“It’s in my way. I’m not going to shoot anyone.”
I set the gun far away from me, then unzip the interior pocket of the bag and pull out Rosie’s letter.
It’s been folded and refolded so many times that it might fall apart any second, but I open it and read it to them.
“There wasn’t a return address, but it was postmarked from Vegas, so I let the apartment go, and within two weeks, I was living here with a new job. The only thing I had to go on was the fights she mentions in the letter.”
I turn to Mateo and see that the smile is gone from his handsome face.
“But no one would tell me if there were underground fights here. So, for the first year I lived here, all I did was walk every fucking inch of this city, looking for her. Then, one day at work, a client told me that he was going to be fighting, and he must not have cared who was listening because he gave me all of the info I needed to find your fights.”
Mateo’s eyes narrow, and I don’t know if he’s mad or if he’s just absorbing what I’m saying. My eyes move to the others, and they’re just soseriousand scary that I have to stand and pace, not even caring about my hurt ankle.
“You guys are intimidating, you know that?”
“What happened next, Violet?” Rome asks.
“I went to the fights as often as I could. But I never really watched the fight, I watched the crowd, looking for my sister. If that man made her go, I figured I’d see her there. But I’ve been going for months and haven’t seen her at all.”
“How did you know about the warehouse tonight?” Carson asks.
“Um.” I wince and take a deep breath. Jesus, I’m showing them mywhole hand, and that makes me so nervous. “Well, I get on the dark web often to look for her name, to try to see if I can get any information?—”
“You get on thedark web,” Mateo repeats, and his jaw clenches.
“Yeah, I had a client once who traded his knowledge for my art. It was mutually beneficial. Anyway, the other day, I found it. It said they were moving girls, needed security, and gave the date, time, and location.”
“What the fuck,” Carson mutters.
“And you thought it was a good idea to go there,” Mateo says, “without backup, by yourself, and do what, Violet?”
“See if Rosie was there. Because there isn’tanythingI won’t do for her. She’s mysister. I failed her before, and I need to know where she is.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before? We could have had a conversation, and I would have helped you.” Mateo’s hands are in fists on the table.
“I didn’t know you. When I saw you that first night at the fight, I overheard people talking about you owning the whole thing, and I didn’t know if you worked with Damien, or if he worked for you, oranything.”
“So you came to my house, let me fuck you, drugged me and then ransacked my place?”
I wince again and my lip aches. “Boy, that sounds bad. First of all, yes. I did those things. But I didn’tplanthat. I just wanted to talk to you, but then the chemistry was there, and ...fuck.”
I pace the room and push my hands through my still-damp hair.
“I didn’tknow. I’ve been so fucking confused because Ilikeyou. I enjoy the hell out of you, and everything in me wanted to trust you, but I didn’t know, and if I was wrong about you andyoudidwork with him, and I got in your way, you could have killed me.”
Mateo’s jaw works.
“When I saw that you owned a sex club, I thought maybe they make the girls work there and maybe I’d find Rosie there.”
Now Rome’s face goes stony.
“Fuck no,” he says.
“Obviously. You have a really great club, by the way. But I didn’t know for sure at the time. To be honest, when I walked in there, I hoped with everything in me that she worked there. Especially after the bartender assured me that consent is so important. I thought it would at least be a safe place for her, but she wasn’t there.”
“So, you thought that I could be capable of enslaving women, make them work in the sex trade in a club?—”
“I didn’t say that. I hoped it wasn’t youso badbecause how could I be so attracted to you and have so much fun with you, and also worry that you’re a monster?”
