Page 69 of Curse

Which means the Irish could be looking for payback. Darragh MacCuinn runs the MacCuinn Clan, and he wouldn’t let a slight like that go unanswered. But as far as I know, Mikey was on the run of his own accord and anyone who went with him chose to do so, which means that the Irish wouldn’t blame the Demonios for his death.

And how would Siena’s death serve the purpose of revenge, even if Darragh did want payback?

It doesn’t make sense. None of it does. Too many people are lying. Franco seems to believe that Aurelio killed Mikey, but Vin was adamant the day I called him from the crash site that Aurelio was on the war path because he didn’t know who killed Mikey.

Aurelio himself claimed the hit to me, Vin, and Tommy yesterday, but at the same time he said that he had already “taken care of” Siena and that wasn’t true.

I guess I can understand why he would lie to someone like Franco and say he took out Mikey, but why would he lie to us about that? To make it more credible that he had done something to Siena while I was away?

But why lie about Siena at all?

And then it hits me.

Because he knew I’d leave him and go straight to her, revealingwhere she has been hiding out.

FUCK.

I leave Franco bleeding on the floor and run straight back to Siena’s room as fast as I can, my pulse racing.

Bursting into the room, my breathing stops. I’m too late.

The door is open, the room a wreck. My heart pounds as I take it in: the overturned chair, her jean jacket in a heap, the bed we shared an hour ago in shambles.

I move across the room as if in a trance, picking up the jacket, inhaling her scent—basil shampoo, sex. And love. My guts twist.

“Matti!” Olivia’s voice cuts through the haze. She’s leaning in the doorway, tears streaming down her face, her lip bloody and swollen.

“Aurelio’s guys?” I demand.

She nods, trembling. “I couldn’t stop them. I’m sorry. I don’t know where they took her.”

“I do.” My voice is cold steel.

I fucking knew it. He followed me straight to her, took his time dredging up men who would be willing to cross me and take her. And because only cowards fit that description, they waited to strike until I was gone and she was alone.

I right the chair, throwing Siena’s jacket hard against the wall in frustration. Something clatters to the cement floor. I bend down to pick it up and freeze.

It’s a flash drive.

Holy shit, it’stheflash drive.

Siena fucking lied to me. I put my family on the line—my life on the line—defending her, and she had this thing the whole fucking time?

What the fuck?

35

Siena

My vision is blurred, my head pounding as I edge into consciousness. My arms ache, and when I try to move them, I realize they’re bound, tied tightly above my head.

Panic bubbles in my chest as I writhe against the restraints and find that my ankles are locked in place as well, held by something solid. A wooden board, rough and unyielding, presses against the back of my body.

I can’t fucking move.

The realization sends me into a panic. I writhe against the restraints, desperation bleeding from my pores, but I immediately regret it. I’m completely naked and the coarse wood scrapes against my bare skin, sending sharp splinters into my back. I cry out, but the sound is muffled by fabric stuffed into my mouth.

Tears sting my eyes as I struggle to focus, my breath coming in rapid, shallow bursts.

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