Twisted Tides (Forged Hearts #2)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

EVIE

“For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Metallica

I walk into who knows what conversation as Mateo trails a few steps behind me.

“Perfect timing to tell me what the fuck is going on,” he grumbles.

“With pleasure, Mateo. That’s why we asked you over here. It certainly isn’t for your smashing personality.” Eduardo retorts.

He walks over to us, ushering Mateo and me into the already cramped office space. Mateo looks around at the solemn faces and whirls around to Eduardo.

“Why do I sense that we are going to get another piece of fucking information that I know we aren’t going to like?” Mateo pulls at his hair again.

I grab his hand. “Stop that. You’re going to go bald. I know you will hate that look.”

He stops to roll his eyes at me, but I can tell I at least distracted him from escalating further.

Eduardo goes to his desk, grabs another drink, and pours a large amount of an amber liquid into a glass, as he puts the bottle back. Before I think what he will do with it, he hands the glass over to Mateo. He stares at it questioningly. One eyebrow arches up, but Mateo accepts the glass from Eduardo, although hesitantly.

“O-kay.” That’s all Mateo says as he waits to hear what happened.

Eduardo walks around to his desk and sits behind it before delivering the news that I’m sure will wreck us.

Mateo takes a sip and waits patiently, without rushing the words Eduardo really needs to spit it out already because he is drawing out the waiting period agonizingly slow, if you ask me.

His fingers drum on the edge of his desk. He shares a look with Jameson and he frowns at me. I swallow all the saliva that has now pooled in my mouth, suppressing the feeling of an imminent vomiting episode. I gulp, and Mateo takes the rest of his drink and downs it in one go.

“Tell me already,” he says as he places the empty glass on Eduardo’s desk with a resounding thunk .

Eduardo moves away from his desk. He stands with his feet placed apart and his hands crossed over his chest in a confrontational manner. “There is no easy way to say this, and I want you to hear me out before you jump to questions.”

Mateo nods once, and that must give Eduardo the encouragement he needs to continue. “We had suspicions that Mr. Martinez was getting his information from someone, and it was confirmed when your uncle called to inform us that Ramón is the one who has been feeding him the information about you and Evie.”

He pauses and the room is silent. It takes a minute for Mateo to process what Eduardo says, his breathing increases in intensity, as if he is trying to take a deep breath to contain his brewing anger.

I can’t take it anymore. I speak up before this gets ugly. ”Why do they think that…” I pause as the words I want to say escape me. “I mean, are you sure?” I look at Mateo, who is not moving, but his fists are clenched and knuckles are white as he holds onto the chair with a death grip.

Eduardo looks over to Jameson and Mateo, and I turn my attention over to him. “What’s going on, Jameson?”

He walks over to me and grabs my hands. “When I asked you about your whereabouts today, it was so we could plant a camera in Mr. Martin’s home.”

Mateo stands, knocking the chair back. Jameson startles at the sound and looks his way.

“You went into his home and invaded his privacy? For what, a hunch?”

He is furious and wants to take his anger out on someone; however, his anger is misplaced. He is still protective of Ramón, and I can understand why. He was the closest thing to a father figure, and once again, he feels betrayed.

I can’t help, but I feel the same way. I understand what it feels like to be lied to, and everything that you knew or thought you knew was all just a lie concocted for the benefit of someone else. Good intentions are a waste, if you ask me. To believe that we were conned by an elderly gentleman and then were in his home for the holidays… how could he have faked that kind of emotion?

Jameson doesn’t miss a beat. “It was more than a hunch, and we confirmed it when he was talking with your father on the video feed. Albeit reluctantly, he was, and it sounded like he was asked to do something he didn’t want to do.”

Mateo rushes at Jameson and grabs him by the shirt. “Don’t you ever call that fucking monster my father!” Spit flies from his mouth as he attempts to control the rage that courses through him in waves. I immediately step in between them.

“Mateo. Get your hands off of Jameson. We need to hear the rest.”

Mateo slowly releases Jameson’s shirt from his fists and steps back. The anger is still there, while he is attempting to control his emotions. The fury is just barely contained under his skin, waiting to erupt at any given moment.

Mateo turns to Eduardo, and I take the opportunity to throw my arms around my boyfriend, relieved that no punches were thrown.

Eduardo lifts his hands. “Mateo, there is more, but I need you to keep your cool as I tell you the rest because it is a lot to take in.”

My brother returns to sitting in the chair and leans forward, hands steepled together like a kid praying at the altar. I hope he is praying to a god right now to have mercy because I can’t imagine anything else being as wrong as what we heard. The betrayal that he must feel right now, his trust once again broken. My heart aches for the life my brother has had to endure, and I want nothing more than to take the pain and ease the burden from him.

Eduardo stares at him, waiting for him to regain his composure, and whatever Eduardo is looking for he must see because he continues and delivers the final blow. “Ramón is your grandfather.”

And there it is, the final death punch.

Mateo hangs his head in defeat. I suck in a breath, causing Jameson to look at me in concern. I must sound like I am having an asthma attack, but no air comes out. I look around and the faces that stare at Mateo are solemn. They know how close my brother has become to Ramón, and now this news? It is just too much.

I leave Jameson’s side and run over to my brother. I throw my arms around him in a protective embrace, leaning into him, and rubbing circles around his back. His hands go up to his face, and from the rise and fall of his back, he is crying. One by one, the guys clear out of the room and leave us as Mattie, my strong and protective brother, falls apart in my arms.

Jameson gives me a kiss on the forehead. He whispers near my ear, “I’ll be right outside if you need me.” With that, I hear footsteps retreat and the soft closing of a door as Mateo and I are left alone in Eduardo’s office.

I stroke his hair. “I love you, brother. So much. It’s okay. You have us, and we love you so much.”

His sobs increase and a heart-wrenching cry comes out of his mouth, causing tears to flood my eyes as my vision becomes blurry. I have never felt something so heartbreaking. The loss of my parents, finding out the truth of their deception, what they did to my brother, and even Emma being kidnapped is nothing compared to the feeling I have for the man who is breaking down in my arms.

I want to protect him like he protected me, and I vow that I will hunt this man down and make him pay for all the pain he has caused my family. I wish I could go back in time and knock some sense into my mother and tell her not to go out with Mr. Martinez, but then I wouldn’t have Mateo, so what is done is done. We can only move forward from here and end it once and for all.

I don’t know how long we stay like that, but the door opens again, and I expect it to be Jameson or Eduardo coming in to see how we are doing. What I don’t expect to see is my sister walk in and rush over to us, throwing herself into Mateo’s lap. She hugs him so fiercely, and he shakes all over again. Emma tells him how much she loves him just like I did, and we all hug each other in a tight embrace.

Emma stands and reaches for me, and I grab her hand, pulling her into my side. We extend our hands to Mateo, and he looks at us with red-rimmed, swollen eyes. We smile at him in adoration of the boy who protected us, despite being denied the family he should have had all along. We each hold out a hand to him as he rises and takes them. We form a complete circle. Our family.

Emma speaks, looking straight up at Mateo. “We are here for you always, Mattie. You are our brother, and we love and support you no matter what. We will finish this.”

I nod and squeeze both of their hands. Mateo goes to hug Emma and rests his head on her shoulder. He runs his nose along her collared shirt, and my hand rises to my mouth as I stifle a laugh. Emma visibly tenses, slowly releasing Mateo’s embrace, and her head shoots to the side where Mateo has left a slimed trail of mucus along her blouse. Her eyes narrow and shoot over to him accusingly. He wipes his face with his hands, and a smile is left on his face as they lower to his side.

“You did that on purpose, Mattie.” She pretends to be angry.

He smiles. “Must run in the family, sis.”

She laughs with her head thrown back. “Touché, bro.”

I let out a laugh, as does Mateo. We hear the door open, and Eduardo peeks his head in. His eyes go to each of us, and sensing the mood in the room, he motions outside to his entourage to come back into his office.

“Everything okay in here?” Eduardo looks to Emma, and she saunters over to him. His expression is guarded. It pains him to see Emma angry, and he would do anything to prevent her from feeling anything other than happiness.

He pulls her into him and kisses the top of her head. Her arms are wrapped around his lower back as she snuggles into his embrace and sighs in contentment.

I look over to Jameson, who is watching me keenly. I shrug, and he comes over to sit in one of the chairs, pulling me on top of his lap.

Mateo clears his throat, breaking the silence. “So what do we do with this information, Eduardo? What’s the plan?”

Eduardo looks at my brother and studies him for a moment. “What do you want to do, Mateo? Do you want to confront him?”

He seems to think about it and eventually nods. “Yeah, I think I do. We are meeting next week at the café. I plan on asking him there.”

Jameson looks over my shoulder at Eduardo. “I think that is a good idea, and maybe this week we will find out something else from the camera feed.”

I glance quickly over at Mateo and his jaw clenches. I can tell he isn’t too keen on the idea, but it must be done. I think he recognizes this and nods.

“Yeah, okay. Sounds good.” With that he stands. “I think I have had enough excitement tonight. I’m going to head home. You need a ride, Evie?”

I stand and pull him into an embrace. “No, but I will meet you back at home tonight.”

Emma comes over to hug him goodbye, and he waves as he leaves the office. No one says anything for a while, but Eduardo looks over to Emma, who is biting her lip with worry.

“Don’t worry, babe.” He grabs her hand. “It will all work out.”

I stand and pull Jameson’s arm to bring him to an upright position. “Let’s go. I’m so tired, and I need to think.”

He nods, telling Eduardo to call him if he needs anything else as we leave not much after Mateo does. Climbing into Jameson’s truck, we pull out into the bustling traffic.

“Your place or mine?” he asks me because I know, after all that went down at Eduardo’s office, he doesn’t want to leave me alone tonight. That was a lot to take in, and his need to make sure I’m okay is palpable.

“Mine. I want to make sure Mattie is okay.” I turn my head to look out the window, and after the bomb that was dropped, my mind is a whirlwind of rising emotions.