49. Matteo

49

MATTEO

I never should've trusted Angelo Mancini. Once a snake, always a fucking snake. The signs were there, and I overlooked them like a damn idiot. My fucking gut told me , but I ignored it, and now my wife is in danger.

This is all my fault.

All my fucking fault.

My mind races as situation after situation play out in my head of what we could be driving up to as Gianni speeds along the windy road, following Lux's tracker. If anything happens to my girl, I'll dismember Mancini's body limb by limb and anyone else who's touched a hair on her head. I'll fucking burn this city down for her.

I can't lose her. I fucking can't.

Enzo must feel my internal struggle from the driver's seat because he says, "We're going to get her back, Teo. You just have to hold it together a little bit longer. For her."

The strain on my heart is still there. It's painful, but I take a deep breath as I attempt to keep myself from losing my mind.

I can't lose her. I won't fucking lose her .

"Cut the lights," I tell Enzo as we get closer. I look over my shoulder, and Rocco turns off his lights a few moments later, following our lead.

"Pull off over there," I say, pointing to a turn-off on the road.

We jump out of the G-Wagon as Rocco comes to a stop behind us, then meet them at their car. Turning to my side, I point to the light shining a few hundred feet away. "See that light?" I ask in a hushed tone. "According to Lux's tracker, that's where she is. We need to get closer before I make a plan. I need to see what we're dealing with first."

I give my guys a silent gesture, and we make our way toward the light, keeping our rifles up and ready to fire at any moment. I have no idea what we're walking into, but we use the night vision mode on our scopes to scan the surrounding woods as we make our way up.

We're still a couple hundred feet away from a wooden cabin when I raise my fist, halting my men immediately. We're far enough away where the light doesn't shine on us but close enough to get a better view of what we're working with. The only car in the driveway is Mancini's silver Bentley. The trunk is still open, and it makes me wonder if that's because Lux put up a fight when she was taken out of it. My stomach churns thinking about her having to fight anyone.

I quickly scan the area, confirming no one else is in sight. There's no guard, no other vehicles, no one. Pointing, I signal to my men to flank the sides of the house while Enzo and I approach the cabin. The only noise is the crunching gravel beneath our boots.

As we approach the cabin, a scream breaks through the night air, so loud and sharp it forces me to break out into a sprint, not even thinking about anything other than my wife and needing to get to her immediately .

I can't be too late. I can't be too fucking late!

As I race up to the cabin, I get a good enough view of the inside of the house through a window, then slide to a stop. Enzo skids next to me. My heart stops, but I don't think, I just act on instinct and lift my rifle. Enzo, always being so in tune with what I'm doing, does the same thing. I locate Fausto who has his gun pointed at Lux, and Angelo with the barrel of his jammed into Lux's mother's temple.

"Fuck," I hiss out.

I can tell the tension is high in the room when Angelo jams the gun into Lux's mother's head, and that's when I make the decision.

I don't give any orders to Enzo.

I can't even breathe, let alone speak.

There's no time.

I act on instinct, and I just shoot.

The bullet slices through the window, and Angelo and Lux's mother fall to the ground. Before my brain can process anything, I aim my rifle at Fausto, who now has Lux positioned directly in front of him with a frantic look in his eye, and take my shot, knowing I wouldn't have much time to do so.

Another bullet flies through the window, and Fausto and Lux fall to the ground before I take off into another sprint, using my long legs to jump the three front steps and barrel through the door. All I hear are the muffled hollers of Enzo and my men as they follow suit.

My gaze locks in on Lux's body when I enter the cabin. She's lying still on the floor under Fausto. "Check on her mother," I tell Enzo before jumping over the small coffee table to reach Lux.

"Lux, Lux baby," I call out as I lift Fausto's dead body off her. The blood from the shot I took to his forehead ran down her shoulder and pooled on the floor beneath her. I move to her other side to get a better view of her face.

Kneeling, I brush the dark strands of hair out of her face, revealing dried blood that runs from the top of her cheekbone down to her jawline. I almost lose my mind at the sight, but when I'm met with those beautiful brown eyes of hers, the rage seems to disappear. Nothing else matters but her.

"T-Teo?" she whimpers out, and relief floods her face as her eyes widen and her lips part. It's as if she can't believe I'm standing here before her.

"I'm here, baby."

She attempts to push herself up but winces, which sets alarm bells off inside my head. I reach for her. "What hurts?" I run my hands over her body as softly as I can while trying to locate the source of her pain.

"I-I think I'm okay," she whispers, but I hear the pain in her strained voice.

She pushes herself up again, releasing small grunts with her slow movements. "Easy now," I say but am immediately caught off guard when she throws herself into my arms, and I stumble back.

I'm worried I'll hurt her, but when she tightens her grip around my neck, I cave, embracing her in what feels like the longest hug of my life. I never want to let her go, because I'm afraid she'll disappear on me again if I do.

Her body quivers and a sob breaks free from her lips. The sound seeps into my chest and wraps its way around my heart, squeezing it tightly.

"Y-you came," she cries out.

My hand finds its way into her hair as I cradle her, rocking us back and forth in subtle movements. "I'll always come for you, Little Lux. I'd go to the ends of the earth and back to find you. Never giving up until you're back in my arms," I whisper. "I'm so fucking sorry, baby. No one will ever take you away from me again. I promise you."

Her cries lighten, then she freezes, tensing in my arms as if she's just noticed something. "Mom!" she calls out over my shoulder.

I help Lux up, and her mother rushes over to us from around the coffee table. "Oh, sweetie," she cries out, and they embrace each other, tears falling down their faces.

"Tell Doc to meet us at the house," I say to Enzo who's already on his phone, typing out a message.

"Already ahead of you, Boss. He's heading over there now."

"Are you hurt?" Luxtyn asks her mother, concern piercing through the air while she runs her hands along her body like I did with her just moments ago. "I thought you got shot. I-I thought we both got shot," she says, grabbing her shoulder where Fausto's wet blood remains.

She looks at her soiled hand with wide eyes, and I rush to her side. "It's not yours," I say, taking her hand in mine, doing my best to hide the harrowing memories. "It's from the gunshot I left in Fausto's head. You and your mother weren't shot."

Her eyes raise to mine. "You shot him?"

I nod.

Her eyes move to Mancini's dead body before quickly returning to mine. "And Angelo?"

I nod once more and study her, waiting to see what reaction she'll have to knowing how easy it is for me to kill people. I have to remember she's not from this world, and while Fausto and Mancini deserved the bullets they received, that doesn't mean she'll be okay with it.

Lux reaches up, taking my face between her soft hands. "Thank you," she breathes out. Her eyes glisten as more tears threaten to break free. "You saved me. You saved us." Leaning in, she raises herself on her tippy toes and kisses me. The sound of someone clearing their throat causes her to pull away.

"Dammit, Teo. Where are your manners?" Enzo reprimands. "Luxtyn's mom is right here." He tilts his head towards her. "At least introduce yourself before you maul her daughter."

Fucking Enzo.

Although, I can't say he's wrong. But the adrenaline coursing through my veins mixed with the need to feel Lux had me distracted.

Giving my attention to Lux's mother, I extend my hand to her while pulling Lux into my side. "My apologies, Ms. Stockwell. My name is Matteo DiMaggio. I wish we could've met under better circumstances, but it's an honor to finally meet you." I want to introduce myself as Lux's husband, but after everything that's happened tonight, I know the best thing would be for Lux and her mother to catch up on everything.

Lux's mother eyes me suspiciously before dropping her gaze to my left hand. She quickly shifts it to Lux's before sliding it back to mine. It's a quick and subtle movement I know Lux didn't notice. It's not something anyone would notice unless they were studying a person.

Taking my hand in hers, she smiles. It's warm, not fake. A mother's smile. "It's nice to meet you, Matteo. Please, call me Char," she says as she pulls her hand away. "I can't thank you enough for saving our lives." She rubs Lux's back in an endearing way, but it causes her to wince, and Char retracts her hand quickly.

Moving behind Lux, I lift her sweatshirt to get a look at her back, immediately spotting the root of the pain. She has a line that extends from one side of her narrow back to the other. It's about a quarter of an inch thick and is red, with the markings of a bruise already forming around it. The tender skin is broken throughout, spilling bits of blood along her pale skin. I curse under my breath, pissed off at not getting here sooner, and pull her sweatshirt back down.

"I was thrown against the edge of that stone," Lux says, pointing to the fireplace.

"You have a bruise, some swelling, and a few small lacerations." She had to have been thrown hard for it to break her skin through her sweatshirt. "Come on. We should get you both home so Doc can take a look at you two."

We exit the cabin, and the SUVs are already here. Enzo helps Char into the back of ours while I help Lux. Closing them in, I turn to my men. "Enzo and I are going to take Char and Lux back to the house so Doc can check on them. Clean this up. Save the bodies and have them sent to the family. Let them know why the fuck exactly they're dead."

Enzo walks around to the driver's side, and I hop in on the passenger side. Then we quietly make our way back to our house, doing our best to give Lux and her mother some privacy as they hold one another in the back seat.