It wasn’t a heart attack. I wasn’t feeling my own panic. It was Gabriel’s.
Chapter 32 - Gabriel
I sat frozen in the chair for what felt like an eternity. It felt like a giant had draped a heavy blanket over me, holding every muscle firmly in place no matter how hard I struggled. Sweat dripped between my shoulder blades as I fought desperately to move just an inch.
I needed to chase them. I needed to call someone. My phone was buzzing in my pocket, a frenetic counterpoint to my racing heart.
Finally, the influence of Domenic’s bark began to fade, and I regained control.
After tossing a twenty on the table, I rushed out the door. As if they would still be there. Cars and trucks and taxis rumbled past, oblivious to the fact that the world was crashing down around me.
The mix of rage and fear running through me was almost blinding, but I controlled it.
Make a plan, I told myself.
All I could see was Matteo, finally broken and bleeding, beyond my help.
No. Not that. Make a plan.
My phone rang, my real cell phone not the burner, as the car pulled away from the curb.
“What happened?” Andrew demanded. “Are you okay?”
“No. Bridget… Lei se n'è andata. She went with him.” I sank against the wall of the diner, ignoring the passersby. My fingertips were numb and tingling with panic.
“She went with who?”
My breath caught in my chest.. “Domenic. Her father. He was here.”
Andrew cursed. “Gabriel. Baby. Breathe for me. I need you to tell me what happened.”
“I failed. She is not safe,” I murmured. My legs gave out, and I sank all the way to the ground, the concrete cold underneath me.
I had been so arrogant thinking I could keep Bridget safe. I knew better, didn’t I? This was yet another failure on my conscience, a black mark on my soul.
“Fuck this. Stay where you are, I’m coming.”
It had been late afternoon, the heat of summer, the time of day when everyone should have been resting. I was sitting in front of a fan in the living room, trying to stay cool, when Nico stormed out of Matteo’s room. He froze when he saw me, but the look on his face was pure devastation.
“What happened?” I had asked, but I knew. The blood on his hands, smudged on his shirt, told the story.
Nico had collapsed then, because two things can live together at once. Nico had loved Matteo, but he had also hated him a little. And even though it had been Nico who stole his life, in more ways than one, he was also bereft without him.
I had left Nico on the ground, wailing incoherently, clutching his chest. But it was too late. Matteo was gone, motionless on his own bedroom floor, his face battered and his neck at a strange angle.
My kind, vibrant friend, who made the most of his small, confined life. Who read as much as he could to escapeand volunteered at the animal shelter under my watchful eyes whenever the pack would let him. Who never complained, even when he was bruised or limping from their rough treatment.
I had not even avenged him properly. Instead of eliminating every last Alpha in Branco Agnello who had ever hurt him, I… left. After his funeral, where each of his Alphas cried as if they had not broken him systematically into a thousand small pieces, I spent one last night with my mother. The house had been flooded with her disapproval, and still I fled. Like a coward. Like a worm.
Remembering Matteo was my daily punishment. I would carry the weight of him forever.
Andrew arrived. I didn’t know how long it took. Nathan was with him and they helped me to my feet. I expected them to yell or demand answers, but Andrew embraced me. Against my tidal wave of helplessness and shame, I could feel his love like a wall of flame. It burned some of the feeling back into me.
He squeezed me tightly, wordlessly shoring me up. The darkness abated enough that I could take a full inhale of his spicy scent to clear my mind and sharpen my focus.
“Better?” he whispered in my ear.
“Sí,” I murmured and he finally released me.
