piece together the puzzle. We were still missing something.
“Did Luca—Stop,” I yelled, my eyes fixating on Luca and a couple of guys entering the building. “When was that?”
“Yesterday afternoon. A little after one.” My eyes narrowed, watching as security stopped them to interrogate Luca about his friends.
“Wait, freeze it and zoom in. Motherfuck—”
“That’s Nate and Isaac, Luca’s friends,” Matteo cut me off. “We met them the other night at the bar.”
The ground went from under me. “That’s the guy.” I jabbed my finger at the grainy image.
“Who, Isaac? No way! We both met him, he seemed legit.”
“I’m telling you, that’s the fucking guy. Fuck.” I blew out a steady breath. “I need to know everything you know about that guy, stat.” Adrenaline pumped through me, blood roaring in my eyes. I was staring right at him. The guy responsible for killing Gino, the guy who had left the package for me at La Stella and the VCTI. The guy I knew without doubt had taken Nora.
“I don’t know anything about him,” Matteo said around a tight expression. “His friend Nate hooked up with Nora’s friend Lucii.”
“Arianne knows her.” Nicco pulled his cell out to call his wife. It was the middle of the night, but I had no doubt that Arianne would be glued to her phone waiting for any word from Nicco.
He disappeared out of the room. “I can’t believe it. We were right there at the club with him. He seemed… normal.”
“This isn’t on you, Matt. The fucker is toying with us.” It was a game. Some sick, twisted game.
Just then, Nicco came back into the room. “I’ve got Lucii’s name. Tommy is going to do his thing and dig up her number.”
“Good, that’s good.” Matteo shot me a concerned look.
“I’m okay.” I lied. Anger had infiltrated every inch of me, coursing through my veins like wildfire. But it wasn’t only anger I felt. The bitter sting of regret coiled around my heart.
This was all my fault.
No one could take that away from me.
We left La Luna and walked the short distance back to La Stella, piling into Matteo’s truck.
“We need that number,” I ground out, my leg bouncing uncontrollably.
“Tommy will come through,” Nicco said.
“He’d better.”
Because we had nothing else to go on. No clues. No leads. Just a name and a face.
And the hope that my cousins were right—that Nora wasn’t the endgame.
I was.
Chapter 28
Nora
My eyes flickered open to faulty strip lighting. It made it difficult to focus, the constant flicker. Dim then glare. Dim then glare. A brass band beat loudly in my skull, making me groan in agony.
Where the hell was I?
And why couldn’t I move?
Panic raced up my spine as I slowly found my senses. I couldn’t move because my hands were bound behind my back and my ankles bound together, secured to the chair I was seated on.
“What the—” The icy fingers of fear wrapped around my throat, stealing the words. “Hello,” I managed to choke out. “Someone help me.” Straining against the restraints, another wave of panic crashed over me.
This wasn’t happening, not again.
Breathe, I silently urged myself, just breathe. Somehow, I managed to calm myself, trying to focus on the things I could control, like my bodily functions. I might have been bound, but I still had my sight and hearing and my sense of smell. A groan sounded over to my right and my eyes strained against the poor lighting.
“Luca?” I gasped. He was slumped in the corner, hands bound in front of his body. “Luca, can you hear me?”
“N-Nora?” His eyes were heavy-lidded. “I’m sorry… so fucking… sorry.” He started to fall out of consciousness.
“Luca, stay with me, please… stay with me.”
“Hurts… it hurts.” His eyes fluttered open.
“What happened?”
The last thing I remembered was Luca jabbing me with a needle… and Maurice—
“Oh God,” my voice cracked, “what did you do?”
“I had no choice… he… he—”
“Well, well, you’re awake.” A figure stepped into the room and confusion welled inside me.
“Isaac?” My eyes grew to saucers.
“Surprise!” He smirked deviously.
“But… I-I don’t understand…”
“You’re not supposed to, baby. This is between me and your boyfriend.”
“My—what?”
It didn’t make sense. Isaac was Luca’s friend. He wasn’t the guy doing this.
He couldn’t be.
“You… why?”
“Why?” He stalked toward me, crouching to my eye level. “Now there’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?” Reaching out, he ran his knuckles down my cheek. Luca groaned to my right, but I didn’t look over at him.
“It was all you?”
“The Family’s enforcer, the break-ins, and my personal favorite, the VCTI. I’ve been