I storm through the house, trailing soot and rage, the employees and soldiers scattering from my path like birds before a storm. The stairs to the basement seem endless, each step carrying me deeper into the kind of darkness I’ve lived in since Raven disappeared.
The basement of the Russo estate was built for conversations nobody wants to have. Soundproofed walls, concrete floors with drains, and hooks in the ceiling that have held men twice my size.
Gia’s lying in a hospital bed in the center of the room, handcuffed to the metal bars on either side. Her hospital gown is stained with fresh blood where her wounds must have reopened, her face pale against the harsh overhead lights.
She flinches when I slam the door open and march inside. Her eyes widen with terror as she registers who’s come to visit. Good. Fear makes people honest. And I need honesty more than I need her breathing.
“Matteo,” she whispers, my name a plea on her lips. “Please—”
I cut her off with an angry scoff and circle the bed like a shark scenting blood. “Don’t you fucking dare waste my time with begging.”
She shrinks into herself, shoulders hunching as if she could disappear into the bed.
“How long?” I ask, voice dangerously soft.
“I don’t—”
My hand grips the closest metal bar on the bed, and I yank her closer. “How. Long. Have you been working with Finn Kearney?”
A tear slides down her cheek, leaving a clean trail through the mascara smudged beneath her eyes. “O-over a y-year,” she admits, the words barely audible.
“And his brother? Adam?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t k-know Adam.”
I lean closer, close enough to smell the antiseptic on her skin, the metallic tang of blood seeping through her bandages. “What exactly have you done, Gia? Why don’t you explain it to me?”
She breaks then, tears coming faster as words tumble out in a desperate flood. “He said he could help me. He said you’d never look at me the way you used to as long as you were… were… he said you needed to be brought down.”
“Brought down,” I repeat.
Gia’s head thrashes back and forth, her entire body trembling. “I-I didn’t know what he’d do, Matteo. Please, you have to believe me. I n-never wanted you to get hurt.”
“Fucking answer me!” I roar, spittle flying from my mouth onto her face.
It feels fucking surreal to listen to Gia explain that she helped with the explosion last year, and that she expected me to lean on her after I almost fucking died. I’m stuck in some weird limbo made up of all-consuming rage and disbelief.
“He said it was to help me,” she insists, her voice cracking. “He said if I helped him get close to you, you’d see how much I care. How much I’ve always cared.”
A wave of disgust washes over me, so powerful I have to step back to keep from striking her. “What kind of fucking delusion do you live in, Gia?” I ask her coldly. “We were never together. I was never yours, and do you know why that is?”
She shakes her head.
“Because I never wanted to be,” I shout.
She sobs harder, the sound grating against my already frayed nerves. “I love you,” she chokes out. “I’ve always loved you. Everything I did—”
“Let’s talk about everything you’ve done,” I say, my voice deceptively low. “You almost got me killed, you killed Kayla, and got Vito killed—”
“Matteo—”
“Shut the fuck up!” I bellow. “Because of you, Raven’s gone and two people I trusted are dead.”
At the mention of Raven, something flickers across Gia’s face. Jealousy? Triumph? It’s gone before I can be sure, but it’s enough to fan the flames of my rage.
“Where is she?” I demand, closing the distance between us again. “Where is Finn keeping her?”
“I don’t know,” Gia cries. “I swear to God, Matteo, I don’t know. He never told me that part of the plan. There was a lot he never told me. I-I didn’t know he was going to hurt me.”
