It’s only a moment later, and her husband is barreling through the apartment door. Breaker’s eyes meet mine, and I see something there that never bodes well. Pity.
“Did you find her?!” Aurora asks, and he shakes his head.
“She’s not in the shop?” I ask, grabbing a shirt and slipping my shoes and holster on before making sure both of my guns have a round in the chamber.
“No. But that’s not all, Sebastian. Her house…” Breaker says with a grimace.
“Matteo is there. He was supposed to be coming to open the shop with her. We’ll go there first.” I slide my knife into the sheath at my back, pushing past him.
“It’s gone, Sebastian.” he says, stopping me in my tracks.
“What do you mean gone?” I ask, my tone glacial.
“Burning to the ground. I got an alert that someone cut the power to her security system. By the time I got there, the fire was out of control. There are at least half a dozen trucks still trying to put it out now. But there won’t be anything left of it. We came straight here to find her, but she wasn’t in the shop. There was…it looks like there was a struggle, Seb.” He replies, fury building in my chest.
“FUCK!” I roar, knowing I should never have allowed myself the comforts of rest when things were so unsettled.
“Matteo?!” I ask, desperation in my voice. I didn’t see any missed calls or messages from him. If the house was engulfed, I can only imagine…
“We didn’t see any sign of him either, Sebastian. I’m sorry.” Breaker replies, and without hesitation, I put my fist through the drywall next to the front door.
Pulling his number up on my phone, I call and listen to the phone ring and ring. He’s not dead. I know he isn’t. I would know. I’ve known him almost all my life. He’s closer to me than nearly anyone else on this planet. I would know if he were dead.
“Pick up your fucking phone, Teo. Pick it up, pick it up, pick it up…” I mumble to myself. Break and Rory exchange worried glances with one another, like they’re sure I’m losing my mind. Maybe I am.
My best friend is missing, possibly burned alive in his bed. My woman,my world, has been taken from me. My empire is under attack. And my army, the bulk of my men, is in Italy. I could maybe scramble a few dozen from Florida within a few hours, but I have no idea what Luca’s end game is here. I don’t know where he is or what he’s doing to Vanessa as we speak.
I try calling Enzo next, knowing no matter what happens next, I need some kind of reinforcement here. His phone goes straight to voicemail. Am I too late? Has he already targeted my home in Italy?
“Do you have any way of tracking her?” Breaker asks, my mind barely able to focus for more than a second.
“I don’t know if she has her phone.” I reply, and Rory’s face falls.
“I found it on the floor downstairs.” she says, dropping it onto the counter.
“Nothing else? You’ve got to get her some jewelry. When this is over, I’ll send you the info for my dealer. All of Aurora’s jewelry has tracking devices built into it,” Breaker says, opening an app on his phone.
“I just love how obsessively controlling you are,” Rory says, smiling up at her husband.
“Scold me later, it keeps you safe.” he says, scrolling through several screens. “Does she have any other devices? A watch? Anything like that?”
“She’s worse than me about tech. Her watch isn’t even digital.” I reply, threading my fingers through my hair. The inaction is killing me. I have to do something.
“What about her earbuds? I only found the case downstairs. Maybe…maybe she has them?” Rory says, and Breaker smiles widely, kissing her square on the lips.
“You brilliant, beautiful woman! I have to get to a computer. I think I have a backup next door at the tattoo shop. I’ll be right back.” he says, turning to leave.
He only makes it a few steps before someone collides into the doorframe. A body, bloody and bruised, props himself up against the wood. His face is covered in black soot, half his chest and right arm burned and ravaged. Matteo pants, looking half dead, barely holding himself on his feet.
“Holy Jesus fucking walking dead!” Rory says, rushing to his side.
She eases herself under his good side, taking his weight and helping him onto the couch. He needs a fucking hospital, but there would be too many questions. The skin on his chest and arm is charred, the burn severe. It should’ve been me.
“We need clean linens, not towels. Grab a sheet and run it under some cool water. Rory go downstairs and grab some honey from the shop. As many bottles as you can.” Breaker jumps into action, already calling someone on his phone.
I rush to the bedroom, grabbing the sheet and running it under the kitchen tap. I’ve made many advantageous friendships in my life, but Breaker is definitely one I don’t think I could live without. My mind can’t stop to process all the things he’s asking for as he answers a dozen questions for whoever is on the other end of the phone. Iris maybe? Or one of the other guys from the tattoo shop? I know they frequently work together. At one point, they were all in the Marine Corps together. Some kind of specialized unit where they learned things like how to triage major burns in the field without access to a hospital, apparently.
“Yes, he’s coherent. He’s looking at me right now, Tate,” he says into the phone. “Okay, we’ll keep him conscious. Aurora will be here with him. Yes. Yes. I’m not a complete dumbfuck. Good point. Okay. Thank you.”
