“You didn’t know,” he says, pressing his hand to the side of my face gently. “And I can promise you, Lorenzo won’t blame you.Honestly, it’s probably for the best that you married him because had you not, he could’ve gone after Lorenzo. By marrying you, he took the route of destroying the company rather than ending everyone’s lives.”
“I appreciate that,” I say. “But I still can’t believe I let him in so easily. In hindsight, I know we moved too quickly. I never even told him I loved him.”
“You can’t go back.” He strokes my cheek with his thumb. “What’s done is done. Now, we deal with the fallout. You said you wanted to learn the family business, right?”
“Yeah …”
“All right. Then, here’s the plan: We work on getting your brother out of jail. And in the meantime, we’ll talk to Dominick about how to get the POA reverted to you so you can run the company until Lorenzo gets out.”
“And what about Enrique?”
“I’ve got men looking for him. We won’t stop until we find him.”
Holy shit, this is so much. I knew my dad and brother weren’t completely on the up-and-up, but …
“Tell me what’s going through your head.”
“I just … what if I’m not strong enough for this life? That’s why my dad kept me away, right?”
“He kept you away because he wanted to protect you,” Matteo says, framing the sides of my face.
“And once Enrique’s found, if you want to leave, no one will stop you. But don’t for a second think that you’re not strong enough. That strength comes from deep within”—he glides his finger down to my belly, just below my belly button, and taps—“your gut”—he raises his finger and taps my temple—“and your head. You’re a fighter, Little Russo. You proved that when you contacted me from your tablet after you were kidnapped. You stayed alive and fed me the info that led to me finding you. Enrique might’ve taken advantage of you when you were vulnerable, but you won in the end. You’re still alive.”
He grips the curves of my hips, and my stomach tightens.
“I’m alive,” I repeat, releasing a harsh breath.
“Damn right you are,” he says, his eyes locked on mine. “And once we find that piece of shit, we’ll make him wish he’d never fucked with the Antonovs or Russos.”
“I want to be there,” I blurt out, shocking myself. “When you make him pay, I want to be there.” After everything he’s done to me, I deserve to be there.
Matteo smirks. “Then, you’ll be there.”
13
Matteo
After Daniella’s done crying,she asks if she can take a shower to rinse the past week off her. Since she doesn’t have any clothes, I give her one of my shirts and a pair of sweats that she can change into and tell her, once she’s out, we’ll order her some clothes online since she can’t go anywhere with Enrique on the loose.
I show her to her room, which has its own bathroom, and then leave her to herself. She’s been through a lot, and I imagine she needs some time to decompress. At least she’s safe. Everything else we can deal with.
I voice-text Lorenzo to let him know his sister is with me and protected, and he thanks me profusely before asking if I can check on Hillary. Since that conversation isn’t one I want to have via text, I agree, even though I know exactly where she is, thanks to having one of my guys follow her out of this damn city to ensure she never comes back.
Just as I’m heading down to the living room, I remember I forgot about Dominick when Daniella started to lose it. He’s nowhere in my place, so I assume he went home.
“Hey,” he says when I call him. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah …”
“I can’t believe he fucking raped her,” he hisses. “I leftright after that, wanting to give her some space. I wasn’t sure how long she’d need and figured she wouldn’t want an audience.”
“She’s taking a shower.” I sigh and drop onto my couch, leaning back and scrubbing my palm over my face. “The whole thing is fucked.”
There’s shuffling and then some whispering, and then Dominick says, “Peyton said to get her a therapist. A woman. Someone she can talk to.”
“Okay. Tell her thanks.”
“Kevin is working on getting your charges dropped and trying to get Lorenzo out on bail. He’s also requested a new inspector to go out to Lucian’s Gym tomorrow.”
