Page 30 of Matteo
“As a matter of fact?—”
“Watch my back,” I told Gabriel and Nikola, cutting off their bickering. “I’m moving in.”
Those dead guards were protecting something or someone, and I was determined to find out what or who it was. Walking deeper into the house, I found stairs that led into the basement.
I glanced over my shoulder and signaled I was going in.
“Why is it always the fucking basement?” Gabriel whispered as he and Nikola flanked me.
“Don’t worry,” Nikola whispered. “I can hold your hand if you’re scared.”
I shot them a warning look just as Gabriel flipped him off, and we started moving down the stairs. It wasn’t until we took the last step that we found five pairs of terrified eyes looking up at us.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Gabriel muttered. “Are those?—”
Women. No,girls. Filthy, battered girls. They couldn’t be older than thirteen, and if they were, they were seriously malnourished.
Huddled in the corner, they stared at us, petrified.
For a moment, we all stood frozen, staring at each other. I’d heard horror stories about human trafficking, but I’d never seen it firsthand. It was at this very moment that I finally understood why my father and his friends fought like hell against it.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” I said in a gentle voice, tucking the gun in the back of my pants. Nikola lowered his but didn’t put it away.
“Come out of there,” Gabriel coaxed. “We’ll take you home.”
They didn’t move, eyeing us warily, so I tried again. “We’re looking for someone related to an attack on my sister and friend.” One of the girls pointed to the left and all our eyes followed to a door. I stiffened. “Is someone there?”
“He left through that door.”
My brows scrunched. “Who?”
“The man.”
“I’ll go check,” Gabriel offered and took off, Nikola at his back.
“My friends will find him,” I said, keeping my voice even. The truth was I wanted to run after them too, but was hesitant to leave the poor girls without protection.
“How long have you been here?” Silence. “Can you at least let me know where your families are? We need to get you back to them.”
“You—you won’t sell us?” one of the girls stuttered.
“Of course not. That’s illegal.” My family did plenty of illegal stuff, but not this. Never this. Not that I’d ever tell that to these girls. “We’ll ensure you get back to your families.”
“You won’t make us into belles for organs?”
Fuck, this couldn’t be good.
“Huh?”
“One of the men kept bringing up the Belles and Mobsters Agreement,” she explained.
“What?” Gabriel and Nikola returned right on time.
I met his and Nikola’s gaze. “Nothing.”
“One vehicle is gone,” Nikola piped. “I’ll check the tags later and see if we can pin down the owner.”
“Now what did I hear about those agreements?” Gabriel inquired. The auctions had ended—or at least they should have—with the death of Benito King, decades ago.
