Chapter 18 Matteo
Matteo
Ifight back a growl of impatience as I stalk through Lunar Headquarters.
If one more fucking person asks to talk to me, I won’t be held responsible for what I do to them.
It's one thing to come in to deal with a crisis on a Sunday morning, but another to have been pulled away after what went down last night.
What a shit show, but at least we’d gotten an answer to who’s been helping to cover Helix’s tracks.
And what a fucking surprise that was seeing the same shitbag cop we’d reported Luna’s disappearance to at the meeting.
Everything is beginning to tie together, and not in our favor.
Both Clay and the cop drove off before we could catch them, and then we’d had a body to deal with after the muscle Clay hired attempted to take Fallon.
Thankfully, Dec is a hell of a shot, even bruised as he was from fighting.
Nothing about last night had unfolded how I’d imagined.
Especially my reaction after Fallon had gotten hurt.
Concern is not an emotion that sits well with me.
I like to believe I’ve become a thing of nightmares, terrorizing the sick fucks that rule over Axton Harbor.
I’ve seen evidence of rape, murder, corruption, and it’s only fueled my demons, stoked the flames of vengeance.
I’ve carved into flesh until there was nothing but scraps of muscle and bone left and then slept like a fucking baby afterward.
There isn’t much that makes me flinch these days.
So then why did the sight of Fallon Helix, unconscious and bleeding outside the warehouse last night, scare me to my core?
Thoughts of her haunted me all day, distracting me in my meetings, making me forget important shit that I normally would know off the top of my head. But mostly, I couldn’t stop thinking about how instinctive it was to wrap her up in my arms and soothe away her monsters.
I had no right, because I am one of her monsters.
Now, after six hours of addressing an unhappy client’s concerns and devising a new security game plan for their home and travel, I’m more than ready to get back home. To check on Fallon. I shake the thought from my mind and head for the exit.
“Mr. Moretti!” My assistant’s voice carries across the lobby.
I stop three strides away from the front door. So close.
Stretching my neck, I turn stiffly to see my assistant, Marshall, scurrying over to me, his tablet clutched to his chest.
“So sorry to hold you up before you head out, Mr. Moretti.” He pushes his glasses up his nose. “But you forgot to sign the updated contract.” He flips his tablet around and hands me the pen. I scrawl my name. “I also wanted to inform you of some talk I overheard among the recruits yesterday.”
I arch a brow. “What sort of talk?”
“About the incident last week with Mr. Huxley. When he punched recruit Davis after he heard about his drug use.”
Fucking Declan. I frown, hoping his actions aren’t going to bite us in the ass. “What about it?”
“They say he’s looking at filing charges against Mr. Huxley for assault. However, I also have it on good authority that he might be willing to negotiate.”
I grind my teeth. The last thing we fucking need right now is a lawsuit. “See if you can gather what his terms of negotiation would be, and I’ll reach out to our lawyer tomorrow.” I step back, ready to end this conversation and head home.
“There is one more urgent matter,” he says hesitantly, stopping me again. “But… maybe it should wait until tomorrow when you’re back in the office?” He shifts back and forth like he isn’t sure if he should stay or go.
I try to relax my shoulders and school my expression into an easygoing demeanor, doubtful I’m fooling anyone. Akio always tells me I look like I’m walking around just waiting to punch someone. He’s not wrong.
“Sorry, Marshall.” I sigh, ready to get this last bit of business over with. “Just feeling the stress lately. What is it?”
“I assume you’ve been keeping up with the news on the missing Helix heiress?”
That gets my attention. “I have.”
“Well, apparently before she went missing, Helix was already looking into hiring Lunar Security to do some internal work to buff up their systems. But now with Miss Helix missing, they’re asking to meet with you at your earliest convenience.
I went ahead and scheduled you to meet with Sebastian Helix on Thursday morning. ”
I blink back my surprise. Is the big bad pig inviting the wolves over for dinner? No way are we this lucky.
“I know you have a full caseload already,” he rushes to say, apparently taking my silence for uncertainty. “But with such a high-profile missing persons case, I thought perhaps it would be good for business. If I overstepped I can call to cancel and–”
“No,” I bark, then lower my voice. “Sorry, no. Do not cancel. You did great, Marshall.”
He preens at my praise. “Very well. I’ll send over the profile for you to review.”
I smile. “Perfect.”
I’m still reeling from our insanely good luck when I walk through the front door of our home, takeout bags in tow from my favorite Chinese restaurant.
I prefer to cook most days, but after today’s unexpected trip to the office, I’m too tired.
And I’m not about to ask one of my brothers to cook either.
Not just because the kitchen is my space, but Dec can’t even heat a can of soup and Akio’s idea of cooking is toasting Pop-Tarts and slapping butter on top. Don’t get me started.
“Food’s here,” I call out, placing the bag on the kitchen island.
Less than a minute later, Declan enters the kitchen muttering, “Fucking finally.”
“You and I need to chat later,” I tell him.
“About?” he asks as he digs out the cartons of food.
“About your reckless behavior at work last week and how it’s coming back to bite us in the ass. Like we don’t already have enough on our fucking plate.”
Dec rolls his eyes. “Relax. It’ll be fine. Just call up our lawyers and they’ll sort it out.”
I bite back my retort as Akio strides into the room, eyes glued to his phone.
I look behind him, waiting for a certain raven haired beauty to bound in next, but she doesn’t show. “Did we lose our prisoner?”
“Headache.” Dec pops a dumpling in his mouth. “She’s been napping it off most of the day.”
My pulse picks up. “A headache? Is she hurt?” Shit. Should I have called a doctor to check her injury after we got back last night? It’s not like we don’t have the means or the money to locate a doctor who would keep things quiet about her identity if it came down to it.
“Nah, just a stress headache. I gave her some meds and plenty of water.” Akio says, still not looking up from his phone. “She’ll be good in the morning,”
My heart slows its erratic pace and I push away the strange and unwanted protective tug to go check on her myself.
“Okay.” I shrug. “It’s not like I care. Just making sure she didn’t escape while I was away.” The lie tastes bitter on my tongue. I ignore Declan’s knowing look and clear my throat. “Find anything on Officer O'Brian?”
Akio puts down his phone, his jaw clenching.
“Yeah, quite a bit actually. Like several offshore bank accounts in Luxembourg. Turns out Officer O'Brian makes bookoos of money by writing off missing girls as official runaways and covering Helix’s tracks. Luna wasn’t the only one. There have been dozens over the years.”
As soon as we saw the officer’s face last night, we knew. He’d played us those fifteen years ago when we’d called in Luna as a missing person. His death is inevitably ours. Too bad he got away last night, or we’d be elbow deep in his blood by now.
“We’ll find him,” Dec assures us. “Unfortunately, Clay may be a little on edge after I killed his muscle, so tracking him for shipments is a dead end.”
“Actually, we might not be as fucked on that front as you think,” I say, jumping into what I’d learned about Helix Enterprises wanting to work with Lunar Security.
We spend the next few hours developing the plan for the meeting with Sebastian Helix before I call it a night and head upstairs. I pass Fallon’s room on the way to mine, and hesitate, contemplating checking on her, but ultimately forcing my feet to continue down the hall.
This is exactly what we don’t need. Fallon Helix has been nothing but a pretty distraction from what we’re doing here.
She’s only a pawn, a piece on the chessboard where sacrifices are made for the win.
My brothers need to remember that. And I can’t afford to let myself think of her as anything more.
After a quick shower, I’m sitting on the edge of the bed, thoughts whirling about what we’d learned about Officer O'Brian. Yeah, we have a name and a face now for who’s been in Helix’s pocket, but it still doesn’t feel like we’re making progress since we brought Fallon into the mix.
At least, not as quickly as I’d hoped we would.
I open my nightstand drawer and pull out the dainty silver bracelet I’ve carried all these years as a reminder of our goal.
I’d gotten the chain fixed a few weeks after she went missing, hoping to present it to her when we found her, but fifteen years later, here we are.
No Luna and still no answers. But what else is new?
No answers for who took Luna, no answers for what started the fire that destroyed my childhood home, taking my parents and little sister with it.
No answers for why I was tossed from foster home to foster home, enduring beatings and verbal abuse, going without holidays and birthdays, until I finally aged out and made a home of my own with the only two people left in this world I care for.
It’s always the fucking same.