Chapter 40
Matteo
Beauty. Pure fucking beauty.
The flames dance skyward, oranges, and reds and yellows licking at the darkness like they’re trying to devour it whole.
I stand across the street from what used to be North Coast Effects’ headquarters, my hands still sticky with accelerant, watching as my masterpiece unfolds. This isn’t the first fire of the night. But it’s the prettiest.
The explosions were perfectly timed—first the back offices, then the main floor, and finally the storage area where they kept their precious chemicals. I want the bastards to know exactly who’s coming for them.
I want him to smell the smoke and know that I’m going to burn everything they own to the ground.
The building groans as another section collapses, sending a shower of sparks into the air like demonic fireflies. I breathe it in—the heat, the destruction, the acrid smell of burning plastic and metal. It smells like revenge. It smells like justice.
My fingers twitch for my lighter, but I resist the urge. There’s no time to play. It’s after four in the morning, and Raven’s been missing for over six hours.
Long enough for me to locate three North Coast Effects properties and reduce all of them to ash. Not long enough for the fear clawing at my insides to subside.
“Where are you, Little Thief?” I whisper to the flames, as if they might answer. As if they might reveal her location if I just ask nicely enough.
But fire doesn’t work that way. Fire takes, destroys, and cleanses. And I am the fucking fire tonight.
I step closer to the heat, close enough that my skin prickles with warning. My suit is ruined—soot-stained and singed at the cuffs where I got too close while setting the charges. I don’t care. I’d burn every stitch of clothing I own if it meant finding her faster.
“I’m coming for you,” I promise to the night air, to wherever she might be.
As the hours drift by, dawn chases the darkness away, and gives way for early morning sun. I feel numb as time blurs and the hours crawl past while I watch the destruction.
I know Remus is the reason I’m alone here. Without him, the place would be swarming with police and firefighters. But it’s just me.
A support beam gives way with a thunderous crack, and the front facade of the building crumbles in slow motion. Glass shatters, metal twists, concrete buckles. It’s fucking beautiful. A symphony of destruction conducted by my own hands.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, an unwelcome intrusion into this moment of perfect chaos. I consider ignoring it, but it could be about Raven. Every call could be the one that leads me to her.
“What?” I snarl into the receiver, not bothering to check the caller ID.
“Matteo.” Rafe’s voice, tight with tension. “You need to get back to the estate. Now.”
I laugh, the sound harsh and humorless. “I’m a little busy.”
“I can see that. It’s all over the fucking police scanner. But you need to come back,” he insists.
“No, what I need is to find Raven,” I snap, watching as the last wall of the building surrenders to the flames. “I need to find her, and I need to kill the motherfucker who took her.”
“And we’re trying to help you do that,” Rafe insists, his voice dropping lower. “Piper and Enzo found something. It’s about North Coast Effects. Something big.”
He hangs up before I can respond, leaving me staring at my phone with a mixture of rage and anticipation. In the distance, sirens wail, growing louder with each passing second. Red and blue lights flash at the end of the street, still far enough away that I have time to disappear.
Guess even Remus can only hold them off for so long. Or maybe he feels he’s given me enough time since it’s almost eight a.m.
I take one last look at my handiwork, committing the image to memory.
My car is parked two blocks over. I slide behind the wheel, not bothering to wipe my hands on my ruined suit. Let the evidence stay. Let anyone who touches this car know exactly what I’m capable of.
As I pull away from the curb, fire trucks scream past me, heading toward the inferno I’ve left behind.
My phone rings again—Remus this time. I send it to voicemail. I know what he’s going to say. That I’m being reckless and drawing too much attention. That burning down half of Cleveland might not be the most strategic approach. I respectfully disa-fucking-gree.
The highway stretches before me, as good as empty. I press the accelerator to the floor, watching the needle climb past one hundred. If Piper and Enzo have found something—anything—that might lead me to Raven, then nothing else matters.
Not the buildings I’ve burned. Not the trail of destruction I’ve left behind. Just her. Just finding her.
The Russo estate looms ahead like a fortress under siege. Two black SUVs flank the main gate, and I count at least six men patrolling the perimeter. I pull up to the gate, my engine still ticking from the drive, and roll down my window.
The guard takes one look at my face and immediately steps back, pressing the button to open the gate without a word. Smart man. I’m not in the mood for questions or protocols.
I park haphazardly, half on the gravel, half on the manicured lawn, and slam the door behind me. The sun feels obscene—too bright, too cheerful for the darkness roiling inside me.
My clothes reek of smoke and chemicals, the scent of my night’s work clinging to me like a second skin. The front door opens before I reach it. Remus stands there, phone to his ear, expression grim.
He gives me a once-over, taking in my appearance without comment, then steps aside to let me pass. Inside, the mansion hums with activity—men in suits moving with purpose, phones ringing in distant rooms, voices raised in urgent conversation.
“They’re in the study,” Remus says, covering his phone’s microphone with his hand.
I grunt in acknowledgment and stride past him, through the grand hall with its dark paneling and ancestral portraits. The study door is ajar, voices spilling out into the hallway—Enzo’s measured tones, Rafe’s clipped responses, and a third, higher voice that makes me pause.
Piper stands at the desk, bent over a laptop, her fingers flying across the keyboard. Her usual perfect appearance is gone—hair pulled back in a messy bun, eyes red-rimmed and swollen, designer blouse wrinkled like she’s been wearing it for days.
She looks up as I enter, and something in her expression shifts—not fear, but determination mixed with dread.
“Where is Raven?” I demand without preamble. “Rafe said you found something.”
Piper straightens, exchanging a look with Enzo that makes my skin prickle with warning. “Matteo,” she begins, voice steady despite the tension visible in the tight line of her shoulders. “She’s been working for North Coast Effects.”
“What?” I snarl, patience evaporating like water on hot coals.
She nods eagerly. “Right, so I’d actually forgotten because it wasn’t all that important—”
“Get. To. The. Fucking. Point,” I seethe.
“Easy,” Enzo interjects. “I get you’re in a rush. But don’t talk to my wife like that.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Please may I hear a shorter version of this story? Pretty fucking please,” I grind out through clenched teeth.
Piper rolls her eyes. “Right, so, after the Parkview event where you two met, she was contacted a lot by North Coast Effects. They wanted to work with her.”
Fuck… I’d forgotten all about that too. But now, I clearly remember her mentioning an NDA and agreement with the company. This was back when we were in Holston’s office, and I wanted her to work only for me.
How the fuck could I have forgotten? An angry roar tears out of me as I kick the wall in pure frustration and rage.
Ignoring my outburst, Piper gestures to the laptop, where files and photographs fill the screen. She glances at Enzo again before continuing. “Lee was their account manager. She worked directly with Finn and Adam Kearney.”
“Show me everything,” I demand, voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
Piper turns the laptop toward me. The screen shows email exchanges between Raven and the Kearney brothers. There are also meeting schedules and project notes. Even though Holston seems to have been looped in on everything, this is all Raven.
Something feral breaks loose inside me—a shout that tears from my throat without conscious thought, primal and raw. My fist connects with the nearest wall, plaster cracking under the impact. The pain is distant, secondary to the rage burning through my veins.
“I’ll kill them,” I snarl, yanking my bloodied hand back. “I’ll tear them apart piece by fucking piece.”
Once I’m done punching the wall and feel calmer, I realize something important. None of this is fucking new. I mean, it is, and it isn’t. I knew the Kearney brothers were involved because Raven dropped the business card. But that’s still all I know.
“I looked through the hospital security footage,” Rafe says, reminding me he’s here. “It shows Finn picking up Raven.”
I watch as Piper pulls up a video and plays it for me. There’s no sound, which is fucking unacceptable for a hospital we practically own. And even the camera angle is shit. If I didn’t know it was Raven by her clothes and hair, it could be anyone since it doesn’t capture her face once.
“We’ve been cross-referencing properties associated with the Kearneys or North Coast Effects,” Rafe explains, stepping forward with a tablet in hand. “Official holdings, shell companies, personal residences. We’ve identified seventeen potential locations.”
“I’ve already burned some,” I say.
“We know,” Enzo nods. “We’re focusing on the others now, especially those outside the city limits or in industrial areas.”
Piper moves to another screen, pulling up a map dotted with red markers. “We’re dispatching teams to each location. And we’re monitoring police and emergency channels for any unusual activity.”
“And we have someone who might know exactly where he’s taken her,” Enzo adds, his expression darkening.