Chapter 38
Lorenzo
“About fucking time you answered your phone!” Matteo barks when I click Accept on the call.
“Sorry, man. We arrived in Seattle and—”
“She’s alive.”
A shiver races up my spine as I wrap my head around his words.
“What do you mean, she’s alive?”
“Leysa Santiago. The DNA results came back, and it wasn’t her who died in the fire.”
“Then who the fuck was it?”
“It shows a partial match, so I checked around, and it turns out, her sister isn’t just her sister … she’s her fraternal twin. It’s why they look so much alike. And she’s missing.”
“Holy shit. She killed her sister?”
“She’s a fucking psycho bitch, and we’re back at square one. I know you’re planning to stay in Seattle, but you need to—”
His words are interrupted by an incoming call.
“Hey, give me a second. Vanessa is calling. I left to pick up dinner, so she might need me to grab something while I’m out.”
I click Accept, and once it switches over, I’m about to say hello when the sound of my son crying comes over the line.
“Vanessa?”
Leo continues to cry.
“Leo?” I ask, even though he’s not capable of answering.
And then he says the one word that has the blood draining from my body.
“Mama!”
With Matteo still on the other line, I click to merge the calls.
“Matteo,” I bark as Leo cries over the line.
“What the hell is wrong with Leo?”
“I don’t know. It’s Vanessa’s phone number, but only Leo is on the phone. I’m five minutes out, but I think something is wrong.”
“Does Eddy have access to the tracking on her necklace?”
“Yeah,” I breathe, my heart pounding in my chest so hard that it’s difficult for me to hear.
“What hotel are you staying at?”
“Seattle Olympic. Presidential Suite.”
“I’ll call you right back.”
I step on the accelerator, not giving a shit that I’m now doing over one hundred miles per hour, my only thought that I need to get to Vanessa and my son as fast as possible.
Leaving the food behind, I park in front of the hotel and rush into the elevator since we’re on the thirtieth floor.
When I step onto the floor, the door is closed, so I quickly unlock it with my card and rush in. I don’t have my gun on me, but I don’t give a shit about anything other than finding my son and Vanessa.
His screams lead me straight to him—in the closet with the door closed.
“Vanessa?” I call out, picking him up.
Her phone drops from in his lap onto the floor, and I rush out, checking every room for her even though I already know she’s not here.
My phone rings, and I click Accept.
“She’s gone,” Matteo says. “I don’t know who she’s with, but she’s heading north on the interstate. Is Leo with you?”
I stare down at my son, who’s hiccuping from crying, and all the pieces come together.
“She saved his life,” I choke out. “She hid him in the closet and called me so I would know something was wrong. They took her, Matteo. They fucking took her, and she made sure our son was safe.”
And as I use the word our, I mean it to the depths of my soul. Because Leo isn’t just my son anymore … he’s Vanessa’s too. She loves him the way a mother is supposed to love her child. Hillary used him for her own gain, but Vanessa loved and protected him.
“I’m going to get her back, Russo,” Matteo says. “I promise, I’m going to get her back.”