Chapter 23 - Luca
LUCA
The house was ostentatious. And that was coming from me.
But this one took the fucking cake. It pissed me off some that Covington had gotten to keep the property when the FBI had wiped out his assets, but it was a family house that was proven not to be purchased with ill-gotten gains.
So here the fuck we were, driving up the long, spiraling driveway to where Matty spent his childhood.
I watched him surreptitiously, trying to gauge how he was handling this. So far, he seemed relatively calm, not even looking out the window at his surroundings.
We hadn’t notified the lawyers that we were coming until we’d already been on the way.
We’d had to plan for the possibility that this was a trap.
The fact that they’d contacted us when half the team was out of the country was suspicious enough to have my guard up once all the initial emotions had died down.
It was possible they were trying to get Matty out of the house for easy access or thought they could get Everett when he was more vulnerable with us separated.
There was no indication that Lewis knew about Everett at all, but until I could confirm his involvement in all this, we had to be prepared for that possibility.
After discussing it with Wes, Leo, and then eventually Mav and Skye, who were still overseas, we’d decided this was the best plan.
If it was a trap, they’d have very little time to implement it.
Covington’s lawyer was not pleased with the next-to-no notice, but there wasn’t much they could do about it.
Wes plus two of Leo’s people, including Dominic, were with us. We’d also called our lawyer, who agreed to come with us. She was currently following in the car behind us.
Diego and Leo, along with several others from his team, had stayed back with Everett. Neither Everett nor Matty had been happy with that, as they’d become attached to each other, but Everett was safest behind the walls of my estate.
I’d been reluctant to leave until we heard from the guys in France. Luckily, Brooks had been cleared to travel, so they were on their way back, then we could have our doctors examine him and determine the next steps for his shoulder.
Dominic, who was driving, pulled up in front of the house and put the vehicle in park. He glanced back at us. “Give us a second to secure the area.”
I nodded, even if being stuck in here grated a bit, but it was about Matty’s safety so I stayed put. Wes leaned over and took my hand, settling me. “It’ll be okay,” he whispered. I hoped so, but if that asshole said one thing out of pocket to Matty, he’d be eating his teeth.
Dominic came back and opened the door for us.
A man in an expensive suit came rushing out.
He looked put out. It must’ve been one of Covington’s lawyers.
He tapped his expensive dress shoe on the ground impatiently.
I got out first and waited for Matty and then Wes to climb out.
Another door slammed as our lawyer also left her car.
“Are you okay?” I asked Matty. He was uncharacteristically quiet, staring at the large double doors of the mansion without blinking.
His eyes snapped to mine, like he was coming out of a trance. “Yeah.” His voice was tight but steady. “I’m good. Just want it over with.”
Wes squeezed his shoulder. “Remember, you call the shots. You answer only what you want. We leave when you want to leave.”
Matty nodded once, but his attention was already on the door. “Let’s go.”
He squared his shoulders and pushed ahead of us.
Dominic easily fell in step with him, and I was once again thankful I’d taken a chance and hired him for the team.
He didn’t typically do this type of security, dropping bodies was more his specialty, but when he’d heard what was going on, he’d volunteered.
Shitty parents of all varieties were a soft spot for him.
The lawyer flinched as he took us in. “Is all this necessary?”
“Yes,” I replied simply then held out my hand. “Luca Castellano. This is my partner, Wesley Hayes, and this is my lawyer.”
“Sarah Judds,” he interrupted before I could finish the introduction. His voice was full of venom.
“Walter,” she replied coolly.
“Oh good, you two know each other already.” Wesley huffed in amusement. He was the only one.
“You didn’t give us much notice.” The lawyer, Walter, addressed me with a sneer.
“Yes. I would apologize, but I’m not sorry. Our priority is Matty, no one else.”
For the first time, Walter looked at Matty, his eyes scanning him up and down, assessing. I took a step forward, blocking Matty from his view, already not liking this asshole.
“Shall we go inside?”
I guided Matty in without waiting for an answer. The lawyer started sputtering, but I ignored him. Once he realized I wasn’t going to do what he said, he followed us. “Mr. Covington is this way.”
I waved my hand, lead the way, and our group followed him through the marble and stone mausoleum masking as a house.
He lost a lot of weight. It was my first thought when I saw Lewis Covington for the first time since the trial that had landed him in prison.
He was sitting behind a mahogany-wood desk in a chair that reminded me way too much of my father.
He was still trying to maintain his position of power, but his skin was sallow and his expensive suit hung a little too loose.
I could see the faint tremor in his hands as he held them folded on top of his desk.
Matty faltered when he saw him, his steps stuttering right outside the doorway. Wes and I were there, a solid reminder that we had his back, literally in this case as we were behind him. After a moment, Matty’s spine straightened and he walked in. Wes and I followed.
Lewis addressed us first. “Mr. Castellano. And I presume your partner is Mr. Hayes.” Wes tilted his head slightly in acknowledgment. He assessed us for a beat before finally turning to Matty. “Matthew.”
If Matty was bothered by the use of his full name or the cold reception from the man he’d always thought was his father, he didn’t show it. “Lewis.”
Covington raised an eyebrow at that but wisely didn’t say a word.
“Come, sit. I’m sure you’re all wondering why I asked Matthew here today.”
I didn’t respond and led Matty over to the love seat so he could sit next to Wes. I remained standing, guarding both of them.
Lewis sat back in his chair, eyes meeting Matty’s.
“You look well,” he stated with actual genuine care, and for a second I wondered if we’d gotten it all wrong and he truly gave a fuck about his surrogate son.
Didn’t mean we were gonna let him back in his life unless that was what Matty wanted, but it gave me food for thought.
“I am. I’m happy.” Matty sounded strong, confident, and maybe a little defiant, like he expected Lewis to contradict that, but the man only nodded.
“Good. That’s good.” He steepled his hands on the desk. “I’ll get straight to the point. When I was in prison, I had a lot of time to think about my actions. And while I don’t regret doing what I thought was best for the family, I feel that perhaps you’re owed an explanation from me.”
Matty didn’t respond, only tilting his head slightly to indicate he’d heard. Lewis’s lips twitched in annoyance before he schooled his expression.
“The incident with Damien Larsen was . . . unfortunate, and not something I intended when I sent you with him, Matthew. He was only supposed to keep you away until I could mollify the situation with Bradley Fieldburg and his father, Marshall, who was beginning to feel remorse about the way we had handled it,” Lewis explained, his voice empty of any emotion, stating it with the same tone you would a business deal.
My fingers flexed, me itching to get my hands on the bastard. The incident? Like his son being sold into sex trafficking was nothing more than a small mishap.
I opened my mouth to tell the asshole exactly how I felt, but Matty beat me to it. “Incident?” he asked, indignant. “Y-you’re calling it an incident? I was fucking sold, Lewis! H-he was going to hurt me—rape me. Use me in ways I can’t even imagine.”
Lewis blinked, annoyance flaring in his eyes. It was clear he wasn’t used to Matty talking back, and he wasn’t handling it well. I was so damn proud.
“Like I said, it was unfortunate. You’d do well to remember I was the one to hire these men you are now clinging to. Where would you be if I hadn’t?”
Matty flinched, and I was fucking done. Wes was so tense, I worried his bones would shatter if he was jostled too roughly. “Firstly, don’t you dare talk to him like that. Secondly, you hired us to find him and Larsen. Not to rescue him. We did that on our own.”
Lewis raised one shoulder. “Semantics.”
“What was the purpose of calling us here?” Wes asked through gritted teeth. “For an audience to inform us of your supposed innocence?”
“I know you’re still looking into me, trying to tie me to what happened to Matthew.
I hoped by explaining it plainly, you would no longer waste either of our time on my business.
I will tell you what I know, and then you will leave with Matthew, and we’ll be done with each other.
I did my time for the crime. I lost my wife and daughter.
My reputation and my businesses. It is time for me to move on. ”
This fucking asshole.
“What do you know then?” Matty asked, tone sharp. “What do you know about my birth dad?”
“I don’t know where he is now. As I told you when I hired you, Mr. Castellano, Bradley was blackmailing and threatening me for some time.
He wasn’t the only one with information, however.
I had strong suspicions he was going to kill Marshall, so the plan was to allow him to do it and then blackmail him so he would step away from the family.
He disappeared after that, though, and then I couldn’t find you and Larsen, and well, we know what happened after that.
I had my own people looking for him, but I had to divert my resources elsewhere after my arrest.”
“Do you care at all?” Matty blurted out. He stood, hands in fists at his sides. Wes stood as well but didn’t touch him. “Do you care what happened to me? What you did to me by sending me away like some fucking inconvenience?”
“Matthew,” Lewis warned.
“No! Answer me, Lewis. You may not have known what Damien was going to do, but you’re still responsible.
You took me out of school and threw me with some stranger halfway across the world so I couldn’t cause a scandal because you decided it was better to hide the fact that my mother was raped than deal with it.
Everything was always about protecting the family name to you.
You didn’t care what you had to do, who you had to hurt as long as you kept making money and looked good to the public.
And now you’re going to sit here and act like you didn’t hurt me?
Like being sold was no big deal? Fuck you.
I don’t want to talk to you ever again!”
Matty whirled around, his eyes wet with unshed tears, his face red. “Can we leave?”
“Yes,” I said immediately, no hesitation.
Wes wrapped his arms around Matty and led him out of the room, not even glancing at Covington. I found Sarah, my lawyer. She was standing unobtrusively near the entrance. I had nearly forgotten about her presence, but now I was glad she was here. I needed to take care of Matty.
She understood right away. “I’ll finish up here. Go.”
“Thank you, Sarah.”
She acknowledged it and turned to Covington. I could hear his spluttering, complaining, but I didn’t give a fuck. Anything else he wanted to say, he could say to Sarah. My only concern was our son.