Chapter 17

Mateo

The flight to Italy was completely uneventful, but as soon as we step off the jet, I can tell something really bad is about to happen. "I have a bad fucking feeling about this, Zo."

"I have the same feeling." He responds, looking around us before sliding into the back of the car. We still have a few contacts here for when we need to come handle any business.

"How was the flight?" Luca asks once we're settled in the back seat.

"Long and boring." Sighing, I pull my phone out of my bag and send a text to the girls, letting them know we landed. Enzo lets out a frustrated sigh beside me, so I lay my phone on the seat and look at him. "What's up?"

"I asked Rodger to give me updates every few hours." He rubs his hand down his face, "It's been three hours and I haven't gotten another update."

"It's probably his time to go home." I glance at my phone again, checking the time. It's a little after two am here, so it's eight pm back home. "It's eight o'clock there. I'll call Oliver, you try calling Rodg." He nods and brings his phone to his ear. "Oliver didn't answer, I'm calling Ben."

"Rodger isn't answering either." He starts fidgeting in his seat. Looking through his contacts, he clicks on another name that I can't quite see from here.

"Yeah boss?" Ben answers on the third ring.

"How is everything?" I ask, getting straight to business.

"Everything is fine here. Girls have been locked in your room for a bit now. Should I go check on them?"

"Ben, so help me god, if you open that fucking door, I'll rip out your eye balls and feed them to your wife."

"M-m-maybe I'll just have them call you, yeah?" He stammers.

"That's a good fucking plan." Something seems off with him, he's not usually stupid. We don't make a habit of hiring morons, but we may have missed the mark with this one. "Hey, before I let you go, one more thing."

"Anything." He blurts out. "You name it."

"I need you to make a trip to Boston."

"No, Sir." He quickly replies. "There's nothing in Boston for me."

"Ok, Ben. Just tell the girls to call me." I end the call before he can respond.

"Why did you do that?" Enzo asks, "You haven't used the code word for a while."

"Something seemed off with Ben." I lean back against the headrest. "He knew how to respond though, so we might just have to fire him for being a moron. He said the girls were locked in our room and asked if he should check on them."

"Ben isn't fucking stupid like that." He shakes his head.

"Let's just focus on the business at hand, and then we can hurry back home."

"One of Mathias' men has been coming into the club damn near every night." Luca informs us as we pull into the parking lot. "He gets a dance from the same girl, pays her a crazy amount of money to go in the back room, then leaves. She doesn't come out for hours afterward."

"What the fuck is he doing to her?" Enzo looks between Luca and I before he continues. "Is he fucking her or drugging her?"

"I think both, honestly." His face falls a little, "We can't get her to talk to us, but I think she might talk to you once she sees a picture of your Luna."

"Why the fuck would that make her talk?" Confusion is clear in my voice.

"You'll know as soon as you see her." He steps out of the car and we move to follow him. "We need to hurry, it's almost time for him to arrive."

Once we're inside, he pops his head into an office, asking for Rose. We then follow him down the hallway into a private room. As soon as the door opens, I'm frozen on the spot and my heart begins to pound harder and harder as the seconds tick by.

"Mateo?" She questions. My blood suddenly turns to ice in my veins. How the fuck would she know who I am?

"How do you know my name?"

"Mi ha detto che saresti venuto." He told me you would come. She nods, solemnly.

"Who?" I step further into the room and she stands to face me.

"Mi ha dato un messaggio per te." He gave me a message for you.

"Who the fuck are you talking about? What message?" I'm growing angrier by the second. I don't like being toyed with.

"Dominic. Vuole che tu sappia che è stato lui. Non avresti mai dovuto prendere la donna che ama. La sta riprendendo." He wants you to know that it was him. You should have never taken the woman he loves. He's taking her back.

"Luca, take us back to the air strip, now!" I shout as Enzo and I run toward the front of the club with him hot on our heels.

The ride back to the air strip passes in a blur. I can't fucking lose either of my girls. Panic settles in my chest every time my calls go unanswered. I've tried everybody, but no one is picking up the phone. I try Ben again, but it goes straight to voicemail just like the rest of them.

"Is anyone picking up for you?" My leg bounces nervously as I look at Enzo.

"No, they're all going straight to voicemail now."

"Maybe someone fucked with your phones. Here, try mine." Luca suggests, handing his phone to me. The first number I call is Rodger. He answers immediately.

"Please tell me that's you, boss." His voice comes through and I place the call on speakerphone.

"It is. Where are Luna and Aurora?"

"There was an attack, boss." I can hear the worry in his voice. "The girls are safe, they're with the Wicklow brothers."

"Thank fuck." Enzo sighs. "Fill us in. What the fuck happened, Rodg?"

"The two guys from Marty's crew." He grumbles, clearly pissed off. "They killed four of our guys and badly injured Ben. The girls took him with them to be taken care of."

"Were they hurt at all?" Grimacing, I hold my breath, waiting for his response.

"I'm not sure. I can give you the full rundown when you get home, but long story short; Nyx showed up, killed one of them and Silas Wicklow picked them up."

"Did any of our men go with them?" Enzo chimes in, still buzzing with nerves.

"Just Ben. I thought he would have called to check in by now. It's been a few hours, maybe he didn't make it."

"I'll call you back, Rodger. I need to call the girls." I end the call and dial Luna's number. It takes her a second to answer, but a huge weight is lifted at the sound of her voice on the other end.

"Hello?" She sounds exhausted.

"It's so good to hear your voice, Baby Girl."

"Put her on speaker, I want to hear too." Enzo whines. I roll my eyes at him, placing the call on speaker phone.

"Where's Aurora? Are you both okay? How about Ben?" I question her, needing all of the answers at once so I can relax a little bit more. I won't be able to fully calm down until I have them both in my arms, but her reassurance will help.

"Well, Aurora is fine. Judging by the sounds I'm hearing, she's more than fine, actually." She laughs, making more warmth spread across my chest. "Ben is recovering. He got shot in the shoulder the first time, but I scared the second twank enough that his shot missed completely."

"First, you didn't answer if you were okay." I press, "Also, what fucking noises is Aurora making?"

"That's exactly it, Daddy." I can practically hear the shit eating grin crossing her face before she continues. "She's making fucking noises. Because she's busy fucking. I'm fine, by the way. As fine as I can be, until you two are home."

"Who is she fucking?" Enzo growls, narrowing his eyes on the phone, like he can somehow intimidate the damn thing.

"She's with Rune." She sighs, "She is following all of the rules. Hey, who's phone are you calling from? We tried to call and text you guys a bunch of times."

"Yeah, it's looking like someone bugged our phones. We're pulling onto the air strip now, we'll be home in about eleven hours. I love you, Baby Girl."

"I love you more, Goblin!" Enzo shouts like she might not hear him if he doesn't scream at the top of his lungs.

"I love you both, hurry back so I can show you how much." She ends the call before we can say anything else. Great, now we both have to get out of this car with raging boners.