Page 83 of Gilded Princess

Chapter Thirty-Two

MATTEO

“You stupid motherfucker. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t knock your ass out right now,” Leo murmurs.

I tip my head to the hallway and leave my apartment. My gaze stays on the elevator, remembering the look on Maddie’s face. My useless heart clenches, spearing me with white-hot pain knowing that I’m the cause of hers.

“Let’s go, kid,” Dante says.

I don’t hear them behind me—perks of the quiet hallway—but I know they’re following. I bypass the elevator, following the hallway around until we’re on the other side of the building, where the only other penthouse is. I flip open the keypad panel on the door, type in the code, and push open the door.

The apartment is nearly identical to my own. Spinning around, I lean against the island and shove my hands into my pockets. Leo’s surprise is palpable and expected.

He folds his arms across his chest tightly. “What the hell is going on?”

I raise my index finger to my lips, and Leo clenches his jaw, but doesn’t ask any other questions. We’re quiet as Dante sweeps the apartment with a handy device Rush Fitzgerald, one of the boys of the Brotherhood, made for us. It detects cameras, mics, and any other spyware, for lack of a better word.

Dante joins us in the kitchen. “All clean.”

I can see Leo itching to move, but I have shit to say, so he’s going to have to wait to bitch me out until later. “This is my apartment. Purchased under a real identity, Thomas Connet, that a friend of mine created just for this reason, though he doesn’t know that. I needed a backup in case something like this happened.”

“Why not in another building?”

“It’s the perfect place, really. Whoever it was that broke in planted cameras and mics. Dante took care of them, but we don’t know who’s behind it or what their real target was. They also attempted to steal our files, but those are so encrypted that they’re virtually un-stealable—at least not by the way they tried.”

“Okay, so if Dante took care of everything, then why didn’t you tell me this there? Or shit, tell Madison?”

I shake my head. “It’s been compromised. We’ll never stay there again.”

“And Madison?” Leo presses.

I blow out a breath. I’m at a crossroads here. If I pull him in any further, and Dad finds out, he’ll consider him a liability. He’ll enlist him or kill him, neither of which are good options. But if I don’t tell him, then he could wind up dead next in an attempt to get at me.

“Sal Bianchi’s wife’s body was found on his front porch. Someone left her there. No note, and no one’s claimed it yet. They can use her against me, Leo. And they will. They’ll torture her without a second thought if they think they can get to me.”

His expression fills with tension, his eyes narrowing. “So you’re just going to let her think the worst of you then? Think the worst of me by association?”

“No. I’m going to tell her, come clean. As clean as I safely can right now. But I wanted you to know first, so you don’t do something stupid.”

He throws his hands up in the air. “What the fuck are you waiting for? Dante could’ve told me this while you went after our girl.”

I tilt my head to the side, tension tightening my muscles. “Our girl?”

“Don’t be a dick. You’re wasting time, man.”

I nod a few times with a smirk. I’m glad he feels comfortable enough to call me on my shit. He can’t be too mad at me then. “I paid the doorman to hold her up for ten minutes under the guise of a car running late to pick her up, I’ve got another minute or two. Listen, you and Dante get anything that’s priceless from the other apartment and meet us at the new place.”

“You mean we’re not staying here?”

“Nah, kid. We’ve got another safe house. One that only three people know the location of. We’ll be alright there. It’s fully furnished, we just have to grab food,” Dante says.

Leo looks me up and down with a raised brow. “You sure you don’t want me to get Madison? I’m not sure she’ll want to see you.”

I grit my teeth at the reminder that my brother has a relationship with my girl. Shit, is she even my girl anymore?

Technically, it’s been years since she knew she was mine. But what she didn’t know was that she’s always belonged to me.

And she always will.

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