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LUCA
We made our way to Matteo’s office. After the door closed Matteo rounded his desk and proceeded to just stand there, studying me. His expression was one of hesitation, mingled with sadness.
“Are you planning to hit me again?” I chuckled, trying to break the rising tension. His mood was unsettling to say the least, but the look in his eyes is what had me shifting uncontrollably.
“That remains to be seen.” He opened a drawer in his desk extracting a manila envelope. Matteo slapped it down on the desk like a gavel. Hands on his hips he stared at me with reproach.
My insides turned to ice. Every muscle in my body twisted into knots. Bile rose in my throat as I stared at the envelope. The envelope I knew contained papers I’d procured for Becka when I’d planned her previous escape.
I’d put them in my office safe at Ecstasy, knowing Matteo and myself were the only ones with the code— but he never used it. It was only supposed to be temporary after they were delivered— the day we returned from California— but in the middle of all the insanity of the last few weeks I’d forgotten to move them.
The night Jasper showed up. Matteo got into the safe for money.
One mistake. One mistake in twenty years. A mistake that was going to cost Becka and I our lives. Matteo was head of the Family. The Boss. To let a betrayal such as this go unpunished would not be tolerated by our own people let alone anyone we partnered with. He would have to kill us— or at least me. Betrayal was the gravest of sins you could commit. Death was the law.
Matteo’s eyes met mine, rife with disappointment, making my heart pinch in my chest with the knowledge that I put him in that position.
“Matteo,” I shuttered, “I can explain.”
“No. You will listen.”
I gulped down the lump in my throat, feet rooted in the spot. “Becka had no idea about…”
“Shut up!”
My lips clamped shut. The knowledge of what would happen next had my whole body hardening into stone.
“When I found these,” he jabbed a finger at the envelope, “I was angrier than I’ve ever been in my life. That includes when my father was killed. I trusted you above all others. And you went behind my back.”
My heart hammered in my chest. Matteo’s voice was stone cold and perfectly controlled. I recognized it as the sign that he was nearing the edge of restraint.
“When I found them the night Jasper brought us the information I didn’t want to believe it was true. I took them home and stared at them on my desk for hours until Arianna found me. And do you know what she did?”
I shook my head.
“She asked me… would I have kept a secret like that from you if the role was reversed? Would I have trusted you to help?” Matteo paused, pulling in a heavy breath. “That’s when I realized I wasn’t mad at the betrayal so much, as the fact you didn’t trust me to help you. Because I would have trusted you.”
My head flew back, eyes blinking rapidly at him. “I…”
“Answer me this. If I had asked you to help Arianna and I get out, would you have helped?”
“Yes.” There was no hesitation. No matter how devoted I’d been to Lorenzo, Matteo was where my ultimate loyalty rested. If Matteo had asked, I would have helped.
He raised an inquiring eyebrow. “So why didn’t you trust me?” The hurt in his voice sounded incredibly foreign.
Guilt surrounded me in a billowing sheet brushing across my skin. Running a hand down my face I stared at the floor unable to meet Matteo’s gaze any longer. Fear, guilt and uncertainty sloshed around inside my stomach, making me queazy. There was only one thing that mattered enough to ask.
“What happens now?” Just because Matteo said he wasn’t particularly enraged about the betrayal to the organization, didn’t mean he was necessarily going to let us go. He was a mob Boss, after all. If Matteo thought anyone else knew about it— other than the forger— he would have to act. Or face repercussions for not delivering justice.
“Now,” he answered slowly, “Arianna gets her birthday wish.”
I shook my head in confusion.
A huge smile spread across his face. “When I asked what she wanted for her birthday, she said she wanted me to let you and Becka go. To help you get out without the worry of looking over your shoulders.”
“She what?” I asked, stunned with disbelief.
“She loves Becka. Maybe part of her still blames herself for Becka being here. No matter the reason, she wants Becka to be free, and you to be free with her. And of course I love her enough to give her anything in my power to give.”
