'Pack your shit, we leave in ten.' Everyone turns to Rio, but I'm the only one not understanding what the fuck is going on.

'Where are we going?' I ask as I follow him into the lobby. 'North, just go pack your bags.'

I want to ask him again, but I need those names. And since we haven't done anything for the past few days, I'll have to behave if I want that list.

'Come on, I'll explain.' Brandon chimes as he pulls me into one of the elevators.

'He's so annoying.' Brandon chuckles and waits for the doors to open, before stepping out and pulling me with him. 'I have a strong feeling he feels the same about you.' He jokes, swiping the card against the door.

It slowly opens and we step inside.

Brandon starts emptying his side of the closet and I do the same to mine, waiting for him to explain what the hell is going on.

'We know who let them out the harbor.' My eyes widen at his words and I don't know what to say, 'So we're going back to France to ask the guy a bunch of questions, to ask if he knows anything else.'

France. We're going back to France.

'We'll also go by Celine before we get there since she has to fill him in about the shipment that came in through Paris.' He continues, placing his suitcase on the floor.

'And why couldn't Rio tell me himself?' I ask jokingly.

I know why he didn't want to tell me himself.

He still hates me.

After packing our bags, we all head to the private airport and get on the plane.

I stay close to Brandon and sit down next to him, not knowing that the seats across from us are taken as well.

The plane that is usually very empty, is now almost full. Vincent and Killian sit at the front, closest to the door, Brandon, Marco, Nico and I sit in the middle, and Rio is sitting all the way in the back, locking himself up in the little cabin thingy, with Kai on the couch in the corner.

Nico and Marco sit across from us and talk about our next move, and I notice Nico glaring at me from time to time.

What did I do now?

I don't remember hitting him or lashing out at him again?

'Are you okay?' Brandon asks, poking me in my arm. I look at him and smile. 'Yes, just... A lot on my mind.' He frowns and looks at the seat in front of me, straight at Nico, before looking at me again.

'A Russian? Never tried that before, tell me how it goes.' What? I roll my eyes when I get what he's trying to say and shake my head. 'No thank you, he wants to kill me or something.'

'What did you do to him?' He asks laughing a bit at my fear, even though it's not funny.

I've heard the stories about them, all of them.

And according to Marco, Nikolai is one of the most vicious men on earth. Not as vicious as Rio, but still close enough.

'I didn't do anything' At least not that I remember.

We suddenly tilt to the left, making all of us frown. 'What's going on?' Brandon asks, finally talking to Marco again. 'I think they changed course, Rio probably wants to head to Marseille first.'

'What's in Marseille?' I ask, making Nico chuckle as if it's the most stupid question to ever be asked.

They probably know everything. But I don't. So I'll ask.

'Didn't he tell you?' Marco asks, a little shocked about it. I simply look at him in a way that's supposed to be questioning but disappointed at the same time. 'We all know he doesn't tell me shit.'

'We're headed to Marseille because that's where Oliver Moreau lives.' Nico says.

'And who is Oliver Moreau?' I ask, looking at Brandon, who shrugs. 'He sounds like a famous clothing line owner.' He says, looking back at his brother and Nico.

'He's the guy who let the ship go in Montepellier.' Oh... Now it makes sense.

I nod and lean back, keeping my eyes on the little table between us. 'Don't tell me that you didn't know that, Neveah.' Nico mocks.

I don't even look at him as I shrug. 'She didn't, Rio doesn't let her in on anything.' Brandon says, keeping his eyes on Marco, who's already shaking his head. 'He does let her in on some things.'

'Like what?' Oh god... 'Brandon, it's not worth it.' He looks at me and shakes his head, before turning back to Marco. 'Tell me when Rio has ever been nice to her?'

'He's nice to nobody though.' Nico says. 'That's true, he's a real pain in the ass and rude to everyone.' Killian says, turning his chair around so he can look at us.

Vincent does the same and nods. 'But he always keeps his end of the bargain and he's going to pay us if we help, we certainly need the money.' He's paying them?

'And there's another thing I don't get.' Nico says, looking at me again, 'Why is he keeping you out if it's your friend he's looking for?' Right...

Marco's eyes widen for a second before he looks away and smiles.

We both know he didn't tell them the real reason he wants Leya back.

What is the real reason?

He loves her. Sure.

But what's his plan once we get her back? Will he force her to stay again? Or will he let her decide?

Knowing Rio, he's probably going to lock her in a room or actually put a tracker in her this time.

'Unless you are keeping things from us?' His eyes turn dark and I wish I could jump out of this plane, but Brandon frowns and looks at me. 'What did he tell you?'

'We're looking for a girl called Cataleya Valentina Velez, Neveah's best friend, who got taken by Hunter Steel.' Vincent says as he continues to type away on his laptop. 'We have no clue why we're looking for her, except for the part where she's Neveah's best friend. Knowing Rio, there's more.' Shit.

'I think she has something that belongs to him and he wants it back.' Killian says, looking at me as if I'm supposed to give something away. 'No, she definitely stole from him and wants his money back.' Nico says, fully convinced that that's it.

Vincent chuckles and shakes his head, before looking at me. 'He's in love with her.' Bingo.

I keep my face straight and look at Marco, before looking at Vincent again. 'Rio doesn't do love.' Nico says, looking at his friend, 'He's too fucked up for that shit.'

'Nico's right, I mean if Rio's ever going to fall in love, it wouldn't be someone like her,' Killian looks at me and smiles, 'No offense, but he would go for someone rich. Just to use her to climb up higher and you know, work his way through all those rich assholes.' Oh...

If only they knew... 'That's what we thought of Leon as well, and look where he ended up.' Vincent says, looking at everyone, before stopping at me, 'Madly in love with her.'

'If he was so madly in love with her,' Nico says, pointing at me as if I'm the most disgusting thing he has ever seen, 'why isn't he here?'

'That's a long story.' Brandon says, making everyone look at him. 'We have some time, so go on.'

'Shouldn't you be asking me?' I interfere before Brandon tells them the entire story. I get that it would be a smart thing to tell them the truth, but I don't want Rio to get angry about it.

'Tell us, Zayka. What happened between you and Leon? Why isn't he here with you right now?' I try making myself as little as possible, without making it too obvious that Nikolai scares the shit out of me.

'Because we had a fight and Rio doesn't want him around.' I say, keeping it as basic as possible.

Technically I'm not lying, but I'm not being entirely honest either.

'And why is that?' He asks, leaning forward and tilting his head a bit. 'If you want to know why, Nikolai,' I lean forward as well, and watch his movements as he leans back again, 'go ask him yourself.'

He rolls his eyes and looks at Killian, who's looking at me. 'Why can't you tell us?'

'Because it's not my story to tell. And we both know you won't go and ask Rio himself because you're scared of him.' Nico chuckles and looks at me again. 'I'm not scared of him.'

'Go ask him then.' He clenches his jaw and grips the side of his chair, making me wish I just kept my mouth shut.

He already wanted to kill me, but he looks like he's ready to rip my throat any second now. 'What did you owe him anyway?' I ask, looking at Killian again.

'I don't owe him anything. He just saved my ass in Spain one time and thinks that I'll repay him with favors every time he needs help.'

I nod and watch as Brandon smiles proudly at me, making me smile as well. 'And we're doing it for the money, of course.' Right.

Rio didn't tell me he was going to pay them as well. Not that he had to, but it would be nice if I would've known about that.

The rest of the flight goes by quicker than I thought it would. Brandon tells me about some designs he had in mind and tells me about the boys he's been with in the past few days, which has been more than I thought, and before we know it, we are on the ground again.

We get into two cars, Killian, Kai, Brandon, and I get in the same car, while Marco, Nikolai, Vincent, and Rio get in the other.

He tells us to follow him and we do, heading to a deserted construction site in the middle of nowhere.

We all climb out of the cars and head to the only building that looks somewhat finished.

It doesn't have any windows, but all the walls are standing and there's a roof on top of it.

'So here's the plan.' Marco says, leaning against a rusty-looking table and waiting for all of us to gather around, 'We're going to his house and we need the most innocent one out of the group to go in first, that way they won't suspect anything.'

They all nod and look at me. 'Okay, but what do I have to do?' 'Act normal but make sure they know who you're with as well.' Kilian says, smiling at me. 'So I can tell them I work with you?'

'It's not that hard, just go in there and tell them I'll be coming by later to talk.' Rio says grumpily. 'Fine, I just wanted to make sure.' Before you blame me for ruining it again.

'You go and check the house,' Brandon says, turning me around. He puts something in the breast pocket of my jacket and smiles at me, 'Make sure to walk around so we can check for cameras, but don't make it too suspicious.'

'How do I do that? Because they'll know-' 'I told you this was a bad idea.' Nikolai grunts, looking at me like I'm some idiot. 'They'll know I work for him, so they'll suspect me anyway. Right?'

'You're smart enough to figure it out on your own, right North?' Rio's eyes burn through me and I step back a bit, turning back to Brandon.

'Search the house, see if something's up- if someone's there. If not, text me and let us know. If something is up, get out of the house as fast as you can. Okay?'

I nod and take a deep breath before I turn back to the others, who are all looking at me. Rio and Nico look at me with loathing, but the others look hopeful. 'You got this.' Killian chimes, pushing me around before smiling again. 'I hope so.'

'Take the car in the back, everything is already set for you. Don't change course and you should be fine.' Vincent says, reading something from his laptop. 'If something goes wrong, you come straight back here, okay?'

I nod and catch the keys Marco throws my way, before heading to the gray Toyota CHR that's parked in the back. Wow.

The car looks brand new, which it probably is, and I climb inside. It takes me a while to adjust everything and as soon as I start the car, I notice that everything is already set up.

It takes about thirty minutes to get to the house, which is just outside of Sormiou.

I start driving and turn on some music, which is immediately cut off because someone's calling me.

Without looking to see who it is since I have to keep my eyes on the road, I pick up and continue driving.

'Took you long enough.' It's Rio. And he doesn't sound pleased at all. 'Sorry, I'm not trying to die.'

'Listen, if you mess this up, I'll leave you behind and go on without you. Understood?' I roll my eyes and try to come up with a comeback, but I don't have one.

I don't know what to say.

Because everything I want to say has already been said between us. Well, not everything, but most of it.

I'll still have to talk to him about his future plans with Leya, but I don't think he's going to open up about that any time soon.

'Are you even listening?' He asks, probably rolling his eyes at my lack of interest. 'Sorry, I was trying to focus on not dying.' I lie, trying to listen to what he has to say this time.

'Tell them you came for the files, that way you can follow him into his office. Don't be too obvious and if you get caught, you're on your own, got it?' Shit.

'Got it.' Without saying goodbye, he hangs up the phone, leaving me alone with some sad background music.

I turn the radio off and look at the road, noticing that it's pretty sunny outside.

It would be amazing weather for a picnic or something like that. But we don't have time for any of it right now.

I drive through the city and watch as I drive past playing children, making sure they don't run across the road like maniacs.

When I drive up the gravel road, I stop at the end of a wooden fence and text Brandon, before jumping out of the car.

'Here goes nothing.' I mumble to myself before taking a deep breath and heading to the house in the distance.

It's small but surrounded by a big wooden fence that includes enough flat land to have a whole farm.

I walk up the gravel path and look at the small house. It looks like it can break down any second, but it's the coziest thing I've ever seen.

'Puis-je vous aider?' I almost jump in the air at the soft voice coming from the right side of the house.

An older woman, about my aunt's age, is watering the flowers in front of the house, smiling at me.

She's wearing a black cardigan, with a white shirt and dark green flared pants. 'I- I came to see Oliver Moreau.' She nods and places the watering can on the ground, before heading to the front door. 'Follow me.'

Oh... She looks a little afraid, looking over her shoulder a lot before she actually opens the door. 'Come in, I'll go get him for you.' She hurries down a gigantic hall and disappears into one of the rooms.

I quickly walk around the house, looking for cameras or anything suspicious, before she gets back.

But I find nothing.

It's just a small house filled with antique stuff and it's very cramped, as if they don't have enough grounds, even though they do.

I decide to text Brandon so that they know that I checked everything out already.

𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛

I quickly get back into the main hall and act like I haven't been snooping around, to see an older man heading my way.

'What do you want?' He asks, looking me up and down. 'I came for the files.'

Oliver is wearing black pants and a light-blue shirt, he has silver hair and a little beard, with wrinkles all over his face.

He frowns, looks at the woman, and looks back at me. 'What files?' Shit.

'Didn't they tell you?' He crosses his arms and looks me up and down again, before shaking his head. 'Who do you work for, dear?' The woman asks, smiling at me. 'Rafael Curzio.'

Both their eyes widen and the man stumbles back, before looking at the woman next to him.

Great.

I fucked it up. I shouldn't have said that, and now I'm going to- 'Follow me.' What?

The man heads back to the only room I haven't been in so far and waits for me to follow, which I do.

We enter an old-looking office with a bunch of bookcases on the right wall, filled with old books and pieces of paper that hold a lot of information.

'Tell him this is all I have.' He hands me a stash of cash and a file with the letters S and B stamped on it. 'I swear it on everything.'

I nod and take the file and give him back the money.

It's barely five hundred euros, I don't think Rio will mind. Plus, these people need it more than we do, so it wouldn't be fair to take it from them in the first place.

'What are you doing?' He asks, ready to give me the money again. I shake my head and step back, smiling at him a bit. 'I'll take care of that.'

He frowns as he follows me back into the hall. The woman who opened the door for me, is smiling at me and opens the door so I can walk out of here with the file.

But when she opens the door, her smile disappears.

Oh no...

'Surprise, surprise.' Nikolai chimes before stepping in, basically pushing the lady to the side, and allowing the others to step in as well.

Even Kai is here, looking around in this old place.

Vincent walks straight to me and holds out his hand, he probably needs these files to see if there's anything useful in them or something.

I hand him the papers and watch while everyone walks inside, immediately heading to his office and the living room.

'What a nice place you got, Moreau.' It's Rio. He steps in last, smiling at the old man.

Oliver looks at me and shakes his head in fear, before looking back at Rio. 'See, I heard,' Oliver steps back, into the tiny living room, that Nico and Killian already destroyed, and we all follow, 'that you let that ship go on the first of May?'

Rio's voice is dark and deep as hell, making my skin crawl.

He sounds like... Hunter.

'Is that true?' Brandon moves closer to me and grabs my hand. 'Don't panic.' I look up for a second and look back at the old man who looks absolutely terrified of Rio.

'I- I didn't-' 'Do not lie to me, Moreau.' He says, keeping his voice clear of any doubt. He knows what happened, he just needs to hear him admit to it.

'I had no choice, I needed the money and-' Out of nowhere, Rio hits the old guy, making the lady scream in fear. 'How much did they pay you?'

I flinch at the sight of Rio's bloody hand. It's not his blood though, it's Oliver's.

Oliver seems a bit disoriented and looks at Rio, afraid for his life. 'Please-' 'How much?!'

I almost step forward, but Brandon pulls me back and shakes his head. 'Think about the name.'

Fuck. If I'll behave today, I'll get a name. Stupid, I know, but I want those names.

And this guy let the ship go.

He let her slip through.

Right?

'Enough to fix the roof, please!' Nonetheless, I feel sorry for the man.

He needed the money.

But Rio doesn't care and slams his fist in the poor man's face, again and again, as if it's some kind of exorcise for him. As if it's some kind of outlet, allowing him to finally let it all go.

The lady, the sweet lady that let me in this house, is screaming, begging him to stop, but they ignore her and make sure she can't get close enough.

'Who told you to let them through?' Rio asks, stepping away from the barely breathing Oliver. 'I can't-' 'Who told you, Moreau?'

I look at the old man, who's bleeding a lot more than he should, and wish I was stronger. Because I want to cry.

I want to fucking cry over an old man that got beat up because he let a ship go for money.

And that feels stupid.

'Xavier Castro.' He breathes, looking at me with pleading eyes. He wants this to stop. He wants the torture to stop.

'Rio-' He slams his fist into the pour man's face again, ignoring me, while Brandon shakes his head at me. 'I know it's painful, but-' 'He's going to kill him.' And even though he might deserve it, I can't just let it happen.

'Curse, stop!' The nickname fits him perfectly right now.

It's as if he's cursed.

Dark in a different way. A messed up, sinister way that makes him want to kill people.

He drops Oliver and looks at me, the anger still in his eyes. 'It's enough, we have a name.'

'Stay out of this.' He goes to hit him again, but I throw an old vase on the floor, grasping everyone's attention.

I didn't realize that Kai and Kilian were now pouring something through the room. Probably the entire house. What the fuck?

'We should go.' I mumble, stepping back a bit.

'She's right. Let's go.' Brandon says, pulling me outside with him.

He heads straight to the car, so do Vincent, Kai, and Killian, leaving me alone with Marco, Rio, and Nikolai, standing just outside the fence.

'What are you doing?' Curse keeps his back facing me as he looks at the house, standing right in front of the door, in fucking sight, and takes it all in.

'No one messes with me.' He says, loud enough for everyone to hear, but not screaming yet. He might.

He might explode.

Just like he did a few seconds ago.

When he slammed his fist in that old man's face.

'We got the information we need, come on.' I head to the car, almost opening the door when I hear a loud bang behind me.

I turn around just in time to see a big explosion, leaving most of the house burning, and hearing loud screams coming from inside.

It's Oliver and the lady. They're screaming, trying to get out of the house, but there's no way out. It's all falling apart. Every piece of wall, everything they've built over the past years, it's all falling apart because of the fire.

Gasoline. Kai and Killian were pouring gasoline around the house.

Because Curse told them to.

It takes me a second to comprehend what's going on, but I run towards the house to see if I can help, but someone grabs me and pulls me back to the car. 'Don't.'

It's Rio. The bastard himself.

'They're going to die!' I try breaking free, I try getting back to the house. I can't just let them die. Even if they let the ship go.

They can't just die like this.

'Get in the car.' I hit his arm, again and again, until he finally lets go of me and I drop on the floor because of the sudden freedom.

The screaming stopped, but the fire still roars in front of me.

Not a single thing in the house is going to survive it. Everything is burning and falling apart.

'What did you do...' I gasp as I slowly look up, Rio is standing right next to me and keeps his eyes on the fire. 'I burn those who betray me.'

I turn back to the building and watch as a new part of the roof collapses and breaks most of the walls underneath it, creating an even bigger fire.

'Get up, we need to go.' I can barely move as he pulls me up and drags me to the car.

Tears escape my eyes and I can faintly hear Nico mock me for crying about this, but apart from that, I feel completely numb.

I only realize that we're on the plane again when we're up in the air already.

'What the fuck was that?' Nico chuckles and looks at me with a wicked grin. 'That's what you call revenge.'

'They didn't deserve to die.' Rio chuckles as well and looks at me. 'They let them go, so they did.' He says, his voice colder than ever before.

'He needed the money to fix the house, you heard him-' 'He could've come to me for the money, but he decided to go behind my back and let them go. Now shut up and prepare for the next, because this was just the beginning.' He sneers, pouring himself a drink.

Nico grabs another bottle and fills a few glasses before he looks at me again.

When I look at the others, they all seem normal. Like they didn't just blow up an entire house with people inside.

Everyone but Brandon.

He looks like he's about to throw up any second and doesn't know what to say either.

Pieces of shit.

'You're going in first in Spain as well.' Rio says, looking at me again. What?

'Distract them again.' 'No. I'm not doing that again.' His grin disappears and his lips turn in a straight line, anger flaring in those dark eyes of his.

'Neveah,' I look at the whispering Brandon, 'The name...'

'I don't care. I'm not doing it.' I know I wanted those names, I still do, but not like this. Not if it costs people's lives like this.

'Then maybe we should drop her off with your doctor in Paris.' Nico chimes after he empties his glass in one chug.

'I agree.' Marco says, looking me up and down. Not in disgust, but something else.

Worry.

He's worried that I'll go crazy if I stay with them.

But I'm not going anywhere.

'It will be too much time to get her back if we have to move again, but we'll drop her at the house.' Rio sighs and looks at Vincent, who nods. 'I called your guys to ask if the house in Mazagón was free and they said yes. It's the closest we could get.'

'Great, we'll drop you off at the house and-' 'No. I'm coming with you and you won't kill anyone unless it's necessary.' All eyes turn to me again and I've never felt this small in my entire life.

'Then stop complaining and stay quiet.' Rio rolls his eyes and looks at his phone, but everyone else is waiting for me to respond. And for once, I decide to keep my mouth shut.

For the rest of the flight, everyone, especially Nikolai and Rio, keep looking at me from time to time, seeing if I have something else to say.

When we land, we split up again, the same groups as before, but this time we head to a gated community.

The houses are still far apart from each other, and the one on the end of the street has more land than all the others. It's also on the edge, next to the beach.

It looks like an ancient castle or fortress. But it's absolutely gorgeous.

'Stay in the car, we'll be right back.' Killian chimes as he jumps out, followed by Brandon.

They head to the back of the car and grab the bags, before taking them inside.

'Are you sure you're okay?' Kai asks softly, looking at me in a weird way.

I don't like it. I don't like him.

'Please don't talk to me.' He sighs and turns around so that he can face me, since he's sitting up front. 'Listen, Neveah. I-' 'I honestly don't want to hear it.'

'Well, you don't have a choice.' I roll my eyes and reach for the door, but he quickly leans over the driver's seat and locks the car. 'Open the fucking-' 'Listen to me, I'm sorry for what I did. I truly am. I had no choice.'

'You did. You betrayed us, you betrayed Celine. This all happened because of you and you know it.' He nods and looks away in defeat. 'I know that, but-' 'No buts, Kai. I don't want to hear it.'

'I'm truly sorry.' He whispers as he unlocks the doors before Killian jumps back in the car.

'Everything alright?' Killian asks, looking at me for a second. I nod and look out my window. 'Where's Brandon?' 'He wasn't feeling well, so he decided to stay.' Right.

Maybe I should stay too, this could go terribly wrong and- No. I'm going.

The others are also getting back in a car, only Nico and Vincent get into another one that was ready at the house before they drive off.

We follow them to our next location and my heart starts racing again.

It's a big house, with lots of windows, and since it's getting late, it looks like they're going to bed any second.

'There's one thing I don't get.' I whisper as Killian parks the car right next to the others. 'How come we're here if the boat was in France?'

'They think Xavier Castro bribed Oliver to let that ship go.' Xavier Castro. We all get out of the car and walk up to the others, who are standing on plain land, out in the open as if we shouldn't be caring at all, just staring at the house like a bunch of stalkers.

I watch as I see tiny figures running around the house, children. Those are children, some of them barely ten, and they're running around, up and down the stairs like they're playing tag or something.

'What's going to happen to them?' I whisper, looking at Killian for a second. He shrugs and looks at Rio, who's slowly moving closer.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Five kids. Running around, having the time of their lives.

Innocent.

After a few more minutes, a woman tells them to stop and they all run upstairs. The woman looks our way, but she doesn't notice us. Or she just doesn't care, because she simply closes the curtains and dims the lights, before heading up herself.

A man follows her into the bedroom and they both slowly head to bed. I think.

'Nothing you can change.' He mumbles, making me frown for a second. 'What do you-'

The lights go out and I step back, ready to head back to the car. We've seen the house. There are children in there.

'We should come back when they're at school.' Killian mumbles, following me back to the car. 'That wouldn't be fair, we could just-' 'Send them in now.' What?

We both stop and turn to Curse, who's still standing in the middle of the field.

'What- No.' He looks at me for a second, before turning back to the house. A loud bang and then people start screaming. Children start screaming.

'Curse stop this. There are-' 'Shut up.' He grunts, before looking at the house again. The lights are back on and I can see an outline of people running through the house, holding guns.

'There are children in there!' I shout at him, making him and Nico glare at me.

It's not like anyone can hear me anyway.

The shouting inside the house is louder than my voice could ever be.

'That's what they get for letting them slip through.' Nico says, smirking as he turns back to the house where blood splatters against the curtains.

The wife screams and shouts, but the shooting doesn't stop.

'No.' I look at Rio and search for something, anything that shows any ounce of remorse or regret, but there's nothing. 'Stop this.'

He turns back to the house, completely ignoring me as I'm ready to drop on my knees to make this stop.

I hear the children scream for their parents in the background and wish that I could block it all out. 'Don't let them-' 'Get in the car.' He says, his voice getting colder with every word.

I look at the others, mostly Vincent and Killian, before turning back to the house. The back door opens wide and a few children run out. One of them gets shot, making me gasp for air before my legs start moving towards the house.

Nico stops me and shakes his head warningly, 'Don't you dare.'

I smack him across the face and walk past him, feeling his strong arms wrap around my waist as he lifts me into the air and turns back around.

Kicking him doesn't do shit and hitting him doesn't do much either, as he waits for Curse to tell him what to do with me.

'Throw her in the car and meet us at the house.' He commands and Nico simply shakes his head. 'Do I look like a babysitter?'

'Put me down! You piece of-' 'Just get her out of here before I throw her in there as well.' Rio sneers, making Nico sigh deeply.

I kick again and again, not hard enough, because Nico carries me to the car and throws me in the back, quickly jumping in himself. 'Stay put.'

I try climbing out of the car, but he locked all the doors as if I'm a little kid.

'Open the door.' He rolls his eyes and starts racing out of here. 'Nikolai I swear to god, open the fucking car!'

'You don't scare me.' He says, laughing a little.

I pull his seatbelt back, chocking him, and keep just enough pressure around his neck. 'Stop this car, now.'

He panics for a second and lets go of the wheel, almost crashing the car, as he unbuckles his seatbelt, and quickly pulls it forward a little more, making me lean over his shoulder a bit. 'No. Now sit back and behave until we get to the house.'

'You can't just-' 'Don't make me knock you out, Neveah.' He sneers, before racing back to the house. As soon as we get there, I jump out of the car and keep my eyes on the slowly closing gate.

'Take me back.' 'Just shut up already.' He looks at his phone and sighs, before stepping closer to me. 'Stay the fuck away from me, you asshole.'

He chuckles and looks at me like I'm some idiot again. 'Is that the best you got, princess?'

Before I can even respond, he throws me over his shoulder again, carrying me inside while I throw a fit. He doesn't fucking care.

'What's going on?' Brandon asks sleepily. I faintly see his face, before Nico heads up the stairs and throws me in a room.

I look around, trying to see if there's any way out, but the only way out is through the door. And he's standing there.

'Boss's orders, you're staying in here.' And with those words, he leaves and locks the door, leaving me locked in this gorgeous room.

'Nikolai open this door!' I slam my fist against the door and try to kick it down, but it's no use.

I run to the windows and look outside. There's a small roof just outside my window. I could- Yes.

I try opening the window as silently as possible, but it's locked. When I look at the corner of the window, I see something metal and a flickering red dot.

Fuck.

I take another look through the room and take a seat on the bed, thinking about my next option.

I hear some voices in the hall and run back to the door.

'You can't just lock her in there!' It's Brandon. Yes. 'Brandon, open the door! Please!'

'Do not take another step, Barsetti. Rio told me to lock her in there. I suggest you wait for him to get back. Unless you want to get your ass beat, then be my guest.'

'I honestly don't care about-' 'You should!' No. 'Brandon, please open the door!' Their voices slowly fade away and I slam my fist against the door, again and again, until it starts to hurt.

Fucking hell...

He killed them.

He killed those innocent children.

Their faces, god, I wish I would've- No. Because now I know.

Rio is a monster who kills innocent children.

And I bet he has some kind of excuse for doing this, "They let the ship go". The children had nothing to do with that, and he just... No.

Tears escape my eyes and I walk to the other side of the room, away from the door.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He murdered them... Slaughtered them like they meant absolutely nothing.

I drop to my knees and try to calm down, to catch my breath, before I go down that hole again.

The bedroom door opens and I stay on the other side, looking at a worried Marco.

I barely noticed that they came back already, but that's probably because I'm not focused on that right now.

'Are you okay?' He asks, looking me up and down. I nod and look behind him, to see if there's someone else. But he's alone.

'I told Rafael to let you out, he won't keep you in here Neveah.' He says, slowly getting closer and closer.

I climb back up and look at him with tears in my eyes. 'I wouldn't let him lock you up as he did with Leya, so you're free to go again.' What?

'He locked Leya in a room?' He looks away and nods, a little ashamed, before looking at me again. 'And I didn't do much to help her either, but that's in the past.' Right...

'He murdered those kids...' Marco turns away and takes a deep breath. 'It's part of the job, Neveah.' What?

'How can you say that? They were innocent!' I step forward, making him turn around and look at me as if I'm wounded. 'He's a monster.'

'He didn't have a choice.' He mumbles.

Bile forms in my throat and I feel like I'm about to throw up. How can he say that?

They were children... Innocent children...

'You should get some sleep, it's been a long day.' He says as he slowly heads back to the door, 'I told you it was a better idea to stay at the house.'

'He murdered those children.'

Without saying another word, he leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

I feel disgusting again. As if I'm the one who murdered those children. Because I didn't do much to stop it. There wasn't much I could do, but still... It feels wrong.

I look at the bag in the corner of the room and realize that it's mine. So I decide to take a quick shower, which doesn't help at all, and slip into some pajamas, before climbing back on the big bed.

'You can't act normal for one second, can you?' I jump up at Curse's deep voice and glare at him, feeling my anger rise again. I didn't even realize he was in here. 'You killed an entire family.'

'Because they double-crossed me, they deserved it.'

'Did the children deserve it? Did the wife deserve it?' He nods at both and smiles lightly. 'That's how this life works, North.'

'No, it does not.' He rolls his eyes and looks me up and down. 'Oh, and you know all about it. Right?'

I don't know what to say to that, but I know for certain that those kids did not deserve to die tonight.

'You can't go around and kill people, families like that.'

He heads back to the door and stops before he leaves. 'You almost had that first name as well.' What?

'If you would've just kept quiet.' He mumbles, smiling proudly that I failed to keep my cool tonight. Or for the entire day for that matter.

'Do you think I give a single fuck about that list right now?!' I shout, balling my fist as I climb out of bed. 'You killed an entire family because he let a ship go-' 'A ship that Valentina was on. Even when I specifically told them to keep every ship at bay.' I knew it...

'Are you even listening to yourself right now?' I ask desperately. It's as if this is an entire new Rio.

This is the Curse. The darkest side of him.

The side that enjoys murdering people, families, kids, the part that enjoys watching things burn.

'Are you? Those people let them go. If it wasn't for them, we would've known their location by now and we wouldn't be having this conversation.'

'You didn't have to kill them!' Something flashes through his eyes and I can't place it anywhere. It's a mix of power and anger, but also destruction.

Overall. It's dark.

His eyes turn dark, as if he's ready to kill again.

'I did.' He says plainly, not bothered by the fact that he killed an entire family a few hours ago.

'You're a monster.' I breathe, trying to keep my voice from breaking.

All he does is chuckle as he steps a bit closer again, and shakes his head amused. 'No, I'm a curse. Right?'

I stay silent. Because he's right.

'We'll have diner after our meeting, so I suggest you sleep before all this shit continues. I don't want your shitty attitude.' He says before he leaves.

He truly is a curse.

-----

A/N: I hope you guys still like it... Even after this chapter...

I know Rio seems a bit heartless right now (he just is), but just wait okay!!!!!! Give a guy a chance!! (Even though he deserves to die for what he did to Leya)

Don't forget to comment and vote and I'll see you in the next chapter!!!!!!!

Love you guys and have a wonderful day!