Mateo Caputo (Unseen Underground 2)

“Quick,” Mom whipped out, darting forward. “Get her in the back.”

“Fuck,” the person who was holding me grunted. A man. It was a man. “I should have knocked her out instead.”

“Just get her in the damn car,” Mom hissed.

The man spun me around sliding us both into the back of a car. My head bounced off of the door frame, and I gritted my teeth as it resonated through my brain. I hadn’t stopped kicking and screaming, trying to gain the attention of anyone around, but where we’d stopped was a blind spot, and with that thought, I stilled.

My head lifted, anger fueling me. “You trapped me,” I ground out, my eyes focused on my mom who slid in next to me. “You fucking trapped me!”

“Shut up!” she screamed back, lifting her lip in a sneer. “Or I’ll let them knock you out.”

“You won’t be letting us do anything.” I snapped my head around, my stomach dropping. “Hey there, Luna. It’s been a while.”

“Stan.” I pulled in a breath, trying to jerk out of the man’s hold as the car pulled away from the curb. I had to get out now before they took me somewhere. Right then, I had the opportunity to get away, but it didn’t matter how much I fought, the man’s arms were like steel pipes wrapped around me, making it hard to breathe. “Let me go,” I warned through gritted teeth.

“Nah.” Stan winked at me. “You’re a means to an end. Right now you’re useful.” He nodded, a signal to the man holding me. “Keep it that way and I won’t put a bullet between your eyes.”

The threat did nothing to calm me. There was no way I was going down without a fight. I wasn’t letting him do to me what he did last time. I wouldn’t be doing a job for him. I wouldn’t pay off my parent’s debt.

I should have listened to Mateo. I should have left the chains broken in pieces on the floor. Instead, I’d picked them right back up at the thought of getting my mom back.

I’d let her fool me. Again.

“Keep still,” the man said in my ear, and I froze, my muscles so tense I wasn’t sure I’d relax ever again.

“Fuck yo—” He slammed something over my mouth and nose. I inhaled deeply, thrashing my head as hard as I could. I heard the crunch of something and then wetness on the back of my head. I grinned. I’d head butted him—finally. Now all I had to…do…was…

My limbs felt like Jell-O, my muscles easing like melting butter. Darkness echoed at the edge of my vision, and the last thought I had before everything turned black was: I need to stay awake.

* * *

MATEO

My fingers drummed on the steering wheel as I waited for Aida to get into the SUV. Today had been manic as I gathered my soldiers and got to work investigating the information we’d gotten on Saturday about Stan. All we had was a name when we started this morning, and when I left the command center to come and get Aida, we still weren’t any further ahead.

Lorenzo wanted to send out a message. Luna may have done the final action, but it was Stan who had set her the job. He’d strong armed her, not giving her a choice. The most important thing was that it hadn’t been a spur of the moment thing. Luna had told me on the ride home from the party that they’d given her a fob to get into Romeo’s car.

I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought about how she’d gotten into it before then. But it confirmed that Stan had planned it. Which made it all the more crucial to find out who he was, and show him what happened when you crossed us.

I only had an hour until Mr. Blue would be at the mansion, and I still had to fill Lorenzo in beforehand. He’d been stuck in meetings all day with Christian, and I’d been holed up in the command center.

My gut churned, telling me I needed to get back asap, so as soon as Aida slipped into the back, I didn’t hesitate to pull away from the curb.

“Whoa.” She clipped her belt in. “Someone’s in a rush.”

“Sorry,” I clipped out, grimacing. “I need to get back. We’ve got some stuff going on.”

She waved her hand. “I get it. Things are crazy right now.” She groaned. “To be honest, I’m not feeling too good.” She yawned, her body slumping. “I think I need to take a nap.”

I chuckled, but it wasn’t my usual laughter. It was a sound to fill the space as I whizzed back to the mansion. Something was eating at me. Something I couldn’t put my finger on. Why hadn’t we found anything? Why hadn’t the name Stan come up once?

Each one of us had called our contacts on the streets. And no one knew a damn thing.

I dragged my hand down my face as I pulled to a stop at a red light. It wasn’t adding up. It just didn’t make any damn sense.

“Mateo?” Aida called from the backseat. I glanced at her in the rearview mirror. She pointed ahead. “The light is green.”

“Shit.” I slammed my foot on the accelerator. I wasn’t paying attention. Fuck. I couldn’t afford to be distracted, not when I was responsible for Aida’s safety.