by L A Cotton
“Aglio e Olio.”
“This looks great, Bella. Thank you.”
“Maybe next time, you can join us at my house for dinner. I know my parents would love to meet you.”
I shoved a mouthful of pasta into my mouth and murmured, “Mm-hmm, maybe.”
I couldn’t lie to her, but I could evade the truth.
We ate and talked, sticking to safer subjects like Bella’s school life, and then cleaned the dishes and headed back into the living room and got comfortable on the couch.
“Luis has been gone a while,” I checked the time. “What do you think he’s doing out there?”
“Probably sitting in the SUV listening to the radio.” Bella popped another truffle into her mouth. “Thank you for letting me come by today.”
“You don’t need to thank me,” I said. “I’ve enjoyed your company very much.”
“Even if you and my brother can’t figure things out, I’d like to be friends, Caitlin. If you want, I mean.”
Guilt snaked through me, coiling around my heart as I choked out, “Sure.”
I was a liar.
A liar and a coward.
But I didn’t know how to be anything else.
A heavy thud outside the window startled me and I placed the glass down. “Did you hear that?” I stood, moving closer to the window.
“It’s probably just Luis clearing the leaves again.” Bella grinned.
“Very true.” I pulled back the curtains and peered into the night.
“Anything?” Bella asked, and I shook my—
Thud.
My heart lurched into my throat as I let the curtain drop.
“It’s just Luis, I bet.” Bella made for the door.
“Wait,” I called, but it was too late. She yanked it open. “Luis, what the hell are you… oh, you’re not Luis.”
My blood turned to ice as I went to her. “Bella, what’s—” Fear slammed into me as my gaze landed on the guy standing on the porch. “W-what are—”
“You’re a very hard woman to track down, Caitlin.”
I stared at him, my heart crashing violently in my chest. This couldn’t be happening.
It couldn’t—
Bella.
Oh God, Arabella was here.
“Please,” my voice cracked as I gripped her shoulder to keep myself upright, fear threatening to bring me to my knees.
“Please don’t do this.”
Chapter 24
Matteo
“Anything?” Nicco asked as I tried Luis for the third time.
“Nothing, and neither of the girls are picking up either.”
When Bella hadn’t replied to my last four text messages, I’d eventually caved and called Luis. He wasn’t answering either.
“They’re probably busy.”
“Busy doing what? They’re stranded in a fucking cabin, Nicco.” My leg bounced as I watched the scenery roll by.
The cabin was secure. No one except for a handful of people knew the way in or out. Nicco was right—there was probably a perfectly reasonable explanation.
So why couldn’t I shake the feeling something was wrong?
“You need to rela—”
“Don’t tell me to relax,” I snapped. “That’s my sister and—” Whatever the hell Caitlin was to me.
“We’re almost there,” he said.
“If anything has happened to them…”
I couldn’t go there.
There had to be a logical explanation, there had to be.
The blare of my cell phone cut through the tension.
“Anything?” Enzo asked, the second I hit answer.
“Nothing yet, we’re almost there,” I said. “Have you got eyes on DiMarco?”
“Yeah, he’s been at the club all day.”
“He doesn’t leave, understand?” Nicco’s voice was deadly calm, a complete contrast to the chaos raging inside me.
“You got it, Boss. The second you get there, call me.”
“We will.” I hung up and sent my sister and Caitlin another text message.
“Where the fuck are they?” Fear trickled up and down my spine.
“We’re almost there.” Nicco pulled off the highway and followed the road down to the cabin, his security car following behind. At least we had back up. Four pairs of eyes were better than two.
I slipped my hand in my jacket and felt the pistol strapped there. It was a part of the job I never enjoyed, but it was necessary.
“See,” Nicco said the second the cabin came into view. “The SUV is still there. They have to be here.”
But I felt zero relief as the Range Rover rolled to a stop and I climbed out. Everything looked normal: the SUV was parked in its usual place, and the cabin door was closed. It didn’t stop the hairs along my arms all standing to attention.
Something was wrong.
“Miss Bellatoni and Luis's GPS trackers show her as still here,” Nicco’s security guard, Dario, said as he stepped out of the car.
Guns drawn, they approached the cabin first. Knocking twice, they waited. When there was no answer, he glanced at Nicco. He nodded and Dario grabbed the handle, testing it.
The door swung open. “Luis?”
Nothing.
“Miss Bellatoni, it’s security. Please respond so we know you’re okay.”
Still nothing.
“We’re coming inside.” They stepped inside and swept the living room while Nicco and I hung back.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” I said, pacing back and forth.
“Clear,” someone called, and we went inside.
“Shit, Nic.” My eyes immediately found Bella’s cell phone. I only knew it was hers because it had one of those pink, glittery cases.
I grabbed it and checked the screen. “She didn’t pick up any of my messages.”
“Fan out,” Nicco ordered his men. “Check every—”
“Mr. Marchetti,” Dario called. “You’ll want to see this.”
We rushed over to the hall, and I froze at the sight of blood smeared over the floor.
“It leads down here.” We followed the sticky red trail to the back of the cabin, right to the storage closet.
“Fuck,” I cried out at the splatters of blood.
“Looks like there was a struggle.” Dario grasped the door handle, gently twisting it open. He gave his partner a nod and checked inside.
“Luis, shit.”
He was unconscious, slumped up against the bench, bleeding out of a nasty cut on his forehead.
“He needs medical attention,” Dario said, trying to rouse Luis.
Nicco already had his phone out, calling the Family’s doctor. “He’s on his way. Get him comfortable.” He looked to me. “A word outside.”
I followed him out of the room, every cell in my body zipping with nervous energy.
Caitlin and Bella were gone. Luis had been hurt. It didn’t take much to figure out what had happened here.
“DiMarco found her,” I snapped.
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Nicco ran a hand through his hair, staring out of the window.
“Come on, Nic. It’s fucking obvious that he found her, and he… he fucking took them. My sister and my—” I stopped myself, inhaling a ragged breath.
“I need to call Enzo.” Nicco studied me. “You good for a minute?”
Good?
I wanted to break something. Preferably that fucker’s neck.
“Promise me we’ll get them back, Nic.” My voice cracked, fear bleeding into every cell in my body. “Promise me that we’ll get them back.”
He gave me a small nod, but as he walked out of the cabin, cell phone pressed to his ear, I realized he hadn’t answered me.
“Papa,” I jumped up and strode toward my father, falling into his open arms.
“Shh, figlio mio. We will find them.” He gripped me tightly as the emotion I tried so hard to keep contained, rushed to the surface.
“What do we know?” He held me a
t arm’s length, his hard gaze sliding to Nicco.
“Luis was jumped outside the cabin. He came to and tried to fight off two guys, but one hit him with a tire iron. He’s got a nasty contusion to his head, but Doc says he’ll be okay.”
“Have Enzo and Lucino started interrogating DiMarco?”
“No, they’re waiting for us,” Nicco said.
“What are we waiting for then? Let’s go.” I went to barge past my father, but he shouldered me.
“Basta! This isn’t helping, Son, you need to calm down.”
“Seriously? You’re going to tell me to calm down when DiMarco has Arabella? Who knows what he’s doing to them. He could be—”
“Shh, Son.” My father pulled me into his chest, cupping the back of my neck as a shuddering breath went through me.
If he’d hurt them… I couldn’t bear it.
I’d spent my entire life protecting Bella, trying to keep her innocent and out of harm’s way.
And now she had been taken… because I’d dropped the ball and allowed her to come here, to be around Caitlin.
“Don’t.” My father nudged me away to look at me. “Don’t do that to yourself. We all agreed it was safe to let her come here. Security is tight, the location is unknown, and we’ve been careful. You’re not to blame, Son.”
Careful… but not careful enough.
Fuck.
My fists clenched, my lips thinning. Nothing, nothing anyone said would stop the weight of guilt crushing my chest.
“Make sure Luis is taken care of. We need to head to Providence immediately.”
“Thank fuck,” I breathed, heading for the door. But my father snagged my wrist, stopping me.
“Cool heads, Matteo. We need to keep cool heads, capisci? With DiMarco in talks with Lombardi, we can’t rule out that there is more at play here.”
“What are you saying?”
“We talk first. Give DiMarco a chance to tell us what he knows.”
“I think that’s pretty obvious.” I scoffed. “He kidnapped them. He took them and left Luis for dead, and you want to… to talk?”
Un-fucking-believable.
“Despite what you might think, figlio mio. I want to resolve this with the least bloodshed. For all we know, it could be a trap. Would you so willingly storm in all guns blazing if you thought it might end up with all of us dead?” His gaze cut me to the bone.
“I… I need to do something.”
“And you will.” He gripped my shoulder. “When we figure out their motives.”
“Fine,” I grumbled. “But if DiMarco is responsible, he’s a dead man.”
My father’s eyes went over my shoulder to Nicco, something passing between them. But I didn’t stick around to ask what; I needed some fresh air before I combusted.
They wanted to talk, to appease that asshole, when he deserved nothing more than a bullet through his skull. But I wasn’t the boss and there was protocol.
Fuck.
Fuck!
I slammed my fist against the side of Nicco’s Range Rover, pain skittering up my arm. I was about to hit it again, when my phone vibrated.
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.