Page 24 of The Italian Reckoning (A New York Criminal Empire #3)

SARAH

M atteo Barati stalks into the penthouse with the clack of his cane echoing on the marble floor. Rocky lunges toward me as if trying to get between me and the armed guards who jog down the steps, but before he can reach me, he’s tackled away by one of the men leaping at him.

A tall guard reaches me and painfully grips my upper arm, twisting my limb away from my body and drawing a cry of pain from the depths of my chest. That noise seemingly ignites something in Rocky and he floors his attacker with one punch, then climbs to his feet and once again tries to reach me.

Three more guards intervene and Rocky is swiftly overpowered, subdued by several punches to the face that split the skin above his eyebrow, and forced to his knees on the rug.

Fear about confronting the killer is swallowed by fear that the man who wants me dead is walking down the steps toward us. Luckily, perhaps, he ignores me and turns his fury on his son.

“I have had a very tense, very exhausting few days, Rocky, so I expect you to answer me clearly,” Matteo says, stopping a few feet away from his son.

“Tell me I was informed that not only is the cop I ordered to be killed still alive and well in your penthouse, but you killed the two guards sent to kill her. And to top it off, I find out my son is having sit down conversations with the Irish Captain behind my back. Do you think I’m stupid , Rocky?

Do you think I can’t see what you’re trying to do? ”

My heart pounds like a drum against my ribcage as the guard holding me makes sure to keep just enough pressure on my arm that one wrong move and my shoulder might pop out of place.

Seeing Matteo with Rocky like this is so different from the man who collected his son from interrogation.

Back then, he looked like a father doing everything he could to protect his son, but now?

There’s a tinge of disgust in his furious eyes and suddenly, the truth is glaring.

It’s not love that fuels Matteo to get his son out of these situations.

It's obligation and fear. Fear that the one who knows him the best will reveal something to his enemies, or worse, make a move himself. Rocky has never struck me as ruthless, but Matteo clearly fears it with how he bears down on his son like he’s nothing more than a ratty informant.

“It’s not what you—” The words are barely out of my mouth when the fist of my guard slams into my face and sends me crumpling to the floor. I’m hauled up a second later with my head spinning and my jaw throbbing in time to my racing heart.

“Leave her alone!” Rocky surges up only to be wrestled back to his knees by his guards while Matteo lifts his cane and places it precariously against Rocky’s throat.

“ Answer me .”

“She’s right, it’s not what you think! I told you I would protect her because I owe her a debt, don’t you see?

She saved my life at the gala and I can’t sit by and let her be snuffed out when she went above and beyond to bring me back to you!

” Rocky speaks hurriedly, tripping over his words in his desperation to get them out in one breath.

“And yes, I sat down with Cormac, but it was drinks as friends. You know we’re friends!

He doesn’t hold a grudge about Noah and I’m keeping him sweet, checking in like you taught me.

I promise, Dad. I promise it’s nothing sinister. ”

Rocky isn’t telling him the whole truth. Why? Won’t Matteo care that some maniac is killing people under his wing? Or does Matteo not care for the smaller man?

“And the second body?”

All color drains from Rocky’s face but he keeps on talking.

“I was getting to that. Evelyn, you know her. Cormac’s wife?

One of her girls was found dead and she knew about Belle, okay?

It’s all over the news, so she reached out.

We compared notes, that’s all. The people are worried, so I took action, and I know you said not to do anything, to ignore it and forget it, but people are looking to us for help, Dad.

So I acted, and everyone thinks I’m acting on your orders, so it’s a win for everyone!

You look good to our families, and the Irish think you have a handle on things?—”

“Under my orders,” Matteo repeats. “You go against me but tell me it’s fine because everyone thinks it’s my orders.

But it isn’t my orders, is it, Rocky?” Matteo leans forward into his cane, pressing the tiny, narrow tip into Rocky’s throat.

He only has a few inches of space to lean back and when he swallows, it’s painfully audible.

“No, sir.”

“And you.” Matteo’s dark eyes snap to me. “Nothing more than a fucking distraction. How weak I look, letting my son run around with a cop.”

“Kill me, then,” I challenge fiercely, eager to take attention off Rocky.

“Go on. I dare you. Kill the only cop who cares about your people getting murdered, the only one who’s trying to catch the real killer so there’s no mistaken identity and war on the streets.

See how far that gets you because once my death is splashed all over the news, what will happen then?

You think it will just go away? You think the people I have back in Montana will give a shit about your payroll here? ”

My words bleed confidence, but I don’t feel a single drop of it in my heart.

I’m running on pure fear and adrenaline after my phone call with the killer.

I have no one back in Montana who will care if I die, but hopefully, Matteo doesn’t know that.

If there’s anything I can do to act like I have weight behind me, I’ll take it.

“She’s right, Dad!” Rocky drags attention back to himself once more as Matteo straightens his shoulders and drops his cane away from his son’s throat.

“Without her, we would have started a war with the wrong people and then we’d be caught up in a bloodbath making mistakes we could never fix.

We’d destroy our relationship with everyone, including all the families under us, because that’s what gives us power.

You know that. And Sarah’s just…” His eyes dart to me for a brief second.

“She’s a nobody, okay? Just a debt I have to repay like you taught me.

But I swear once this is over, I’m yours.

Whatever you need from me, I will do. Whatever you want me to do, I am there.

Because I’m ready to really learn and follow in everything you have to teach, but please, don’t let me be known as the Barati who doesn’t pay his debts. ”

Something gets through to Matteo. It’s unclear to me exactly which parts of Rocky’s speech resonated with him, but Matteo takes a step back and with a flicker of his eyes, the guards around Rocky step back.

The cocky, relaxed playboy Rocky seems to have been replaced by this serious, determined man who sounds like he’s signing away his entire future just to keep me alive.

Fuck.

I’m going to pass out.

Just a few hours ago, we were fucking like rabbits, and now I’m facing down certain death with Rocky at the mercy of his father. Their dynamic is painfully different from what I first thought, and as Rocky’s shoulders sag, there’s a flicker of something in his eyes when he glances at me.

Defeat, I think.

“Fine,” Matteo says as if he’s speaking through clenched teeth. “I will not allow this to go unpunished.”

“Wait!” Rocky lurches upward as Matteo snaps his fingers.

The three men around Rocky latch onto him and drag him backward toward the table where the black phone lies discarded and forgotten about.

Something about the panic in Rocky’s voice is a spear to my heart, and I surge forward on instinct, only to be held in place by my guard while Matteo turns and stalks toward me.

“Wait, wait!” Rocky cries out, but he’s blocked from view by Matteo as he stands in front of me. Then, despite his shorter stature and build, Matteo’s hand clamps around my throat with impressive strength and lifts me clean off my feet.

Pain swells in my neck under the force of his squeezing fist, breathing becomes a thing of the past, and I choke painfully as pressure rapidly builds behind my eyeballs. I kick my feet and claw at Matteo’s wrist but he’s unfazed.

Through the haze that descends, I glimpse the shape of Rocky being forced down onto the table with those three men surrounding him.

My heart beats faster and faster while tears leak from the corners of my eyes, and I kick out my feet once again.

Matteo’s grip tightens and he brings me an inch away from his face.

“You are more trouble than you are worth,” he growls softly. “But if you serve as the tool I need to keep Rocky in line, then count yourself very lucky that I am a merciful man.”

“Wait, wait—please, no!” Rocky’s begging dissolves into a wail then suddenly, a sharp, agonized scream as the most sickening, gut-wrenching snap of bone echoes around the room. My stomach rolls in utter horror while Rocky’s screams of pain ring in my ears.

“If I ever see you in my territory again,” Matteo growls over the pained sobs of his son, “I’ll skin you alive, do you understand?”

I can’t think. I can’t breathe. My head feels like it’s about to explode.

Matteo shakes me roughly. “Do you understand ?”

“Y–Yes!” I’m barely able to squeak the word out before the lack of air and my racing heart send me crashing into a smothering darkness.