He had a point, but I hadn’t considered he would have Tommy look into her past.
“What did you find out?” I asked.
Nicco’s eyes dropped to the floor, and when he glanced back at me, I knew.
I knew whatever he’d found changed everything.
“He found something, Matt. Until almost four years ago, Caitlin O’Donnell didn’t exist.”
“What do you mean, she didn’t exist?”
“The trail ends.”
“But that’s impossible. Unless…”
No.
It couldn’t be true.
Until Nicco said eight little words that confirmed my worst fears.
“Unless she isn’t who she says she is.”
Chapter 25
Caitlin
“Bella?” I whispered into the dark. “Arabella, can you hear me?”
“C-Caitlin?” She sounded woozy. “Where are we? W-what happened?”
I squinted against the darkness, trying to find my bearings. We were in a small room, maybe a large closet or laundry room. I was pressed into the far corner, the wall at my back. A sliver of light trickled under the door, casting dark shadows around the room.
“I’m over here,” I called out, my skull rattling with every word.
I winced in agony. The back of my head throbbed from where I’d banged it trying to fight off our captors. Of course, I’d lost. They were big and burly, and I was small and fragile. Still, I’d fought with everything I had, kicking and screaming. I’d even got one of them in the balls, but it made no difference. The other man had thrown me down with such force, I’d slammed my head against the floor and knocked myself out.
At least, I assumed that’s what happened, given that when I came to, we were no longer in the cabin and in this cold, dark room instead.
“C-Cait, I’m scared.”
My heart cracked.
Bella didn’t deserve this—she didn’t deserve any of it. It was all my fault she was here. I should never have accepted help from Enzo and Matteo. I should have refused to let them bring me back to Verona. But I’d let myself believe in the fairy tale. I’d let myself believe they could protect me.
A hand grazed mine and I strained to see Bella crawling toward me. “Thank God.” I grabbed her, pulling her into my arms. “Are you hurt?”
“My… my face. One of them hit me when I bit his hand.”
“You bit him?”
“Well, yeah. I wasn’t about to let them take us without a fight. H-he hurt you. You were lying there, and I didn’t know if you were dead or—”
“Shh.” I pulled her closer, whispering soothing things against her matted hair. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” The lie soured on my tongue.
Because I didn’t know that. I had no idea where we were.
“I-I don’t understand what’s happening.” Bella sobbed into my shoulder, clinging to me.
“Shh. Shh.” Silent tears rolled down my cheeks.
I needed to figure out where we were, and who had taken us.
If it was Zander, I could negotiate with him. Offer him what he wanted in exchange for Bella’s freedom. Surely, he had to know that Matteo and his family would find out Arabella was missing, and when he realized who she was, the smart thing would be to hand her over if they wanted to avoid the Marchetti’s wrath.
But if it wasn’t Zander…
No.
It wasn’t possible.
There was no way he had found me. I’d been careful. I’d covered my tracks and left my old life behind.
It was Zander.
It had to be Zander.
I inhaled a sharp breath, pain radiating through my skull again.
“They’ll know, right?” Bella’s voice trembled. “Matteo will know we’re missing, and they’ll be looking for us and… oh God, Cait. What if they don’t find us? What if…” She choked over a huge sob, her body wracking under the power of her tears.
“Try and calm down, okay?” I said softly, smoothing my hand down her back. “We need to try and stay strong.”
Heavy footsteps outside the door sent all my bravado crumbling though.
“Who is that?” Bella whispered.
“Shh, okay. Just try to be quiet.”
There was a rattle of a lock and a heavy clunk and then light poured into the room. I threw my arm up, trying to give my eyes time to adjust to the stark brightness.
“Water and something to eat,” a gruff voice said, his dark shadow filling the door. I didn’t recognize him, but I wasn’t surprised.
Zander had a lot of friends I didn’t know. Bad men who worked for him in the shadows, doing despicable things.
“Where are we?” I asked, trying to keep the fear out of my voice. But he started to close the door. “No, wait, please. I’m hurt. My head—”
“Not my problem,” he grunted, yanking the door closed.
“Bella, ease up a second.” I gently pushed her off me. “We need to drink.” I managed to shuffle over to the tray and retrieve the two small bottles of water.
“Here, take one.” I held it out for her.
“It’s so dark, I can barely see.” She fumbled, her fingers brushing mine.
“There, you got it. Now drink. Small sips, okay?”
“Why is this happening? I-I don’t understand.”
“I… I’m sorry.” My heart broke in two at the pain and confusion in her voice.
“I’m here… because of you?” She gasped as if she hadn’t realized until now. “No, that’s not possible.”
“I’m so, so sorry. If I would've known… I didn’t mean for this to happen, Bella. You have to know that. I didn’t… I wasn’t…” My breaths came in ragged pants.
“Who are you, Caitlin?” she whispered, scooting away from me.
Tears streaked down my face as I tipped my head back against the wall and let out a pained whimper.
Someone you’re better off not knowing.
“Firefly, wake up.” A finger stroked down my cheek. “I’ve got a job for you.”
Fear paralyzed me as I clutched the blanket to my changing body. I was only fifteen, but I had the curves of a young woman. I hated them. Hated how my mom’s boyfriend and his friends looked at me.
“I don’t want to,” I cried, refusing to open my eyes.
“I need you to do this for me, firefly. You want to make me happy, don’t you? After all I’ve done for you and your mom.” He grabbed my arm, wrenching me up.
“Stop, you’re hurting me.”
He tsked, the bitter scent of cigars and liquor wafting over my face. I fought down the urge to gag. He didn’t like that, didn’t like me acting repulsed by him.
“Stop acting like a spoiled brat then. I have a job for you, and you’ll be a good fucking girl, and do it unless you want me to cut your momma off. And we both know how she gets without her fix.”
A shiver went through me. He was right, of course. If Mom didn’t get her fix, she was insufferable.
Pushing my wild curls out of my face, I looked up at the man who had raised me. Raised me… and ruined me.