Antonio took a deep breath, and I knew whatever was about to come out of his mouth had the potential to shock me to my core.
“Four months ago, Matteo kidnapped her and her—your son.”
My temper rose.
“While he held her…” Antonio swallowed as if the words struggled to come out.
“Well?” I grew impatient. “Spit it out!”
“While Matteo held her…he also got her addicted to heroin.”
My heart stopped. No, it exploded, and I felt the blast straight through to every bone in my fucking body. “What?”
Kate stood. “My sister is an addict, Dante. He forced her to take the drugs so he could control her.”
For a few seconds, I allowed the words to sink in. I allowed it to settle in the pit of my stomach, to stew with the rage I had been feeling all morning. And then I grabbed the first thing I could find, a glass decanter, and threw it against the wall. The sound of my scream together with the shattering glass hit the roof with excruciating resonance.
“Dante, you need to calm down.”
I shot a warning glare at my brother. “Do not tell me to calm down. I have a fucking four-year-old son I never knew about. And now you’re telling me my woman—my son’s mother—is a junkie because Matteo fucking Mancuso forced her to use. I’m going to kill him.”
Antonio held out his hand, visually suggesting I calm down. “Just listen to everything we have to say first.”
I lifted a brow in disbelief. “There’s more?”
“A lot more.”
“Fuck,” I muttered then sat back down. My body suddenly felt drained of all life.
Kate looked at Antonio before he gestured for her to go ahead. “Layla refused to cooperate with Matteo while he had Rafe. She refused to ask for a hit, and Matteo had to force her every time. So she made a deal with him.”
A chill ran down my spine. “What deal?”
Kate struggled to talk, so Antonio continued. “That she would remain using on her own if he lets Rafe live with Kate. Layla would not attempt to leave. She would not attempt to tell you anything about their planifMatteo gave his word that Junior would go free. Matteo agreed.”
I snorted. “And she actually thought Matteo’s word meant anything?"
“No. She didn’t.”
“That’s why she brought him to me,” Kate said. “She brought Rafe to me with strict orders to take him somewhere and not to tell her where.”
Lucio handed me a full glass of bourbon over my shoulder, which I took and gulped down like it was manna from Heaven. “So,” I swallowed the sting of the alcohol, “where did you take him?”
Kate looked at Lucio. “Could I have one too?”
Lucio’s eyebrows almost reached his hairline.
Kate shrugged. “If anyone needs hard liquor right now, it’s me.”
I nodded when Lucio glanced my way and waited patiently for him to hand her the drink before pushing for more answers. “Where did you take him, Kate?”
She cringed after taking a sip of the bourbon. “I know someone who works at a children’s home. He agreed to take Rafe in under an alias.”
I had to give it to the woman. She was quite smart in all of this.
“Okay, so,” I placed my glass down on the table, “I have about a thousand different questions right now, but time is running out, and there will be more than enough time for all the answers once I get Layla back.”
Antonio’s eyebrows slanted inward, staring at me in disbelief. “You have a child, Dante. A son. Surely you want to address that first.”