3. Matt

THREE

MATT

"You're coming with me!"

I swung my backpack in the direction of the voice and ducked down onto the pavement, slithering over the pitted concrete as I headed for a trash can, hoping it'd offer some protection. Ouch, owww, owie! I had to complain to the city council about this sidewalk.

"Matt!"

Matt? I knew that name. I was Matt, but I was also Michael. My befuddled thoughts, so intent on keeping me alive, couldn't figure out which was the good guy and which one moonlighted for a mobster boss.

Hope flickered within me, and I peered around the garbage can. The car wasn't a sleek black sedan. Nor was it a bulky, brooding four-wheel drive. I'd been in this car countless times as a passenger.

"Josh?"

"What is wrong with you?"

Ummm, where did I start? How did I list my imperfections? I got to my knees, my fists still clenched. "I sometimes wear my socks two days in a row." Gross, but life often got in the way of doing laundry.

"What?" Josh appeared in front of me and hauled me to my feet as horns blared and curses rang out along the street. "Get in."

My brother shoved me in the front seat and pulled out into traffic, earning more honking from pissed-off drivers. After pulling up at a red light, he draped the seat belt over my shoulder and buckled it.

I stared straight ahead, my heart still galloping at speed. It'd be my luck to keel over from a heart attack before finishing my investigation.

"Are we going to talk about what just happened?" Josh gave me a sideways glance.

My mind zigged before it zagged, and I blurted out the first thing that popped into my head. "You're a clean freak and you might have to disown me, your younger brother, ‘cause I wear stinky socks."

"Matt!"

Josh's raised brows and rigid posture was coupled with a tiny tug at the corner of his mouth. I pursed my lips while Josh bent forward, his sides shaking as laughter bubbled out of him. I joined him in giggle snorting because I needed an outlet for the fear that had coiled in my belly.

The light turned green, and we jerked forward. My brother concentrated on the artificial tinny voice of the GPS as it directed us to… wherever we were going. Dinner maybe? His place?

But the neighborhood changed from the downtrodden one where I lived to a more upmarket area. I sat up straight as he sped along a street that passed where my other boss, Dane, lived and let out a long breath when he continued driving.

"That's it." He pointed to a modern building, maybe ten stories high, clad in silver and black, that stood out from the aging skyscrapers on either side.

"What are we doing here?" My near-death experience had wiped my memories.

"Speed dating, remember?" Josh grabbed my arm and marched me to the door. Locked. And no buzzer, just a keypad. "How are we supposed to get in?"

A bunch of hulking growly guys, talking loudly about mates, approached, and we got out of their way. Neither Josh nor I were tall or broad-shouldered, and I figured they could toss us aside with one flick of a finger.

One punched in a code, and they walked in. We hauled ass and followed, but another guy barred our way.

"You're not one of us." He folded his arms and put his face close to mine before sniffing. He made a face, and I hissed, "It's the socks, sorry."

Josh guffawed, and I elbowed him. This wasn't a moment for laughter.

One of the guy's friends backtracked. Sheesh, he looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. He could have been a delivery guy I'd only seen wearing a bike helmet. Or was he from my other life? Images fast forwarded through my mind as I tried to place him.

"I know him." He jerked his head at me. "Let ‘em in."

Instinct told me to run. To leave the city and live in a cave, having no contact with the outside world. But the fight-or-flight instinct deserted me and was replaced by another F word.

I froze.

Josh grabbed my arm and dragged me inside and into the elevator, as we were surrounded by those five guys, towering over us, their musky cologne overpowering in such a small space.

The words "what if?" ran on a loop through my head. I couldn't afford to bump into someone I knew as Michael when I was Matt.

My knees buckled, and bile slid up my throat as I imagined the fate that might await me.

I was forced out of the confined space by the five-strong herd behind me. The strangers melted into the crowd while Josh and I stood near the elevator surveying the room.

Men with ear pieces, similar to what my mob boss's bodyguards wore, were positioned around the perimeter. My anxiety level ratcheted up, and I scanned the faces, but no one stood out other than the man who let us in.

There were rows of small tables filling most of the space, but my gaze was drawn to a logo on the wall. It appeared to be a wolf's head surrounded by the words La Luna Noir. I gulped. The distinctive name that caught my attention because of a grammatical mistake was one I'd heard Dane mention. He'd been fucking with one of their businesses, trying to be numero uno in the recycling world.

We had to get out of here.

A middle-aged man in a purple jacket rushed up to us, flapping his hands. "Can I help you?"

"We… we're here for the speed dating," Josh said.

"Oh, I think there's been a mistake."

The man who recognized me appeared at purple jacket guy's shoulder. He wore a sticker on his chest with the scrawled name Hawk.

"I can vouch for him, Rudy." He whispered in Rudy's ear, and the older man's mouth gaped and formed an O.

"But we didn't invite them," Rudy blustered as he stabbed at a tablet.

My belly heaved, and I swallowed what remained of the cereal I'd eaten earlier. This was bad, worse than that. Bad didn't describe how dangerous this was.

We'd stumbled into a den of thieves, a mafia stronghold. Did Hawk belong to The Obsidian Circle? Fuckity fuck! I wanted to shake Josh and ask him how he found out about this event. But that was for later.

Before I could say we'd blundered into the wrong place and apologize, a voice that reminded me of velvet, plush, soft, and luxurious, penetrated my thoughts.

"What's the problem, Dad?"

The room blurred, and my head was filled with the most delicious perfume. I blinked and focused on a heavy gold bracelet around his wrist, a broad chest, dark jacket, no tie, shirt unbuttoned to reveal a sliver of skin, an unshaven chin with scruff, piercing gray eyes, and a mop of black hair.

Rudy's son took my breath away and shoved the scary thoughts into the back of my mind. His expression was so cocksure he had to be the La Luna Noir boss, though I couldn't recall that guy's name.

He could be the boss of me, anytime, anywhere. If he told me to drop my pants right here, I'd do it and shove my ass in his face so he could stick his fingers, tongue, or dick in my hole.

But his arrogant expression faded and was replaced with one of… agony? Or horror?

No way could he smell my stinky feet.

I edged closer to Josh.

"Oh gods… you… you're here!" The guy put a hand over his heart. I knew CPR, and I was ready to breathe life into him.

"Not again. Not like this." Rudy slapped his forehead. I counted the furrows, wondering if the more wrinkles indicated how worried he was.

The son, however, had lost the power of speech, and I feared he also knew me from my other life. But I would have remembered this hot, hunky, lickable… yeah, oh so lickable guy if we'd crossed paths.

Rudy was much smaller than his son, but he propped him up. Gradually my discomfort returned, despite the son's intoxicating presence. I scanned the room for Hawk, the one who might know me not as Matt but Michael.

"And you are?" Rudy choked out. He had a bunch of stickers and a pen, I guessed to write the participants' names.

I was torn, wanting to stay with Rudy's son but also needing to get out of here. I liked my head and preferred it attached to my shoulders.

A buzzer sounded, and someone yelled for everyone to take their seats.

"You're my match," the son pronounced.

Not likely. "I'm so sorry. We're in the wrong place. I apologize." Steering Josh toward the exit, I slammed my fist on the elevator button, counting the seconds until the doors opened and expecting a hand on my shoulder, telling me not to go anywhere.

Josh was complaining I'd ruined the evening, but I had a vice-like grip on his hand and I wasn't letting go.

As we scrambled into the elevator and the doors closed, I spied him , Rudy's son, glaring at me, his eyes darker than when we met. There was something ancient in his stare as if he were a predator and I was his prey. A wave of fear washed over me.

But there was more in the son's piercing gaze that turned my belly to jelly. It wormed inside me, gaining entry to my secrets, and I squealed, before the doors slammed. I rested my head against them while Josh ranted in the background about me being a spoilsport

Now what?