Page 151 of Phantom Mine

“She—”

“Don’t try to talk yet. Just breathe for me,cara. Please.”

I do as he instructs, holding on to the soothing notes of his voice, clinging to them to pull me back to the surface.

In and out. In and out. In and out.

It’s not the voice in my head—it’s him, instructing me inhale after exhale to breathe. Slowly, my heart starts to settle and the black throttling my vision begins to recede.

“Good girl,” Matteo praises softly, sending an entirely different kind of physical reaction through my body. “I hate being away from you when you have one of those.”

He’s been with me for the two other panic attacks I’ve had since I came toFirenze, but I’ve barely seen him the last few days. BeingDonis keeping him busy.

“Tell me about Aurora.”

“You know her as Capri. Her real name is Aurora. She’s missing, Matteo. No one at work has seen her and she hasn’t answered my calls since before my last shift at the club. I know you probably think I’m overreacting—”

“I don’t think that at all,” he replies. “Hold one moment, Len.” I hear him pick up the phone on his desk and dial. “Enzo. Check the security cameras from seventy two hours ago. We’re looking for any sightings of Capri. Yes, the dancer.Grazie, cugino.” He hangs up and comes back on our call. “The tapes erase after three days so we’re right at the cutoff, but let’s see what we can find.”

“I know something happened to her, Matteo. I know it.” I choke back another sob. “This is exactly like last time.”

“We have more information now. We’ll find her,” he assures me. “If Aurora was taken, then it had to be by someone on the inside. Whoever Rocco’s accomplice was.”

“Guido,” I gasp.

I can feel him pause on the other end of the line. “What about him?”

“He hit her,” I say.

“He, what?” Matteo asks, voice dangerously soft.

“He used to hit her. He hasn’t touched her since I joined because I kept her close.” I bring a hand up to my mouth. “Remember the bruising around my neck my first week?”

That memory seems so far away and from so long ago, it feels like it happened in another life altogether.

“Yes,” he growls menacingly.

“Arabella didn’t do that, Guido did.”

“What? Why the fuck didn’t yo—”

“He also threatened me,” I continue. “He told me there are worse things than death. He specifically said there were ‘worst places he could send me’, and I think he was pimping some of the dancers. I completely forgot about it until now. Do you think he was talking aboutFemina Fortis?”

“You should have told me he touched you,” Matteo snarls. “If I’d known, I would have sent him on an express train to meet his fucking maker.”

I tense. “You’re right, it’s my fault.”

“No, it’shisfault. You, like Aurora, are a victim. Hold on,” he adds. “Go ahead, Enzo. Leni’s also on the phone.”

“There’s footage of Capri being dragged out the back alley three nights ago.”

“By Guido?” Matteo asks.

“And Amadeo. Two men to subdue a girl barely above five feet,” he spits, disgusted.

Matteo curses loudly, slandering both of the men.

“We need to go toFemina Fortis,now,” I urge. “We can’t afford to wait anymore. She’s already been there three days, I– I can’t even imagine what she must be going through.”

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