“One, zero, eight, and nine,” I murmured to myself.
Four numbers, but eight digits necessary.
Shit.
Repeating numbers were a bitch, and there was no telling which ones repeated. Of course, this wouldn’t be easy. But, I was determined to get into that damn office. I opened up the calculator on my phone and started punching in combinations of those numbers. I just randomly punched them in, hoping one of them might pop out at me. I knew it was a last-ditch effort, though. Because it wasn’t as if I knew his birthdate, or his wife’s birthdate, or any of his anniversary dates.
I mean, for all I knew, it could’ve been--.
“No,” I murmured.
Was it possible?
With a trembling hand, I punched in the sequence of numbers that popped into my mind. Eleven. Ten. Nineteen. Eighty eight.
My birthday.
With the numbers punched in, I braced myself to run. There was no way in hell the password to this thing was my birthday, right? Teo wasn’t that stupid. Or that sentimental.
Right?
I held my breath and pressed the ‘enter’ button and I waited for the onslaught. I waited for an alarm to go off because of an improper code, or possibly a machine gun to fall from the ceiling and obliterate me. But instead, the metal door hissed open, slowly leading me into his actual office space.
Why the hell is his passcode my birthdate?
How the hell did he know that, anyway?
I pushed all the questions from my mind and started snooping around. I pulled out drawers and rifled through files, not really sure what I was looking for. But, I knew I’d know what it was once my eyes came across it.
And when I saw a file labeled ‘Lucchese, Trafficking’, I quickly pulled it out of its slot.
“Are you kidding me?” I whispered harshly.
I flipped the file open and placed it onto his desk. I scanned through pages and pages of documentation that had everything to do with those fucking auctions. It boiled my blood to see all of this information. Women’s names, the prices they were sold for, who they were sold off to. Dates and times and locations of the auctions, as well as how long they lasted.
I felt disgusted and horrified.
Teo promised me he wasn’t involved with any of this shit. That he bought back some of those girls only to free them. Yet, I saw no record of these transactions. Only records of these fucking auctions. I mean, why would a man keep these records if he wasn’t somehow involved with them? That didn’t make any sense.
Then, I came across a name that dropped my jaw.
“No,” I murmured.
There, plain as day, was my mother’s name. Gloria Pettigrew, her signature and everything. I picked up the obviously-photocopied piece of paper and held it up to the light the panic room afforded me, hoping and praying I could find some evidence that this shit had been forged. Or photoshopped in some way.
I shook my head and dropped the piece of paper as if it were on fire. No, there was a reasonable and logical explanation for all of this. I just knew it. There was no way in hell the firm I worked for--the firm my mother built with her bare hands--was involved in all of this shit. No way in hell.
Teo was responsible for this horror. Not my mother.
It’s obviously planted.
When the thought crossed my mind, I started packing things up. I moved as quickly as possible, knowing damn good and well I needed to get out of that office. If Teo planted that for me to see, then that meant he was anticipating me finding this thing. He was anticipating me being as resourceful as he knew me to be.
Which meant…
“Hello, Miss Pettigrew.”
I slammed his desk door closed and whipped my head up. “Teo. Hey there.”
He leaned against the frame of the panic room, his hands stuffed into his pockets. “I wondered if you’d ever find this place.”
You sick bastard. “I’m nothing, if not resilient.”
He nodded. “That, you are.”
I backed up against the wall. “And since you’re here, I’ve got a few questions.”
“I don’t believe you’re in a position to be asking questions.”
“You’re going to kill me anyway, so what have I got to lose?”
His eyes held my stare. “Is that what you believe?”
I snickered. “I don’t know what I believe coming from the mouth of a man who’s actually helping to organize these auctions.”
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
I pointed at him. “You heard me, you slimy piece of shit. I found the files. I found the notes documenting everything from the names of the girls that were sold to their final prices to the dates and places of these auctions. Only a person involved with them would keep those kinds of records.”
He pushed off the frame, taking a step toward me. “Is that what you think?”
“It’s what I know, Teo. You lied to me.”
“I can assure you--out of all the lies I do tell--my non-involvement with those nasty auctions isn’t one of them.”
“Then, how to you explain the meticulous notes?”
He came around the desk and I wrapped around to the other side, with my back to the exit. All I had to do was make a break for it, but I knew better. I knew he’d catch up to me and punish me--or kill me--in whatever fashion was already dancing around in his head.
Might as well get some answers while I’m at it.
“I take notes in order to be familiar with my enemy. Is that so bad?” Teo asked.
I held my head high. “I’ll never believe a word that comes out of your mouth. You're a lying snake and a piece of married shit. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
And just as Teo went to defend himself, I turned on my bare feet and made a break for it down the hallway.
Rushing as quickly as I could to the front door of the house.
14
Mateo
I sighed to myself as I watched her dash down the hallway. I knew she wouldn’t get far. Honestly, she wouldn’t get around the crook of the corner of the foyer before a man with a gun stopped her. Still, I wondered if there would ever come a point where she’d stop running away from me.
Would she see any other side of me other than the monster everyone else sees?
Maybe I’m wrong about her.
“No sense in questioning yourself now,” I murmured to myself.
Still, my gut kept telling me to pursue her. My legs kept telling me to go after her. So, I slid my hands out of my pockets and strolled down the hallway. I drew in deep breaths in an attempt to keep my cool, lest I spin out of control with an anger that didn’t concern her. I needed her to see. I needed her to understand.
I just needed her to get it.
“Charlotte, for the last time, escaping isn’t going to be a--.”
“Teo! Help!”
Her shrieking voice hit my ears and I took off as quickly as I could. I heard the scuttling of feet against the floor before the muffled zip of guns being fired off in every direction. I reached for the pistol on my hip and aimed it in front of me. I peered around the corner, seeing three of my men dead and bloodied on the foyer floor.
And when I looked up, I saw Charlotte’s hands curled around the edge of the doorframe.
“Let me go!” she shrieked.
“You’re coming with me, you stupid bitch.”
I snarled. “Let her go, Lorenzo!”
“Teo!”
I raised my pistol and stepped out from around the corner. “Let her go. Now!”
A shot was fired in the air and I heard Charlotte scream. It shattered my heart into pieces, hearing her like that, and I took off toward the front door. I leapt over the bodies of the men whose families I’d have to inform and it bubbled my blood with fury. I saw the rake marks of Charlotte’s heels against the floor and the nail markings on the doorframe from where she tried with all of her might to get away.
But, nothing compared to the sweet, salacious darkness that
overcame me when I saw Lorenzo trying to shove that beautiful woman into a car.
A woman who belonged to me.
I raised my gun, aiming it at his head. “One more step and I blow your brains out.”
I heard him chuckling before he turned to face me. “Do you really think you’re going to shoot me when I hold all of the information you want?”
I cocked my gun. “Want to test that theory?”
Charlotte squealed. “Beside you, Teo!”
I felt the barrel of a gun press to my temple. “Put it down.”
I saw Lorenzo smiling with devious delight as I put my hands in the air.
“Hold him there until I get off his property,” Lorenzo commanded.
The gun against my head cocked. “Yes, sir.”
I sighed. “If you don’t put the gun down, I’m going to snap your neck.”
The man chuckled. “I’d like to see you try.”
I shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
I whipped my hand around and knocked it against his forearm, dislodging the gun from my head. A shot popped off at my feet and I jumped, listening as the bullet buried itself into the concrete of my porch. With my left hand, I ripped the gun from his grip as my right arm wrapped around his neck.
And with one fatal twist, his lifeless body plummeted to the ground.
My vision dripped with red as I continued to hear Charlotte struggling. I stalked toward Lorenzo as he used his feet in an attempt to stuff her into the backseat of his car as if she were some sort of oversized pillow. My heart leapt into my throat. My legs soared as if I were floating in midair. And just as Lorenzo got the door of his town car closed, I fisted his hair.
“There you are,” I growled.
“Don’t kill him!” Charlotte exclaimed.
I slammed Lorenzo’s face against his blazing hot car, listening as his skin sizzled.
“Holy shit! Ah! Fucking hell, let me up!” he shrieked.
I bent my lips down to his ear. “Not very fun on the other side, is it?”
I heard a car door open and when I looked up, Charlotte had gotten out of the other side. She peeked her head over the top of the car with a look that made my stomach curdle with sickness.
She looked at me as if I were the stuff from her nightmares.
She’ll never come back from this.
I ripped Lorenzo up, listening as his skin tore away from his face. It continued to sizzle like bacon against his car as I whipped him around, pinning him there with my hand. I squeezed his neck as the meat of his face bled down his neck. I wanted to kill him. I had every right to kill him. He touched what was mine--attempted to take something that wasn’t his.
And on my property, to boot.
“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t slaughter you right now,” I growled.
Charlotte’s voice sounded so far away, but I heard it. “Because I know you’re better than this.”
My eyes panned over to hers. “What?”
She sighed. “You’re better than this, Teo. You’re better than him. This would be Lorenzo’s reaction. Their reaction, not yours.”
I squeezed his throat tighter. “He tried to take what was mine. He tried to take you from me, Char.”
She slowly walked around, her eyes never leaving mine. “But, you saved me. I’m still here, Teo. And I’m not going anywhere.”
I blinked. “You’re not?”
She cupped my cheek. “No. I’m not. Thank you for saving me.”
Lorenzo started gagging with a lack of air as Charlotte stroked her thumb against my skin. Damn it, her touch felt so soft. So genuine. So real. Her touch alone grounded me, ripping me away from my bloodlust and dropping me back into reality. My eyes panned back down to Lorenzo before I looked into his bloodshot eyes. Eyes that were afraid of dying. Eyes that were scared of what might come next.
I released him and stepped away, moving Charlotte behind me in the process.
“You ever step foot on my property again, I’ll kill you myself. Is that understood?” I asked.
Lorenzo pushed himself upright. “I will slaughter you for this. I will make sure you and everyone you love is murdered in front of you. We will torture you, Mateo Emiliano. Me, and my brother.”
I nodded. “I look forward to the fight. Now, get the fuck out of here.”
I watched as the two men stood off with one another. On the one hand, my legs were itching to keep running. But, on the other hand, I wanted to stand by Teo’s side and support him. He had saved me. And when I was in danger, the first name that popped into my head to call out was his. That had to mean something, right? That he was the first I thought of for help?
That he came to my rescue without a second thought?
Lorenzo’s eyes met mine and I almost couldn’t look at him. The skin of his face had peeled away because of the heat of the car and it made me sick to my stomach. The smell alone turned my gut into knots. I felt my knees trembling as I stood in Teo’s shadow, his body in front of mine to provide a barrier between this man that wanted to hurt me and myself.
Will this ever end?
Something didn’t feel right, though. There was something about this entire scenario that felt a little too… planned. I mean, Lorenzo’s men just happened to be outside, waiting for me to come flying out? After finding Teo’s office, they just happened to know I’d be dashing out at that second to try and make a break for it?
Everything seemed a bit too convenient.
“Teo?” I whispered.
“Not now,” he said curtly.
Lorenzo snickered. “You make a good, obedient hostage, Miss Pettigrew. In some ways, I have to applaud Mateo here for grooming you so wonderfully.”
His eyes found mine and a shiver worked its way down my spine.
“He hasn’t groomed me to do anything. I either do it because I want to, or I don’t for the same reason,” I said.
Teo nodded. “Very true.”
Lorenzo grinned. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the two of you have a soft spot for one another.”
I scoffed. “I have a soft spot for the man that bought me to be his own personal sex slave? I would rather die.”
I thought I felt Teo flinch, but the movement was so minute and so sparse that I honestly wasn’t sure. This entire situation felt so surreal and so fantastical that part of me wondered if I was dreaming.
The pain in my chest told me I wasn’t, though.
What happened next happened so quickly that I’m still not sure what caused it. But, I watched Lorenzo’s eyes dart over Teo’s shoulder and it made me turn around. Standing there behind me, silent as a mouse and as sturdy as a brick wall, was a towering man clad in all black. He seemed to be dressed in full-on tactical gear, with a belt around his hips that housed at least three different guns.
And when he wrapped his arms around me, tugging me away from Teo, I watched him whip around and hold his pistol up.
Before the man who had a grip on me pressed a gun to my head.
“You even cock that gun, she dies,” the man said.
Lorenzo started laughing and clapping his hands as tears crested my eyes. “She really does distract you, Teo.”
My lips quivered as Teo’s eyes met mine. “On the count of three, I want you to close your eyes. Can you do that for me, Char?”
I sniffled. “Yeah. Yeah, I can.”
Lorenzo’s laughter stopped abruptly. “Kill her.”
Teo raised his gun. “Three!”
I squeezed my eyes shut and brought my arm forward before jabbing my elbow into the man’s gut. I heard him grunt as his grip loosened around me, and the gunfire kicked up once more. I dropped to the ground, using all of my dead weight to pull myself away from this man’s arm. And when I curled myself against my knees, hugging them tightly, Teo soared over my body and tackled that man to the ground.
Before I felt someone grip my hair tightly.
“You’re coming with me,” Lorenzo grunted.
While Teo foug
ht the man on the ground, I tried to get away from Lorenzo’s grip. But, in terms of sheer strength? These men were stronger than I’d ever be in my lifetime. I needed a tactical advantage. I needed a way to hurt Lorenzo enough to get away from him without having to use brute strength in the process.
But, when Lorenzo whipped me around to watch the fight unfold, I caught a glimpse of Teo just before the tactical bodyguard cracked his fist against Teo’s face.
“No!” I shrieked.
The harder I struggled to get to Teo, the more Lorenzo tightened his grip. I watched blood splatter everywhere with every punch that man threw and it made me sick. I had to do something. Otherwise, I’d stand here and watch as this disgusting excuse for a human being beat this man to death.
Then, a glimmer caught the corner of my eye.
“It really is a show, isn’t it?” Lorenzo hissed in my ear.
I turned my head toward his. “I can’t watch.”
He placed my face into the crook of his neck. “There there, beautiful. It’s going to be okay. When we get you back to my place, I’m going to actually feed you before I have my way with you.”
I nuzzled against him as my hand got closer to the glistening object. “Can I--can I have something other than oatmeal?”
Lorenzo kissed my temple. “Of course, you can. I prefer my women to have a bit of meat on their bones anyway.”
The second I felt the cold metal against my hand, I ripped that man’s gun away from his hip. I jammed it against his thigh and pulled the trigger before I even registered what I was doing. Lorenzo crippled to the ground, holding his leg and crying out in pain as that bodyguard whipped his head around to see what the fuck was going on.
And as Teo groaned in pain on the pavement, I held the gun up toward the man that had him pinned.
“Off. Now,” I commanded.
The man dressed in all black grinned as he stood. “I don’t think you have the balls to pull that trigger twice.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “Wanna bet on it?”
Liar : An Enemies to Lovers Mafia Romance (Sold to The Don Book 2) Page 8
