Page 95 of Depraved
I don’t answer, but I’m happy to hear it because I haven’t stopped thinking about her. How could I? She’s my reason for everything, and I’ll be damned if I let this shit go south and destroy the life she deserves to have.
“Nico should’ve been back by now,” I throw out, catching Antonio’s attention.
He pulls his phone from his pocket as the office door opens bringing with it, Nico, Vincenzo, and a battered but smiling Matteo.
Thank fucking god.
The room erupts, everyone standing and cheering and throwing out questions all on top of each other that it’s impossible to make out what anyone’s saying. I stand from behind the desk and move closer to Matteo, bringing my hand to his cheek and patting it lightly.
“What the fuck happened to you, ya dumb son of a bitch? You had us thinking you were dead.”
Matteo winces as Luca pats his shoulder. “Easy. I’m fragile,” he complains, and we both take a small step back, making room for him to walk to the chair that’s closest.
I motion my head, and Antonio swivels the chair around for Matteo to sit; he makes his way to it slowly, holding his ribs and hissing a breath through his teeth when Nico helps him down.
We all stand and gather around, waiting for him to explain what the hell happened to him tonight.
He looks up at us and takes a breath. “I went to your place to keep an eye out, and a couple of scumbags jumped me out front when I got there. Fucked me up bad and tossed me in a goddamn trunk. I thought they were gonna kill me until I realized they were just leaving me there.”
Nico crosses his arms over his chest. “That’s how they got his phone; they took it right off him and sent the message to everyone. Vin found it in the trash a couple cars away from where he found Matteo.”
Matteo adjusts himself in the chair and groans. “I made a big fucking commotion in that trunk, even though my body was hurting. But nobody was paying attention. I heard the blast, felt it, too. It shook the shit out of the car. Then the sirens started howling, and I knew I had to wait it out.”
Vincenzo laughs as he sits back against the desk. “I stopped back by the building, just to look around, and I was standing across the street. Out of the corner of my eye, I see this car rocking and bouncing. I thought to myself, either someone is fucking or someone’s trying to get out.”
Luca starts to laugh, and I join in while Dom just shakes his head.
“Fuck. That was the longest five hours of my life. But I’m sorry, Dante,” Matteo says, a crease forming between his eyes.
I exhale harshly. “No, you are not responsible for this, Matteo. Don’t put that on yourself. Did you already see the doc?”
He nods as Vin answers for him.
“Yeah, that’s what took us so long. I called Nico for backup, just in case.”
“Smart,” I agree as I walk back around the desk to my chair and grin at Matteo. “Well, since you’re useless,” I laugh, “you can ride with me to the house and stay with the girls.”
Matteo sits back and closes his eyes, stripped of his regular sarcasm as I continue. “Antonio, fill in Nico and Vin about the plans. Let’s wrap this shit up, so I can go see my girl…we all need to sleep and stay clear for tomorrow.”
“Will do,” Antonio answers.
Luca and I wrap up how we plan to reach out to the other families and come to a consensus for what we should offer them for their help. I stand and grab my jacket and catch the time on the wall—3:30 a.m. My eyes widen and blink as I try and keep them open. The night’s beginning to wear me down.
Each of the men follows my lead and gathers what they brought, and as we head out back to our cars to go our own ways, I look at each of them. “Thank you for your loyalty and your bravery. The next step we make needs to be made together because we’re only our strongest together. So take this time to think it over and make sure you’re ready.”
My words hit hard. I see it in their faces, and I’m grateful that these men will all be with me to protect our city and to keep the woman I love safe.
I let out an exhausted breath as we pull up to Antonio’s cabin and twist my neck, hearing the cracks as I try and wake myself up. Running my hand over my head, I smack Dom’s shoulder. “We’re here. Get up.” He opens one eye and grumbles.
Luca stretches from the front seat next to my driver and rolls his shoulders. “That wasn’t enough sleep.”
The car crackles over branches and debris and pulls to a stop. I reach for the door, pushing it open and stepping out into the early-morning air.
The other car pulls in behind us with Matteo inside. I stand, buttoning my jackets, and flip up the collar of the heavy trench.
“Fuck, it’s cold.” A cloud of breath billows out in front of me. I rub my hands together as Matteo slowly climbs from the car to join us.
“You want a piggyback ride?” Luca jokes as Matteo shakes his head and flips him the bird.
