For a second, hope went through me. But it quickly died when I saw Enzo’s name, not Caitlin’s.
We’ll get them back, cous. You have my word.
I wanted to heed his words; I did. But I’d never felt more helpless than I did in that moment.
By the time we arrived in Providence, it was late, but downtown was alive with activity. The lights and music, the steady hum of cars passing, was all white noise to the blood roaring in my ears.
It had been too long.
At least three hours since Luis last checked in.
A lot could happen in three hours.
“What now?” I asked Nicco, who was white knuckling the steering wheel as we stared at the sign above DiMarco’s club.
“We go pay him a visit.”
“Thank fuck.” I went to climb out, but Nicco grabbed my arm.
“Not you, Matt.”
“What the fuck?” I gawked at him in disbelief. He couldn’t be serious.
I needed to see him. I needed to look DiMarco in the eye when he confessed his sins.
“You’re too close to this. Let me and Michele go in. You stay out here until—”
“That’s bullshit and you know it.”
“Matt—”
“No, Nic, no! Are you telling me that if it was Alessia and Arianne missing you’d just sit by while me and Enzo handled it?”
His jaw clenched as he tipped his head up and let out a strained breath.
“Exactly,” I snapped. “I’m coming.”
“Fine, fine. But you follow my lead, and you leave your piece here.” He motioned to the glove compartment. “I mean it, Matteo. We cannot afford to start something until we know where the girls are.”
“Okay,” I conceded, unsheathing my pistol and shoving it inside.
He nodded, climbing out of the Range Rover. I followed, meeting him around the front. Nicco motioned to my father and his security guard and the four of us approached the entrance to DiMarco’s.
“Mr. Marchetti.” The doorman nodded out of respect. “Is the boss expecting you?”
“It’s an impromptu visit. We’ll make our own way inside, thank you.”
“Very well.” He stepped aside, letting us enter. My heart pounded in my chest with every step deeper into the club.
We spotted Enzo, Lucino, and Stefan seated in one of the VIP booths. They signaled us over, but Nicco told us to go on ahead.
“Matt.” Enzo stood to greet me, pulling me into a hug. “You good?”
I offered him a tight smile. “I will be once we get them back.”
“And we will, cous. We will.”
It was the only possible solution. Because the alternative… I couldn’t even go there.
“Gentlemen.” A busty brunette sauntered over to us. “What will it be?”
“A round of Blue Label whisky,” Lucino said smoothly, playing the game. Keeping up appearances. When all I wanted to do was start smashing things up until someone told me where the fuck my sister and Caitlin were.
“Of course.” She left us and I pinched my temples as I scanned the club. “Have you spoken to him?”
“He’s acting the part. Came to make sure we had everything we wanted and left us to it.”
“He didn’t seem ruffled?” my father asked.
“Cool as a fucking cucumber.” Lucino sucked on his cigar, blowing a plume of smoke into the air.
“He’s a fucking snake.”
I glanced over at where Nicco was talking to a guy in a sleek black suit. My cousin was the epitome of a leader. Calm. Composed. Head held high and shoulders rolled back. Whether he liked it or not, Nicco had slid into the role of acting boss with total ease, and part of me was relieved that he was the one handling this and not Uncle Toni.
Because despite what he said, Nicco knew what it was like to find yourself torn between duty, family, and the woman you loved.
Did I love Caitlin?
I wasn’t sure.
What we had was new, uncertain, and unknown. But part of me felt like I’ve always known her, that she’d always been a part of me. So maybe it wasn’t love right now, in this moment, but I didn’t doubt for a second that I could grow to love her.
The second Zander DiMarco appeared, every muscle in my body went taut.
“Easy, cous,” Enzo hissed, clamping his hand around my arm. “Let Nicco handle this.”
“This was a bad idea,” I ground out, curling my fingers into the edge of the table.
Fuck, I wanted to hurt him. The way he’d hurt Caitlin.
“Just breathe,” Enzo warned, gripping my arm harder. “If we’re going to find them, we need him.”
Nicco and Zander were locked in a standoff, the two of them pulled to their full height, staring the other down.
“Should we intervene?” Lucino asked.
“Nicco can handle DiMarco.”
Sure enough, DiMarco threw up his hands and walked away. Seconds later, Nicco joined us, sliding into the booth.
“So?” my father asked, rapping his fingers against the table.
“He isn’t happy we showed up unannounced.”
“Maybe he should have thought about that before getting into bed with Lombardi.”
“I didn’t tell him we know. I want to feel him out first.”
“So we wait?” Enzo said.
“I told him to close the club early.”
Lucino let out a low whistle. “Brave move, ki—”
“Kid, really?” Enzo sneered. “He’s the fucking boss.”
“Perdonami. I meant no offense.”
Nicco gave him a nod. “DiMarco needs to realize who’s in control here, and it isn’t him.” Nicco snatched up his glass of whisky and sat back, watching as the place started emptying out.
I couldn’t picture Caitlin working here. The men ogling her and objectifying her. Did they touch her? Whisper dark, depraved things in her ear as she served them drinks?
My fists clenched, anger rising inside me.
He didn’t deserve this. He’d hurt Caitlin, we were pretty certain he had Shaun killed, and he was aligning himself with the Lombardi crime family.
And we were giving him the benefit of the doubt by talking to him. It was a fucking joke.
I didn’t consider myself a violent man. I usually preferred trying to find more amicable ways to end disputes. But this was my family, the woman I wanted to be mine. I couldn’t see past DiMarco hurting her, putting his fucking hands on her and making her bleed and bruise. And now he’d taken Caitlin and my sister. My sweet, innocent Arabella.
He didn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt—he deserved to die a slow, painful death, begging for mercy down the barrel of a gun.
We waited until the club was empty. Anticipation rippled in the air like an angry storm circling in the distance.
The servers cleaned up around us, casting suspicious looks in our direction. I didn’t blame them. They all knew of DiMarco’s connections, so they knew what it meant when business was closed down before closing hours.
“Give us the room,” Zander barked as he stepped out of a door marked ‘private.’
Everyone scuttled out of sight, leaving DiMarco alone save for his two security men who hovered near the entrance.