Page 181 of The One
I check the display and freeze.
Maybe I do know.
Maybe I was waiting for this call.
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Mateo
How did she find out?
Tiero always said he could sense when she wasn’t okay.
Is it the same for her?
I swipe to answer, but the call ends before it connects.Damn.
My grip on the phone tightens.
She is the solution.
If anyone can give Tiero the will to pull through, it’s her.
Before I can think twice, I hit redial. No matter what, she deserves to know.
Her phone rings a few times before she answers.
“Hello?” she says, a little out of breath.
“Ella, it’s Mateo.” Even to my own ears, my voice sounds strained.
A pause.
“What happened? Is Tiero okay?” she asks without a greeting.
God, how do I tell her?
“Mateo?” she whispers.
The despair in her tone tells me I’m right. She knows Tiero needs her.
“Ella. Tiero is in bad shape. He might not have long.” The words are hard to force out, my throat tightening around them.
I don’t want to say them. Saying them makes it real.
Rom’s gaze locks onto mine, as if he’s reading the hesitation in my eyes. Yeah, yeah, I know what I just told you, what I’d like to believe, but Ella needs to understand how urgent this is.
There’s no time for second-guessing.
“What happened?” she all but chokes out.
“He got shot in the chest. Unless we find a lung donor within the next seventy-two hours, he’s not going to make it.”
“Who did this? Molinaro? I thought he was dealt with?” Anger now edges her voice.
“Molinaro is dead. Has been for weeks. We have no clue who’s responsible, but we will find out.” My voice hardens with conviction.
I will find the person who did this, if it’s the last thing I do. And then they and everyone associated with them will die.
