“Take a shower, get some rest. I’ll have someone bring you food in a bit. You need anything else?” he asks, and I shake my head, no. With that, he closes the door behind me, leaving me in the small room. I stand there for a minute, just taking in the new situation and processing everything that has happened in the last few hours.
I’m tired, so freaking tired, I could fall asleep standing up, but the smell of my armpits is enough to wake the dead, so I definitely need to take a shower first. I start to explore the room, and just like he said, there are men’s clothes in the closet and towels in the bathroom. The shower is stocked with new soap and shampoo.
Stripping out of my soiled clothes, I turn the water on hot and take the longest shower of my life. I wash my hair and rinse it three times until I feel clean enough to get out. I felt so dirty after not showering for days.
When I’m done, I dry off and slip into one of the oversized men’s T-shirts, and crawl into the bed. It doesn’t look like it, but after sleeping on the grimy old mattress, this seems to be the most comfortable thing ever.
It doesn’t take me long to fall asleep. I feel myself drifting off the moment my head hits the pillow. My last thought is that I hope tomorrow is going to be a better day.
5
Matteo wasn’t happy when I came back to the house without Dove in hand. In fact, he was almost more upset than me, which confused and enraged me all at once. The beast in me was beating violently against the cage that housed him, wanting so badly to break free. Part of me wanted to unleash him just to see what would happen. Dove is mine, and I’ll kill him to prove it if I have to.
All I have to do is hold out a little bit longer before I can kill him and toss him aside, like the asshole he is. Until then, I have to follow his orders, at least if I want to find Dove. Which, as of right now, includes going to Damon Rossi’s strip club to demand a meeting with his brother, which I’m one-hundred percent sure isn’t going to happen.
“Why do I have to take Alberto with me?”
“Because I said so,” Matteo says. I don’t understand why he insists on his second in command coming with me to see Damon Rossi. There must be more behind it than him sending a babysitter.
“I don’t care to be a part of your pissing contest with Xander Rossi. All I care about is Dove,” I barely get the words out. My patience is as thin as the blade I plan to slit Matteo’s throat with.
“This is part of getting her back, you want her back, you do this. Otherwise, you might as well have tied a nice little bow around her.”
“Shut up!” I growl, knowing that if I didn’t need this bastard right now, I would already have bashed his head in.
“I shouldn’t have to tell you to be grateful that I’m even offering to help you. I could’ve shot you dead, after the way you marched in here,” he sneers, curling his lip. “Remember, it’s you who needs me… I don’t need you.”
I don’t get a chance to respond before he walks out, the sound of the door slamming, echoes through the room. I’m exhausted, angry, and disappointed…I’ve never felt the way I’m feeling right now. Hopeless beyond measure. I’m doing everything I can to stay afloat, but the waves of despair keep crashing into me. I need Dove. Need her scent surrounding me, need to feel her body against mine, but above all, I just need to know that she is okay, and none of that will happen until I finally have her in my arms again.
Shoving the emotions that are threatening to overtake my psyche down, I mentally prepare myself to talk to Damon Rossi. I’m not stupid, walking in there and demanding a meeting with Xander isn’t going to go well for me. The fucker will most likely laugh in my face, but I have to do this. I have to try and find out where they have Dove, and what they’re doing to her. This is no longer about her just being mine.
This is about me protecting her, saving her. We were destined to be together since the night she was dropped off at my foster home, and though I’m nobody’s white knight, I’ll do anything to save her. Anything.
A neon sign flashes brightly back at me as I pull into the parking lot of Night Shift. I’ve been pissed off since I left Matteo’s, and I get the feeling coming here is only going to sour my mood further. I’m tired of the mafia games. I never should’ve left the safe house with Dove.