Page 119 of His Tesoro

Angelo sat down in the seat beside me, and Leona was across from us. She handed us each a headset. Angelo put mine on for me. Instantly, the noise around me dulled and I could hear Leona’s staticky voice.

“Well, that was exciting. I had a feeling I should stay in New York, like something exciting was about to happen.”

My world had just been ripped apart and here Leona was, acting like we were on some sort of fun field trip. “Sit back and relax,” she continued. “We’ll be in Boston in no time. Ronan is going to be so excited to meet you.”

63

MATTEO

Watching the helicopter fade into the distance joined with the memory of hearing the gunshots that took my parents and finding Sofiya lying still on the floor of that cell.

All my worst moments were my own fault.

Romeo put a tentative hand on my shoulder. “Let’s go back downstairs. Figure out a plan.” When I failed to move, he tightened his hold on me. “Come on, fratello. Sofiya needs you focused.”

“I’m the last thing she needs.” My voice was as flat and cold as my heart felt. My wife had taken all the warmth and light in the world away.

“That’s not?—”

“She ran from me, Romeo. She couldn’t stand to be around me because of what I’d done, so now she’s run into the arms of fucking sex traffickers!” I clutched my hair and spun around, needing something to destroy, when my eyes caught on Noodle struggling to pull himself onto the roof. I sprinted over to him and grabbed him by his harness, pulling him into my arms. He was breathing heavily and rested his head against my chest. I clutched him close, pressing my face to his soft fur. “How could everything go so wrong, huh?”

He whined softly.

“I will get her back. I promise you.”

He lifted his head and licked my face, and I realized there were tears falling down my cheeks. I wiped them away and cleared my throat. “Alright, we’ve got to pull ourselves together and get our girl back.”

I took a deep breath and moved Noodle off my lap. He sat, meeting my gaze with a solemn expression, and I nodded. I pushed myself off the ground and buttoned my suit jacket, standing tall as Don.

I returned to where Romeo stood with the rest of my men. “We need to track where the helicopter is landing and contact Rustik for backup. The Irish have taken my wife. We are at war.”

Romeo and Enzo dragged a large table and chairs into my office, and everyone gathered around. Franco had emerged from whatever dark lair he usually worked in and was currently tracking the helicopter’s flight path.

“They’re landing in western Massachusetts, not Boston,” he said.

“Romeo, get the jet ready to follow them,” I commanded.

Franco pushed his long, messy hair out of his face as he bent over his laptop. “Once they land, we should be able to track their exact location with Sofiya’s necklace, if she still has it on.”

I froze. In my panic, I’d forgotten the tracker. For the love of God, I hoped she still had it on. I opened the tracking app on my phone and held my breath as it loaded. And there it was, the tiny dot representing the love of my life flying over Connecticut.

“We’ve got her,” I said. “Everyone needs to be armed and ready. We can’t know how many of the Irish and Albanians will be there, but they’ll likely be ready for us.” I nodded at Romeo to take over prepping our soldiers while I stepped out to call the Pakhan.

My heart pounded when he answered. I cleared my throat. “Ivanov. The Irish have taken Sofiya.”

My father-in-law, the Pakhan, this man I despised, let out what I assumed was a curse in Russian. “How could you let this happen?” he roared.

I clutched the phone, my desire to shout and curse tempered only by my own self-blame. “I’m calling upon our alliance to rescue her and take down the Irish. They’re allied with the Albanians to bring the skin trade to New York.”

Rustik cursed again. “Send me the location. My men and I will be there.”

This man had no love for Sofiya, but in our world, image was power, and the kidnapping of his daughter made him look weak.

I hung up, sent him the coordinates of the Massachusetts airport, and returned to the office. My men were ready, and more soldiers would meet us at the airport.

“Fuck, does Sienna know what’s happened?” I asked Romeo in a low voice as we exited the office.

“She’s been kept in her apartment. She knows something has happened, but not what.”

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