Page 63 of Theirs to Ruin

“No. You go get something to eat. I’ll be fine.”

She looked reluctant to leave, but then finally said, “If you’re sure.”

I forced a smile. “I am. But you can tell me more about the new guy later, okay?”

She grinned. “Great, I’ll call you and tell you everything I know about Mateo Serrello.”

Mateo Serrello?

Ty had changed his name.

Or had Mateo Serrello been his name all along?

“That’s his name?” I asked. I needed to hear her say it, to confirm that my spiraling thoughts weren't playing tricks on me.

“Yes. He’s quite the bad boy. Dark past, too,” she whispered, her eyes bright with excitement. “But that just makes him more intriguing.

“How do you know about his past?” I was desperate for any insight, any information about how the Ty I once knew had becomeMateo Serrello.

“Oh, I Googled him. It’s all there, in black and white. Check it out for yourself.”

I had googled Ty Rossi before. At least once a month, like clockwork, after the breakup. Every time, I’d come up with nothing. It was as if he’d disappeared off the face of the earth.

But I had never Googled “Mateo Serrello.” The idea of unearthing Ty’s past filled me with a blend of dread and curiosity, but I knew that it would be the first thing I’d do when I got back to my room.

Fifteen minutes later, I was curled up on my bed staring in shock at my laptop screen. My gaze was locked onto a photograph of Ty, who stood next to a brunette woman and a younger girl with the same bronze hair as his. His mother and sister.

He’d told me once how close they were. How his sister would braid his overly long hair while they watched cartoons, and how his mother would bake pies and sing old Italian songs in their sunny kitchen. He’d loved his family, his eyes lighting up every time he told me a story about them.

But the articles painted a different picture.

Each headline was more damning than the last.

“Mateo Serrello: A Poisonous Legacy?”

“Son of Alleged Crime Lords, Elio and Mariana Serrello, Accused of Killing Family.”

I read the article in shock. The police believed that Mateo Serrello—my Ty— had murdered his parents and sister by poisoning them. After, he had fled the scene, and in his reckless escape, while driving under the influence of alcohol, he’d caused a massive car wreck, taking another life. While there hadn’t beenenough evidence to convict him of the murder of his family, he had gone to prison for second-degree murder for the DUI victim.

The date of his arrest was October ninth, only a couple of days after he had sent me that break up text.

I remembered the rumors that Kage had killed. I remembered Dante’s implication that he’d done the same.

Now this.

Was it true?

Was everything I’d ever believed about Ty a lie?

Chapter 27

Camille

Icontinued combing over the articles about Ty—or should I sayMateo—my heart in my throat. The news about the murder of his family and his subsequent arrest had mostly stayed in Italy, and it took me a long time to work through the sheer number of articles, but they all said the same thing: Mateo had been a suspect in the murders of his mother, father, and sister.

None of it fit with the Ty that I had fallen in love with. The artist. The cocky and confident but oh so sweet boyfriend who had stolen my heart.

Then again, given how he’d dumped me after he’d told me he’d love me forever, maybe it made more sense than I wanted to admit. Maybe he had been some sort of psychopath all along and I had been too blind to see it.

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