With a shake of his head, he says, “There was one we didn’t know about. It wasn’t in his name or anyone else's associated with him. That’s how it slipped through.”
“What about Catherine? Why didn’t she tell us?”
“Niko asked her, and she barely remembers it. She was just a small child when they moved from there,” Matteo shrugs, “and believe me, Niko put her through the wringer to make sure she wasn’t lying.” Matteo grimaces, and I don’t even want to know what Niko did to make sure she wasn’t lying.
“Another thing, Damian wasn’t alone.”
My face must morph.
“There were two other women with him.” Matteo pauses and takes a breath. I can see his shirt rise and fall. “I found my girl. I found my Clover. They had her down there for two years, Luca. Two. Can you even fucking imagine? I can’t.” His eyes become watery, but he closes them and shakes his head, as if he can’t let us see his emotions.
“Clover? Catherine's sister?” I say in disbelief.
A sad smile takes over Matteo’s face. “What kind of father could do that to their own child?”
I’m so fucking confused. “Wait, then who was the other girl? You said there were two?”
“Soleil Martin, she said she was down there for two months. We know little about her, but Clover says Soleil is the only reason they’re out now. And I have to trust my girl.”
My skin feels itchy. “Fuck. Where’s Briggs?”
“Dead,” Thomas booms from beside me. “Damian took him out. Also, according to Clover, Ryland is the one who put Soleil down there.”
“It’s always these motherfuckers.” I stand and pace back and forth. “Who put Clover down there?” I look at Matteo, and anger overtakes his face. “He and her father allowed Timothy to have his way.”
Timothy. My eyes widen as Matteo nods his head. “Holy shit.” The way this all comes full circle is crazy. Timothy from the woods, who tried to take Rowan. All I can do is shake my head.
"Well, thanks to Damian, he has now cut off the head of the snake."
They both nod their heads at me.
“I’m going to go check on my girl. I’ll talk to you both later.” I exited the kitchen, heading to Damian’s room. Softly knocking, I enter, and when I do, I spot Damian awake. Not being able to stop myself, I rush to him, pulling him into my arms.
“Ease up, big guy,” he grunts at me.
“Shit, sorry. We’ve been worried sick.” I point to Rowan and myself as I pull away from Damian, letting him breathe. I can’t help but pace, my hands finding my hair. “We should have thought about what-ifs. I should have made sure one of the guys rode with you. This would have never happened.” I point to his bullet-holed body. “Fuck, Damian, I’m sorry.”
“You both need to stop. I’m here.” Damian smiles weakly at us. And he’s right, but fuck, he was so close to not being here anymore.
I can’t help but want to help him when he moves around, but his face tells me to fuck off, but his words are different. “Ease up.”
“This whole thing is bigger than what we thought,” I mutter to him.
Damian scrunches up his face.
“The other girl with you, Clover. That’s Matteo’s girl. He’s been looking for her for two years. He thought she was hiding from him.” I pause for a minute to let him digest it. “And she’s Catherine's sister.”
We keep talking, but he cuts Rowan off. “Where’s Soleil?” His voice laced with panic.
“Is she here at Matteo’s?” I ask because Matteo didn’t elaborate on her much.
“Yes. Or she was. I saw her when they brought me in,” he says.
Rowan pats his leg, thinking I also know nothing about Soleil, but Matteo and Thomas just told me about her. As she tells Damian, she’ll find out what’s going on.
With it just being him and me in the room, I take the moment to pick his brain.
“Do you think this is done, or more will come?” I ask him because all I can think about is Rowan. I can’t lose my heart. So, we need to make sure it’s all taken care of.
