Chase barely caught sight nor registered the presence of the petite girl whose hair was flying around as she whirled towards them, invading his nostrils with her coconut shampoo before hurling herself into his underboss’ arms.
Chase and his underboss froze. His consigliere whipped his head towards them.
“Thanks for the gift, Lucas,” Sophia wrapped her small arms tighter around Lucas’ torso, pressing her cheeks further into his chest. “I love them,”
Lucas lips parted, but no sound came out. Realising he was speechless, he raised his eyes towards the staircase, catching Valerie’s eyes as she smiled down at him, her eyes urging him to just hug their sister back. He slowly raised his arms up and wrapped them around Sophia’s shoulder. “You’re welcome,”
That was the moment Chase’s jaw hardened, and his eyes narrowed into slits, throwing death glares at Lucas, who was oblivious to it. He wasn’t supposed to feel possessive of Sophia because she was in her own brother’s arms but he still did. He wasn’t meant to feel jealous of his underboss for having his little sister in his arms, but Chase felt it. The problem was just that he wanted her to only be in his arms alone. Not even her brothers had the right to have their arms around her like that.
He tried so hard to ignore them both by lighting a cigar and placing it between his lips, but a torturous voice at the back of his head screamed to him to pull them both apart. The tiny, reasonable part of him told him to leave them both. It told him they were siblings and had no chance of starting a romantic relationship but the loudest and persistent voice-the same one that against all odds, used him to stop Luciano from making a move on Sophia-told him something else. It screamed at him that Lucas may be a responsible person to not nurture romantic feelings for his own sister but what guarantee did he have that Sophia wasn’t nurturing a crush on Lucas considering the way she had thrown herself on him, especially since she didn’t know he was her brother?
Luciano, on the other hand, was burning with jealousy. He had always liked Sophia ever since she arrived in their house. But then, his boss had warned him to stay away from her. He had done his best to stay away and then what? She was hugging the same man that always hated her existence for no reason.
They were all fucked up in their own different ways, especially when it came to Sophia who was oblivious to everything around her.
His jealousy controlled his mind, and Luciano strode towards the two, then he gently ripped Sophia from his brother’s arm before he whirled her to face him. “Weren’t you expecting a gift from me, sweet cheeks?”
Lucas’ brows lifted, and his lips curled up into an amused smile, watching his twin brother’s obvious jealousy towards him. At that moment, he wondered how Luciano would feel and react after finding out the girl he was growing feelings for was their baby sister whom they all thought had died with their mum.
A smile took over the confused expression on her face, and Sophia innocently pouted, folding her arms across her chest. “I’m upset with you. Very very upset, Luciano,”
Luciano raked his fingers through his locks, a tight smile on his lips as he tilted his head to the side. “What did I do, sweet cheeks?”
Sophia fake glared at Luciano. “You’ve been ignoring me,”
He laughed and ruffled her hair. “Is that all? Well then, I’m ready to crawl all day at your feet for forgiveness,”
“Crawl at your feet for forgiveness,”
Those words heavily repeated themselves in Chase’s mind, threatening his insanity and he turned towards them, clearly upset that Sophia seemed to have dreams of men like Luciano and not him who was never gentle.
Chase watched as a blush stained Sophia’s cheeks, and she opened her mouth to say something. He beat her to it. “Where’s Saige?” He clipped out.
Sophia’s heart skipped a bit at the mention of Saige, and she turned towards Chase, who wasn’t staring at her again, but at Valerie, who had already descended down the stairs and was standing by the foot of the stairs.
“She hasn’t left the guest room since, so I don’t think she’s awake,” Valerie said. “But I’ll go and check on her,”
Valerie turned and walked back up the stairs towards the guest room while her thoughts remained on Sophia’s relationship with the three Romano men.
Chase cared for, and wanted Sophia. Valerie smiled at the thought of him suddenly being caring after so many years. She loved the fact that Sophia had somehow unknowingly brought a little light to Chase’s dark life. It wouldn’t be long before Chase would finally be out of Antonio’s mind claws.
Then Lucas. He was the one whose growing relationship with Sophia made Valerie happier. He was finally learning to accept Sophia as their sister. She giggled when she remembered how nervous Lucas had been when he got Sophia’s gifts, thinking she wouldn’t like them.
Luciano. He obviously loved Sophia or was still in the process of doing so. But then, he would obviously get his soft heartbroken because Chase would never give him a chance with her. Not because of anything, but clearly because of the fact that she was their little sister.
Valerie’s thoughts stopped when she halted in front of the room that Saige was in. She gently turned the doorknob and opened it, her eyes first falling on the comforter laying on the floor.
Her brows creased into a frown, and she walked into the room, leaving the door open. She walked further into the room, and her eyes fell on the comb on the floor along with a few strands of Saige’s hair tangled in it.
Her eyes fell on the bathroom door, and she strode there, her heart thumping wildly against her chest with fear that something had happened to Saige, or worse, she had inflicted harm on herself as a result of the effects of the assault.
She knocked on the bathroom door softly. “Saige? Are you in there?”
No reply.
She leaned in and placed her ear against the door for any sound from inside but she was met with silence again. Her hand fell on the doorknob and she unknowingly turned it, opening the door.
Valerie’s eyes widened as she stared at the empty bathroom before gasping out loud.
Saige was missing.
She turned on her heels and ran down the stairs to inform everyone, but she halted in her steps at the staircase when she saw a panicked Sophia, a least worried Lucas, an indifferent Luciano and…
Her eyes searched frantically for Chase, but he wasn’t there. “Where’s Don?” She held onto the railing as she rushed down the stairs. “I-I can’t find Saige in the guest room. She-,”
“Shhh,” Luciano pulled her against his chest and ran his hands up and down her back. “It’s okay. Breathe,”
Valerie struggled to pull away. “Saige is missing!”
“She’s not missing, Val!” Lucas snapped. “She has lost her mind!”
That was when Valerie managed to pull away from Luciano and turned to her other brother. “What-what do you mean she has lost her mind? She-she wasn’t affected mentally, was she?”
“Damn, she was,” Luciano said. “Don just received a call from De Luca for help and he has gone over to his house,”
Valerie panicked and turned to Luciano. “What – what did he say?”
“He said she has lost her mind,” Lucas said. “He didn’t really explain. He was panicked so Don said to stay back at home. He’s going to take care of everything,” Lucas walked towards her and turned her towards him, placing his hands on her shoulders. “You worry too much about everyone. There’s nothing to panic about. Just have some rest,”Text content © NôvelDrama.Org.