“Sloane was kidnapped by the cartel, Cristian,” Elisa says with tears in her eyes.
“We think they targeted Sloane to use as bait,” Caleb says. “Her mother was how they forced her to do their bidding.”
“Carmine was their man on the inside,” Joshua says.
“I still think Isa was involved,” Gia says.
“Darling, she loves Elio,” Joshua says. “She would never agree to any plan where the cartel would take him. Same for Rafaelo. Don Greco personally interrogated them both, and there is no evidence confirming they had anything to do with it. Rafaelo was sickened to discover Carmine was in debt to the cartel and colluding with them to kidnap Elio. As much as I hate that man, he would never hand his grandson over to our enemies. They fought so hard to gain custody of him because they love him. He’s their last link to Bettina. None of the Da Rosas would place him in harm’s way.”
“I don’t trust the Da Rosas either, Gigi. I agree with you there, but what Joshua said makes sense. I can’t see them hurting Elio. They adore him,” Elisa says.
The whole time I’m listening to my friends talk back and forth, I’m reading Rory’s posts with a lump in my throat. Sloane was kidnapped nine months ago, yet she only showed up at my door a month ago. What were they doing to her all that time?
Fuck. Putting the tablet down on the coffee table, I prop my elbows on my knees and clutch my head in my hands. I squeeze my eyes shut for a few beats and concentrate on breathing. My mind is a confused mess, and I veer between so many differing emotions all the time. I don’t want to feel pain for Sloane after what she’s done, but she’s a victim too, so how can I not? Round and round it goes until it feels like my sanity is about to snap.
I jerk my head up and ball my hands into fists. It doesn’t matter if Sloane was kidnapped. She still had choices, and she chose wrong. I won’t ever forgive her for placing Elio in danger, irrespective of what happened to her.
“Cristian.” Gia places her hand on my shoulder. “There’s one more thing you need to know.” Her hand drops off my shoulder as she leans into her husband for support. “I put out alerts for any mention of Sloane or her mother, public or otherwise, and I got a hit. I don’t need to wait for the official news report because the body dumped at the embassy in Sinaloa is Robin Barton, Sloane’s mother.”
42
CRISTIAN
“You’re sure it’s her mother?” I ask, smoothing a hand across my chest.
“Yes. I’ve seen the coroner’s report. It was gruesome reading.” Gia flattens a hand to her stomach. “She had been badly beaten and horrifically assaulted. Not all her injuries were recent. There was evidence of older abuse, older injuries.”
“The poor woman.” Elisa’s eyes flood with tears. “What she must have endured. Sloane too.”
“Don’t paint her as a victim,” Gia snaps. “Sloane had choices. She knew what she was doing.”
“How can you be so cruel, Gigi?” Elisa cries. “You were kidnapped and traumatized also!”
“I don’t need a reminder, Lise.” Gia cracks her fingers. “The difference is I fought back, and I didn’t put innocent lives at risk.”
“What if they’d taken your mother?” Elisa says, getting to her feet. “What if they were beating and raping Frankie if you didn’t do what they asked? What would you’ve done then?”
Gia stands. “I wouldn’t have risked a little boy I professed to love no matter what!”
“She took a bullet for Elio, and Cristian said she didn’t know they were going to target him. How can you not see she did what she could to protect them?”
“Gia is right,” I say. “Sloane had choices. All she had to do was tell me, and I would’ve helped her.”
“I’m sure she wanted to,” Elisa says, reclaiming her seat. “But she was clearly terrified. We could all see she was troubled. We should’ve tried harder to get to the truth.”
Gia barks out a laugh. “Hell no, Lise. We’re not putting this on us. We were her friends. She had ample opportunity to confide in us. She knows Cristian is a good guy. There was no reason to hold back from telling him.”
“You’re forgetting she wasn’t brought up in our world. She was a college student on vacation taken by the goddamned Sinaloa cartel. They had her for months! Think about it! What do you think they were doing to her to make her comply?”
“Stop.” Bile churns in my gut. “I can’t hear this.”
“You need to, Cristian,” Elisa softly says. “Sloane was obviously traumatized, terrorized, and depressed. We know they were watching her, sending her regular threats to comply. She wasn’t sleeping, and she was exhausted. I can’t imagine what she must’ve gone through.” Elisa sniffles. “How could anyone make sound decisions with all that stress and pressure?”
“She still had options, Lili. She should’ve trusted the man she was sleeping with,” Caleb says, speaking up for the first time.
“I don’t understand any of you.” Tears spill down Elisa’s cheeks. “Maybe it’s because I remember what my mom was like when she was married to that prick who hurt her all the time. I haven’t forgotten what she was like back then. She’s spoken to me about it. How fear and stress immobilized her. How she did things because he threatened to hurt us. You can’t know how Sloane was thinking or feeling. She was thrust into a trap, caught between a cartel and the mafia. Can you at least try to imagine what it must be like for someone sheltered from the evils of this world to be thrown headfirst into a living nightmare? She must’ve been so scared, and now she’s running for her life.”
“Stop it,” I shout, unable to hear this. “Just stop, Elisa.” I get up and pace, thoroughly conflicted.
