Celine Elloise Dufort:

'Miss Dufort!' I look at Celeste who can barely catch her breath. 'Yes?' She follows me through the halls, entering the room of mister De Luca right after me.

'There is someone for you at the desk.' His blood pressure seems normal... I tap against the bag of liquid hanging beside his bed. 'Can you tell Claud to get mister De Luca his food?' She nods before following me out of the room again.

'What were you saying?' She sighs and tries to keep up since I have longer legs than her. I idle my pace and smile at her. 'Someone called Marco Barsetti is at the desk for you.' What?

'Did he say what he wanted to talk about?' Celeste shakes her head and looks right at me, almost tripping over her own feet as we continue walking through the hall. 'He said it was urgent.'

I sigh and turn the other way, back to the front desk to see what the fuck is going on. They normally text me when they need something, so I'm curious about what is going on. And why, out of all people, did they send Marco?

'Took you long enough!' Marco sighs before I drag him into my office. 'Hey, be careful!' 'What the fuck are you doing here?'

He sighs again, before dropping into one of the chairs in my office. My chair. 'That's not how you talk to me now, is it?' He asks slyly, before propping his arms behind his head, looking at me as if he owns the place.

Ever since Rio promoted him he acts all though. As if he's the boss now.

'Look, I don't know who the fuck you think you are, but get your head out of your ass and tell me why the fuck you're here.'

He rolls his eyes and looks me dead in the eye, bending forward on the chair a little. 'Rio wants you to place those trackers in the girls.'

'I told him I won't do it until we have their consent.' He gets up and walks around my office, touching everything without my permission. He's doing it on purpose, to get a reaction out of me.

'Stop that and get out.' 'Look, Celine,' He turns towards me and sighs deeply, 'I'm just here to get you. If you want to talk about it with Rio, come with me and talk to him about it.'

'Well, Rio knows I have to work till the end of my shift, so he can wait.' I state, before turning towards the door. 'Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my patients.'

He steps in front of me, blocking my way out of my office, and stares me down. Just like all the other men I work with, he's taller than me. Not as tall as Rio or Leon, but tall.

'Rio won't allow that.' I raise my eyebrow at him and giggle at the words coming out of his mouth.

'Rio is the one who gave me this job.' I point my finger in his chest and push him back a little, 'Rio is the one who needs me to do what I do, to help these patients. I think Rio won't mind letting me finish my fucking job.'

Marco gulps and steps aside, letting me through since he knows I'm right. 'Make it quick, he doesn't like waiting.' 'You don't need to remind me of that.' And I don't fucking give a shit...

I walk back so I can finish my shift. After two hours, I make my way back to my office, smiling at the annoyed Marco sitting in my chair again.

'You should smile a little more, maybe Cataleya will give you a chance.' He rolls his eyes and jumps out of the chair, slowly walking my way. 'Now why would I want that?'

'I've seen the way you look at her.' I state, looking him directly in his gorgeous blue eyes.

I must give it to him, Marco Barsetti is a very handsome man. Normally I hate it when men grow out their hair, but he seems to be able to pull it off. It suits him, the little waves fit his face perfectly. If only he wasn't such an asshole...

He chuckles and tilts his head a little. 'Jealous Cel?' He smirks, before eyeing me up and down.

'Of what?' I fold my arms in front of my chest and walk past him. There needs to be as much distance as possible between us. I hate Marco in every way possible.

There is no real reason for it. I just don't like him. But he's Rio's best friend since forever, so I guess I need to live with the fact that he'll be around for a while.

'That I'm not looking at you that way.' 'Now why would I want you if I can get any man I want?' A low chuckle leaves his throat, making me raise an eyebrow at him again.

'Every man except me.' I roll my eyes. If he thinks I want him, he's wrong. I want nothing to do with him at all. We just work for the same asshole, but that's it. Nothing else.

'As if I want that,' I place my folder on my desk and turn back to him, 'Now are you ready to go, or do you want to continue this bullshit conversation?'

He smiles widely at me, looking like he won some big prize or something, and opens the door for me. 'Ladies first.' Ugh...

We walk through the hallways and get into the elevator. The whole way down goes by in silence and I beg the gods that we won't get stuck. Cause if we do, I might kill him.

'So-' The doors open and I immediately get out, walking onto the parking lot, almost running to my car. 'I'll meet you at the house!' I shout, before closing the door and locking it so that he can't get in.

There is no way in hell that I'm driving him home.

The whole drive home goes by quicker than usual. When I drive onto the property, onto the driveway, I notice there's a different car. A black Maserati Mc20, the one Brandon kept talking about ever since he got his driver's license, is parked in the middle of the driveway.

Did that fucker really get his dream car already? I know Rio made a lot of money from his deal with the Ivanov's, but giving Brandon this, his fucking dream car is unbelievable. Not that he doesn't deserve it, but damn...

'Did you really get Brandon his dream car?!' I shout, running into his office. Rafael rolls his eyes at me and smiles, before looking at the person sitting in front of him. 'It's not his.' A deep voice mumbles.

I recognize the voice immediately and stare at the person in front of me. What the actual fuck?

The man slowly turns around and smiles at me. Dominic Brown...

'Hello, cousin.' Dom smiles at me, slowly stepping my way. It takes a few seconds for me to process all of it. 'You're alive!?'

He chuckles before wrapping his arms around me. I take in his smell, his signature cologne, making him smell like green apples and cinnamon, and hug him tightly.

All this time, for two years, I thought he was dead, yet here he is. Hugging me tightly.

'Wait, what the fuck is going on?' I ask, looking at Rio directly. 'You knew he was alive all this time?'

He simply nods and pours some alcohol into a glass. A third glass. 'Of course.' He states, moving the glass my way.

I take a seat in the chair in front of him and look at the two men. 'And you didn't think it would be a good idea to tell me?'

'It's better this way Elle.' Dominic says, before walking back to his seat next to me. 'Your mother is worried sick, can't I-' 'No.' They say in unison.

'Why did it take you so long to get here? I sent Marco to get you three hours ago?' I look at Rio who looks at me curiously. 'Well, I needed to finish my job,' I turn back to my cousin and look at him one more time.

He changed a little. Still dark and curly hair, just short, a sepia-colored skin, as if he's been in the sun for the past two years, and pretty almond eyes. The thing that changed the most is his eyes. Or the way they shine.

There is no more light left. Not one bit.

'What happened to you, Dom?' Dominic was my best friend. We might not be related by blood, but since his father married my aunt, he became my family. 'Where were you?'

He sighs and looks at Rio, asking for permission to talk to me alone, without actually using the words.

'You have ten minutes, I need her to implant some trackers.' Rio states, before getting up and walking out of the door. I want to tell him I'm not doing it, but I need to talk to Dominic.

'You've grown.' 'Answer the question. What happened?' I insist. I need to know what happened.

My whole family, including me, thought he was dead for two years.

He sighs deeply and looks at the glasses on Rio's desk, taking a deep breath, before looking at me again.

'Remember my mission to kill Prince?' He asks softly and I try to recall that name. 'No.' 'I was hired by Nicholas Marcello to kill Prince, the son of Samuel Veldora.' Samuel Veldora...

My skin crawls, just by hearing his name. I am the one who killed him. Not just because I thought he killed my cousin, but because that's the man who got me into this mess. He's the man who tried to sexually abuse me. The one the Curzio's freed me from.

'That was-' He nods and looks away for a second, before sighing deeply and looking back at me. 'I wanted to kill them anyway, so I wasn't going to let this one slide.' He explains and I nod, waiting for him to continue.

'I killed Prince and had to stay low for a while since he suspected it was me.' I snort, knowing that it was obvious they suspected Dom. 'Of course, they did. You burned a D into his skin and cut off his thumbs, only you do that.'

He chuckles and glances around the room. 'But I thought you were dead.' 'I know. I should be.' He mumbles, before looking back at me again. 'They found out where I was staying, which was almost impossible since I didn't stay anywhere longer than a day, and burned down the house. I got out just in time and left my ring there.'

I remember the day Leon came back with his ring. The stupid golden ring with his name engraved in it. I remember how much I cried that day, and the days after that. I cried for two weeks straight, unable to talk about anything with anyone because I thought he was dead.

'I needed people to think that I was dead. That way I was able to operate without people knowing who I was.' I get it. He needed to stay on the low. Dominic killed one of the biggest enemies we had, of course he had to lay low.

'So I kept doing what had to be done and stayed low. I need to stay low, so please don't go and run to my mom to tell her I'm still alive.' He requests, knowing this will be hard on me.

'She keeps your ring with her everywhere she goes.' I mumble, staring at his dark eyes for a second. He feels sorry for us, all of us. Tears start forming in my eyes as I am reminded of the pain his "death" brought to me and my family.

'I'm sorry it's just-' I get up and turn my back on him, taking a deep breath before turning back, 'When we got your ring, I thought you were dead.'

He nods, smiling a little. 'Because that's how it normally works. They thought I was dead, found my ring, and send it to you so they could fuck with you.' I nod, knowing he's right.

Rio does that too, everyone in this world does. When you kill someone on purpose, you send the family members a piece of jewelry they were wearing and it delivers the message.

I'm not mad at him, I just wished I knew that he was alive. That way I didn't have to mourn his death for two weeks and maybe I could've killed Samuel earlier.

'How have you been?' I ask curiously, making him smile. I walk back and jump into the comfortable chair, looking at my, who I thought was dead, cousin.

'I've been doing good!' He chimes cheerfully. I've missed his energy.

The fact that Dominic is actually a softie, is weird. He can shoot, stab, torture, and kill people without hesitation, but he still has a soft side. He's the softest man on earth.

'What about you?' Just as I'm about to answer him, the door swings open, banging against the wall, and Rio steps in. 'Sorry to ruin your little moment, but we need to discuss something.'

I sigh and follow his frame around the room, to the other side of the desk. He drops into his seat and throws a stack of papers on his desk. On top of it, attached to the corner, is a picture of a blond girl with crystal blue eyes.

'I need you to keep a close watch on her.' Rio states, looking at Dominic. My cousin leans forward and scans the papers real quick. He recognizes the girl immediately and I wonder who she is.

'You want me to go after Brooke Steel?' What? All Rio does is nod. His lips slowly curl up into a grin, but that's it. He doesn't even try to explain himself.

'You know that's a bad idea right?' 'I just want him to keep eyes on her, not kill her. Yet.' He smiles before looking at me again. 'I won't sell her or anything.'

As if that makes up for the fact that he's selling women for money.

'Yeah, because you know that if you do, Adrian will kill you.' A deep chuckle erupts from his throat and I roll my eyes. 'I'd like to see him try.'

The room goes quiet for a few seconds, but after a while, Rio grabs a piece of paper from his desk and shoves it towards me. I look at it and read what it says. Bupivacaine?

'What is this?' He turns to Dominic and smiles. 'I need to borrow your cousin for a second, so if you'll excuse us.' Rio gets up, grabs my arm, and pulls me out of the room.

'Where are we going?' I ask, quickly running after him since he's walking way too fast. 'Basement.'

I follow him to the door leading to the basement and sigh deeply. 'If you tortured someone and want me to fix them up, Rio I swear to god-' 'Shut up and hurry.'

He types in the code, 5263, and waits for the doors to open. When they do, he immediately walks towards the room specially reserved for me. It's an operation room with all the equipment a doctor could wish for.

'What is it?' I ask since there is literally no one on the table. I look around and stop moving when I notice that the chairs that are normally empty are filled with two bodies. Two girls.

Neveah and Cataleya are tied to a chair and seem to be unconscious. 'What the fuck did you do?!' I rush over to them and try to wake them up, but it's no use.

'I used some of this.' He smiles at me and holds up a bottle of bupivacaine. 'How much?' I ask since it's normally just used for local-anesthetic. They're not supposed to be knocked out like this at all.

'Enough to keep them knocked out for,' He looks at his golden watch around his wrist and smiles, 'Well, since Tiago left. They woke up once so I gave them another dose about two minutes ago. You took too long.'

'What the fuck Rio!? You could kill them?!' I shout and he simply shrugs. 'You'll put those stupid trackers in them or I'll give them another dose.' He plumps down into another chair and smirks at me.

'Rio, I already told you I'm not doing it without consent.' I state, making him sigh deeply. He points at the desk in front of him and smiles at me again. 'I got their consent right here.'

I walk over to the desk and look at the papers he's pointing at. Two contracts with both their names on them and two different signatures.

'And I should trust this, because?' 'Celine don't be a pain in the ass and do what I ask.' Rio demands. I simply fold my arms in front of my chest and look at him.

'No. I told you-' He gets up and rushes towards me, looking me dead in the eyes. He doesn't scare me, but he never looked at me like this.

He never looked this exhausted since we've known each other.

'Why do you need them tracked?' He sighs and points at Neveah. 'Because of her. You don't have to put a tracker in Cataleya, I couldn't care less, I just want to know where Neveah is so she can never run away again.' What?

'Why?' He takes a deep breath and looks at me again. 'Because if I let her slip out of our hands again-' Rio stops and turns away from me, towards the girls.

'Leonardo was destroyed when she left. When I let her go.' What? I raise an eyebrow at him, even if he won't notice since his back is facing me. 'What do you mean?'

'The night she left,' He starts, a little nervous. Rafael Curzio is nervous? 'I let her go because I saw the fear in her eyes. She needed to leave, so I let her.'

He slowly turns around, looking at the two girls and regretting the decision he made six years ago. 'I let her leave and broke Leonardo in return.'

'But he was fine-' 'You didn't see the look on his face when he found out.' He sneers at me, 'I don't like the fact that she's his weakness. I really don't, but there is nothing I can do to change it.' He turns back to me and sighs. 'So please just track them.'

For the first time in a long time, he's being honest. He's giving me a real reason behind his demands, behind his heartless and cold demands.

'Fine.' I state, not wanting Leon to be broken again. If he really was as broken as Rio says, I don't want him to go through that again.

His lips curl up into a sweet smile and he wraps his arms around me, quickly hugging me, before looking into my eyes again.

'Now get on with it, before I do overdose them and they die.' I sigh, quickly running around to grab all the things I need. 'I'm going to get the trackers, be right back!' He rushes out of the room.

That idiot didn't even grab the trackers yet. I stare at the girls again, hoping that they won't be mad at me when they wake up.

Rio said he wouldn't mind if I don't track Cataleya, so I won't. This is something between Neveah and the Curzio's. It's sad to see that Cataleya is being dragged into all of this.

Neveah will be mad at me, I just know she will be, but if Leon really was broken because of her absence- which according to Rio, he was- I don't think he'll survive a second time. Does he know about this?

I grab my phone and call him, but his phone goes straight to voicemail, so I decide to text him instead.

𝚁𝚒𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜, 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚝?

The door slams open and Rio steps in, smiling as if he won the big prize. 'Let's get this over with!'