Chapter 27
twenty-seven
I wake in a cold sweat, a nightmare clinging to the edges of my mind. My phone blares with alarms. Did I set an alarm? No, the sound is wrong. That’s not the alarm I wake up to. That’s the security system for Vanessa’s house. Jumping out of bed, I grab my phone and pull up the cameras.
Everything is offline.
I open the feed of the shop downstairs.
Offline.
Someone pounds on the door to the apartment, and I tug a pair of slacks up my legs, grabbing my gun from the island as I make my way to the front door.
“Seb!? Ness?! Anybody, please!!” Rory’s voice filters through the door, and I unlock it quickly.
“Aurora? What are you doing here?” I ask, confused.
“Is she here? Tell me she’s here, Seb! Please! Vanessa?!” she shouts, pushing past me into the apartment.
“She’s downstairs opening the shop, Rory. What’s going on?” I ask, following closely behind her.
“No, she isn’t! She’s not down there, Seb! And her house…” she sobs, tears streaming down her face. “Her-her house is…”
She’s crying so hard I can barely understand anything she’s saying. I’ve never seen Aurora so shattered. She’s always the most collected woman, always the most calm in a crisis. Grabbing her shoulders, I stop her frantic search and force her to look at me.
“What about her house, Rory? Where is she?” I demand, and she dissolves again.
“That’s what I’m saying! I don’t know!” She screams, her head falling against my shoulder.
It’s only a moment later, and her husband is barreling through the apartment door. Breaker’s eyes meet mine, and I see something there that never bodes well. Pity.
“Did you find her?!” Aurora asks, and he shakes his head.
“She’s not in the shop?” I ask, grabbing a shirt and slipping my shoes and holster on before making sure both of my guns have a round in the chamber.
“No. But that’s not all, Sebastian. Her house…” Breaker says with a grimace.
“Matteo is there. He was supposed to be coming to open the shop with her. We’ll go there first.” I slide my knife into the sheath at my back, pushing past him.
“It’s gone, Sebastian.” he says, stopping me in my tracks.
“What do you mean gone?” I ask, my tone glacial.
“Burning to the ground. I got an alert that someone cut the power to her security system. By the time I got there, the fire was out of control. There are at least half a dozen trucks still trying to put it out now. But there won’t be anything left of it.
We came straight here to find her, but she wasn’t in the shop.
There was…it looks like there was a struggle, Seb.
” He replies, fury building in my chest.
“FUCK!” I roar, knowing I should never have allowed myself the comforts of rest when things were so unsettled.
“Matteo?!” I ask, desperation in my voice. I didn’t see any missed calls or messages from him. If the house was engulfed, I can only imagine…
“We didn’t see any sign of him either, Sebastian. I’m sorry.” Breaker replies, and without hesitation, I put my fist through the drywall next to the front door.
Pulling his number up on my phone, I call and listen to the phone ring and ring. He’s not dead. I know he isn’t. I would know. I’ve known him almost all my life. He’s closer to me than nearly anyone else on this planet. I would know if he were dead.
“Pick up your fucking phone, Teo. Pick it up, pick it up, pick it up…” I mumble to myself. Break and Rory exchange worried glances with one another, like they’re sure I’m losing my mind. Maybe I am.
My best friend is missing, possibly burned alive in his bed.
My woman, my world, has been taken from me.
My empire is under attack. And my army, the bulk of my men, is in Italy.
I could maybe scramble a few dozen from Florida within a few hours, but I have no idea what Luca’s end game is here.
I don’t know where he is or what he’s doing to Vanessa as we speak.
I try calling Enzo next, knowing no matter what happens next, I need some kind of reinforcement here. His phone goes straight to voicemail. Am I too late? Has he already targeted my home in Italy?
“Do you have any way of tracking her?” Breaker asks, my mind barely able to focus for more than a second.
“I don’t know if she has her phone.” I reply, and Rory’s face falls.
“I found it on the floor downstairs.” she says, dropping it onto the counter.
“Nothing else? You’ve got to get her some jewelry. When this is over, I’ll send you the info for my dealer. All of Aurora’s jewelry has tracking devices built into it,” Breaker says, opening an app on his phone.
“I just love how obsessively controlling you are,” Rory says, smiling up at her husband.
“Scold me later, it keeps you safe.” he says, scrolling through several screens. “Does she have any other devices? A watch? Anything like that?”
“She’s worse than me about tech. Her watch isn’t even digital.” I reply, threading my fingers through my hair. The inaction is killing me. I have to do something.
“What about her earbuds? I only found the case downstairs. Maybe…maybe she has them?” Rory says, and Breaker smiles widely, kissing her square on the lips.
“You brilliant, beautiful woman! I have to get to a computer. I think I have a backup next door at the tattoo shop. I’ll be right back.” he says, turning to leave.
He only makes it a few steps before someone collides into the doorframe. A body, bloody and bruised, props himself up against the wood. His face is covered in black soot, half his chest and right arm burned and ravaged. Matteo pants, looking half dead, barely holding himself on his feet.
“Holy Jesus fucking walking dead!” Rory says, rushing to his side.
She eases herself under his good side, taking his weight and helping him onto the couch. He needs a fucking hospital, but there would be too many questions. The skin on his chest and arm is charred, the burn severe. It should’ve been me.
“We need clean linens, not towels. Grab a sheet and run it under some cool water. Rory go downstairs and grab some honey from the shop. As many bottles as you can.” Breaker jumps into action, already calling someone on his phone.
I rush to the bedroom, grabbing the sheet and running it under the kitchen tap.
I’ve made many advantageous friendships in my life, but Breaker is definitely one I don’t think I could live without.
My mind can’t stop to process all the things he’s asking for as he answers a dozen questions for whoever is on the other end of the phone.
Iris maybe? Or one of the other guys from the tattoo shop?
I know they frequently work together. At one point, they were all in the Marine Corps together.
Some kind of specialized unit where they learned things like how to triage major burns in the field without access to a hospital, apparently.
“Yes, he’s coherent. He’s looking at me right now, Tate,” he says into the phone. “Okay, we’ll keep him conscious. Aurora will be here with him. Yes. Yes. I’m not a complete dumbfuck. Good point. Okay. Thank you.”
Aurora comes back with the honey and several bottles of water, setting them on the table in front of the couch. I bring the soaked sheets to her side, and she rips them into strips. It’s so odd these kind of things seem so common in their lives, but I’m not asking questions.
“Spread the honey across the burns and layer the wet cloths on top, it will help to prevent the spread of infection until Sanaa can get here. I have to go and get my laptop. I’ll be right back,” Breaker says, kissing his wife’s head and rushing out the front door.
“Bash,” Matteo groans, and I drop to his side.
“I’m here. You’re gonna be fine. I will kill Luca for this, I promise you that. He will die by my hand.” I vow, and he smirks.
“Yeah, that sounds good. But Bash, the dog…” Teo says, coughing harshly. Rory winces as she drapes the cloth strips over his chest.
“Don’t worry about him, Matteo. I know you did everything you could. Vanessa will understand that it was-” I say, but he shakes his head.
“Bash, the dog ran. He’s the one who alerted me to the fire.
I was able to get out because he was pulling me out of bed.
I tried to get to the front door, but the ceiling collapsed.
That’s how I got this,” he says, gesturing towards his burns.
“We were trapped. He pulled me through the house to the back door. When I kicked it open, he ran. He’s out there somewhere, Sebastian. ”
“Jesus fucking Christ. Who would’ve thought Douglas was such a hero?” I reply, dragging a hand down my face. “We will find him. Just rest. Let us take care of you, too.”
“You have to drink this, Matteo. Burns cause dehydration very quickly, you have to drink way more than you think is necessary.” Rory tells him, holding a water bottle to his lips and helping him drink.
“Okay, I think I might’ve found her,” Breaker says, coming back into the apartment with his computer in one hand and a backpack in the other.
“Well, that was quick.” I reply.
“There are very few times that statement applied to me, but when it comes to my job, it’s accurate.” he says, and Rory snorts.
“Gross. You found her?” I ask, gesturing to his computer.
“Yeah, she must have her earbud on her. It’s pinging her location near the shipping docks outside of Charleston. Only about half an hour from here.” He replies as I retreat to the bedroom.
Grabbing my duffel bag from the closet, I unpack the small arsenal I have stored here.
I never imagined a war breaking out from the apartment, but I’m always prepared for anything.
Walking back into the kitchen, I set the bag on the island before shrugging into my suit jacket.
This ends now. I won’t tiptoe around Luca any longer, he will die today.
“I’m coming with you,” Matteo says, attempting to sit up from his position on the couch.
“Easy there, killer. You’re not going anywhere,” Rory says, pushing his good shoulder back down. “He cannot go. These burns are way too severe. He won’t survive a gunshot or worse. Honestly, I’m not sure he would survive the car ride, Sebastian.”
“She’s right, Teo. You have to stay here. You have a doctor on the way?” I ask, and Breaker nods.
“The best doc I know. Tate was Navy, attached to our unit for years. Matteo is in expert hands. I can go with you, Seb,” he replies, and his wife tenses.
“I won’t ask this of you. You’ve done enough to help me, and I’m incredibly grateful. But this is my mess, I won’t ask you to risk your life.” I tell him, but he’s already packing his bag and checking his weapon.
“Good thing I’m not doing it for you. We love Vanessa, Sebastian. I won’t let you walk into some unknown situation if I could’ve helped save her. This is a family. It’s what we do.” He kisses Aurora, her hands clinging to his t-shirt desperately.
“Come back to me, Jason. I’m too young to be a widow.” she says, and he smirks.
“Yes, princess. I promise.” He gives her one last kiss on her temple before grabbing his bag and leaving the apartment.
“Please take care of him. I will reach out to Fortuna and send a team for extraction as soon as I can. They will transport him to the plane and back to Italy as soon as your doctor deems him stable to travel. Thank you, Rory.” I tell her, and she hugs me tightly.
“Bring my girl back.” She whispers, and I squeeze her tighter.
“I will.”