AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No, we’re staying together. Splitting up gives Lorenzo the opportunity to strike if he has people watching us. Once we have the information we need, we move. I have clothes in my bag. Honestly, I’d go in this stupid uniform if I had to. You guys have clothes that Ren can borrow. We’ll make this work,” I say, adamant that we don’t split up. I can’t fight big bad and worry about my guys getting picked off one by one.
“I should call Piero and let him know that something’s going down tonight in case stuff goes sideways. I can also do a perimeter check in case anyone’s out there watching us.” Ren says, pulling his phone from his pocket.
“I know he’s been your closest confidante for a long time, but can you keep what you tell him to a minimum? I think we should keep this to ourselves for now,” I tell him, unsure of who we can trust right now… or ever.
“I’ll be vague,amore. I won’t ever put another person before you. You know this,” Ren promises.
“I’ll callnonnoand my mom and tell them that Lorenzo has Matteo so they can be on standby if we need them. I won’t tell them that I’m going in early, but I’ll forward the directions as a backup.”
“Okay, go change your clothes and I’ll find something for Ren. You both can make your phone calls while you change and hopefully Cohen will hopefully have what we need shortly after and we’ll get going,” Noah says, taking charge. It’s appreciated.
Grabbing my bag, I head back to the bathroom, clutching my phone tightly so I don’t lose control and punch a wall or something. Shutting the door behind me, I let myself fall apart for just a moment. Sliding down the door, I put my head against my knees and wrap my arms around them as I let the tears finally flow freely.
I just got him back. I can’t lose him again. I’ve clawed my way up from the depths of hell only to find everything I’d been missing in life—love, devotion, and family. I won’t let some low level scumbag take away the happiness now that we’ve finally found our way back to each other. This is the beginning of our love story, not the end.
I dial up my mom and when she answers, I don’t even bother to hide the sorrow that’s choking me alive.
“Lorenzo took him.”
“Calm down sweet girl, I need facts. Breathe for me. What did Lorenzo do? Who did he take?”
“Matteo. He took him and he said he’ll kill him if I don’t follow his directions. He wants me dead mama and he’ll kill his own son to make sure he gets what he wants,” I cry.
“Deep breaths honey, it’ll be fine. We’ll work this out. What are his instructions?”
“He hasn’t given me any yet.”
“Okay, I’ll call your grandfather and let him know. You send us the instructions as soon as you get them. Please don’t do anything rash.”
“Mom, there’s nothing I won’t do to get him back, to protect him.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” she whispers.
“I’m sorry. I won’t give you false hope that this ends well. I can’t sit back and do nothing.”
“I expect nothing less. It’s not who you are to let people you love get hurt.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, mom.”
I hang up the phone and think about the time we’ve all had together. These guys once said that they’d burn the world to the ground to find me so that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to light Lorenzo’s world on fire.
Getting dressed is basically me going through the motions, following through with each monotonous task because it’s necessary to get to the next task. I have a feeling every moment in time will be like that until I get my love back. For every moment Matteo isn’t back with me, I’ll make his dad pay for his absence, and I’ll make it hurt.
I take a deep breath and throw a quick splash of cool water on my face before I walk back into the bedroom. If the guys notice the puffiness of my eyes, they don’t comment. It’s another reason added to the list of why these guys are beyond perfect. In fact, as I look around, I see nothing but an openness in each of them. There’s nothing but love, dedication, and acceptance looking back at me and it’s everything I need at this moment. I hope I can offer the same thing to them because I know they need it as badly as I do.
“I got a hit. He’s been in the same location for a while now so I imagine that’s where he’ll stay until Lorenzo’s ready to put his plan into action,” Cohen says, smiling for the first time since this morning. It’s not a megawatt smile or anything. Nothing more than a brief glimpse of hope on his handsome face, really. I’ll take it.
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go,” I demand. I’ve never been more ready for a fight in my life.
“We need a gameplan. His location is pinned at one of Lorenzo’s clubs two towns over. We can be there in an hour, but I can almost guarantee he won’t be easily accessible. We checked this club out shortly after we made our way back from the East coast and came up empty handed. There has to be some sort of hidden room that he’s locked up in. You guys go grab the last of what we’ll need and I’ll look over the blueprints one more time. When we checked it over last time, we weren’t thinking to check for places that hidden rooms might’ve been and that was foolish. He’s been hiding in plain sight this whole time,” he grumbles.
“Don’t do that. You aren’t expected to know everything, Red. What matters is that we figure things out and get Matteo back,” I tell him, knowing that until Matteo’s back, he’ll carry the weight of the guilt of not catching Lorenzo sooner. “We will get him back. I promise.”
I’d never blame him.Matteowould never blame him. Same with Noah and Ren, but he’s the guy that cares too deeply and loves so hard it threatens to break him at times. This is one of those moments.
“Just go grab whatever weapons you can, and I’ll meet you at the front door.”
