62. Arianna
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
ARIANNA
I t took us two days to clean up the mess on the island and get back home. As soon as the attack happened and Matteo updated Dad and his papa on the information we learned, he ordered his pilot to come and get us.
We stepped out of the private jet and a much warmer breeze than we had been used to for the past few weeks slapped us in the face. So did the unfamiliar airport.
“I thought we were going to New York?”
“Not anymore.”
“But this isn’t Baltimore either,” I pointed out.
“No.”
My brows furrowed, but I didn’t say anything. Instead, I checked my phone again. No messages.
Uneasiness filled my chest as Matteo stared at the line of vehicles waiting for us, and then urged me forward with his firm hand on the lower part of my back.
By the time we were inside the vehicle, I was combusting with questions and anxiety. I was eager to get home, see Hannah, ensure she was alright, and alert others to the resurrection of the Belles and Mobsters auctions.
I stared at his profile as he drove out of the airport, waiting for an explanation, and when it didn’t come, I asked again, “Can you tell me where we’re going?”
“Not yet.”
“Matteo—”
“Trust me.” I narrowed my eyes and he flicked me a dark look. “You do trust me, right?”
“I do, but I need to know what happened. Did they get Hannah? Why are we taking a detour? I want to?—”
“She’s safe.”
My heart came to a halt before it resumed its beat while a relief unlike any other washed over me.
“She is?” I rasped while tears stung my eyes. “For real?”
He nodded. “Now, no more questions, and when we arrive at our destination, I’ll explain.”
We drove for a while, the vaguely familiar landscape a blur as Matteo sped down the highway. Various landmarks came into view. The church. A big open field. A large colonial home with its white columns and wraparound porch.
“The private clinic?” I asked, furrowing my brows.
My dad had funded this place for victims of human trafficking. Matteo drove another mile, pulling over in front of the entrance before he turned my way with a serious look.
He stared at me for a bit, and unease slowly crept up my stomach until it was an agonizing pain in my chest.
“What is it?” I breathed. “It must be bad.”
“Hannah is here,” he finally said, his tone cautious. My instincts flared, dread pooling in my stomach. My hand was already on the handle, opening the door, when Matteo’s fingers wrapped around my other hand, pulling me back.
“She’s recovering,” he added.
One heartbeat passed before I found my voice. “From… what?”
He went rigid, his presence darkening, and his gaze locked on me. “From surgery and an overdose.”
“Surgery,” I repeated. “And an overdose?” My mouth went slack, my head shaking. “N-no… that can’t be. What surgery? What overdose?”
“They’ve taken her kidney,” he said slowly. “She’ll be okay. Thankfully our parents got to Benito King’s old mansion right on time. One kidney was gone, but the other?—”
“Oh my God,” I breathed.
Hannah was going through hell and I was on a fucking honeymoon. As if he could read my thoughts, Matteo took my face between his big palms. “None of us could have known.”
“I went to Ireland to look for her, but she was here all along,” I croaked, releasing a pained gasp.
“None of us knew,” he repeated. “Your dad is one of the best and even he couldn’t find her.”
I shook my head.
“No, I should have known, Matteo.” I tapped my chest over and over again. “I should have known.”
“Baby, Hannah has had some problems that none of us knew about. She’s gotten good at hiding things.”
“Maybe… they drugged her. Hannah would never use. Not willingly.”
I didn’t like the look in Matteo’s eyes. I saw things I didn’t want to see. Things I’d overlooked but shouldn’t have.
“Her organs… They don’t lie, and she’s been using cocaine for a while.”
“A while,” I repeated in disbelief.
“Yes, for a while. It was a shock,” he offered. I blinked, trying desperately to calm the thoughts that were whirling in my mind. “To all of us.”
“I don’t understand,” I murmured, although it was fairly clear.
“It’s the main reason they didn’t harvest all her organs right away. They started detoxing her, which is the only reason she’s alive.” I stared at him, bewildered, unsure what to think. “Listen, baby. Right now, she is safe. We’ll help her get better. And then we’ll go from there. Okay?”
“And Simón King?” I asked, a thirst for vengeance flickering inside me. “Is he alive?”
Matteo smiled cruelly. “He’s wishing he’s dead. Death will come, but first, he’ll regret ever being born.”
“Good.”
I still struggled to understand how I could have missed the signs. My sister had been using drugs and I was too self-absorbed to see it. How did I not know? Her behavior had been erratic lately, but I attributed it to her engagement.
“It’s my fault,” I murmured.
“We all should have seen the signs, but it’s not anyone’s fault,” he placated. “The main thing is that Hannah is recovering, getting the help she needs. She’s strong, probably stronger than both of us together, and I know she’ll get better.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “When was she brought in?”
“Early this morning, and she’ll remain here for a bit.”
“She should be home with us. With her family,” I said, shaking my head. “This place is for victims of human trafficking.”
Cupping my face, his eyes bored into mine. “That’s true, but she just lost a kidney. She’s getting care from the top doctors in the world here.”
“But—”
“You want what’s best for Hannah,” he said carefully. “We all do, and staying here will make sure of it.”
“Was she—” The lump in my throat grew, suffocating me to the point where it hurt to talk. “Was she assaulted?”
“I don’t know, baby,” he answered. “She’s not talking to anyone.”
“She needs us,” I murmured. “We have to stay here.”
He nodded. “We will. She’ll have our support, and we’ll be here for her for as long as necessary.”
The moment we stepped into the room, the first thing I saw was my twin’s deathly pale face. The second, the bruises that marred her exposed pasty-white skin, and suddenly, it felt as if my life shattered around me.
I stood, surrounded by the scent of copper and bleach and the constant beeping of a machine that monitored the immobile body. I felt like my heart, my soul, and my sanity all took a plunge to the pristine, bleached hospital floor.
“Ari, are you okay?” Matteo’s voice finally filtered through the suffocating silence and smell of death. It was the scent I woke up to after my car accident with Gianna. “Want to step out for a bit?”
I shook my head. I couldn’t leave. Not now, not when my sister and family needed me.
Please, God, save her. I’ll do anything to have my sister back.
It was only then that my mom’s cries registered. Gianna was hugging her and crying. They both looked exhausted, black circles under their eyes, their faces tearstained and pale. My brothers stood beside them, fatigue evident on their faces too, but they kept themselves somewhat together.
But Dad… He almost looked terrifying, like a devil with the purpose of leveling the earth with his enemies’ ashes. I’d never seen him so upset. So angry. So hopeless.
“Mom?” I croaked, my throat so tight I could barely push that single word out.
Five sets of eyes shifted to me, and with Matteo’s hand firm around my waist, I took unsteady steps, closing the distance between us. I practically fell into my parents’ embrace, their arms tightening around me. Gianna continued to sob somewhere in the background, our brothers soothing her with their whispers.
“How is she?” I finally rasped in a voice that sounded far away even to my ears. My gaze locked on the bed where my twin rested, the only reassuring sound that of my sister’s heartbeat on the monitor. “Where are the doctors?”
A pained expression crossed my dad’s face. “They did all they could. Now we… wait.”
“Wait for what?” My voice choked. “They don’t think she’ll?—”
No, I couldn’t utter those words. Hannah would wake up and wreak more havoc. She had to.
“She’ll come back to us,” Mom said with conviction I only wished I had while she attempted to hold back more of her tears. “The doctors believe she’ll recover nicely. She just…”
“She just has to wake up,” Gianna said, her voice strained.
Mom panted through her tears, holding on to her chest, and I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore. They spilled like a broken dam, along with long whooshes of breath that made it hard to breathe.
“She’ll wake up,” I whispered, tasting salt on my tongue and hyperventilating. “She’ll wake up, if for no other reason than to take revenge.” I met the gaze of the man who’d raised us. The man who’d always been here for us. “And you, Dad, will keep that fucker alive until Hannah’s strong enough to make him pay.”
After all, we were all legacies of heathens and revenge was in our blood.