“Tell me, Matteo. What lengths would you go to, to get her back?”
I rolled my lips together. He was right. There wasn’t much I couldn’t imagine doing if it meant having her back safe in my arms.
But I still had honor and integrity. I wanted her to stand at my side, not cower at my feet.
“We’re not the same.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But it doesn’t matter now.”
“No?” My brow arched.
“I am many things, Matteo. A fool is not one of them. You think I don’t know how this goes? You think I don’t know the second you get the chance, you’ll put a bullet between my eyes? I can see it written all over your face.”
I stood, taking a couple of steps closer to him. The guard moved with me, ready to intervene. Looming down over Zander, I said, “I pity you. You had her. You had her and you let her slip through your fingers because you’re not a man, DiMarco, you’re a coward. And I hope you rot in hell.” I spat at his feet, turned on my heel and walked out of there without looking back.
The second I exited the room, Nicco glanced over at me. “You good?” he asked, pocketing his cell phone.
“Unless you want me to end him, I suggest you don’t ask me to go back in there.” I stalked off down the hall, needing some fresh air and a strong drink.
Enzo found me outside the back of the club. I’d grabbed a bottle of whisky off the shelf and took off in search of some quiet.
“I’m not sure that’s gonna help, cous,” he said, eyeing the bottle in my hand.
“Like I told Nic, it’s either this or I go put a bullet in his head.”
“DiMarco will get his, you know he will. But first we need to find the girls and figure out this thing with Lombardi.”
“You think it’s connected?”
“Yes, no… maybe,” he let out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t know. But you heard what he said, Cabrioles took a liking to Caitlin. Maybe they were watching her. Maybe they thought she was the way to DiMarco and when we swooped in and saved her, it got the wires all crossed.”
“We were careful, E. We would have noticed if someone was watching her.”
Wouldn’t we?
“She came to us with no cell phone, no bank cards, nothing that was traceable.”
“Maybe they were already watching us, getting ready to make their move, and it was sheer coincidence that our paths crossed when they did.”
“Yeah, maybe.” I took another swig from the bottle, but Enzo snatched it off me and threw it against the wall.
“Hey, that was good whisky.” I watched it sluice down the wall.
“I know you’re hurting, cous, but we need you sober. Caitlin and Bella need you sober, okay?”
“Fuck. Fuck!” I punched the brick, relishing in the bite of pain.
“Better?”
“Fuck you,” I grunted, clutching my busted hand to my chest. It was a mess, but I barely felt it over the anger residing in me.
“Channel it into finding them.” He gripped my shoulder. “Because we will find them, Matt. And when we do, they’ll need you.”
I nodded, too choked up to reply. If anything had happened to them… I couldn’t bear it.
Bella was my sister. My little sister for fuck’s sake. And Caitlin… she was my heart.
The door swung open revealing my father. “There you two are,” he said. “Come on, Tommy’s got something.”
“About time,” Enzo grumbled, nudging me forward.
We followed my father back into the club, congregating with the rest of our men near the bar.
“Tommy just called,” Nicco said. “He ran Olivia Walsh through the system, and it pinged numerous hits.” He scanned his cell phone. “Married to Darragh Walsh, they had one daughter, Erin Walsh. Born May twentieth, two thousand.”
My brain was already doing the math when Nicco locked his eyes on me. “He managed to pull a photo of Olivia.” Holding up his phone to me, he said, “Look like anyone we know?”
No. Fucking. Way.
It was Caitlin. Well, her eyes and red hair, at least. The woman in the photo was at least twenty years older.
“So wait a second,” Enzo said. “You’re saying Caitlin O’Donnell is really Erin Walsh?”
“It looks that way.”
“Where’s Olivia now?” I asked, my heart crashing against my chest.
“Well, that’s where it gets interesting. Officially, she’s divorced and has lived alone in New Haven for years.”
“And unofficially?”
“Tommy found numerous police reports for breach of the peace and countless overdoses.”
“The mom’s a junkie?” Lucino asked.
“Looks like it.”
“Any record of who bailed her out?”
“That’s where things get really interesting.” Nicco fixed his eyes on me again. “It looks like Olivia Walsh has had an on-off relationship with Massimo Lombardi for the best part of thirteen years.”
“Lombardi?” I balked, the ground going from under me. “No. No way.”
We’d all heard the stories about Massimo Lombardi’s predilection for the seedier things in life. Drugs. Trafficking. Brothels. Lombardi’s empire was built of the underbelly of society. He couldn’t be connected so personally to Caitlin.
It made no sense.
Yet, I couldn’t deny the photo of Olivia had been like looking at an older version of Caitlin.
Erin.
Whatever the hell she was called.
No wonder she’d been cagey about her past. Her mom’s boyfriend was the lowest of the low. And definitely not the kind of guy we were looking to do business with.
Lucino let out a low whistle. “If the rumors about Lombardi and his preference for young girls are true, it makes sense why she ran.”
My blood ran cold. Lombardi wasn’t just immoral; he was sick and twisted and definitely the kind of man you wouldn’t want your daughter or sister around.
“Bella.” My knees buckled as I slumped against the counter.
“Shh, figlio mio.” My father squeezed my shoulder. “We’ll get her back. Both of them.” There was a fierceness in his eyes I hadn’t seen in a long time.
“Do we have any idea where he might have taken them?” Enzo asked, the silent consensus being that Lombardi had taken them.
It was the only lead we had, and despite not wanting to believe it, it made the most sense.
“We can assume Lombardi has been watching Caitlin for some time. Hence why he sent his men here, to scope out DiMarco.”
“If she hadn’t ended up in the hospital, it’s likely he would have grabbed her before now.”
“So you’re saying we should be thankful DiMarco roughed her up?” Sarcasm clung to my every word.
“Matt, that’s not what anyone is saying,” Nicco said. “But Lucino has a point. We have to assume Zander changed their course of action.”
“What do we do now? What’s the plan?” Enzo said.
“Tommy is pulling up a list of possible locations. They took Bella, so I’m inclined to think there’s a bigger picture here.”
“You think they’ll use her as leverage?”