Antonio spat out a mouthful of blood. “What are we going to do?”
I rubbed the top of my fist, the flesh broken and swollen. Castello said he could only help us by containing the shipment, and that the rest was up to me. It was up to me to save her. And knowing Layla had planned to give her life to save me and our son, I had no other option than to succeed. I had to. She was no longer merely the woman I loved. Turned out she was also the mother of my child, a child I had yet to get to know. But by God, I would turn the pits of hell upside down to ensure Layla would come out of this alive.
I needed a plan. I needed a way to turn the tables, to give us control. Matteo was currently under the impression he was winning. His drug-addicted pawn had returned to him. He must have been feeling invincible as if he had the all the power. But he was wrong. He was so fucking wrong. There was no way he would win this battle—not with my woman as collateral damage.
I looked up at my father. “We need one more favor from Castello.”
Chapter 19
Layla
Matteo and I didn’t speak a word on our way back to the Mancuso mansion. It made me sick to think about it. About going back.
For the last four months, I had been held there against my will—technically. None of this was my decision. I didn’t want any of this. But my forced addiction didn’t give me any choice. Matteo dangled that needle in front of my face like a goddamn carrot to a donkey. And by the victorious smirk plastered on his face the entire time, he knew he had the upper hand.
“You knew I was with him.” I didn’t look at him.
“I did.”
“Why didn’t you come for me?”
He huffed out a laugh. “Oh, my dear Layla. I knew you’d come back.” He removed a pouch from his jacket pocket. “I have what you need.”
My heart pounded against my ribs, every vein in my body swelling, craving, burning with the need for the toxin. I licked my lips as I stared at the pouch, sweat trickling down my back. The painful stomach spasms intensified, anxiety making it increasingly difficult to breathe.
I closed my eyes, my mind a battlefield of memories, faces of those I loved, and the need to make it fade to gray as the heroin took it all away.
Focus, Layla. Think of him. Your son.
I turned my head and looked out the window. “You had the perfect opportunity with Dante taking me. In fact, it was what you waited for.”
“It was. Until I realized, why go to the enemy when the enemy will come straight to me?”
I snapped my glare in his direction. “You changed your plan?”
Hetsk’d, his vile tongue echoing the sound. “You really are clueless when it comes to your beloved mafia prince.” He turned in his seat to look at me straight on. “See, I knew he still carried a torch for you, but I didn’t realize he actually still loved youthatmuch, which is great…for me.” He reached out to touch a strand of my hair, but I jerked away.
The way he stilled, his eyes morphing instantly into orbs of anger, made me anticipate a punishment. But he took a deep breath, leaning back in his seat. “Everything is working out quite well. We’ll get rid of the Valentis one by one until there is no one left to stop us from building our fucking empire in this city.”
I bit my tongue. There were so many things I wanted to scream at him. So many insults I wanted to spit in his face. And if I was a stupid girl, I would have. But I’d learned not to taunt the devil, especially when you were sharing a corner in hell with him.
Matteo held out the pouch, smiling. I hated him. I hated him with everything I had in me. To me, he was the cruelest demon, and he was handing me poison like candy to a child.
For a few seconds, I wavered, wishing I had the willpower to refuse it. My soul shattered into a million pieces over and over and over again with every shot I accepted willingly—reluctantly.
Matteo’s eyes narrowed when he noticed my hesitation, and his glare made me slowly reach for the pouch, taking it from him.
It was another part of our deal. My full cooperation in feeding the addiction, which was already killing me slowly from the inside out, for the exclusion of my son in his little plan.
He smiled. “Good. As long as you keep using when told, I will stay true to my word as well. Rafe will remain unharmed and untouched by my vendetta against the Valentis.”
He thought I trusted in his word. That I would believe him when he said he would let my son be if I no longer fought the drugs. But I knew better. I knew his word meant nothing. Thank God Kate was clever enough to know what to do. The day I went to her, telling her about what was going on, she read between the lines, and she made sure Rafe could not be found by anyone.
But the tables had turned, and now I had to rely on Antonio to make sure my son was safe. The plan was for him to meet up with Lucio and Kate at an unknown—to me—location. I didn’t want to know anything in case Matteo thought he would be able to torture it out of me.
Then they would go for my son and take him back to the estate…to his father. After they were safe, Antonio would get the message to me.
As we drove through the gates of the Mancuso estate, I turned to look out the back window. The dark metal gates closed, but not before I saw the man wearing a red jacket walk past. The sign Antonio had said he would send me so I could know my son was safe.