Page 33 of Matteo
I looked back at the girls. They stared at us with a tiny flicker of hope, and it fucking hurt my chest to even think what they must have endured. I knew Áine King would handle them with care, that it was the right call for them.
“Okay, let’s go upstairs,” I offered, waving the girls over. “We have a safe place to take you and a team that will ensure you’re taken care of. Either your families can come for you, or this organization will take you back to them.”
That seemed to satisfy the girls, and one by one, they made their way over to us. We took them upstairs and sat them on the only couch in the living room as I dialed Áine. And then we waited. Thankfully, it took no time at all for Áine’s team to show up and usher the girls out of there and into safety.
“Well, I guess our work here is done,” Gabriel drawled, the three of us standing in the deserted house with even more questions.
“It feels like we didn’t accomplish jack shit,” Nikola muttered. “I’ll dig up the surveillance and see if the license plate?—”
He never got to finish the sentence because the front door flew open.
I didn’t hesitate to spur into action. In five strides, I was at the front door along with Nikola. Grabbing the man by his collar, I yanked him inside and Nikola shut the door behind him.
“One high note, and you’re dead,” I warned, shoving him into the wall as I pressed a gun against his skull.
His eyes bulged, darting around the room. “Where are the girls?”
“Long gone.”
“You better worry about yourself, dumbass,” Gabriel remarked dryly.
“Man, I fucking love visitors,” Nikola declared. “This one we can question.”
He stared at the full sleeves of tattoos decorating both of Nikola’s arms, his eyes settling on the one with his last name inked inside the raven. Recognition must have set in because the motherfucker paled.
“A Ni-Ni-Nikolaev?” he stuttered.
“Look at that. You’re a celebrity,” I noted. It only took one crazy motherfucker in the family to have the whole world buzzing with your name.
Unfortunately, the Nikolaevs now hadtwocrazies—Sasha and his nephew.
Dragging my attention back to the man, I pressed my forearm into his neck. “Now, you’re going to tell us everything you know, or I’ll let the crazy Russian play with you.”
“And trust me,” Gabriel drawled. “His games are sick.”
“I don’t know anything,” he cried. “I swear. I’m just here for my shift. I was only told to make sure the door to the basement stayed locked.”
“I’m so tempted to fucking tear you limb by limb,” I growled.
“Let me slice him into tiny pieces,” Nikola offered. “He’ll be alive longer and feel the pain better.”
“First you’re going to give us answers,” I gritted. Then, to give him false hope, I added, “Your answers will determine your punishment. Who do you work for? What were you going to do with the girls?”
His eyes darted behind me and he pointed at the dead guard. “I’m just a guard. I work for that guy. That’s all I know.”
I shoved him against the wall again, making it shake with the impact. “What was the plan? What were you going to do with them?”
“I don’t know,” he cried. “I don’t know. Nobody told us anything. Our only job was to keep the girls locked up until it was time.”
“Time for what?”
“Until someone else came to take them. I don’t know who or when.”
Fuck, this was proving to be futile.
“You do know what’s happening here, right?” Gabriel demanded.
“Sure do.”
