Chapter 26
26
Mateo
T here’s a loud shout just outside the door. It pierces the air, echoing down the hall, sharp and panicked. Carlo’s hired gun’s eyes dart toward the door, glancing nervously at Carlo. With a nod, Carlo gestures for him to open it, his grin spreading wider as if he’s been waiting for this moment. The door creaks open, revealing the dimly lit chaos unfolding beyond. Guards scramble, shouting orders, and I strain to make out the details.
Carlo’s laughter fills the air, rich with amusement.
“Go on, Mateo,” he says, gesturing toward the open door with a wave of his hand. He’s reveling in this, in my confusion, in the twisted sense of power he thinks he has over me.
“What the hell’s going on?” I demand, feeling a creeping dread in my chest, tightening with each passing second.
But Carlo only laughs again, and then David slips in past the chaos and joins him, his eyes glinting with malicious pleasure. And then I hear it, a deep, rough chuckle I know too well. Rocco steps into the room, gun pointed at Ginny’s head.
Her eyes meet mine and she shakes her head quickly, indicating that I shouldn’t do anything. Her gaze darts from mine to her still father on the ground and she closes her eyes completely shut, whimpering a slight bit. Her face is pale, apart from a red mark on her cheek where she was slapped, but otherwise she looks unharmed. I have to believe that this is all a misunderstanding, that she’ll remain unharmed despite the gun pointed to her head.
My stomach churns, my mind reeling as I look at Rocco, at the man who’s been a father figure to me my entire life. The man who’s been by my side, who I trusted with everything. But now he stands here, laughing with my enemies, holding the fate of the love of my life in his hands.
“Rocco, what the fuck?” I manage, barely able to get the words out. My voice feels foreign, strained. “What the hell is this?” I say louder, managing to find my voice.
He tilts his head and presses the gun closer to Ginny’s head, a cold, detached look on his face as he shrugs, as if this is nothing to him. I search his face, looking for a trace of remorse, a flicker of regret. But there’s nothing. Just a mask of indifference, his eyes completely devoid of any emotion.
David steps forward, relishing every second of my shock.
“Poor Mateo,” he mocks, moving to stand behind Rocco and pat him on the shoulder. “You really thought you had any kind of control in this world. You can’t even keep men on your payroll loyal to you.”
The words hit me like a punch to the gut, each one twisting the knife of betrayal deeper. My mind races, trying to comprehend the depth of this treachery. Rocco wasn’t just some guy on my payroll, he’s been like family to me since I was a kid. He was as good as a brother to my father, and a father figure to me. None of this makes any sense. I feel like the ground has been ripped out from under me, like everything I thought I knew was a lie.
“You know that money your daddy paid us for years?” David laughs, his mouth turned up in a satisfied sneer. “Rocco was on that take.”
I feel like I’ll be sick.
Carlo chuckles, reclining in his chair and propping his feet up on his desk like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
“All that money’s been going right into Rocco’s bank account. It was payment for getting you here. Alone.”
I look over at Rocco, but he won’t meet my eye. He seems solely focused on the gun in his hand, waiting for his puppet masters to tell him what to do next. And there’s nothing I can do to stop this.
Ginny stares blankly ahead, her eyes unfocused. She isn’t crying or making a sound, like she’s hoping she can somehow make herself invisible. I wish that was the case. There’s nothing I can do to save her. If Rocco decides to pull that trigger, she’s dead, and there’s no way for me to stop it.
I feel a sick, hollow ache in my chest, my fists clenching at my sides. This man, the one I trusted most in this world, has sold me out, has been working against me, for them. I want to tackle him, to wrestle that gun out of his hand and beat him to death with it. But I can’t afford to lose control.
“You betrayed me,” I manage, my voice raw, barely more than a whisper. “Rocco, after everything we’ve been through, you can’t just give it all up for these assholes.”
Rocco tilts his head, his expression as cold as ice. “It’s nothing personal, Mateo. Just business.”
Nothing personal. The words echo in my mind, hollow and empty, a mockery of the bond we once had. Ginny trembles under his grasp, her facade starting to break. She’s terrified and it’s my fault. No matter what Carlo said about her being collateral for her father’s crimes, it’s my fault that she’s here now.
I thought Rocco would protect her, not be the one pointing a gun at her. My heart pounds in my chest so rapidly it’s hard for me to breathe. I want to reassure her, to tell her that everything is going to be okay and we’ll get out of here alive, but I can’t lie to her. She must see the agony on my face, because a single tear falls down her cheek.
Rocco must clock this silent interaction between us, because he glances over at Carlo, his voice calm, detached. “What do you want done with the girl?”
Carlo waves a dismissive hand, barely sparing me a glance. “Kill her,” he says flippantly. “She’s served her purpose.”
The words break the dam of rage inside of me. I’m ready to lunge at him, to wrap my hands around his fat neck and hold tight until the light leaves his eyes. But before I can take a step toward Carlo, David interjects, a sick grin spreading across his face.
“Wait,” he tells Rocco. “Don’t kill her just yet, I’ve got a few ideas of things I’d like to do before she’s done kicking,” he sneers, his eyes gleaming with sick anticipation.
The full force of my anger turns on David, the idea of him touching her enough to make me see red. I try to step between him and Ginny, but Carlo is on his feet, holding me back as if he can read my thoughts.
“Over my dead body,” I growl, my voice low and deadly, each word laced with a promise of violence.
David laughs, his grip tightening on the gun in his hand as he takes a step forward. He raises it, pointing it directly at my chest. I should be scared, but my all-consuming anger drowns out any other emotion.
“Gladly.” David smirks, his finger on the trigger. “It’s the first thing we’ve ever agreed on.”
I stomp down on Carlo’s foot, forcing him to let go of me, and lunge forward toward David. I’m on him in two steps, my hand grabbing for his weapon, wrestling it from his grip. He struggles, his body twisting, but I hold on, fueled by my anger, by my determination to protect Ginny.
We fight for dominance, each trying to land punches on the other, each barely missing the other. David’s a hell of a fighter, I’ll give him that. But I’m blinded by my rage, letting it fuel me and spur me to action. I manage to knock the gun out of his hand and pin him down, my fist connecting with his jaw with a satisfying crunch. He manages to quickly maneuver out of my grasp, though, rolling away from and grabbing the gun faster than I can stop him. He points the gun at my head.
And then, suddenly, there’s a deafening bang, the sound reverberating through the room, filling the air with a sharp, metallic tang. The world goes silent, time slowing to a crawl as the impact brings me to my knees.