“Cristian,” Gia calls from the hallway, and I slide off the bed, making my way to the door of her guest bedroom. Elio and I moved here six days ago, fleeing the penthouse the day after the attempted kidnapping and shootout. Gia and Joshua welcomed us into their home until our house is ready. I’ve spoken to the construction crew and told them to move the timeline up. I don’t care what it costs. I just need it ready ASAP. I don’t want my son in the city. It’s too dangerous with the cartel still on the prowl. They won’t get to him here, and it’s the best way of protecting him.
Our guys took three of them out, and Sloane…Sloane killed one of them. I only discovered that truth after I’d kicked her out of my house and my life. Not that it changes anything significantly. My heart still burns with the pain of her betrayal, but she killed him to protect Elio, proving that her feelings for my son were genuine.
I yank the door open. “What’s up?”
“There is something you need to see.” She lifts one shoulder in a gesture for me to follow her. “We’re worried about you,” she adds as we walk side by side along the hallway.
It’s late, and the kids are all asleep, so we talk in hushed whispers.
“Don’t be. I’m fine.”
“You’re not, and no one expects you to be. You don’t have to hide from us, Cristian. We’re all feeling the pain of her betrayal.”
I bark out a bitter laugh as we descend the stairs. “No offense, Gia, but none of you know the sting of betrayal the same way I do.”
“That’s not what I’m saying.” Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, she places her hand on mine. “If we’re feeling this so hard, I can only imagine how much pain you are in. Don’t feel like you can’t let it out, Cristian. It’s not good to let it fester inside.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I say, like I have every time one of my friends has tried discussing her. I’m still licking my wounds, and I need time. Sloane has crushed me. Far worse than Aliya did. I’ll talk to them when I can make sense of the mess in my head.
I stride across the large living area toward the couches where Caleb, Joshua, and Elisa await. They’re standing in front of the TV, wearing similar troubled expressions. “What is it?” I ask, pushing my way through my friends so I can see the screen.
“Listen to the report,” Joshua says, and we’re all quiet as the CNN reporter speaks from outside the US consulate building in Hermosillo, Mexico.
“The US State Department has issued a statement tonight confirming that a dead woman left outside the gates of the embassy here in Sinaloa two weeks ago has been identified as a US citizen. While her name has not yet been released to the press, the authorities are making the necessary arrangements to fly her back to the US in the absence of next of kin. We’ll update you as we receive more information on this breaking story.”
I turn to face my friends. “You think this is one of the women Cruz impregnated?”
“No.” Joshua scrubs a hand along his jaw. “Let’s sit.”
I sit beside Gia and Joshua on one couch, with Caleb and Elisa occupying the other couch across from us.
“Tell him, Gigi.” Elisa’s face splays with concern as her gaze darts between Gia and me. Caleb slides his arm around her shoulders, and I hate how the familiar affection serves as a reminder that the last time we were all here, Sloane was snuggled into my side, clinging to me like I was the air she needed to breathe. But it was all a ruse. A trap I fell headfirst into. How easy it was for her to lure me in. I’m so fucking weak and so fucking done with women. Screw love. All it does is make a mockery of me. Rubbing my hands up and down my face, I’m unsure if I can handle whatever news they have to share. I doubt it’s anything good.
“I didn’t want to say anything until I’d gathered more evidence.” Gia gently squeezes my hand. “The folder Dano gave me was very helpful, and I’ve been compiling more background on Sloane. I think I have a pretty good picture of what went down now.”
I could have investigated myself, but I chose not to. I don’t give a fuck if Sloane Clark is Sloane Barton. I know enough to hate her without needing to know everything. All week, I’ve been like a bull charging around the ring, and Sloane is the red flag. I’ve chosen to focus on my son, prioritizing his needs.
The shootout has traumatized him, compounded by Sloane’s absence. He’s had nightmares this week, and I’ve heard him calling out for her on more than one occasion. It breaks my heart, and I hate her even more for dragging my son into her sick agenda.
“Just lay it on me. It can’t break me any more.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” Joshua grimaces a little.
Caleb has been uncharacteristically quiet, and that troubles me.
“I think we were right,” Gia says. “Sloane gave the cartel the information on those women and kids. I’m so sorry, Cristian. It’s all my fault. I left the envelope on the counter in the kitchen the Sunday we left Sloane here alone. She must have opened it and taken copies of the files. It’s the only explanation that makes sense.”
“You don’t need to apologize. You opened your home to her, and she’s the one who betrayed that trust. It’s not on you.”
“Doesn’t make me feel any better. I should never have left the envelope in plain sight.”
“Don’t do this, love.” Joshua wraps his arm around her. “It’s not a crime to leave a sealed envelope out in your own home for a trusted friend. A home that is impenetrable because we have the best security system. You couldn’t have known.”
Gia turns to her husband. “You’re missing the point. Our home is only impenetrable if we trust every person we let into it. Sloane was a stranger, and I should’ve been more careful. I can’t help feeling guilty. If the cartel has those women and children, and it’s our best guess now, they’re as good as dead, and I contributed to their situation.”
“A stranger who was vetted twice,” Joshua reminds his wife. “What happened to those women is not your fault.”
“Your actions were natural, and you shouldn’t blame yourself, Gigi. But you’re getting sidetracked. Cristian needs to hear the rest. Tell him the other things you’ve discovered,” Elisa prompts.
“There’s no need to be so enthusiastic, Lise.”
My eyebrows lift at Gia’s caustic tone, and I sit up straighter. Those two rarely argue, but I’m definitely not imagining the strained tension in the air between them tonight.
“Don’t be like that,” Elisa quietly says.
“You’re too soft, Lise. You’re—”
“Darling. This isn’t the time.” Joshua rubs his wife’s arm. “Tell Cristian. He needs to know.”
Gia wets her lips and turns to face me. “When Sloane stayed behind that Sunday, she asked to borrow a tablet. I didn’t think anything of it until everything went down. She tried to hide her tracks, but it wasn’t too hard for me to recover her activity. It confirmed her identity without question.” Gia sets a tablet on my lap. “Sloane set up a fake Gmail and Insta account for the sole purpose of looking up this profile.”
“Rory Simmons,” I say, reading the name on the profile and staring at the woman with long, wavy, blue hair. I don’t recognize her at all. “Who is she?”
“Sloane’s best friend from Yale. She has campaigned relentlessly since Sloane and her mother disappeared while on vacation in Cancun.”
Chills tiptoe up my spine. “Say that again?” I ask, scrolling through post after post appealing to the authorities to do more to find Sloane and Robin Barton.
“Sloane was kidnapped by the cartel, Cristian,” Elisa says with tears in her eyes.
“We think they targeted Sloane to use as bait,” Caleb says. “Her mother was how they forced her to do their bidding.”
“Carmine was their man on the inside,” Joshua says.
“I still think Isa was involved,” Gia says.
“Darling, she loves Elio,” Joshua says. “She would never agree to any plan where the cartel would take him. Same for Rafaelo. Don Greco personally interrogated them both, and there is no evidence confirming they had anything to do with it. Rafaelo was sickened to discover Carmine was in debt to the cartel and colluding with them to kidnap Elio. As much as I hate that man, he would never hand his grandson over to our enemies. They fought so hard to gain custody of him because they love him. He’s their last link to Bettina. None of the Da Rosas would place him in harm’s way.”
“I don’t trust the Da Rosas either, Gigi. I agree with you there, but what Joshua said makes sense. I can’t see them hurting Elio. They adore him,” Elisa says.
The whole time I’m listening to my friends talk back and forth, I’m reading Rory’s posts with a lump in my throat. Sloane was kidnapped nine months ago, yet she only showed up at my door a month ago. What were they doing to her all that time?
Fuck. Putting the tablet down on the coffee table, I prop my elbows on my knees and clutch my head in my hands. I squeeze my eyes shut for a few beats and concentrate on breathing. My mind is a confused mess, and I veer between so many differing emotions all the time. I don’t want to feel pain for Sloane after what she’s done, but she’s a victim too, so how can I not? Round and round it goes until it feels like my sanity is about to snap.
I jerk my head up and ball my hands into fists. It doesn’t matter if Sloane was kidnapped. She still had choices, and she chose wrong. I won’t ever forgive her for placing Elio in danger, irrespective of what happened to her.
“Cristian.” Gia places her hand on my shoulder. “There’s one more thing you need to know.” Her hand drops off my shoulder as she leans into her husband for support. “I put out alerts for any mention of Sloane or her mother, public or otherwise, and I got a hit. I don’t need to wait for the official news report because the body dumped at the embassy in Sinaloa is Robin Barton, Sloane’s mother.”
