COLD TRAP

Chapter 60 

MIRABELLA 

When Matteo and I heard the crash downstairs and took to our heels, I was hoping that it wouldn’t be anything serious. Going on downstairs, I prayed in my heart that it’d just be the kids playing and thrashing the furniture but that doesn’t seem to be the case. 

Not when my daughter’s lips are spread wide in a toothy smile with blood smeared all over her face, and my son’s features stolc, a better part of his body is soaked in blood. 

Time suddenly slows down, my legs coming to an abrupt stop, leaving me rooted in a spot as harsh pants escape my parted lips. 

Slowly, I whip my head around, immediately locking eyes with my husband who seems to be having the same thought as I. The situation isn’t making any sense to me and I’m trying really hard to have a better understanding but my brain seems to be in a log. 

My eyes widen even more, my brows furrowing so hard that my temple hurts. My daughter smiles even bigger, looking up at her father and I. My son still as quiet as he usually is but for the first time, his eyes hold life. 

Both my children appear quite ecstatic and comfortable with the fact that they’re soaked in blood. 

“What the hell happened here?!” My voice as well as Matteo’s thunder as we hurry down the stairs, immediately crouching down in front of the kids, checking them to make sure they’re not bleeding. 

Mariana giggles and Mariano shrugs his shoulders, staring at me boringly. 

“Why are you like this per favor…“I breathe, trying my best to stay calm. 

“Talk to me, little dove.” Matteo cradles Mariano’s face, using his thumb to wipe off some dried blood. Mariano purses his lips, a ghostly smile tugging at the corners of his lips. 

Groaning frustratedly, Matteo turns to Mariana. “Firecracker?” 

“Si, signor Matteo.” Mariana giggles. 

“You’ll be a good girl and tell me and your mamá what happened, yes?” Mariana nods. Matteo and I immediately release breaths of relief 

“A man came to us when we were playing outside and he picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder whilst pulling Mariano with him 

Mariana begins narrating the story with a huge smile on her chubby face. “He said he wanted us to go play somewhere else but I remembered when you said that the only people allowed to touch my brother and I when you and uncle Ares are not there are the nannies.” She pouts, 

“So I took out the blade that uncle Alessio gifted me and cut the man’s wrist,” this time, Mariano speaks up, his gaze burning holes through my skull as he demonstrates how he slit a man’s wrist. “And then Mariana used her own dagger to cut the man’s throat.” He demonstrates 

that part too, sliding his index finger from one end of his neck to the other. 

My children have just murdered a man. 

My five year old kids have become murderers 

Biting down on my trembling lips, I heave out a shuddered breath, grasping the wrists of my children. 1 ask the most dreaded question tugging at my heart. “Do you understand what you have just done? Do you realize what you did to that man?” 

“We played a game of self defense and we won.” Mariano states reluctantly. I raise a questioning brow. “Uncle Maxwell said so.” Mariana shrugs. 

I nod, feeling relieved that I do not have to explain to them that they’ve just taken life from another man. “Kayla?” Their nanny hums, “Please 

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22 Jun 

take them upstairs and have them cleaned up. I’ll join them soon.” She nods and walks the kids up the stairs whilst i stare after their retreating backs with a heavy heart, waiting for them to be out of view before I go haywire. 

Turning to Alessio, I grit. “Of all the things you could gift my kids? Daggers? What the fuck is wrong with you?!” 

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“I was just teaching them self defense. Don’t make a fuss about nothing, Mirabella.” Alessio retorts. I thin my lips, forcing myself into silence before I blurt something that I might end up regretting. 

“Self defense? Self defense?” I scoff. “They’re children for fucks sake!” 

“Exactly!” Alessio roars. “They’re yours and Matteo’s children! Children of crime bosses. It’s only right that they know how to defend themselves in situations like this!” 

Furrowing my brows 

features. 

s with a scoff of disbelief, I whip my head towards Matteo who seems lost in thought, a stoic expression clouding his 

His stare is intent on Alessio and I–he appears unamused. 

“Are you really going to stand there and say nothing, Matteo?” I question, narrowing my eyes to slits. “Your children just committed murder They’re five year olds for God’s sake! Think about the trauma this might leave on them!” 

Matteo opens his mouth to speak but is cut off when Alessio chuckles. “I think you’re overthinking this, Mirabella. And if I were you, I’d be more concerned about why a trained security guard would put hands on your kids even when they’ve been sternly warned not to.” 

That silences me for long minutes as I ponder his words thoroughly. His words are filled with wisdom I cannot deny. 

I bite down on thy tongue, hating myself for not thinking in that direction. 

“Ares!” I yell, taking fast strides towards the direction of the control room. Ares hums behind me. “I want a full security sweep. I need you run a full facial recognition on all of our men! Do it now.” 

to 

Click. 

Click. 

Click. 

I hug my chest, goosebumps spreading across my skin, my jaw clenching so tight as Arestypes away on the keyboard. Anger is so little of a word to describe how I feel at this point. 

I’m aggravated. Irritated, Vengeful. Purely and utterly enraged. 

How the fuck did someone Infiltrate my supposedly perfectly set up security system? 

Who the fuck was smart enough to crash my security system in this irrecoverable manner? 

Beep. 

Beep. 

Beep. 

Fucki 

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We’ve lost so many men and hadn’t noticed this up until now? How stupid and careless could we have been? 

How long have we all been going to bed whilst surrounded by strangers? 

Cazzol 

77%0 

I exhale a shaky breath at the feeling of strong hands squeezing my shoulders soothingly, Comforting me. I whip my head to the side, breathing out a sigh of relief, allowing myself melt into my husband’s gentle touch. Because for the first time in a really long time, I’m in desperate need of comfort, and I cannot bother with whom I get that comfort from at this point. 

My men are 

are less t 

“My 

than thirty minutes away from here.” Matteo whispers but loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. 

I nod. “They’ll come in through the tunnel out back. We cannot afford to alarm these strange men. They cannot know that we’re onto them.” 

Sliding out my burner phone, I put a call across to my men on the outer walls of the estate, instructing them to prepare for the worst. We spend a few minutes on the call, and just as I’m about to hang up, the alarm in the security room goes off, startling me. Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

“Merda!” Ares curses. “Mariana’s chip has just been logged off!” 

Matteo is the first person to bolt out the security room. I immediately follow behind, screaming. “Turn on the audio transmitter! Now!” 

My heart sinks into my stomach when my ears pick up on the sound of my son’s strained voice, screeching, coughing, and screaming for help as though he’s in pain. My legs have never moved as fast in my entire life, and I’ve never been so out of breath 

Pushing the door open, a disturbing loud gasp escapes my throat when my eyes zero on my son clawing at his neck, his face reddened, skin pale, eyes rolling to the back of his head, and toes digging into the ground. 

fuck! 

He’s having an allergic reaction. 

But I certainly did not feed him nuts or anything that has nuts in it, so what in God’s name is he reacting to? 

There’s nothing in this world that could ever prepare you for the pain that comes with losing the people you love, but there isn’t anything in this world that can shield you from the pain that comes from being betrayed by the person–or people–you trust. 

It is that pain that I feel when I realize that the woman with whom I trusted with the safety of my children is responsible for my 

y son’s pain. 

My reddened eyes bore into her despicable pair. With a voice strained and laced with pain, hate, sorrow and vengeance, I command my husband to get my son the medical help he requires. 

It is with rage that I charge at the woman staring down at me with a smirk, knocking her into the ground, my voice echoing painfully as I demand to know my daughter’s whereabouts. 

My fist rams into her many times over, I scream, beg, cry, I bare myself open to her, begging her to spare me the heartbreak of losing my 

children. 

Children whom I suffered a great deal to bring into the world. 

“Where’s my daughter?” My voice is barely a whisper, my lips trembling, chest quaking, blood, sweat and tears trickling down my face. 

And other parts of my body. 

“Please… Where’s my daughter?” 

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Sat, 22 Jun 

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They’re my weakness, my children. And this bitch knows it too well, which is why she’s grinning so wide at me, her blood stained teeth out in the open, excitement glistening in her eyes. 

I clench my jaw, wincing painfully when I tighten my fist. My knuckles are busted. I ram my fist into her eye with so much force that it knocks her out completely, leaving her unconscious with a bleeding eye. 

She can go blind for all I care. 

It’s moments like this when your entire life becomes nothing short of dust. 

Moments when a wave of loss hits you so hard that you’re unable to stand on your feet. 

Moments when you lose and lose over and over again as though winning has rejected the entirety of your being. 

Those moments have come upon me, with my son laying half dead on the bed, and my daughter nowhere to be seen. 

‘Please help me.‘ Has been my cry for the excruciatingly long minutes that has had me rooted on my feet whilst Ares surfs through the security footage to see if he’d see anything that might be of help. 

He doesn’t. 

Tcry. 

I shudder. 

I pace back and forth. 

I pull my hair hard enough, so much that I lose a few strands. 

Still nothing. 

I don’t even have it in me, 

the courage to go and see my son. To know how he’s doing 

Hell, to even enquire from his nurse 

Tam lost. 

Something clicks, bringing me to a freeze. “The bracelet, Ares.” I breathe exasperatedly. “The bracelet has a tracker. Check for the signal.” 

I’m desperate, eye wide, heart thumping hard against my rib cage, and sweat coating my skin. A nervous mess, that is what i am 

Ares murmurs under his breath, as though not wanting to rile me up. “You do realize that the tracker in the bracelet has to be activated before it can be accessed, yes?” 

“Activate it then.” It’s more of a desperate plea than an order. 

Ares stares at me, eyes void of emotions, jaw ticking. It dawns on me, the knowledge that he’s as helpless as i am in all of this. 

Afterall, he’s been the father figure in their lives since they inhaled their first breath. He’s shown them the most love, raised them, and now. he’s watching them suffer and there’s almost nothing he can do about it. 

Ares’s shoulders slump and without uttering a word, he turns back around, once again facing his computer, fingers moving fast against the keyboard. 

4/6 

Chapter 

He’s working hard, 

He’s as desperate as 

Perhaps more desperate. 

I startle when Matteo frantically runs into the room. My eyes almost pop out of its sockets, brain running wild with thoughts, Dirty, despicable 

thoughts. 

“He’s stable.” My very disheveled looking husband mouths. I nod, almost taking pity on him. Almost. He has after all experienced the most 

torture in one day. 

Matteo’s eyes are full of expectation when they meet my pair. I immediately understand his words even in the silence, managing a single shake of my head. 

He stumbles. 

It’s a subtle move of his legs but I’ve been neck deep into the act of observation to know that my husband is still able to stand on both his feet 

by a miracle. 

Speaking of which, I’m really desperate for one. 

“Please remember, baby. Remember what your mama taught you. I murmur under my breath. 

It’s not up to five minutes when a red dot begins blinking rapidly. 

Ares gets more–desperate, his fingers moving even faster on the keyboard than they did before. They move so fast that I’m starting to believe his tips might bleed. 

Ares suddenly stops, standing abruptly, his eyes trained on the massive display screen. 

The singular act gets my attention, causing me to shift my weight from one foot to another. 

“The bracelet is transmitting signal. The tracker has been turned on. Ares announces. I almost heave out a sigh of relief when it dawns on me, the tone at which that announcement was made. 

Something much worse is at play. 

I warn. “Ares” 

“The good news is that the tracker is transmitting signal so we’re able to see where she is. But the bad news is–they’re bringing her here.” 

My brows furrow, my brain running in circles. 

Why would they be bringing her here when they’ve successfully abducted her? 

My confused pair of orbs meet my husband’s infuriated ones. Matteo, who happens to be the one with the highest IQ decipher’s the situation all too quickly. His eyes flash with knowingness and venomous rage. 

He pulls his gun out of his waistband, his tone of voice desperate and strained when he’s at a close proximity with me, cradling my face in the warmth of his palms. 

“Stay in the house and be safe. I promise to bring our baby back.” 

It’s both a