“Who is he?”
“Massimo Lombardi was… is my mom’s boyfriend.”
“So he’s like what, your stepdad?”
“I guess you could say that. Although they never married, and we didn’t live together in the traditional sense.” I wrung my hands in my lap, my stomach a tight ball of nerves.
“He’s…”
“A monster.” My eyes shuttered as eight years of bad memories flooded my mind.
“What happened?”
“You don’t want to know,” I breathed.
“This… this is what haunts you,” Bella said.
“He’s why I ran, yes.”
“Tell me. I want to understand.”
“Why?” I searched for her in the darkness, but Bella found me, her hand twining with mine.
“Because I think my brother loves you, Cait—I mean, Erin.”
“You can call me Cait. I left Erin behind when I left New Haven. And don’t you see, this is why I held back. Because I knew. Deep down, I knew I would never truly escape my past. But I never wanted to put you in harm’s way, Bella. I never thought—”
“Shh.” She shifted closer, laying her head on my arm. “We’re your family now. And I know my brother and cousins will do whatever they need to do to get us back safely. Both of us.”
It was the nicest thing she could have said to me, even if it was but a fantasy.
There was no happy ending for me in all of this. Now he’d found me again, Massimo would never give me up. And I wouldn’t risk Bella or Matteo or any of their family getting hurt… for me.
Not anymore than they had been already.
“Can I ask you something?” she whispered, and I smiled. Bella had the innocence of youth. She might have been raised in the Marchetti family, but she was still young and idealistic.
“Sure,” I sighed, too exhausted to argue.
“Do you love my brother?”
“I barely know him.”
The lie wrapped around my heart like thorns, shredding me wide open. Because while I didn’t know his favorite color, band, or food, I knew Matteo’s soul. I knew his heart and his loyalty and devotion to his family.
I knew all the things that mattered.
The things about a person you could fall in love with.
“Your brother is a very easy person to love, Bella.”
“That isn’t really an answer,” she mumbled.
“Well, it’s all I have right now.”
Silence enveloped us. This was always the worst part, the waiting. The calm before the inevitable storm. When Massimo would demand I performed for his associates, there was always that moment before I went on where I would silently pray for someone to come and take me away.
Of course, no one ever came. And, like a puppet on strings, I was forced to dance at his will. I guess in some ways, I was lucky he never let any of them touch me. In those few minutes, I was able to completely detach myself and get lost in the music.
Dancing was my salvation then. But eventually, Zander stole that from me. Two men. Both obsessed with me in their own ways, using the thing I loved most in the world against me.
“Caitlin?” Bella’s voice pulled me back to the moment.
“Yes?”
“I’m scared.”
“Bella?” I whispered.
“Yeah?”
“I am too.”
I don’t know how much time passed before anyone came back for us. We dozed in and out of sleep, too cold and uncomfortable and scared to really succumb to oblivion. My arm was stiff from Bella’s weight, but I didn’t have the heart to tell her to move. She needed me, and I would do everything I could to make her feel as safe as possible.
When the door handle finally rattled, part of me was relieved that this would all soon be over. I only hoped that Bella, Matteo, and their family got to walk away without any casualties.
But I knew Massimo and although he was a monster, he didn’t like unnecessary risk, and hurting Bella would rain down a whole heap of destruction on his empire.
Light poured into the room, and two men entered, dragging us to our feet.
“Caitlin,” Bella shrieked as one guy carried her from the room, kicking and screaming.
“It’ll be okay,” I called after them. “It’ll be okay, Bella.”
The guy smirked at me, and I narrowed my eyes.
“What?” I snapped.
“I can see why Massimo was upset when he lost you.” His eyes brazenly checked out my body. I had to swallow my repulsion. I knew men like this, and they didn’t care to be emasculated.
“He didn’t lose me, asshole. I left.”
“Well, he found you now, and I think we both know he isn’t going to let you go again.”
My stomach sank.
Of course I knew that.
But it didn’t make it any easier to hear.
He yanked me from the room, shoving me down the opposite hall, away from the office where I’d seen Massimo.
“Where are you taking me?” I said, fear bleeding into my voice.
“It’s showtime, sweetheart,” he chuckled darkly, shouldering open another door. This one led to a vast space, some kind of abandoned storage warehouse.
Bella was already tied to a chair, her big eyes pleading with me to do something.
“It’s okay,” I mouthed.
I had to believe it would all be okay.
Matteo and his family were smart. After all, you didn’t get to be one of the biggest crime families in New England without some intelligence. So long as they got Bella out safe and unharmed, I could live with that.
I had to. Because I’d known all along there was no happy ending for me.
I just hadn’t expected it to end like this.
Chapter 28
Matteo
The coordinates were for an abandoned warehouse on the state border separating Rhode Island and Connecticut. Nicco and I rode in his Range Rover, tailed by Lucino, Enzo, and my father. Stefan had remained at the club with Zander and a couple of our guys. Another SUV was trailing behind with the rest of our men in it.
Lombardi had requested that only Nicco and I show up, but it didn’t mean we would come unprepared.
“How are you holding up?” Nicco asked me.
“How do you think?”
Everything I thought about Caitlin was a lie.
It wasn’t even her name, for fuck’s sake. And yet, I’d known—I’d known she was hiding something. I’d never expected this though.
So much made sense now, even if nothing seemed to make much sense at all.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Yeah, me too.” I stared out of the window, watching the scenery roll by. The GPS indicated we were almost there. There was nothing around for miles but a desolate stretch of land and a series of derelict warehouses.
“Lovely,” I murmured as Nicco drove through the busted open security gates.
We pulled over at the first warehouse and the other two vehicles followed.
“Remember the plan,” Nicco said, checking his pistol.
“You don’t have to worry about me.” I just wanted this over with.
We climbed out of the Range Rover and made our way back to my father’s vehicle. He already had the window lowered.