Chapter 24

Luna

My eyes fly open and I look around, trying to sit up, but Lorenzo and Mateo are there holding me down. "Let me fucking go!" I scream, thrashing around. "I need to fucking find him!" Tears are streaming down my face, but I don't care to stop them.

A pain like I've never felt in my life fills my chest. I've been in sticky situations before, but nothing compares to the pain and fear I feel in this moment.

"Luna." Mateo speaks, grabbing the sides of my face. "I need you to pull it together for me. It's time to go to work, and we can't do that if you don't stop hitting us."

I blink the tears from my eyes and take a few deep breaths. Teo is right, if there's any chance of us getting him back safely, I need to have my head on straight.

"Evaluna." Dominic taunts me from the laptop screen. "Do I have your attention yet, beautiful girl?"

My eyes narrow on the screen and I try to calm my nerves enough to answer him. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?"

"I gave you that name, Evaluna." He smiles through the screen and I almost vomit at the sight. "The day your whore of a mother gave birth to you. Only to find out that you weren't even my child."

"You're fucking sick!" I snarl, stepping toward the computer. "What kind of sick fuck is obsessed with his own flesh and blood?"

"Have I never told you that I was adopted?" His eyes light up as he leans closer to the screen. "My bastard brother always wanted everything that I ever had. I wasn't surprised to find out he was fucking my wife."

"Get to the point, Dominic. What do you want?" Mateo steps behind me, squeezing my shoulders.

"I want what's mine!" He shouts, grabbing his camera and showing us the room he's in. There's someone else behind Leo, but there's a bag over their head, so we can't tell who it is. "Which one should I kill first? The girl or the kid?"

"I'll come to you, just leave them both alone." I shrug out of Mateo's hold and pull my phone from my pocket. "I'll give you an address, you meet me there. I'll give my life to you, but you have to let them live."

"Silly girl," he shakes his head, "do you think I'm stupid enough to fall for that trap?"

"No trap." I insist. I'm not even lying to him. I would trade my life for Leo's and whoever the girl is. "Just me. Everyone in this room will remain here until we're long gone."

"Luna, if you think for one second that I'll let you walk out of here, you're in for a rude awakening." Lorenzo growls in my ear, grabbing my hips.

"I'm getting bored of this. Let's take a little peek at what's under the bag, shall we?" He pulls the hood from the girl's head and the scream that leaves Rae's throat has me covering my ears.

Turning around, I see Drew pulling Rae against his chest while he glares at the computer screen. "Mr. Steele, I'm pleased to see you there as well. Mathias would very much like to have his intended bride."

"Over my dead body." Drew holds Rae tighter as sobs break free, her chest heaving against him.

"I do apologize for the mess I've made of her face. I wasn't sure you'd be able to recognize her." He pulls a knife from his pocket, using the tip to peel a corner of the tape that's covering her mouth before stepping behind her. "Mercedes, would you care to say a few words to your friend? To help her realize what needs to be done?"

"I love you, Ravenna. Don't you fucking give in to-"

Dominic cuts her off by stabbing his knife into her throat and pulling it across. Her head falls back as blood squirts from her neck and runs down her chest.

"I'll text you an address, you have twenty-four hours to decide, Evaluna. The boy's fate won't be as kind as the girl's." He grabs the camera again, showing Leo's face. "Wave goodbye to your Mama, Leo!"

The screen goes black as a wail that I don't recognize, leaves my mouth. My vision turns blurry as Mateo puts his hand on my cheek. I'm trying to fight the memories from pouring in, but it's pointless. If Mateo's touch can't bring me out of it, I know I'm not going to come out of this the same.

"You're sure there wasn't a mistake?" Mateo asks the nurse that just gave us the DNA results.

"I'm sure, Mr. Rossi." She nods her head. "The baby is related to you, but you're not the father."

"Mathias is his father?" He stumbles back a step, catching himself on the counter.

"Mateo," I sob, dropping my head into my hands. He rushes to my side, pulling me against his chest. I lean into him, my chest feels like it's being crushed by an elephant. We were hoping that any one of the other fucks would have been the father, that way we could still raise the baby because we could prove it wasn't his, so he wouldn't care about it. This changes everything. We can't raise this baby. If Mathias found out about him, nothing would stop him from taking the baby.

"I need to go let Amara know that she needs to come for the baby." He kisses the side of my face before walking out of the room. I curl into a ball, letting my tears fall.

"Luna?" Aurora whispers, then kisses the side of my face.

"Peach, he has my son." I roll over to the other side of the bed. When did I get in a bed? "How long was I out of it?" Sitting up, I swing my feet off the bed to stand up.

"Nineteen hours, Luna." She walks around the bed, pulling me against her. "Dr. Ripley has been here twice, Teo wouldn't stop calling him. He said you were fine physically, so I sent him home."

"That only gives me five hours to sneak away." I run to my dresser, pulling my shirt drawer open and grabbing a pile of them.

"Luna, you're not sneaking anywhere." Mateo says from the doorway, where he's currently leaning.

"Mateo, save your breath. That is my son." I turn toward the closet and twist the knob, but the door gets stuck. That's when I notice Mateo's foot holding the door shut. He grabs the shirts from my arms and throws them across the room.

"Luna," his nose brushes against my ear as he inhales. "You need to shut the fuck up and listen to me for twenty seconds. We don't have a lot of time." He spins me so I'm facing him, tipping my chin up to look in his eyes as he speaks.

"You've missed a lot while you were out of it. The most important things are; Dominic had Sadie's body taken to the coroner's office, he picked a busy street to meet you on, we already have brand new security guards scoping the place out.

We have a few rats that will need to be dealt with, but for the time being, we can't let them know that we suspect anything. Hector came in with his equipment and scanned the house, the only rooms that are safe to speak in are our bedroom and the bathrooms."

"The rest of the house is bugged?" A million questions are running through my head right now, but that's the most concerning part of the information he just rattled off. He simply nods his head in response, so I ask another question. "What do I have to do?"

"The only thing you need to do is show up." He cups my face in his hands and kisses my nose. "We have guys coming and going from that street constantly. Dominic is there as well, watching for any sign of our security. When you pull up, park next to the fire hydrant and walk across the street. The rest is already taken care of."

"What about Leo?" I squeeze my eyes shut and try to keep my composure.

"Dominic is going to text me Leo's location as soon as you're next to him. When Enzo and I have Leo, the guards will come for you."

My phone pings on the nightstand and I walk past Mateo to pick it up. A lump catches in my throat when I open the message.

Dominic: I'm tired of waiting. Meet me now. Same address.

"He's not waiting, he wants me to meet him now." My hands shake as Mateo grabs my shoulders.

"We planned for this, that's why security was there early." He kisses my forehead and hands me a set of keys. "There's a bag of clothes in the back to make it look good. The car is out front, it's the Red BMW." He walks me out to the car, with Lorenzo and Aurora right behind us.

I kiss them all and tell them how much I love them before getting in the driver's seat and pulling out of the driveway, praying this isn't the last time I get to see them.

When I pull up next to the fire hydrant, I put the car in park and take a few deep breaths before hopping out and grabbing the bag from the back seat. Quickly crossing the busy street, I'm looking for any sign of Dominic when my phone rings. I press the green button and place it to my ear, "Hello?"

"Keep walking. Go to the passenger side of the orange Mustang and get in," Dominic demands. "He's going to bring you to me." He ends the call as I open the door to the car.

"Get in, it's not good to keep him waiting."

I slide in the car, buckling my seat belt. During the short drive, I keep my eyes straight ahead, not wanting to see the traitor next to me. When we pull up to an abandoned warehouse, my heart sinks a little more. I make sure my phone is in my pocket so Mateo knows exactly where I'm at. I climb out of the car, following Travis through one of the bay doors.

Once we're inside, I'm hit with a strong feeling that I'm not making it out of here alive. There are at least a dozen dead women in this huge space. All of them have cherry red hair, just like me. Some of them have bullet holes between their eyes, some look like they've been beaten to death. It smells like rotten flesh and lavender in here. Both scents make me want to vomit.

"Evaluna, it's nice to see you again after all these years." My blood turns cold at the sound of Mathias' voice. Now I know for certain that I'm not leaving here alive.

"Where is my son?" My voice comes out strong and sure, but that's not how I'm feeling on the inside.

"Don't you mean OUR son?" He unbuttons his suit jacket before sliding it off his shoulders and putting it over the back of a chair. "Let's play a little game, shall we?"

"I'm not interested in your games, Mathias, I just want to see my son!" I seethe, trying not to let my frustration build.

"It wasn't actually a question anyhow. You get to choose which son of mine dies today!" He claps his hands together, smiling like the sick fuck that he is. "Isn't that fun?"

"You're a disgusting human being. I won't choose."

"I'm not fucking around with you, Evaluna." He snarls, getting way too close to my face. "Choose now, A or B. If you don't pick a letter in the next ten seconds, they both die. Along with Aurora, Drew, Malakai, Lorenzo, those Wicklow boys, and their whore." He starts holding up fingers, counting the names as he lists them.

"They'll all die today. You'll leave here with Dominic and Ravenna will finally come home with me." He smiles again before starting to count down. "Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven."

"Wait!" I shout, putting my hands up to plead with him.

"No waiting. Six. Five. Four." He holds up his last three fingers, wiggling them at me. "Three. Two."

"A!" I cry out, sinking to my knees. "Please don't kill them all."

He slides his phone from his back pocket, bringing it to his ear. "She chose A. Make it quick."

A second later, a gunshot rings out and the realization hits me. I just chose for him to kill my son.