Page 19 of Dare To Free Us
Lorenzo lounged on the couch in his casual way, but I knew better than to think he didn’t own the room. His power gave him an ease that he carried everywhere. It always amazed me how Matteo looked so much like him. I often prayed when I was younger that Matteo wouldn't inherit Lorenzo’s vulgar attitude and complete disregard for human life. It became clear as I aged that Matteo was nothing like him. Matteo had a soul. Lorenzo did not.
Luca stood by the door and closed it for me once I entered. He had a dark look on his face but I rarely saw anything different from him unless it was himself, Matteo, and I alone. But something looked extra harsh about him today, which made me even more nervous than I already was.
A dark suit turned and Matteo eyes found mine. God, he was so handsome. My hands twitched at my sides, wanting to run into his arms and touch him everywhere. His brown eyes turned hard as they read my expression and I got the impression that that would be a bad idea at the moment. But the muscle ticking in his jaw told me he was having the same thoughts.
“Arianna,” my father breathed. “I didn’t know you were coming over.” His eyes flashed between Matteo and myself. “I’m having a meeting. Please wait with your mother, she will be happy to see you.” Father had been very careful to make sure Matteo and I wouldn’t cross paths at the house when he knew I was coming over.
“She stays,” Matteo’s deep voice commanded. “This meeting is about her after all.”
My father’s jaw clenched. “What are you talking about?”
“Sit down, Arianna,” Matteo asked as he gestured to the couch. I sat down across from Lorenzo who raised a curious eyebrow at me.
“You better explain what the hell is going on right now, Matteo. You said you had business to discuss, my daughter has nothing to do with that.”
“Luca.” Matteo reached out his hand. Luca came forward and handed him a thick envelope. He removed the contents and slapped them down on my father’s desk.
“Here is what’s going on, Alessio. Five weeks ago I found your daughter being harassed by the Russian mafia heir in a restaurant he normally wouldn’t be caught dead in.” My father’s wide, hazel eyes flashed to me. “After speaking with your daughter it was clear you are keeping secrets. How may times have the Russians pushed for your services?”
“Yes, Alessio, do tell,” Lorenzo added in a dark tone. Suddenly I was afraid for my father, I had no idea he had been keeping that information a secret. Lorenzo would be furious.
“It doesn’t matter. I told them to fuck off every time. They haven’t threatened me because they know you will protect your interests. They haven’t made threats so I didn’t see the need to bother you.”
“Oh their plan wasn’t to threaten you, Alessio,” Matteo said. “They planned to come after Arianna.” He let that hang in the air, then pointed at the stack of papers on the desk. “These are pictures from cameras all over the city, dated at different times. They have been watching her and following her, for weeks before Shura approached her that day.”
My father quickly skimmed through the pictures. His wide eyes hit my shocked ones. Chills crept up my spine. “Were they planning to kidnap me?” I asked, my voice shaking. It was the only logical explanation for stalking me and learning my routine.
Matteo turned to me. “Yes, the day I saw you in Angelo’s, Shura planned on not leaving without you.”
I felt sick. I rubbed my hands across the soft material of the sofa to keep me grounded. If Matteo hadn’t shown up…
“But not to kill you or torture you.”Torture!Now I was really going to be sick. “They wanted to force you to marry Shura.”
“What!” I wailed.
“What are you talking about son?” Lorenzo leaned forward, looking more interested than ever.
Matteo turned back to my father. “When you refused to do business with them they decided they wouldtakemore. Arianna is your only child, we all know that if something was to happen to you and your wife everything goes to her. They were planning to kidnap her and force her to sign a marriage certificate. You would be forced to do business with them and drop dealings with us by threatening you with her life. They would take over the city with little resistance because our businesses would come to a halt with limited places to send our money for laundering overnight. Then they probably would have killed you, so that all your money and property would go to Arianna, or rather, Shura.”
My father fell back into his seat.
I jumped from mine, my heart jumping wildly within my chest. “I never would have signed! How could they think I would?”
“You would have signed if they promised to keep your parents alive. Or tortured them in front of you,” Lorenzo stated calmly with a shrug of his shoulder.
I couldn’t disagree. Knowing myself I would have done anything if it spared them harm. The images Lorenzo’s words created in my mind made bile touch the back of my tongue.
“How do you know all this?” my father asked Matteo, darkness leaking into his eyes.
Matteo stiffened at his father deadly tone. “I asked Shura.”
Lorenzo rose slowly from the couch. “And he simply answered?” I’d never heard his voice so cold, so accusing.
“No.” Matteo turned to meet his father’s angry glare. “After the restaurant and the evidence she had been followed I had to wait for Shura to return from Russia. Then Luca and I went into his room at the Den Of Sin while he was fucking some whore and beat the shit out of him until he told me.”
Lorenzo’s eyes blew up. “You did what?” he roared. I’d never seen him so angry. I stepped back to create distance. Matteo might have started a war. Even I knew you didn’t go around putting your hands on another heir without the fallout being monumental. It was terrifying to think what Lorenzo would do and melted my heart to think Matteo was willing to risk it for me.
“It was the only way to show you that Arianna belongs withme,” Matteo ground out, holding back his own temper.