Chapter 40 #2
I don’t need to ask who he means. Gia. The fucking traitor who let this happen. My body turns toward the door before my mind has fully processed the thought.
“Basement?” I ask, already moving.
“Yes,” Enzo confirms.
I storm through the house, trailing soot and rage, the employees and soldiers scattering from my path like birds before a storm. The stairs to the basement seem endless, each step carrying me deeper into the kind of darkness I’ve lived in since Raven disappeared.
The basement of the Russo estate was built for conversations nobody wants to have. Soundproofed walls, concrete floors with drains, and hooks in the ceiling that have held men twice my size.
Gia’s lying in a hospital bed in the center of the room, handcuffed to the metal bars on either side. Her hospital gown is stained with fresh blood where her wounds must have reopened, her face pale against the harsh overhead lights.
She flinches when I slam the door open and march inside. Her eyes widen with terror as she registers who’s come to visit. Good. Fear makes people honest. And I need honesty more than I need her breathing.
“Matteo,” she whispers, my name a plea on her lips. “Please—”
I cut her off with an angry scoff and circle the bed like a shark scenting blood. “Don’t you fucking dare waste my time with begging.”
She shrinks into herself, shoulders hunching as if she could disappear into the bed.
“How long?” I ask, voice dangerously soft.
“I don’t—”
My hand grips the closest metal bar on the bed, and I yank her closer. “How. Long. Have you been working with Finn Kearney?”
A tear slides down her cheek, leaving a clean trail through the mascara smudged beneath her eyes. “O-over a y-year,” she admits, the words barely audible.
“And his brother? Adam?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t k-know Adam.”
I lean closer, close enough to smell the antiseptic on her skin, the metallic tang of blood seeping through her bandages. “What exactly have you done, Gia? Why don’t you explain it to me?”
She breaks then, tears coming faster as words tumble out in a desperate flood. “He said he could help me. He said you’d never look at me the way you used to as long as you were… were… he said you needed to be brought down.”
“Brought down,” I repeat.
Gia’s head thrashes back and forth, her entire body trembling. “I-I didn’t know what he’d do, Matteo. Please, you have to believe me. I n-never wanted you to get hurt.”
“Fucking answer me!” I roar, spittle flying from my mouth onto her face.
It feels fucking surreal to listen to Gia explain that she helped with the explosion last year, and that she expected me to lean on her after I almost fucking died. I’m stuck in some weird limbo made up of all-consuming rage and disbelief.
“He said it was to help me,” she insists, her voice cracking. “He said if I helped him get close to you, you’d see how much I care. How much I’ve always cared.”
A wave of disgust washes over me, so powerful I have to step back to keep from striking her. “What kind of fucking delusion do you live in, Gia?” I ask her coldly. “We were never together. I was never yours, and do you know why that is?”
She shakes her head.
“Because I never wanted to be,” I shout.
She sobs harder, the sound grating against my already frayed nerves. “I love you,” she chokes out. “I’ve always loved you. Everything I did—”
“Let’s talk about everything you’ve done,” I say, my voice deceptively low. “You almost got me killed, you killed Kayla, and got Vito killed—”
“Matteo—”
“Shut the fuck up!” I bellow. “Because of you, Raven’s gone and two people I trusted are dead.”
At the mention of Raven, something flickers across Gia’s face. Jealousy? Triumph? It’s gone before I can be sure, but it’s enough to fan the flames of my rage.
“Where is she?” I demand, closing the distance between us again. “Where is Finn keeping her?”
“I don’t know,” Gia cries. “I swear to God, Matteo, I don’t know. He never told me that part of the plan. There was a lot he never told me. I-I didn’t know he was going to hurt me.”
I have no sympathy for this lying cunt. So she got her feelings hurt and her partner in crime turned on her. Big fucking deal. What’s that saying about dogs and fleas?
My hand finds her throat before I can stop myself, fingers pressing into the soft flesh. “What does he want with Raven?” I demand.
Gia coughs, drawing ragged breaths into her lungs. “He’s not who you think he is,” she manages finally. “Finn Kearney is just a name. A mask.”
“Then who is he?”
Her eyes meet mine, fear momentarily eclipsed by the weight of her revelation. “Salvador Greco,” she whispers. “He’s the sole survivor of the Grecos.”
The name hits me like a physical blow, memories igniting in rapid succession. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This is what mercy gets you.
“The Kearneys adopted him and gave him a new name. But he never forgot who he was. Who you are. What you did,” she finishes.
The pieces click into place with sickening clarity. The explosion last year. The precision of the attack at the Leone Room… fuck.
“And now he has Raven,” I seethe, more to myself than her.
“Matteo, please, you have to believe me… I didn’t know who he really was until after. I didn’t know he was going to take her. I thought—”
“You thought what?” I cut her off. “That helping someone destroy me would somehow make me love you?”
She has no answer for that, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks.
The gun feels heavy in my hand as I draw it from my waistband, the weight of it familiar and comforting. I press the barrel to her forehead, right between her eyes, and watch as understanding dawns across her features.
“Please,” she whispers, one last pathetic plea.
The crack of a gunshot echoes through the basement, but it’s not from my weapon. Gia’s body jerks, blood blossoming across her chest like a grotesque flower. I whirl around to find Piper standing in the doorway, a small pistol gripped in both hands, smoke still curling from the barrel.
“That’s for putting her in danger,” she snarls, voice steady despite the slight tremor in her hands.
Behind her, Enzo and Rafe are frozen in shock, staring at the normally composed Piper with newfound respect. Or maybe that’s me. I mean, this is the same woman who flinches when blood is ever spilled or discussed near her.
I lower my own gun slowly, surprise momentarily overriding everything else. “I had that handled,” I tell her, but there’s no heat in the words.
“I know,” she replies simply. “But I…” Trailing off, she worries her bottom lip. “This is my best friend we’re talking about. And I just… I couldn’t.” A sob steals her voice, her shoulders shaking.
Before I can think it through, I cross the room and reach for Piper, pulling her into a hug, ignoring Enzo’s low growl.
“Thank you,” I say loud enough for my cousins to hear.
Letting go, I turn and watch Gia’s body in the bed. No one moves to check if she’s still breathing. We all know she isn’t.
“Salvador Greco,” Remus says from somewhere behind Piper, the name heavy with significance. “The Greco boy you allowed to survive.”
“And he has Raven,” I confirm, holstering my weapon. “Which means we’re running out of time.”
Piper steps forward, her gun now lowered but still gripped tightly.
“I’ve identified three properties that might be where he’s keeping her,” she says, her business voice at odds with her rapid breathing.
“Old warehouses owned by shell companies connected to North Coast Effects. All of them are isolated enough to hold someone without drawing attention.”
“We’ll split up,” Rafe decides, already pulling out his phone. “Cover all three simultaneously.”
“Just tell me which one is most likely to be housing that Sicilian piece of shit,” I growl, my patience thinning by the second.
“No,” Piper says. “We should talk about this upstairs and come up with a proper plan.”
“There’s no time for fuck’s sake,” I growl.
“And,” she continues, ignoring me. “I’m coming with you.”
I stare at her, at the gun still clutched in her hand, and see something I never expected from Enzo’s perfect wife; a ruthlessness that matches our own.
“You can’t—”
“The hell I can’t,” she spits. “I’ve already convinced Enzo, and I shouldn’t have to convince you too.”
“We’re coming with you,” Enzo confirms. “I’m not letting my wife’s best friend die.”
“Fine,” is all I say, even though the clock in my head keeps ticking louder with every heartbeat.
My Little Thief has been gone too many hours. Especially considering she’s in the hands of a man whose family I destroyed. Salvador Greco is about to learn a painful lesson; the monster who burned his family alive has only grown more dangerous since then.