Page 91 of His Savage Ruin
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Matteo
I close the bedroom door behind me and lean against it, my hand still on the handle. Alessia is on the other side of this wood, still sitting on the bed where she just told me everything, and my mind won't stop replaying her words.
My pulse hammers in my wrists, in my throat, and I can feel rage building so hot in my chest I think it might burn straight through my ribs. He put his hands around her throat and squeezed while she fought for her life, and I wasn't there to stop it, wasn't there to kill him myself before he could touch her.
I force myself to straighten up, to take my hand off the door handle even though every instinct is screaming at me to go back inside and make sure she's still safe. But she needs space right now, and I need to make sure no one else can use that confession to hurt her.
I dial Enzo because he can mobilize the others faster than anyone else, and I need them here now, before I lose what's left of my control.
"Matteo? What's wrong?"
"Emergency meeting in my study in the casino in an hour, I don’t want to risk someone overhearing this. Get Luca, Rafael, and Dante there now," I say, and I don't bother keeping the edge out of my voice because I'm done pretending everything is under control when it very clearly isn't. "Drop whatever you're doing. This can't wait."
He doesn't waste time asking questions, which is one of the reasons I trust him. "Consider it done."
I hang up and turn to the guards stationed in the hallway. Romeo is there, looking alert despite the early hour, and Marco stands near the stairs with his usual rigid posture.
"No one goes in or out of this room except me," I tell Romeo, and I'm surprised my voice comes out as calm as it does when everything inside me is screaming to go back in there and make sure she's still breathing. "I don't care what happens. Alessia stays inside, and you stay at this door until I personally relieve you."
Romeo's shoulders straighten, and I can see from his expression that he understands this isn't routine. "Understood, boss."
I turn to Marco next, and even though I still want to break his jaw for how he spoke to Alessia at the casino, I need every man I have right now, and personal grudges are a luxury I can't afford when someone is actively threatening her. "Double rotation on this hallway. Anyone comes near this room who isn't supposed to be here, you put them down first."
His jaw works like he wants to say something, but he just nods. "Done."
The drive to my casino feels longer than usual, the streets too quiet still as I watch the sun appear over the horizon. The place is completely empty. The study door is heavy under my hand when I push it open and I pour myself a whiskey from the crystal decanter on the sideboard because my hands need something to do while I wait.
The door opens less than ten minutes later, and my Brotherhood file in without ceremony. I have no idea how they come so quickly from their houses every time, but I am so glad they do.
"What's going on?" Luca asks, and I can hear the concern under his usual calm because he knows I wouldn't call them here unless the situation was serious.
I set down my glass and pull the folded letter from my jacket pocket. "Alessia receives notes from a person who knows more than they should. They know she’s not really pregnant. And also…”
I move behind my desk because I need the solid wood between me and them for what comes next. "Alessia told me what really happened the night Lorenzo died. He came home drunk and tried to force himself on her. Strangled her when she fought back. She pushed him away to defend herself, and he went over the balcony. He died from the fall."
"That's self-defense," Enzo says quietly, and I'm grateful to him for being the first one to say it out loud because it makes the truth feel more real, less like something I've convinced myself of to justify protecting her.
"I know that. But the Morettis wouldn’t care." I brace my hands on the desk, and the wood is solid under my palms, grounding me when everything else feels like it's spinning out of control. "So Alessia lied and now they think we killed Lorenzo. They've built this entire war on that assumption. If they find out Alessia killed him—even in self-defense—they'll fucking come for her."
The thought of what Emilio would do to her if he got his hands on her makes my stomach turn, makes me want to burn down every damned Moretti property in Chicago just to make sure they never get the chance.
"So, whoever sent this is trying to force a play," Dante says.
My jaw clenches because he's right, and the threat feels more real now that it's been said out loud. "Which means we need to move fast. First thing—Alessia gets a permanent security detail. Four men minimum, rotating shifts."
Even as I'm giving the order, part of me knows it's not enough, that four men won't stop a determined attack if the Morettis decide to come for her in force, but it's better than leaving her vulnerable the way she is now.
Luca pulls out his phone, already shifting into operational mode. "I'll coordinate the schedules. Who do you want on her?"
"Your best. No one I don't trust completely." I turn to Enzo, and I can see from his expression that he's already thinking three steps ahead of me. "I also want surveillance on anyone who's been near the Moretti house in the last two days. Someone delivered that letter and had gotten access to her belongings in the past. Find out who."
Enzo nods, already typing notes into his phone with quick movements that would normally reassure me but right now just remind me how much ground we need to cover and how little time we might have to do it.
We've had most of our men deployed there after the killings, trying to keep control of our territory and to prevent more violence from bleeding into the streets, which means most of our forces aren't here, making the situation more difficult.
"How many guards do we have at the estate right now?"
