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“Of course, I am. Where have you been since this morning?” she asked, concerned. “I was coming to look for you down at the main lobby, but I must have fainted because the next thing I knew was that I was brought here by your bodyguards.”
“What? Okay, you have it all wrong, and Jessica, there’s something going on here that you need to know.”
“Babe, what’s wrong? Why do you look so distressed? What are you talking about?” asked Jessica, oblivious to the whole situation going on around her. She seemed to notice Spencer right then, and her eyes went wide. “What is he doing here? And what on earth are you guys doing together?”
Matt didn’t reply right away. He figured he should go to a more private place to have this conversation with Jessica and tell her that she had potentially been in life-threatening danger. He didn’t want all the poolside party people to know their business, and he also figured that Jessica needed to sit down and have a drink when she learned the truth.
“Come with me. I’ll tell you everything.”
Frowning, Jessica followed him inside. The wide-open double doors led to a massive drawing room, which was relatively empty except for a few people lounging on the sofas. Matt found an empty couch by the corner of the room, away from the ears of strange people, and sat her down. Spencer and Nash followed them.
“Okay, first of all, you need to know that the people that brought you here were not my bodyguards,” Matt began. “My bodyguards were drugged and put to sleep, and so were you. You fainted because they most likely made you sniff chloroform, and then they brought you here as a hostage.”
Jessica’s face took on a look of horror. “What? Who is this they you are referring to?”
“The Coretti brothers, Lucio and Lorenzo. They’re some of the most dangerous people in the underworld. They took you hostage to force me to pay them.”
Jessica just gaped at Matt. He continued, “They were in a business negotiation with Spencer here.” He looked over at Spencer and glared as he spoke. “But Spencer couldn’t make good on his word and didn’t pay them what he owed, so they came after me because I was his collateral previously. When they heard that I had recently gotten married, they threatened me by using you. That’s where I was this morning. I was making arrangements to send them the money that Spencer owed them, but they got to you before the transaction was complete.”
Jessica put her hand over her mouth in shock.
“Baby, I’m so sorry. I should have never brought you to Vegas. That’s where they saw me and us —together —and made the connection. If we hadn’t crossed paths with them, none of this would have happened.” Matt put as much sincerity in his words as he could. He meant these words. He wished Jessica could understand what he felt. Jessica was too stunned to speak. Matt didn’t blame her. She was clueless about the whole situation, and naturally, such big and shocking news would require time to process.
“God, if anything had happened to you, I couldn’t have lived with myself. Jessica, I’m so sorry,” he said and took her hands.
“I know, Matt. I trust you, but I wish you had told me,” Jessica said.
“It just happened this morning. I got a call, and one of the brothers threatened me. I didn’t want to take any chances, so I immediately went to make the arrangements. I didn’t get the chance to tell you everything, and, to be honest, I didn’t even realize it would get this far.” Matt explained and buried his face into her lap.
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” Jessica repeated into his head. “Since Nash and George were to be with you, I couldn’t tell the difference when your bodyguards were swapped with the Coretti brothers. I thought they were there to guard me, so I didn’t protest when they said you had told them to bring me here. I was under the impression that this was your family’s mansion. I was so confused to find a party here, and I was so worried, Matt. I thought you were in danger,” she said, holding his face.
“You’re with me now, and I will get us out of here,” Matt said, then he remembered that Jessica was still confused about what Spencer was doing here. “I went to Spencer’s apartment and got the address of this place from him. That’s how I found you. The security here recognizes Spencer, so they let us in.”
“Looks like the love birds have found each other. How sweet.”
Matt and Jessica jerked their heads in the direction of the voice. The man speaking came into view. He was tall and muscular, with thick curly hair and a tattoo disappearing down his chest. He wore chains on his neck and a pair of sunglasses hanging low over his eyes. He looked at the bunch and smirked.
“We had a deal. I wire you the money, and you leave my wife the fuck alone, Lucio,” Matt said.
“So, we did, but you see, my brother Lorenzo is a very cautious man. He didn’t want to take any chances, in case you went back on your word, and it seems like he was right because we did not receive any payment yet,” Lucio drawled on. He looked over at Spencer, who let out a whimper and tried to back away, but Nash held him in place by the collar.
“And we have the star of the show right here. Where have you been hiding, little mouse?”
“Please, just let me go!” Spencer cried.
“Oh, no, no. You are the one we have been looking for. I should thank Matt for finding you for us,” Lucio said and gave an evil smile that sent Spencer almost running for cover. He was terrified of this man.
“What do we have here?” another voice interrupted.
Lucio didn’t even turn around to look at the man. He said, “Come, little brother, look at this entertaining show. We have all the players of this game right here.”
Lorenzo Coretti made his way from inside the house to the drawing room. The two brothers looked very similar, with the same muscular bodies and tattoos covering their chests and arms. Lucio appeared to be an inch or so taller than Lorenzo, but Lorenzo had a more demanding presence. While Lucio looked laid back and mischievous, Lorenzo had a look of seriousness about his person that differentiated him from his older brother more than their physical appearances did. Everything about this man screamed that he didn’t tolerate bullshit, and true to Lucio’s words, it seemed like he didn’t like to take chances either.
Jessica stiffened a little when Lorenzo walked over to them. Matt had his arm over her protectively and held her tight. “You don’t have to worry. This isn’t going to be about us for much longer,” he assured her.
Lorenzo came to stand beside Matt. Matt stood his ground, refusing to back down. Spencer looked positively ill, being in the presence of the two brothers he had been running away from all this time.
“Spencer, you are in trouble,” Lorenzo said. “But first, Mr. Miller, where is the money that you promised us this morning?”
