Chapter 34 Mateo
MATEO
“What do you mean she isn’t there?” I scream down the phone at Enrique, who has just raided the palace that Zoe called us from.
“The place is empty. I think they were tipped off. We got some of the men, but they are not speaking. Gracie and Zoe are not here.”
I fall to the floor. “No, she is supposed to be there. We were just talking to her. No. No!”
Sophie tries to wrap her arms around my shoulders.
“We will find them,” Enrique says down the phone.
“I don’t think she is going to get another chance.
They are going to kill her. They’ll know it was her who tipped them off.
Fuck!” I roar, pushing Sophie away from me.
Picking up a chair, I throw it at the wall and kick the stupid rubbish bin over.
I want to destroy things like they have destroyed our life by taking her.
“Keep us informed if you have anything,” Tomas says to Enrique, then hangs up the phone. “Mateo,” he says quietly.
“She’s dead, Tomas, she is fucking dead. They are going to kill her!” I scream, pushing him away. I need to be alone. I walk out of the room and into the garden, gasping for air as I collapse into the thick grass.
“Mateo.” I hear Tomas’s panicked voice. “Mateo!”
I wake up in my bed. “What happened?”
“You collapsed.” Tomas’s worried face comes into focus.
“My heart is breaking, Tomas, I can’t, we can’t …”
Tomas pulls me to him. “The fight isn’t over. She is strong, she is a fighter. They need her, Mateo. Brooks has word that ten women are being added to the program for the auction—they will have some of the famous Bratva Jewels for sale.”
I don’t believe him.
“Brooks and his team are on their way to Marrakesh,” Sophie adds, walking into the room.
“But what about your sisters?”
Tomas and Sophie look between each other.
“There is no word, no one knows where they are, but we have a couple of days until the Marrakesh sales. I believe that they are there. I also believe she is still alive. My phone starts ringing. Looking down, I see my publicist’s number flashing on the screen.
I don’t have time for her, so I ignore her call.
“I want to have faith—” My phone rings again, and it’s my publicist. I hit ignore. But when it starts again. Sophie and Tomas look at me, so I pick up the phone and answer it. “Valeria, what’s so fucking important?”
“Mateo, it is a shit storm here.” I can hear the panic in her voice, it makes me sit up. “Someone released a sex tape of you … of you and Tomas.”
I burst out laughing because she can’t be serious. There are always rumors flying around about Tomas and me.
“No, Mateo. I saw the tape, someone bugged your home in Ibiza, it’s clear as day. You and Tomas by the pool, in your room, in the kitchen …”
“Fuck!”
“I have emailed you the videos,” Valeria says.
Sophie and Tomas are looking at me, but I don’t have time to explain. Grabbing my laptop off the bedside table, I flip it open and click into my email. I double-click on the email from Valeria. There we are together in full color.
I slam the laptop shut, and I can see Tomas looking questioningly at me. I shake my head.
“Fuck, Val, what are we going to do?”
“It looks like someone has either stolen sex tapes or someone has criminally bugged your home, so we can put an injunction out on them. I’ve been on the phone with legal and we’re in the process of shutting it down with the magazine.
But once it’s on the internet, I can’t stop it. ” I can hear the sorrow in her voice.
We are well and truly fucked.
“You need to tell Tomas. His father is going to find out about this.”
My eyes find Tomas’s and I want to be sick. I have just ruined his life, ruined his relationship with his family. I hang up from Val.
“Open the laptop,” I say to him. “Sophie, you might want to look away unless you want to see us in a different light.”
She frowns but moves away from the laptop and sits on the edge of the bed with me.
Tomas opens the computer, and he sees it. His face turns white as he presses play. Luckily there is no sound, just images. He drops the computer on the bed. I can see the panic in his eyes.
“Fuck! How? I don’t understand?”
“Val has contacted the police and legal is onto the magazine.”
“But someone videoed us in our home?”
Sophie is looking between us, and I can see the confusion on her face.
“I know.”
Tomas starts pacing the room.
I push the computer toward Sophie. Everyone else has seen it anyway. Her eyes widen, and she closes it a couple of seconds later.
“Oh my god, I am so sorry,” she says.
“Why? How? I don’t understand—I thought we were careful? I thought our security was tight?” Tomas paces then his face drops. “That motherfucker,” he screams.
“I bet it was Nikolai!” Sophie says.
I look at her, confused.
“He knew where Zoe was all this time,” Tomas says through gritted teeth.
“He played the long game. Got as much intel as he could about everyone and used it when he could. He’s using this as a distraction so that you two will be worried about your personal lives and not about Zoe,” Sophie explains.
She’s right.
“What the hell are we going to do?” I ask them both.
“You do an interview and put all the attention back on Nikolai. You bring him out onto the world stage. Fuck him, he thinks this is going to stop you?” Like I said, Sophie is scary. “Look, I’m sure your publicist will probably advise against it, but are you two sick of living a lie?”
“What about your father, Tomas?”
“He has never supported us and he never will. It’s not like I see him anyway. My whole family has shunned me, so nothing will change. He can deal with the fallout, I don’t care. I want Zoe back, and I will do anything to get her back,” Tomas says confidently.
Jumping up out of bed, I grab him and kiss him passionately. He smiles back and my heart wants to explode with happiness.
“I love you, Mateo, and I am sick of hiding.”
“I’m sick of hiding as well. I want Zoe back with us, the three of us.” I press my forehead against his.
“Okay,” Sophie says, “let me sort it out with your publicist, and let’s fuck up Nikolai’s plans.”
Hours later, we are sitting in front of a makeshift studio.
Sophie called up a cameraman friend, and Enrique has cleared it with Interpol for us to talk about the case.
We just can’t mention anything about Marrakesh and the sales.
We’re turning the media attention back onto Nikolai, taking the focus off our sex tapes.
Of course, Tomas’s father had a coronary when he saw the news.
I think Tomas handled himself well when he phoned.
He told him to watch the interview as the story is not what he thinks.
He also had to deal with the guilt trip of his mother’s tears on the phone.
God, I hate his family. Luckily his brother Dario called him with support and told him he wasn’t ashamed of the world knowing he and I are in a relationship.
He’s back in Barcelona holding down the business while we are in Morocco finding Zoe.
I’m so lucky I have the most amazing family. My mother called me in a panic, worried that my career was going to be over, worried about what people will say about me, but I just told her to watch the interview tonight.
My brothers and sisters sent texts of support.
“Welcome, tonight we will be speaking with Mateo Vilaro and property tycoon Tomas Ramirez,” Sophie says in her reporter’s voice. “Thank you both for taking the time to talk to me tonight, amid all of the scandal today after the release of what some believe to be sex tapes.”
I tense at her words, but I know she is just doing her job.
“Could you tell us, is it true that you are together?” Sophie’s blue eyes look at us, and she gives us a genuine smile.
I take a deep breath and reach out for Tomas’s hand, taking it in mine.
“Yes, Tomas and I are together. He is not only my best friend and roommate, but also the love of my life.” I turn and give him a reassuring smile, and the look he gives me makes me realize it’s going to be okay. We are going to be okay.
“How long have you been a couple?” Sophie asks.
“We met at a party years ago, we were both with other people and we started off as friends until our feelings evolved.” The public version of what happened to us; we’re not sure if the public is ready for us to say we met at a sex party and fucked straight away along with numerous women.
“Is that when you knew you were both gay?”
Tomas shakes his head. “Mateo and I are bisexual—we enjoy women just as much as we enjoy the company of men. We have each had relationships with both sexes, but this time we happen to have fallen for the same sex.” Tomas’s face shows me exactly how much he loves me.
“So, why did you think you needed to hide your sexuality?”
I take a deep breath. “I was advised that it would be better for my career if I was straight, like my character.”
“And I …” Tomas starts and stumbles over his words.
I squeeze his hand in support.
“It would not look good for my family, for my father’s political vision. It’s not his fault that I do not conform to what he believes is right - that a man and a woman should love each other. We hide our love because of other people not because we are ashamed.”
I’m so proud of him.
“So why do you think someone decided to release personal footage of you today?”
My heart is pounding. Now is the time, the truth as to why we are here.
“Because Tomas and I fell in love with a woman.”
Sophie lets our answer hang in the air, then says, “You both fell in love with her?”
“Yes, Tomas and I didn’t realize that we could love another while having the same amount of love for each other. I know that it is hard for people to wrap their minds around that, but we are in a loving relationship with this woman as a triad instead of as a couple.”
“A relationship?” Sophie prompts.
My words get stuck in my throat, and I’m unable to answer.
“Yes, but the woman we love has been kidnapped,” Tomas says for me.
Again, Sophie lets that answer hang as the information sinks into the viewer’s mind.
“Kidnapped?” she says eventually.
“Yes, this is why we are going public—we need to find her. Time is running out for her safety,” Tomas states.
“Can you tell us what has happened?”
“Zoe, her name is Zoe, and we treasure her so much. We just want her back, safe and sound. We believe she has been kidnapped by Nikolai Petrov, a known member of the Russian mafia, who is wanted for human trafficking crimes. Not only does he have our Zoe, but he has also kidnapped her sister Grace.”
I don’t know how Tomas is keeping his shit together telling our story, but he does.
“How do you know it is him?”
“We know this because we found Zoe moments from death on our doorstep months ago. Nikolai had tried to kill her when she escaped from him. We were able to bring her back from the brink; we fell in love with her while we nursed her back to health. He found out that she was alive and kidnapped her from our Ibiza home. Her sister was staying with us in case he came after her. But we couldn’t protect them …
” Tomas’s confident expression begins to crack.
“They killed all of our security, fifteen men gunned down, so they could take these women and push them into slavery.” Tomas looks angry now.
“We need to find her; we need information before it is too late,” I add.
“You believe that this Nikolai Petrov bugged your home, taped you together, then kidnapped Zoe and Grace.”
Tomas and I nod.
Enrique joins us, and Sophie starts peppering him with questions about the case.
He explains Nikolai’s rap sheet, and pictures of him and his gang members pop up on the screen.
Enrique asks the public for help and information regarding Nikolai Petrov and his gang. A phone number appears on the screen.
Then before we know it, the interview is over, and Sophie is signing off.
“That was so fucking awesome.” Sophie jumps up and hugs us both.
“You two did brilliantly, thank you for answering my questions. I’m sorry I put you on the spot, but I needed the world to understand who you are, about your love for Zoe, and how you are two men in love and just want their girl back. ”
“Apparently the tip line is running hot, there might be a million bogus tips, but we might find something to crack this case,” Enrique adds.
Sophie smiles, looking at her phone. “Social media has gone into meltdown.”
“I just want her found,” I say.
“Don’t worry, she will be, I can feel it in my bones.” Enrique smiles.