by L A Cotton
He studied me, muttering something about women under his breath. “Come with me.” He grabbed my shoulder and yanked me out of the room.
“Caitlin!” Bella screamed as the guy dragged me down the hall.
“Grayson, grab the other one,” the guy barked at a guy standing at the end of the hall.
“No, no, she’s no part of this. You have to let her go,” I shrieked.
“Not my call, darlin’.”
We reached another door and he banged it once.
“Enter,” a voice boomed, and the guy shouldered it open, dragging me inside. He pushed me hard and I crashed to my knees, pain slicing through me.
Inhaling a couple of breaths, I slowly lifted my head. “You,” I gasped, hardly able to believe my eyes. “But it’s not possible.”
“It’s been a long time, firefly.”
That single word sent a bolt of fear straight into my heart, and in that moment, I knew… I knew I couldn’t protect Arabella. My mom’s boyfriend didn’t care about right or wrong, or morals, or girls with their whole lives ahead of them. He only cared about business and keeping his associates happy.
I glanced over at Bella as she huddled in the corner of the room and my heart broke as I silently begged for forgiveness I knew would never come.
“I’m sorry,” I cried. “I’m so sorry.”
Chapter 26
Matteo
“What’s taking so long?” I tapped my foot against the floor, draining another whisky.
“That isn’t going to help anything,” my father eyed me with concern.
“Well, it’s either this or I go beat some answers out of DiMarco. Take your pick.”
After Nicco had delivered the blow that Caitlin wasn’t really Caitlin O’Donnell at all, our men had dragged Zander away to his office, where they had secured him until we could figure out what the hell to do.
But if he didn’t have Caitlin and Bella… who the hell did?
Nicco appeared with Enzo trailing behind him.
“Anything?” I leaped up.
“Nothing that makes sense.” Nicco motioned to the booth, and we all sat down. “Tommy was able to pull her cell phone number from DiMarco’s staff records.”
“He hacked his system?”
Nicco nodded.
“Okay,” I frowned, not really following.
“There was nothing unusual at first. But then when he pulled her cell phone records, he noticed she called the same number on the same day of every month, for the last couple of years.”
“Did he get a name?” my father asked.
“Yeah. Olivia Walsh. Born and raised in Rochester, New York until she moved to New Haven, Connecticut in the nineties. He’s running a more extensive search as we speak.”
“I don’t understand.” I raked a hand through my hair. “What is she running from?”
“That’s what we need to find out. I want you to talk to DiMarco,” Nicco said.
“Hang on a minute, Boss. You really think that’s a good idea?” Enzo glanced between the two of us.
“In his own way, I think DiMarco cares about her. Or, in the very least, he’s infatuated with her. Matt can appeal to that side of him.”
Enzo snorted. “Or it’ll send DiMarco straight off the deep end.”
“He’s the only tangible connection we have to Caitlin right now, and if he didn’t take them, maybe he knows something that might help us find out who did.”
“What about the girls that work here? They knew her, someone might know something,” I said.
“Already got Lucino and Stefan on it.”
Good. That was good.
“Do you think you can talk to him?” Nicco levelled me with a sympathetic look.
What choice did I have?
If Zander had information that could help us, I had to put my anger aside and reach out to him. Man to man.
“Yeah,” I breathed, hoping to God I was right. “I can do it.”
“Good, come on.” Nicco got up and waited for me. “Michele.” He glanced back at my father. “Keep in touch with Tommy. I want to know what he finds out as he finds it.”
He nodded. In the short time we’d been here, my father had already aged. Arabella was the apple of his eye. It would kill him if anything happened to her.
It would kill all of us.
I followed Nicco through the door marked ‘private’ and down the hall to Zander’s office. Nicco went in first and then beckoned me inside.
“Matteo wants to talk to you,” he said.
“Matteo can go fuck himself.” Zander was nursing his broken nose with a bag of ice.
“Caitlin is missing,” I said.
His eyes went wide. “You know Caitlin?”
“I… yes.” I pulled a chair closer to him and sat down.
“I’m not sure I follow.”
I looked to Nicco, and he nodded, silently giving me permission. “Last year, I met Caitlin when we were here in Providence. I had no idea she was one of your girls, or even knew you. She told me she worked at a diner called Stella’s. We… we spent the night together.”
I gauged Zander’s reaction, but his stone-cold mask gave nothing away.
“It was one night. I went home to Verona and never saw her again… until a couple of weeks ago, when the hospital over in Pawtucket called Enzo. We were on our way to see you but detoured to the hospital where we found Caitlin...”
As I remembered what it was like to see her lying there, in that hospital bed, it took everything inside me not to pounce on him. But I had to keep myself in check if we were going to get the information we needed. Caitlin and my sister came first; they trumped my burning need for vengeance.
The bastard didn’t even flinch.
“We took her back to Verona County with us,” I went on. “Gave her a safe place to stay.”
That got a reaction. Jealousy and anger blazed in his eyes. Yeah, the fucker didn’t like the idea of someone else looking after his girl.
It sent a sick thrill of satisfaction through me. Especially knowing he would never get to lay a hand on her again.
“Earlier today, Caitlin and my sister went missing.”
“What?” he spat.
“Now you can see why we suspected it was you.”
“I didn’t… I swear to you, Bellatoni, this wasn’t my doing.”
“Strangely, I believe you. But you need to tell us everything you know about Cait so we can try to piece together who might have taken them.”
“I… fuck,” he heaved a deep sigh. “I don’t know what to say. I found her on the streets about four years ago. She was cold and hungry and needed a place to stay.”
“So you took her in?” It came out harsher than I intended, and I felt the weight of Nicco’s stare burning into the side of my face.
“She was new to the area; I was a girl down at the club. It was a win-win.”
Yeah, right.
“At first, she worked the floor, taking orders and serving drinks, that kind of thing. Until one night after closing I saw her fooling around backstage with a couple of my dancers.”
My spine went rigid as I listened to him recall those early days with Caitlin. The day he’d discovered her love of dancing.
“She was good,” he said. “Really fucking good. So I offered her a spot, told her she could make a decent wage dancing for me. But I quickly realized the error of my ways. Caitlin was a little too good. Men queued up for her and it drove me in-fucking-sane.” He looked me dead in the eye as he said the words. “I almost killed a guy for touching her. I was completely bewitched by her. But she fought me at every turn, determined to keep things strictly professional between us.”
“So you took what you wanted instead.” My voice was low, deadly. Rage like I’d never known it coursing through my veins.
“Matt,” Nicco hissed.
I forced myself to take a deep, calming breath. I could do this—I could do it for her.
“None of this is helping us,”
I said. “We need to know about her life. Friends? Family? Did she ever talk about anyone important in her life? Or her past?”
“Never. And I never asked. Most of the girls who end up working for me are running from something.”
Wasn’t that the truth.
But it didn’t help us.
“So there’s nothing?”
Zander shrugged, but I caught the glimpse of regret in his eyes. “I can’t think of anything.”
My patience began to wane, frustration bleeding into my voice. “You’ve known her all this time and you can’t think of anything that might help us?”
“I… Wait, there was something. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but when Dominic Cabrioles and his men first visited the club, he took an immediate interest in Caitlin. Offered me a lot of cash for a private audience with her.”
“I thought you said she didn’t dance no more.”
“She didn’t, but business is business.” He shrugged again, as if dealing in sins of the flesh was a normal occurrence.
And maybe it was for assholes like DiMarco, but I couldn’t stand the thought of Caitlin being forced to dance to line his pockets.
Nicco stepped forward. “Did Cabrioles say anything else?”
“He backed off pretty quickly when I made it clear she belonged to me. But now that I think about it, he was unusually interested in her.”
“I’ll be back.” Nicco got straight on his phone and strolled out of the room, sending in one of his guards to no doubt make sure I didn’t overstep my orders.
“You love her?”
DiMarco’s question caught me off guard.
“I… I care for her very much.”
He gave me a small nod, but I still couldn’t gauge where his head was at. This wasn’t the sleazy, cocksure asshole I was used to. But then, he was tied to a chair with a broken nose and no hope of being released.
“You killed Shaun to find her.”
“He took something from me,” he quietly seethed. “He betrayed me.”
“He protected her, and you had him murdered in cold blood.”
“Tell me, Matteo. What lengths would you go to, to get her back?”
I rolled my lips together. He was right. There wasn’t much I couldn’t imagine doing if it meant having her back safe in my arms.
But I still had honor and integrity. I wanted her to stand at my side, not cower at my feet.
“We’re not the same.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But it doesn’t matter now.”
“No?” My brow arched.
“I am many things, Matteo. A fool is not one of them. You think I don’t know how this goes? You think I don’t know the second you get the chance, you’ll put a bullet between my eyes? I can see it written all over your face.”
I stood, taking a couple of steps closer to him. The guard moved with me, ready to intervene. Looming down over Zander, I said, “I pity you. You had her. You had her and you let her slip through your fingers because you’re not a man, DiMarco, you’re a coward. And I hope you rot in hell.” I spat at his feet, turned on my heel and walked out of there without looking back.
The second I exited the room, Nicco glanced over at me. “You good?” he asked, pocketing his cell phone.
“Unless you want me to end him, I suggest you don’t ask me to go back in there.” I stalked off down the hall, needing some fresh air and a strong drink.
Enzo found me outside the back of the club. I’d grabbed a bottle of whisky off the shelf and took off in search of some quiet.
“I’m not sure that’s gonna help, cous,” he said, eyeing the bottle in my hand.
“Like I told Nic, it’s either this or I go put a bullet in his head.”
“DiMarco will get his, you know he will. But first we need to find the girls and figure out this thing with Lombardi.”
“You think it’s connected?”
“Yes, no… maybe,” he let out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t know. But you heard what he said, Cabrioles took a liking to Caitlin. Maybe they were watching her. Maybe they thought she was the way to DiMarco and when we swooped in and saved her, it got the wires all crossed.”
“We were careful, E. We would have noticed if someone was watching her.”
Wouldn’t we?
“She came to us with no cell phone, no bank cards, nothing that was traceable.”
“Maybe they were already watching us, getting ready to make their move, and it was sheer coincidence that our paths crossed when they did.”
“Yeah, maybe.” I took another swig from the bottle, but Enzo snatched it off me and threw it against the wall.
“Hey, that was good whisky.” I watched it sluice down the wall.
“I know you’re hurting, cous, but we need you sober. Caitlin and Bella need you sober, okay?”
“Fuck. Fuck!” I punched the brick, relishing in the bite of pain.
“Better?”
“Fuck you,” I grunted, clutching my busted hand to my chest. It was a mess, but I barely felt it over the anger residing in me.
“Channel it into finding them.” He gripped my shoulder. “Because we will find them, Matt. And when we do, they’ll need you.”
I nodded, too choked up to reply. If anything had happened to them… I couldn’t bear it.
Bella was my sister. My little sister for fuck’s sake. And Caitlin… she was my heart.
The door swung open revealing my father. “There you two are,” he said. “Come on, Tommy’s got something.”
“About time,” Enzo grumbled, nudging me forward.
We followed my father back into the club, congregating with the rest of our men near the bar.
“Tommy just called,” Nicco said. “He ran Olivia Walsh through the system, and it pinged numerous hits.” He scanned his cell phone. “Married to Darragh Walsh, they had one daughter, Erin Walsh. Born May twentieth, two thousand.”
My brain was already doing the math when Nicco locked his eyes on me. “He managed to pull a photo of Olivia.” Holding up his phone to me, he said, “Look like anyone we know?”
No. Fucking. Way.
It was Caitlin. Well, her eyes and red hair, at least. The woman in the photo was at least twenty years older.
“So wait a second,” Enzo said. “You’re saying Caitlin O’Donnell is really Erin Walsh?”
“It looks that way.”
“Where’s Olivia now?” I asked, my heart crashing against my chest.
“Well, that’s where it gets interesting. Officially, she’s divorced and has lived alone in New Haven for years.”
“And unofficially?”
“Tommy found numerous police reports for breach of the peace and countless overdoses.”
“The mom’s a junkie?” Lucino asked.
“Looks like it.”
“Any record of who bailed her out?”
“That’s where things get really interesting.” Nicco fixed his eyes on me again. “It looks like Olivia Walsh has had an on-off relationship with Massimo Lombardi for the best part of thirteen years.”
“Lombardi?” I balked, the ground going from under me. “No. No way.”
We’d all heard the stories about Massimo Lombardi’s predilection for the seedier things in life. Drugs. Trafficking. Brothels. Lombardi’s empire was built of the underbelly of society. He couldn’t be connected so personally to Caitlin.
It made no sense.
Yet, I couldn’t deny the photo of Olivia had been like looking at an older version of Caitlin.
Erin.
Whatever the hell she was called.
No wonder she’d been cagey about her past. Her mom’s boyfriend was the lowest of the low. And definitely not the kind of guy we were looking to do business with.
Lucino let out a low whistle. “If the rumors about Lombardi and his preference for young girls are true, it makes sense why she ran.”
My blood ran cold. Lombardi wasn’t just immoral; he was sick and twisted and definitely the kind
of man you wouldn’t want your daughter or sister around.
“Bella.” My knees buckled as I slumped against the counter.
“Shh, figlio mio.” My father squeezed my shoulder. “We’ll get her back. Both of them.” There was a fierceness in his eyes I hadn’t seen in a long time.
“Do we have any idea where he might have taken them?” Enzo asked, the silent consensus being that Lombardi had taken them.
It was the only lead we had, and despite not wanting to believe it, it made the most sense.
“We can assume Lombardi has been watching Caitlin for some time. Hence why he sent his men here, to scope out DiMarco.”
“If she hadn’t ended up in the hospital, it’s likely he would have grabbed her before now.”
“So you’re saying we should be thankful DiMarco roughed her up?” Sarcasm clung to my every word.
“Matt, that’s not what anyone is saying,” Nicco said. “But Lucino has a point. We have to assume Zander changed their course of action.”
“What do we do now? What’s the plan?” Enzo said.
“Tommy is pulling up a list of possible locations. They took Bella, so I’m inclined to think there’s a bigger picture here.”
“You think they’ll use her as leverage?”
“Most likely. She’s one of our capo’s daughters. Which makes her a strong bargaining chip.”
“We can’t negotiate with a man like Lombardi.”
“No, but we need him to believe we’re willing.” Nicco began texting someone.
Just then my cell phone started ringing. I dug it out of my pocket and frowned.
“Who is it?” my father asked.
“It’s an unknown number.”
“Answer it on loudspeaker. Everyone quiet.” Nicco gave me a nod, and I hit answer.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Bellatoni?”
“Yes. Who’s this?”
“I believe I have something that belongs to you.”
“Is she okay?” I choked out.
“She’s fine. They both are. But their remaining so will depend on your actions over the next hour. I’m going to text you coordinates. You are to come with Niccolò and no one else.”
“How do we know we can trust you?”
