Since Rio doesn't want me around and I'm bored for the last three hours, I walk towards my bag on the other side of the plane and grab that notebook Tiago gave me.

I have nothing better to do.

So I grab a pen and jump in one of the leather couches, before thinking for a second.

How do you start this?

ᴅᴇᴀʀ,... Too formal? I scratch the word and stare at the cabin Marco's in. He's been in there for a while now.

I shake my head and turn back to the notebook on my lap.

ᴅᴀʏ ᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏꜰ ꜱᴇᴀʀᴄʜɪɴɢ ꜰᴏʀ ʟᴇʏᴀ- Nope. Everything sounds too cringe. Even though it's not? I don't know.

Let's just... Continue.

ᴅʀᴇᴡ ꜱᴀɪᴅ ꜱʜᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴏɴ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ɪꜱʟᴀɴᴅ. ʜᴇ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴇxᴀᴄᴛʟʏ, ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪᴛ ᴡᴀꜱ ʜᴏᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍɪᴅᴅʟᴇ ᴏꜰ ɴᴏᴡʜᴇʀᴇ, ᴀᴡᴀʏ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴇʟꜱᴇ. ɪꜰ ʜᴜɴᴛᴇʀ ɪɴᴅᴇᴇᴅ ᴛᴏᴏᴋ ʜᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ, ᴡᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴘʀᴏʙʟᴇᴍ. ᴡᴇ ᴀʟʀᴇᴀᴅʏ ᴅᴏ, ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ᴡᴇ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇɢɪɴ ᴏᴜʀ ꜱᴇᴀʀᴄʜ. ᴀɴᴅ ʀɪᴏ ɪꜱ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ᴀ ʀᴇᴀʟ ᴘᴀɪɴ ɪɴ ᴍʏ ᴀꜱꜱ ʙʏ-

'What are you doing?' I look up into Marco's blue eyes and smile. 'I have no idea if I'm being honest. I was just bored.'

He nods and drops down next to me, leaning all the way back before sighing deeply. 'Look, Neveah.'

I close the notebook and turn to him, showing him that he has all my attention.

'I just wanted to apologize again.' What? 'For what I did. I- You have that scar, and I thought they would've freaked out if they saw that. I had to cover it up and I panicked and I- I know that doesn't make up for it, but I'm truly sorry and-' 'Marco calm down.'

I place my hand on his and smile, feeling something creep down my spine.

I know that he didn't do it on purpose. He didn't do all of that to make me uncomfortable. He did all of that to make sure we wouldn't get caught.

'I told you to do whatever was necessary and you did. So it's okay.' He shakes his head and removes my hand from his, before looking away.

Did it really mean that much to him? 'Marco, it's okay. It's nothing.' 'You almost had a panic attack because of what I did.' He sounds... Disgusted?

But not with me. With himself?

'Something happened to you and what I did triggered something, so I'm sorry.' A smile creeps up my lips. I don't think I've ever seen Marco this genuine before.

'I don't blame you.' He frowns a little and shakes his head. 'You should.' 'No, I shouldn't and I won't.' I say, grabbing his hand again. 'Marco, I don't blame you because you didn't know and you didn't do it on purpose.'

'I should've asked, I shouldn't have pushed you when you said stop the first time, I shouldn't have-' 'It's not your fault.' He shakes his head again as if that will make my words go away for some reason.

'I'm sorry Neveah, and I won't ever put you in a position like that again.' Just as I'm about to answer, just as I'm about to tell him that it's okay and that I'm over it already, Rio takes a seat on the couch on the other side.

'You'll have to tonight.' He says, taking a sip of his whiskey before smiling proudly. 'No. I'm not.' 'You two are going to see if the guys we're looking for are actually there or not.' He continues, completely ignoring Marco.

'Rafael I'm serious, I'm not doing it. I can't do that to her.' Marco says as if I'm not sitting right next to him.

This is the first time that I've heard Marco go against one of Rio's orders.

The first and probably the last time, because he's already shifting in his seat thanks to Rio's gaze. 'I can't do it.'

They stare at each other for a good five seconds, before Rio rolls his eyes. 'Fine. Then you'll have to do it with me.'

'No,' I look at Marco and shake my head, 'You're doing it.' He shakes his head at me again and looks at his hands.

As if he sees something gross on them. As if they're dirty but they're not. They're perfectly fine. 'I can't Neveah.' 'If someone is going to be close to me the entire time, I want it to be you, not Rio.'

I can see Rio roll his eyes in the corner of my eyes, but keep my eyes on Marco. 'I can't.'

He slowly stands up and heads back to the cabin, maybe that's why he was in there for so long. Because he was thinking about his apology.

'You'll have to live with it, North.' Rio says, raising his glass before chugging the last of the liquor down. 'Why can't we go like normal people, frie- acquaintances?' I ask with a sigh.

'Because couples attract less attention. Unless you're a celebrity, which last time I checked, you weren't.' I roll my eyes and place the notebook and pen beside me, before looking at Rio again.

'Forgiving him already?' He asks, looking at the stuff I just put down. 'What?' 'He gave you that, right?'

'So?' I ask, not understanding what that has to do with me forgiving Tiago. 'You're using it, meaning you forgive him for what he did.'

'That's not how it works.' He looks at me for a while and shrugs before leaning back, arms stretched on the back of his seat, loosely holding his glass in his left hand. 'You'll forgive him sooner or later.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' 'Exactly what I said it means, North.' He says, grinning like the complete asshole he is.

'You always forgive him, so it won't take long until you do this time.'

'I don't always forgive him.' A chuckle leaves his lips, making me roll my eyes at his enjoyment. 'You do.' 'I don't.'

'You did when he called Valentina a bitch, you did when he wouldn't let you go, you did when he suggested the idea of Valentina getting the tattoo first, so trust me, North, you will.'

A list of things. A list of things I forgave him for even if they're actually cruel and selfish.

Rio's right, I did forgive Tiago for all of that. And I feel like shit for it, especially now that I think about it.

But there's one thing I know for sure.

When we get Leya back, I'm going and I'm taking her with me.

Because these men are more trouble than good and it's too dangerous to be around them. I can't risk something like this happening again. And I won't.

'I won't.' He tilts his head at my words and shrugs as he places his empty glass on a little table on his right. 'We'll see, won't we?'

If I have to act like I like the man sitting across from me for, I don't even know how long, I'll regret meeting any of them by the end of it. I just know I will.

After a few awkward minutes, Marco steps out of the cabin again, to take a seat next to me. 'What's the plan?'

Rio sits up straight and nods. 'We're going to the casino, I heard they play there a lot. Let's hope they do tonight. Killian owes me and I don't think his friends will leave him alone in this, so let's hope they join in as well. Otherwise, we'll need to include Zuzu and see if our friends in Russia might want to join in as well.' Zuzu?

'We'll be staying at a small cottage house, I couldn't find anything big. It's also very old, but at least it's isolated.' Marco says, making me wonder when he arranged all of that. 'Good, I just hope Nico is in for it.' Nico?

I stay quiet as the two talk about a few other things and try to remember the names they drop, just in case I might need them for later.

'Why would you need him?' 'Nico's uncle is Viktor Brovsi.' Marco's eyes widen as he takes in this information. 'They literally have the same last name.' Before jumping to his feet, Rio chuckles, 'Don't tell me you didn't know that?'

'I forgot, you know I'm not on good terms with most Russians. Especially after what happened with Ivanov.' The two laugh like old friends do and slowly turn back to me. 'You'll better behave like last time, North.'

'I will if you will, Curse.' He cringes at my favorite new nickname for him and walks back to his seat upfront.

'You seriously want to make his blood boil, don't you?' I shrug and smile proudly. If even Marco says I'm annoying the fuck out of Rio by calling him Curse, I must be doing something right.

We're on the ground again in less than an hour and head towards a small car.

'So I'll stay at the house, making sure that everything is set.' Marco says as he drives onto the highway. 'I'll text you when we leave. Get some men on Andrew Kane, see what he's up to. And ask Brandon about the progress.'

Marco nods as he continues to drive for a while. After what feels like ages, he drives onto a gravel road that leads up to a cottage house.

'You call this small?' I ask as I get out and grab my bag. 'It's smaller than any houses we own.' Except for the one in Barcelona...

The roof is made out of hay, or at least it looks like it, but it's absolutely huge.

'You take a bedroom on the other side of the house so that I won't kill you in your sleep.' Rio chimes as he heads to the porch.

A blond-haired old man is standing there and he smiles at us. 'Welcome, I hope you'll enjoy your stay. Call me if you need anything.' The old man hands Rio the keys and rushes towards the other car that was parked on the driveway.

I wonder if he knows that he's inviting the devil into his house because he seems in a rush. But that might also be because it's getting pretty late and he has to get home to his family or something.

'Are you coming?' Marco asks as he heads to the front door. I didn't realize I was zoning out, but I quickly rush after him, into the house.

As soon as the door closes, I turn back around, taking in all the wooden pillars around the room and the old fireplace with a little tv above it, the brown couches, and the big open space with a big kitchen in the corner.

Almost everything is dark, except the little details, they're all light and colorful. The main wall, the only wall that isn't filled with paintings or books, has a floral print that looks like it's been there for over a hundred years.

I walk into the main hallway and look around. 'As I said, room on the other side of the house. I'm giving you thirty minutes to get ready before we head out.' Rio says from the living room.

It's a good thing I'm going to stay on the other side of the house, that way I won't have to deal with Rio as much.

I walk towards the room on the other side of the house, through the long halls, and stop at the big window at the end of the hall. It's already dark outside and I can see the countryside through the window.

It's very pretty.

But I enter the room on the left and glance around this room as well.

There's a big rug on the floor, with flowers on it. The same goes for the bed, curtains, closet, and every wall in the room.

Oh... Okay?

I guess I'll have to get used to it. Somehow.

After changing into a black dress and some heels, I stare at myself in the little mirror. The dress barely covers up my shoulder, but enough to hide the S.

I'm really dreading spending the night with Rio, but I guess the same goes for him. It's obvious I'm the last person he wants to do this with.

So maybe, just maybe, I can convince Marco to come with me instead?

I have to try.

Marco is wearing some casual clothes again, sitting at the little table in the corner of the room, with his laptop in front of him.

'Done already?' He asks, not taking his eyes off the screen to even acknowledge me. I move to his side, trying to peek over his shoulder as he scrolls through some files. 'Yes, I came to ask you something though.'

He closes his laptop and looks over his shoulder, smiling as he looks at the dress I'm wearing. 'You look good.' 'Thank you, but that's not what I'm here for.'

Marco rolls his eyes playfully and walks towards the kitchen. I follow him and watch as he tries to find something to eat.

'Can you please come with me instead of Rio?' He doesn't look at me, but I can see his shoulders tense before he answers: 'No.'

'Why not?' 'Because I don't want to. I'm sorry Neveah but I can't do that. Plus, Rio isn't that hard to be around.' He finally turns back to me and sighs deeply, 'You'll survive, trust me.'

'We'll see. Ready to go?' I roll my eyes and slowly turn to the dark voice behind me, meeting Rio's gaze.

He's wearing one of those black suits again, but this one looks nicer than the other ones he usually wears.

'Convince him.' I know that Rio doesn't want this either, and I also know that he's probably the only one who can convince Marco to go with me. But for some reason, Rio doesn't seem to want to press his friend about this.

Even though he looks like he's about to die because he has to spend a night out with me.

'Let him be,' He quickly looks at Marco, before grinning at me, 'It's probably your fault anyway.'

'My fault?' He nods and walks towards the living room, slowly putting on his watch. 'That's what I said, right?'

'How is him not wanting to go with me instead of you, my fault?'

'You scared him off by making it about you again.' What the fuck- 'Rio, please just drop it.' Marco says, looking at Rio as if I'm not standing in the middle of them.

'How am I making this about me?' I ask, ignoring Marco's plea to let this go.

'You always do. But just to be clear, you're the one who scared him away by having a meltdown while he was trying to cover your ass.' Rio says, ignoring whatever Marco just said as well.

'Oh, I already told him that that wasn't his fault but-' 'I don't remember asking for a response, North.' God. I am so- 'Could you two just stop for once!' Marco shouts, making Rio and me look at him with wide eyes.

He never yelled at me before and I doubt he ever yelled at Rio either.

'You two need to go, stop acting like babies, and just act like you like each other for one night.' He continues, looking at us with the most disappointed look ever.

'I will if North will.' I roll my eyes and walk towards the front door, 'If he ends up dead tonight, it's your fault!' I shout as I head outside.

'I think it will be the other way around, but oh well.' Rio says as he trails after me.

'Also, I'm driving.' I say, holding my hand out because I know he has the keys. He shakes his head and walks over to the driver's side of the car. 'Curse-' 'Don't call me that, and you're not driving.'

'Why not?' I ask, staying right where I am.

'Please don't be a pain in my ass and get in the car.' He groans as he climbs into the car.

'Neveah,' Marco is standing on the little porch and smiles at me, 'just get in. Please.'

'Fine, but you owe me!' I yell as I get in the car and stare at Marco as he slowly fades away when we start driving.

'So tell me why I'm not allowed to drive.' I say, keeping my eyes on the scenery around us. 'Because I don't want a woman like you driving me around, North.'

'First off, that's sexist. Second, if you want me to act nice tonight, you better act nice too, Curse. And third, what about the time Leya drove?' I can see him frown in the corner of my eyes before he quickly hides it by looking over his shoulder.

We're the only ones on this road, so I just know he feels ashamed about his reaction.

'It's a preference and I have no idea what you're talking about.' He says, his tone as stable as ever.

'That night when we all split up to get rid of Luca's men.' I say as I turn to him a little.

His face stays the same, hard and unreadable, but his knuckles turn lighter. White almost.

'You let her drive, so she must be special.' His lip tugs up a little, before turning back into that straight unreadable line. 'I was injured.' 'Oh yes, you were too injured to drive but not too injured to walk around?'

I actually wanted to say something else, because Leya told me that they had sex in that car, but I won't expose that much.

And he frowns for a second again, probably trying to think about his next words wisely. 'Yes. Injuries can be like that sometimes.'

'If you say so.' I turn back to the window and enjoy the green for a little while longer before it turns into old buildings and other cars and cyclists. A lot of cyclists.

Rio parks the car right across the street, the only spot left, of the casino, and looks at me.

'Don't make this any harder than it already is, okay?' I nod and take a deep breath, before turning to my door. It's locked.

'I'm serious North, don't mess this up.' I roll my eyes and wait for him to unlock my door. 'Open the door, Curse.'

He sighs as he hears my new nickname for him and unlocks the door, allowing us to get out and face the big building

'Act natural and don't wander off.' He holds out his hand and looks at me. I take a deep breath and brace myself for the next couple of hours, before placing my hand on his arm and following him to the entrance.

The bodyguard looks us up and down, before letting us inside and mumbling something into his earpiece.

As soon as we step inside, I take it all in. The only thing is, it doesn't look like a casino at all.

I mean, I've never been to a casino, but this is not what I thought it would look like. This looks like some hotel lobby or something, not a place where people gamble their money and make dangerous deals or something.

But then I hear the sounds, coming from behind a few doors with more bodyguards. Sounds of drinks being poured, chatter about a lot of stuff, coins being tossed, and laughter. So much laughter.

It all sounds like fun, and I wish I could actually go to a casino when all of this is over. Just to get that experience.

'North.' I barely realized that I was staring around too much and run up to Rio who is already standing at one of the big doors.

'Sorry.' He scoffs before plastering a smile on his face and walking through the door with me by his side.

I glance around the room with a smile, trying to convince everyone that I'm just an innocent girl who's here for the party and gamble some money. Nothing else.

But wow.

All the lights, the victory yelling, the angry yelling, the drunk laughter, the chatter. It's amazing.

Everything just looks so much fun, but I barely have time to really look around. Because Rio pulls me towards a table where people are playing a card game I can barely follow and look at the guy that's dealing the cards.

'How does it work?' He looks at me and frowns a little. 'Never been to a casino before?' I shake my head and turn back to the two guys playing. Two men and one woman.

And by the looks of it, the two men are losing.

'We should get a drink.' Rio says, pulling me along before I start staring again. I really want to stay, because the woman is about to place her cards on the table, but I don't want to lose Rio in this place, so I follow him to the bar.

He orders two drinks. A whiskey and some vanilla vodka for me.

'Why vanilla vodka?' 'Because it's disgusting and I don't want you drunk.' He says, paying the bartender before handing me my drink.

I roll my eyes and lift my glass so that it clings with his, 'Too bad I kinda like it.' I take a deep breath and gulp the drink down, feeling the heat rush down my throat.

It burns like shit, but it's not that bad.

'Don't go too hard now.' Rio says, pulling me after him towards yet another table. 'Can we join in?' He asks a man that looks like he's about to explode on us because we interfered with something.

He looks us up and down, as if we're not even allowed to be here, and stops at Rio's watch, before grinning. 'Of course. Join wherever you want.'

Rio nods and moves to one of the tables where they're already playing a game.

'We can go there if you-' 'That was a distraction since you keep looking around like a maniac.' He whispers, pulling me a bit closer.

I hate that he's even touching me.

'Go to hell.' He takes a sip of his whiskey and looks at me. 'Try looking a bit more subtle, North.'

'Working on it, Curse.' His hand on my arm tightens as he pulls me closer. 'You keep testing me and it's starting to get annoying.' He says as he leans against the table, leaning down a bit as he takes another sip of his drink.

I wonder when he's going to gulp it all down, just like he always does.

'Now look, but don't make it obvious.' I roll my eyes but do as he asks, not even knowing what I'm looking for exactly.

I stop at a table near the bar, where people are seated and talking about something laughable. Because they're laughing, they're laughing very hard.

My eyes stop at the next table, where a woman is leaning in to whisper into a guy's ear, making him grin widely.

And then I stop at another table, where three men are seated, moving some drinks around and looking around just like we are.

Until they stop.

They stare at us, trying to see what's going on here. Shit.

I lean closer to Rio, feeling him tense as I place my hand on his chest. 'What are you-' 'Play along.'

He looks into my eyes and tries to step away from me, but I pull him back and move closer to his ear.

'Can you for once just act like you can bear with me so people won't suspect a thing?'

He takes a deep breath and awkwardly wraps his arm around my waist, keeping me close.

My heart starts racing and I try thinking about something other than his touch. Because if I do that, I'll spiral down and ruin this for all of us.

'Who's looking?' He whispers into my ear, making me cringe like hell.

It's only temporary...

'I don't know their names.' I mumble as I force a fake smile onto my lips as if he said something funny.

'Describe them.' I almost roll my eyes but compose myself by leaning back and smiling at Rio. He rolls his eyes and smiles back at me, before taking a sip from his drink.

I move my gaze back to the men, they're still watching us, but I act as if I'm simply staring in their direction.

'One of them has blond hair, sharp features, a little beard, and tattoos crawling up his neck, the other is basically the same but with brown hair and no beard.'

The brunet points in our direction and whispers something to the other. Shit...

I move closer to Rio again, wrapping my arms around his neck as if I'm about to kiss him.

'You're taking this a bit far, don't you think North?'

'At least I'm trying to cover our asses.' I sneer with a fake smile on my lips. He smirks and looks into my eyes.

He's way too close for comfort and I hate every second of this.

'Is there a third person?' I lean close to his ear, trying to look at the table where they're seated and smirk. 'Yes, another man with dark skin, black hair, no beard.' Holy shit.

They're definitely one of the most attractive people in this place

Rio sighs and swiftly turns us around, allowing him to face the table I've been trying to spy at for the past ten minutes.

'What are you-' He lowers his hand to my lower back and smiles at me. 'Calm down North.'

He leans closer, moving his lips to my ear as I did with him.

His breathing is driving me insane, but I won't allow myself to mess it up as I did in Santo Domingo. I can't.

I used to love it when men would touch me like this. It used to warm every cell in my body. But not anymore.

Instead, I'm filled with coldness. It's as if my body is slowly freezing because of him.

'Those are the men we need.' He whispers, letting his cold breath brush against my ear. 'What?'

He leans back and chuckles, before waving his hand at the men. 'They're going to help us.'

And he couldn't have said that before!?

'Come on, let's go.' He pulls me after him, closer to the table they're seated at, and stops right next to them.

'Good evening gentlemen.' They stare at us, dead in the eyes, clearly not happy that we interrupted something.

Rio holds out his hand for any of them to shake and they stare at him as if he's crazy. 'Curse, I don't think-'

Suddenly, the blond guy gets up and pulls Rio in for a hug. What?

They hug each other tightly as if they've known each other for years.

'Skip the formalities Curzio, it's good to finally see you again!' The brunet chimes before hugging Rio tightly. What the fuck is going on!?

'Is this the one?' The dark one asks. He points at me and smiles. 'No, this is North.'

'Nice meeting you North.' He smiles as he grabs my hand to kiss the bridge of it.

'It's actually Neveah.' I smile as I shake the man's hand. 'Neveah?'

He looks at the others and turns his gaze back to me in shock. 'You're the girl Leonardo has been after for years?'

It seems like everyone knows me like that. The girl Tiago searched for. The girl he would've had right now if he didn't give Leya up.

'Yes, that's me.' I sigh, making all three of the man stare at me in awe. 'I get why he's so obsessed with you.' The blond one smirks, making me roll my eyes at him.

'I don't want to be rude, but who are you?' Curse points at the blond man and smiles for a second.

'Killian Bridge.' He smiles at me, showing me his bright teeth. I turn back to Rio and watch as he points towards the brown guy next to me. 'That's Vincent Poloroy.'

'And I'm Nico Brovsi.' The brunet finishes as he steps a little closer. He has clear blue eyes and dark hair, a combo you don't see often.

'Nice meeting you.'

'Likewise gorgeous.' Nico smirks, wrapping his arm around my waist. 'What are you doing?'

He shrugs and leans a bit closer, almost letting his lips touch my ear. 'We're just getting comfy, right?'

Rio chuckles and keeps his eyes on me, he knows I'm going to snap. 'I wouldn't do that if I were you.'

'Why not, I'd like to see what she can do.' Do you?

He lowers his hand to my lower back, almost touching my ass like the creep he is, and I watch as Rio steps back a little.

'I warned you.' 'So far so good-' I swiftly turn around, shoving my knee against his stomach, and pull his head down so he drops to his knees.

Everyone around us gasps for air and looks at us but I don't care.

I pull his head up, making him look up at me from a lower angle, and he smirks even though he's groaning out of pain.

'Try that shit again.' I smirk as he tries to get back up and push him down before smacking him across the face. Asshole.

'North, enough.' Rio smirks, grabbing my hand mid-air since I was going to hit him again. 'Look.'

He glares at the other people around, showing me that everyone is watching us now. I let go of Nico and step back, tugging at my dress to somewhat straighten it.

'I think we should go.' I smile, trying to cover up the fact that I kind of ruined this for us. 'Come with us.' Rio states as he moves to the side so I can walk past him.

I smile and start walking, heading to the door with the four of them behind me.

The moment we get outside, I turn around, facing Nico who's still drooling somehow.

'You got a good knee.' He says proudly as if he's the one who taught me how to kick a guy's ass.

'Do you want me to thank you for the compliment?' He shakes his head and smiles, before turning to the other guy, Killian. 'Let me guess, you need our help?' Vincent says, folding his arms as he leans against the wall.

Rio shrugs as he takes the last step to stand across from us.

For some reason, I step next to him and look at the three men in front of us.

They're all well built. Especially Nico. He looks as hard as stone. As if he's ready to kill anyone that looks at him the wrong way.

Scary. That's what he is.

But I kicked him a second ago, so he can't be that scary.

Unless he was holding himself back and is ready to kill me now?

'You still owe me, so help me out and we'll call it even.' Rio doesn't even sugar coat anything. He just gets straight to the point.

'Tell us more, then we'll decide.' Killian says, keeping his eyes on Rio. 'You're going to help me anyway because you owe me.' Oh god...

I can see the annoyance rise between the four of them, well more three since Nico is too busy trying to think of the most painful way to kill me or something.

'I don't owe you anything.' 'I saved your ass from those assholes in Spain, don't tell me you forgot about that already.' Rio says, trying to not yell at the guys.

He's really bad at convincing them.

'If you're going to act like that, then I suggest we leave.' Killian sighs deeply and starts walking away, making me move immediately.

According to Rio, we need them to get to Leya.

I'll do anything to get to Leya.

'Look, don't listen to him okay. We just need your help. Please help us.' Killian stops in his tracks and turns back to me, tilting his head a little. 'With what exactly?'

'My friend was abducted-' 'Taken.' I glare at Rio and nod, 'Fine, taken, by Hunter Steel and his men. We have no clue where she is, apart from the fact that she's on an island, and we have no clue how to get her back.'

Killian looks at me, before looking at his friends, and ends up at Rio.

'And why are you helping her?' He asks, trying to make the puzzle whole again. 'I have my reasons, even if she's a pain in my ass.'

Vincent chuckles and looks at me. 'It takes some balls to say his name out loud, even in Amsterdam. So I'm in.' He chimes, stepping onto my side. Wow...

'I guess we could help, right?' Killian asks, looking at Nico, who's still glaring at me.

For a second, I wonder if he's going to strangle me right on the street. 'Nico?' 'What?' He asks, not even blinking as he keeps his stare on me. I step back, creating a little more distance between us, and wait for him to respond.

'Are you in?' He finally looks at Killian, before smiling at Rio. 'Of course, the Curzio's are always fun to work with.' Oh well...

'Fine, we'll help you. But only if you stop with the whole "you owe me" thing. It's annoying as hell and won't work next time.' Killian says, waiting for Rio to answer.

He simply grins to himself and looks at all of us. 'We'll see about that.' 'Curse.' I say, warningly.

Now I'm not the one ruining it for us, he is.

He glares at me and debates if he needs to tell me to shut up again, even though I'm the one who basically convinced them to help us, and rolls his eyes after a while. 'Here.' He hands Vincent, since he's standing the closest, a piece of paper, and pulls me away from them.

'Meet us there tomorrow, so we can talk a bit more about our next move.' The guy's nod and smile at me, all except for Nico of course. 'We definitely need more information than this, so we'll see you tomorrow.'

And just like that, they head towards an ally in the distance.

I watch as they disappear into the distance and turn towards Rio. Or at least where he's supposed to stand. Because he's not standing there.

He's already heading across the road, straight back to the car.

I run after him and jump in the car, just in time, since he's so eager to get the hell out of here.

'Why do we even need them?' I ask after a moment of silence. 'You don't need to know, but all of them have a purpose.' All of them have a purpose...

I look out of the window as I take in his words, letting them soak in my mushy brain. All this traveling and bickering is making me tired and I wish I could just sleep.

Even if it's going to be in the most strange room I've ever seen.

And I can tell that Rio's getting tired as well.

When we get to the house, Marco is already waiting by the door to give Rio a report on what's going on.

By the looks of it, it's going fine. They caught whoever was causing trouble in Italy and are making sure that everything goes back to the way it was.

After telling Rio about everything going on, Marco comes to my room, slowly opening the door to not startle me or something.

'Can we talk?' As sleepy as I am, I nod and sit up straight, tapping on a place beside me.

Marco doesn't even bother trying to hide his disgust with the floral room. 'Yellow, really?'

I chuckle and watch as he slowly takes a seat on the side of the bed. 'What color is yours?'

'Blue. And it's not half as bad as this one.' He says as he continues to look around.

After a moment of silence, he finally looks at me and smiles. Not a true smile, but a smile.

'What did you want to talk about?'

'I feel like you deserve to know, so you won't feel- left out or something.' He mumbles. His tone turned soft again, just like it did when he apologized.

'There was this mission once, a couple of years ago, where I had to act like I was dating one of our girls.' So this is a recurring thing. 'Her name was Lucia and she was a really great asset.'

In other words, he really liked her. As a friend.

'I had to cover up a mishap I made, just like I did with you, and she didn't like it.' Oh...

'She tried to stop me, but I thought it was part of the act. I know it was so stupid of me to think that, but-' He starts shaking his head, trying to get back on track, 'When we got back from our task, she never spoke to any of us again. Later that week... We got a call...'

'Marco... I-' 'Let me finish.' He says. Not in a hard way, but a way that makes me actually shut up. He wants to finish this. 'She killed herself.' My heart shatters and I can't help as a soft gasp escapes my lips.

Tears roll out of my eyes and I try to wipe them away. This is not about me, but I can't help but feel a stinging pain go through me.

'I feel like- No one else thinks but- I feel like I'm the reason she killed herself. Because she couldn't handle what I did.'

I watch as he grasps the edge of the bed, his knuckles whitening even in the dark. 'It's all my fault.'

'No.' 'Yes. I killed her because I didn't get the hint. I didn't think kissing her would be- But I should've thought about it and-' I place my hand on his and shake my head, trying to stop the tears so that I won't scare him away.

'You didn't kill her. You didn't know.' He slowly looks up and shakes his head, tears gleaming in the corner of his eyes. 'I promised myself to never do that to someone again, to stop when they tell me to, but when I heard their footsteps, I panicked.'

'Marco, it's okay.' He takes a shaky breath, making me hold onto his hand a bit tighter. 'It's not.' 'You didn't know.'

I repeat it over and over again, until he leans into me, placing his head on my chest and silently crying.

'I should've. She told me- you told me to stop and I didn't.' He mumbles, trying to stop himself from crying. 'I also told you to do whatever was necessary to save our asses, and you did.'

He takes a deep breath and jumps off the bed, wiping his face, before adjusting his wrinkly shirt a bit.

'So,' as if nothing happened. As if he didn't just open up to me about the most haunting moment in his life, 'now you know why I won't do it. I'm sorry if that annoys you, but I won't do it.'

As much as I want him to stay, so that I can somehow convince him that none of this is his fault, I know he doesn't want to hear any of it right now.

'I'm sorry for pressing you about it.' I say, wiping my own tears.

He shakes his head and smiles sheepishly. 'You didn't know.'

I try to shake off the feeling of the pained look in his eyes, but I can't.

It's as if I see Marco in a different light now, as if he's a completely new Marco, as if he's reborn in a weird way.

'Okay, goodnight.' He says in the most Marco voice ever. He heads to the door, but stops right before he goes to close the door, 'Oh and Neveah.'

'Mhm?' I look at him and tilt my head as he turns back to me. 'Don't tell anyone about what just happened.'

He's not talking about what he just told me. He's talking about the fact that he cried about it.

Which is something I don't get. But I guess it's a man thing.

Crying makes them feel weak for some reason.

So I nod and act as if my mouth is a zipper. 'I won't.'

'Goodnight.' He chimes before heading down the hall, closing the door behind him. 'Goodnight. 'I mumble, laying back down to stare at the ceiling.

I feel bad for pressing Marco about going as my date.

But I didn't know.

That doesn't make up for it at all, but I didn't know.

Maybe Curse is right?

Maybe I did make it about me again?

----

A/N: So I'm thinking about putting some scenes from crisis of desire in this one (as in, moments I skipped because they would be too short and some things that happened from Rio's POV)

Let me know if that's something you guys want!

If you liked this chapter, don't forget to comment and vote and let me know what you liked most!

I'll see you in the next chapter! Hope you have a blessed day!