Chapter 30
Matteo
The floor shakes relentlessly beneath me. What the fuck is happening? Have we had an earthquake? I stare across my living room floor, unfocused. My brain is too muddled to decipher if there’s been much damage.
Does the temperature drop with an earthquake? Why is it so damn cold in here?
My head pounds. I attempt to reach up to rub the back of it, but my arm feels as if it’s pinned to the floor. I’ve heard of mild quakes in this area in the past that didn’t measure terribly high on the Richter scale. But this seems bad.
When I attempt to push my lids open wider to scan the room again, I discover the earth has apparently fallen off its axis. Everything is on its side. Not merely the furniture, but the whole house. Was there a tornado?
This is more than I can comprehend at the moment. I close my eyes again. All of my energy is being wasted on keeping me warm. Fuck. Did I forget to pay the electric bill?
A brittle cough works its way from my chest. I nearly choke on it, as I can’t pry my lips apart to let out the air. Hell. Am I dead?
When I expend what little energy I have left to again pry open my eyes, I immediately become fixated on the large puddle of vomit in front of me.
Shit . Not dead. Only wishing I was.
Bang, bang, bang.
Bang, bang, bang.
My eyes try to focus in the direction of the sound. But either I’ve gone blind or it’s dark out. I can’t see a thing. Might as well go back to sleep.
Bang, bang, bang.
“Fuck this.”
A loud cracking sound pierces the air.
“Shit. Over here, boss.”
There’s commotion around me, but I really must have gone blind. I can’t see a thing.
“Fuck! You stupid prick. You were headed to rehab. Your bags are at the fucking door. What the hell happened?”
“Does he have a pulse?”
I can barely make out Anthony’s strained voice hovering above me.
“Yes. He’s alive, G,” the relief in Anthony’s voice is palpable. “Should I call 911?”
“Hell. If he’s breathing and has a pulse, call Broadie or Hart first. See what they think we should do. And tell them to get here ASAP.”
A blinding light pierces my brain through my retinas as Giovanni pulls my eyelids open one at a time, shining his phone’s flashlight at me. Guess I didn’t lose my sight, after all. That’s a relief. For a second, my body is pulled up off of the floor and dragged somewhere else. My head lands with a thump. “Umph.”
“They’re on the way, G. Hell, this is on me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I hadn’t realized no one had seen Matteo in days. I’ve been so focused on keeping eyes on Sydney, Antonia, and the boy. If I hadn’t gotten a call from the body shop asking if Matteo had returned to Italy, I wouldn’t have known he was missing.”
“This isn’t on you, Anthony. He was this fucking close to getting his act together. Then he goes and pulls a stunt like this.”
Something cold touches my face, and I wince.
I feel movement beside me. “You couldn’t have held off one more day? What am I supposed to tell Antonia if you die, you asshole?” Giovanni’s words hit me like a bullet straight to the heart.
Dammit. How could I do this to her? She’s already been through more than anyone should have to deal with.
Out of the blue, a deluge of ice cold water rains down over me. If I wasn’t glued to the floor, I’d throat punch someone. But as it is, I barely have the energy to flinch.
“I bet it was seeing the girl on TV.”
“What girl?”
“That blonde doctor that was all over the news for getting abducted at gunpoint walking to her car. She works at the same hospital as Matteo’s wife. If I hadn’t met her when I did the alarm installation, I would’ve missed it. But other than a few subtle differences, they look identical.”
“Shit. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“We stepped up our men on her right away. We’ve been trying to break into the hospital security camera footage but haven’t found anything to confirm it was Vincenzo’s men. But it had to be. Nothing else makes sense.”
Knock, knock.
“Come in!” Giovanni’s voice calls out above me.
“Hey, G. What’s happening?”
“Broadie, Hart. Thanks for getting here so fast. My cousin, Matteo. We found him like this. He’s got a pulse, and he’s breathing. Didn’t want to draw more attention to him by getting an ambulance here if we could avoid it. He’s been struggling with the bottle for the last few years. He was on his way to check in to rehab, but I think the shit going down at your hospital might’ve pushed him over the edge.”
“What? The abduction attempt? Does he know her?” A gentleman’s voice I don’t recognize answers Giovanni.
“Anthony says Matteo’s wife could double as her twin.”
“Who’s that?”
“Sydney Cunningham,” Anthony answers.
“Shit. You’re right. I’ve never considered how similar they look. Their personalities are so different. Syd works with me. She’s a ball buster, where Alexis is fairly quiet.”
All of a sudden, I feel a sharp poke in my hand. Moments later, a cool sensation starts to crawl up my arm.
“Wait. I thought Sydney was divorced.”
Hearing someone refer to my wife this way causes a rage within me to stir. Strength I didn’t realize I possessed allows me to push unintelligible words through my chapped lips.
“Ha. Thanks for that, Broadie. I couldn’t rouse him with a bucket of ice water. But you refer to her as his ex and now he’s coming to life.”
I try to raise my middle finger in my cousin’s general direction but quickly give up when it appears my hand weighs 100 pounds.
“How long has he been down like this?” A different voice asks.
“No one knows for sure,” Anthony says.
“He could be in rhabdo.”
“What’s that?” G asks.
“His muscle tissue could be breaking down. It can be serious. We really need to get some lab work on him. We’re going to pump him full of fluids and electrolytes, but in severe cases, some patients actually require dialysis.”
“Shit.”
“Has he been drinking like this for years?”
“No, no. He avoided alcohol when we were younger. His derelict father is an alcoholic, and he wanted to be nothing like him.”
“Ouch,” I groan as another sharp poke assaults my other arm. A similar chill sweeps upward, causing my whole body to shake.
“Hey, someone grab a few blankets. Between the withdrawal tremors and the fluids going in, he’s going to be pretty miserable for a while. I can get some medicine in him to help, but if he’s really headed to rehab, they have strict rules on what can be in his system before they’ll accept them.”
“Did Sydney leave him because of the drinking? It honestly doesn’t sound like something she’d do.”
Out of the blue, I feel like I’m being smothered. Has G finally had enough of me and trying to finish me off? Hell, why bother calling these guys then? Jesus, I can’t think straight with all of this shaking. I’m practically giving myself a concussion.
Giovanni’s voice grows closer as I feel him pull the cloth from my face. “No. I don’t think she knows he drinks. Never did it around her. Only after they split. Much like Luca, my uncle threatened to come after Matteo’s wife. He left her, hoping if she was no longer associated with him, it would keep her safe.”
“Shit. I’ve known Syd for years, and she’s never said a thing. And I certainly never made the connection between her and Luca.”
“She has no idea. About any of it. Matteo felt she was safer not knowing. Plus, there’s her job to contend with.”
“What do you mean?”
“He knew she’d walk away from her career to go into hiding with him, like Luca and Jillian had. He said he couldn’t live with himself if she did that.”
“Yeah. That’s tough. Sydney’s one of the best surgeons I know. And that’s saying something.”
“Well, hopefully, he’s going to be getting help in time to prevent any long-term damage,” the other man’s voice interjects. “I’ve got quite a few patients who’ve acquired some really bad health issues from long-term abuse. Dementia, heart failure, cancer.”
Shit. I definitely can’t do that to her. Because I know she’d stay by my side. There’s no way I’d let her leave the patients who need her, just so she’d be saddled with taking care of me for the rest of her life.
I pry open an eyelid and catch Anthony next to me fussing with a few additional blankets. “Hey, boss. Holy hell, you scared the shit out of me,” he mutters quietly.
Giovanni drops down by my side. “Hell, cugino. I thought we’d lost you this time.”
“I’m sorry.” I barely recognize the tortured sound of my voice.
“You should be. How do you think Sydney would take it if I had to tell her you’re gone? That you weren’t strong enough to fight for yourself, or her.” His words are a sucker punch. But I deserve it.
The memory of her crying at the edge of our bed comes front and center to my mind. “G?” I force my weak breath from my lips.
“What?”
“Take me to the clinic.”
“Now?”
“Yes. I’ll give them my phone.” I pause, trying to wet my mouth when my words get trapped inside my brittle, cracked lips. “Won’t talk to anyone until I’m dry.”
I can barely make out the nod. Giovanni turns to face one of the men. “Can he go like this?”
“I’m not sure. Most clinics have the ability to handle withdrawal, but we might need to contact them and see what they say.”
“The clinic isn’t far from my place. If he needs to get this under control first, I can take him home with me. Anthony can get you the number.”
The man pulls out his cell. “I’ll call and see what they say.”
“You have to promise—”
“We’ll keep Sydney safe, Matteo. You have my word,” Anthony interrupts.
Giovanni huffs. “Do you really think we’d let you dry out only to come home and find something had happened to her? And hell, if she even thinks of dating someone else, we’ll run him over with our fucking car.”
The corner of my mouth lifts. This shouldn’t make me smile. She’s allowed to move on with her life. I can’t keep being a possessive asshole. Ultimately, it’ll kill me, but I want more than anything for Sydney to be happy.
I need to get healthy, so I’m strong enough mentally to deal with whatever that looks like. And the only way that’ll happen is if I commit to the process. However long it takes. Giovanni and his team will handle everything else, so I can become the man my wife deserves once and for all.
If she’ll still have me once this is all over.