'Neveah?' Marco steps into the room, his hand covering his eyes.

He probably thinks I'm changing, but I'm just doing my hair.

'Come in, I'm not changing.' I say. He lowers his hand and looks at me.

I quickly finish my hair and take a seat on my bed, tapping my hand on the place next to me as I wait for him to take a seat as well.

'Brandon said you wanted to talk to me.' He says as he takes a seat next to me.

I nod and look at the door, hoping that he closed it well enough for no one to hear this, even though it's not really a secret or anything.

'Last night, after everyone left and Rio and I talked for a while, he left. I mean, first, he got really angry and told me to stay here and he looked like he was going to explode or something, so I stayed and he left and then-' 'Neveah, calm down.' Marco puts his hands on my shoulders, trying to keep me from moving and rambling on about what happened.

'He might've killed someone because of the shit I said...' And I couldn't sleep last night. Not even when I heard Rio get back to the house.

I just couldn't.

'He did.' Shit.

He murdered someone innocent. Again.

All because of what I said. Shit.

'He murdered a spy that tried to catch up to us, sent by god knows who.' What?

Marco nods because of the look on my face and smiles as he jumps back on his feet. 'He murdered someone, but I doubt it was because of what you said.' Oh...

Relief washes over me as I take in what he just said.

He did murder someone, but that person wasn't an innocent one.

'And if you don't believe me, ask him yourself. He's talking to the others in the dining room.' Marco says as he heads to the door, 'He wants to talk to you anyways.'

Me?

Rio wants to talk to me?

I follow Marco to the dining room and look at all the people in the room. Everyone is sitting in a chair and looks at me.

'Take a seat, we have a lot to discuss.' Rio says, not taking his eyes off of the paper in front of him.

Marco and I head to the empty chairs and look at Rio.

'My uncle claims that there's a necklace like this,' Nico starts, showing me a necklace that seems familiar to me, 'that belongs to your family, specifically your uncle.'

My uncle had a necklace like that? It's a simple necklace with a big golden pendant.

'He wants it in return for the files.' Nico says, turning back to Rio once he's done. But Rio's looking at me.

'Can you get it?' What? I look around, realizing that everyone is looking at me again. 'I don't even know if he had a necklace like that, but even if he did, it's probably at my aunt's place.'

'Shit.' Marco mutters under his breath. 'Why shit?' Brandon curiously asks, frowning at his brother.

'I know she kept a box of things that belonged to my mom's side of the family, but I don't know if she still has it, let alone if there was a necklace like that in it.'

Nico rolls his eyes and looks at Rio again, waiting for a response. But he has not taken his eyes off of me, nor listened to a thing I just said. Because he asks: 'Do you think you can get it?'

'I don't know.' I answer honestly because I truly have no idea.

My aunt probably won't let me in her house after what happened last time, let alone hand over a necklace.

But at the same time, she wouldn't be that heartless to not give me my family's stuff, right?

'I'll try.' Rio nods towards Marco, who rushes out of the room, his phone already at his ear. 'You'll go to your aunt with Killian and Nico.' What?

'I'm not going with Nikolai.' I can feel him grinning, but keep my eyes on Rio, who's frowning at me. 'Can't you guys come with me?'

'Since Rio sent you to last night's party with them, it would make more sense if you went with them.' Brandon says, grabbing my hand underneath the table.

'I heard people talking and they think you belong with them now, so you're going with them.' Rio says, looking me dead in the eyes.

It's not up for debate.

But nothing is.

'Why don't you want me around, Neveah?' I turn to Nikolai and frown at him, 'Afraid you can't keep your hands off me?'

'I honestly think it's the other way around.' I sneer, wanting to shove something so far up his ass, he'll taste it in his mouth. Piece of shit...

'What's with the necklace anyway?' I ask, looking at the picture again.

'Inside that pendant is a chip and on that chip is a bunch of missing information in the files that are being sold on the black market.' What?

It looks like a regular necklace. Just a pendant that might have a picture inside. But no, apparently it has a chip inside.

'And why would my uncle have that?' I ask a little weirded out by it.

My uncle was an innocent man, why the fuck would he have that information hidden in his necklace?

'Because he wasn't appealed by the price my family was willing to pay.' Nikolai answer plainly, looking at me as if I'm stupid. 'I actually meant that this necklace can't be my uncle's.'

'So you don't think it was his?' Brandon asks, looking at me. 'He would never have something like that.'

'Why would you say that?' We all look at Rio, who's waiting for me to explain. 'Because he was the most basic man I know. He owned a car store, that's where he got his money from, not some black market.' Right?

'Antonio Lopez,' Nikolai says, making me look at him, 'that's your uncle's name, right?'

'Yes, but you could've looked it up or something.' There's no way.

'How else do you think Andrea knew who I was?' Rio asks, frowning at my confusion. 'Because everyone knew who you guys were, right?'

I feel so stupid for even asking, but it doesn't make any sense.

Why would my uncle have something so dark, something that could end a million lives in a heartbeat? He wouldn't hurt a single fly.

'Cazzo...' Brandon mumbles, shaking his head as he looks at Rio. 'You're joking right?' Killian asks. It's the first thing he has said ever since I entered the room.

'I'm not, it's a serious question.' He chuckles and looks at Rio as well.

As if everyone is waiting for him to explain it to me, instead of doing it themselves.

'I own a billion euro hotel chain across Europe, North. Do you really think I would tell random people on the street that sixty percent of my income comes through the black market?'

Shit.

There's no way he would put up a show for the paparazzi, just to tell some random people what he actually does.

'Fuck.' So my family was involved in this shit all along?

I never thought that my uncle would be involved in any of this shit, let alone his wife or children.

Because I don't doubt Andrea knew.

How else would she have known who the Curzio's were?

Tears prick in the corners of my eyes, but I blink them away.

'Was that the reason they were killed?' The question slips through before I can even think about it for longer than a second. 'Because he had that necklace?'

'No. They were killed because of our connection, to taunt Leonardo.' Rio answers, a glimpse of something like sorrow flashing through his eyes.

'Why do we need that chip anyways?' I ask, needing to divert the subject a little. I can't believe that my family was actually selling information on the black market.

'They need it to fill the gaps of missing information in order to get the files on where they went and who works for them.' Brandon says, keeping his eyes on me.

He can probably tell I'm freaking out on the inside, but won't say anything about it with everyone else around.

'Now I suggest everyone starts packing their bags, there's a plane ready to leave in twenty minutes.' I have so much more questions I want to be answered, but I know now is not the time.

So I jump up and head back to my room, feeling someone grab my arm and spin me back around.

It's Rio.

'Brandon, go pack her bags. I have to talk to her.' What?

Everyone starts moving and Brandon grunts as he walks past us, a little annoyed that Rio is pushing him around like this again.

As he walks past us, I grab his arm, keeping my eyes on Rio. 'I can pack my bags and we can talk there, he doesn't have to.'

Rio looks me up and down, rolling his eyes as he gets up from his chair and walks towards my room.

Brandon smiles at me and basically pushes me after Rio, just in case I start to linger around.

I step into the room, noticing that Rio already put my suitcase on my bed. 'What did you want to talk about?'

'I wanted to propose something.' He says, dropping onto Brandon's bed. Just like he did last night.

'Go on.' I say as I start grabbing the few things I unpacked last night, and start throwing them back into my suitcase.

From now on, I'll only unpack if we stay longer than three days.

'As you know, I have this hotel thing going on.' He says, his eyes on his phone once again.

I almost laugh at the fact that he calls his chain a thing. It's worth billions of euros, yet he talks so casually about it.

'About forty percent of my money goes through there.' Less than half of what he gets... 'Can you just get to the point?' I ask as I throw the last pants in the suitcase and start zipping it up.

'In order to put all my attention on this, I need someone to make sure the chain doesn't break.' Wait... So- 'You're telling me you have been focusing on both getting Leya back and you're hotels?' I ask a little confused.

He nods, making me frown at him. All this time he said he was fully going for getting Leya back, but he was also focusing on other stuff.

But I'm not angry because of it.

I just didn't expect it for some reason.

'We have a lot going on, I don't need other people sniffing around in this shit.' He sneers, immediately going for the defense. 'I'm not- Forget it. Continue.' He rolls his eyes and finally puts away his phone as he climbs back on his feet.

'Will you take care of the hotels while I focus on Valentina?' What? He would trust me with that?

I know he's asking me because the others probably don't know about hotel management as much as I do, but then again, I barely passed the test.

'You would trust me with your Elite chain?' He nods, looks at my suitcase, before looking back at me. 'At least you'll be useful that way, while I handle the other stuff.'

God... I contain the need to roll my eyes and put my suitcase on the ground. 'You know-' 'I actually don't have a choice, I know.' I say, rolling it towards the door before heading to the dresser to check if I left something in there.

Empty.

'I'll do it, in one condition.' I say as I turn back to Rio.

He tilts his head a little, waiting for me to continue. 'You'll tell me everything that happened at the end of the day, so I won't be left out of anything that has something to do with Cataleya.'

Because that's the reason we're doing this.

To get her back.

'I'll let Marco or Brandon fill you in every day and-' 'You'll tell me.' I say.

If we want this shit to work, if I want us to get along in some way, he'll be the one who has to tell me.

'They'll tell you.' He says as he heads to the door, stopping in the opening as he turns back to me. 'I know that this was a lot to take, but don't mess it up.'

The fact that he's showing some kind of understanding towards everything going on, makes me want to smile at him.

But I simply nod and follow him back into the hall.

Everyone is waiting there, looking at us strangely as we walk towards them.

Brandon walks beside me and helps me get my suitcase inside the car waiting outside.

'Since when are you two a dream team?' He asks jokingly, smiling at me. 'We just talked.'

'Since when?' I roll my eyes and give him a little push, noticing that everyone is dreading splitting up again.

Mostly Marco and Nico, since they seem to get along pretty great lately.

Even Rio seems a bit bummed that we have to split up again, costing more time for a simple necklace that might not even be there.

'Be careful okay?' Brandon whispers as he pulls me into a hug. I hug him back and take a deep breath, hating that we're being split up again.

'I will, I promise.'

He leans back and smiles at me again, 'I seriously can't wait until all of this is over so that we can go clubbing again.'

I can't help but laugh, but I honestly would love to go out again. As soon as we have Leya back.

Killian clears his throat and looks at us a little awkwardly. 'Sorry to interrupt, but we have to go.'

I smile at Brandon again, before climbing into the car and looking at Nico, who's sitting behind the wheel.

'Are you sure you're sobered up?' He looks at me through the rearview mirror and grins. 'I'm sober enough to drive, trust me.'

'Maybe I should drive.' Killian suggests, looking at his friend. 'I'll be fine.'

I doubt Nikolai would drive if he wasn't sober enough to drive. Right?

'Just go, the plane could leave any minute.' Nikolai chuckles and starts the car, driving off immediately. 'Just because you're friends with Rafael, doesn't mean you can talk to us like you're the boss, Neveah.'

I know it's bad, but I want to mess with him.

So I lean forward and place my hand on his shoulder, moving closer to his ear. 'I thought you liked it when I was bossy.'

He tries to contain himself, but I notice his grip on the wheel tightening.

'Neveah, I enjoy annoying the fuck out of Nico as well, but we do have to make it to the hangar alive.' Killian says, barely able to keep in his laughter.

I drop back in my seat and watch as Nikolai glares at me through the rearview mirror again.

For the rest of the drive, he does not say a word, probably annoyed that I'm teasing him.

I know I shouldn't, especially after last night, but it felt right in the moment.

We make our way into the plane and take a seat, a lot closer to each other than I expected.

'I hope you don't mind, but we have some questions.' Killian chimes as he smiles at me. Shit.

They're cornering me for answers of course.

'First off, why did Rio flip out last night if he doesn't care about her at all?' Men really are stupid...

Vincent practically guessed it the last time thought... I just don't get why these two don't get it yet.

'Ask him.' I answer instead of telling them the truth.

They want to know really badly, but I'm not risking my life to tell them the truth. Because they'll help either way.

And the answer is technically right in front of them, so I don't get how they can not see it.

'Why can't you tell us, Neveah?' Nikolai asks, leaning a bit closer.

He chose the seat next to me. On purpose.

'Because it's not my story to tell and you won't ask him yourself.' I look right into his blue eyes and feel something go down my spine.

I hate the feeling because it reminds me of fear.

It might be fear.

'Since you asked a question, I can ask one in return.' I say, turning back to Killian since Nikolai's stare is becoming too much. 'I know Rio's is paying you, but there's something else. Tell me what it is.'

They look at each other, before looking at me with a questioning look on their faces. 'What?'

'There's no way you two would risk your life for Rio, even for the amount of money he pays you guys. There's a reason you are working against Hunter or the Steel's in general, what's the reason?'

'Has anyone ever told you that asking questions can get you into a lot of trouble?' Nikolai asks, smirking a little.

The urge to roll my eyes at him is bigger than anything I've ever felt before, but I somehow manage to look at Killian and contain myself.

'My best friend, Fleur, wanted to go to Harvard really badly. She just didn't have the money or didn't know how to get in there in the first place.' Killian says, keeping his eyes on me since Nikolai is probably glaring at him for telling me this. 'She asked around and people told her that the Steel family had some connections, so she contacted them.'

Killian tries to come off emotionless, keeping his voice as monotone as possible, but I can see the pain in his eyes.

'After she got in, not barely making it the first semester, they wanted something in return.' Oh no... 'Either money or services.' He doesn't even have to specify what kind of services, because the tone of his voice says it all.

I knew the Steel's were sick, but to ask someone for services is just insane.

'She tried ignoring them, she even tried getting back to the Netherlands, but they hunted her down at the airport and killed her afterward.' A lump starts forming in my throat and I feel like there's barely any air around us.

'So I would like to kill Hunter for that because he's the one who was petty about her paying them back.' I nod, giving him a sorrowful smile, before trying to take a deep breath. 'How do you know it was him?'

'Money can buy a lot more than just things.' Money.

Everything is involved with money.

'What about you?' He asks, making me frown for a second. Not only because of the question but because he sounds joyful, even after telling me such a heavy weighing story.

'What's the reason you want them gone.' Nikolai adds, making me look at the both of them for a second. 'They murdered my family.'

If I want them to be honest with me, I might tell them something about my reasons, right?

'What about you?' I ask Nikolai since he hasn't answered my question yet.

And he seems to have a growing hatred towards the Steels, Hunter in particular.

His eyes stay on me for a while, but he doesn't say a word.

Not that he really has to, because if looks could kill, I would've been dead as soon as the question came out of my mouth.

'Come on, Nico. Tell her.' Killian says, smiling at his friend.

Nikolai sighs deeply and leans back in his seat, looking out of the window on his right.

'Natalia Brovsi.' He says, not moving his gaze away from the window. It's as if he's reading the clouds, finding the right words to say.

'My older sister.' I look at Killian, who keeps his eyes on Nico, a little concern flashing through his eyes.

I can tell they don't talk about this stuff a lot.

'She was head over heels for Adrian Steel.' My skin crawls at that name and I can't contain my shock. Someone was head over heels for someone like him? 'When his wife passed away, she decided to make a move and it somewhat worked. Or so she thought.' He mockingly adds the last part and looks at his hands.

'I didn't trust it, but nobody wanted to listen to me because I was just a child back then.' He scoffs and looks at the empty seat next to Killian. 'It just didn't make any sense that he would move on that quickly and-' He stops himself from going on into detail and takes a deep breath.

'Hunter was supposed to pick her up from the airport and take her to their estate, but the car crashed on their way there.' He finally looks at me and for once I can see something else in his eyes.

It's not just anger this time.

But pain as well.

'He magically made it out alive, but she didn't.' A billion more questions swarm into my head, but I keep them contained.

Nikolai doesn't seem like the type to have this much hatred towards someone without a legit cause.

'I knew he never liked her because he didn't want his mother to be replaced, so I know he murdered her.' Nikolai continues, turning back to the window to watch the clouds, 'My family, the fools, all believed them when they said they had nothing to do with it. To keep the peace.'

Oh god... 'So I made it my mission to make sure that I kill Hunter Steel.'

Killian snickers across from us and sighs deeply, 'You're not the only one.'

That he's certainly not.

The rest of the flight goes by quicker than I expected.

'Do we have a certain tactic?' Killian asks, looking at me. I realize that Nikolai is also looking at me. 'You're asking me?'

'It's your aunt, is it not?' Nikolai asks, giving me a gentle nudge. His hand stays longer on my leg than necessary and I brush his hand off of me, glaring at him.

'I'm going alone.' I don't need her bashing me for taking men to her house again, 'It's better that way.'

'If you say so.' Killian chimes, grabbing his phone as we land on the ground. 'But if you're not back in one hour, we'll pay a visit to see what's going on.' Nikolai says, giving me a little push.

'No need, I'll be fine.' I say, hoping that they won't barge through the door if I won't be back in an hour.

I doubt I'll be there longer than twenty minutes if I'm being entirely honest.

'We'll see.' Nico chimes as he jumps onto his feet and heads for the door, 'Let's get that necklace.' 'If it's even here.' I mumble as I follow them to a car outside.

It doesn't faze me that everything is always waiting for us anymore.

For the entire drive to my aunt's street, they ask about my relationship with her. I try answering as honestly as possible, without having to explain too much why it is the way it is.

'Don't talk to strangers.' They stop on the corner of the street, in the middle of the fucking road, and look at me. What? 'Go, before people will start honking at us.' Killian says, trying to push me out of the car.

I quickly jump out and look around, realizing that there indeed is a line of cars forming behind us, and start walking towards my aunt's house.

I stop on the corner and look back, noticing that they already drove off. Let's do this.

'Kitty?' For fuck's sake... I ignore Drew's voice and continue walking toward my aunt's place. 'Neveah, wait!' He grabs my arm and spins me around, pulling me in his arms.

I panic and push him away, making sure he keeps his distance from me this time.

'Why the fuck do you keep popping up everywhere?' I ask as I continue my way to the apartment.

'I should be asking you.' He says, walking beside me as if we're going somewhere together.

'What's going on with you, Kitty?' He steps in front of me and I curse at my parents for giving me short legs. 'Move out of my way.'

Drew stays put and looks me up and down.

'You're fucking someone else, aren't you?' What the fuck?

I roll my eyes and try to walk past him, but he keeps mirroring me, and I honestly don't have the energy to run right now.

'Why would that matter to you?' I ask, standing my ground as I look up at him. 'Because it would depend on who I would have to murder.'

I can barely keep in my laughter as he looks at me with the most serious look I've ever seen on his face.

'So you want to kill a Curzio?' I know he knows who they are, he fangirled about Curse the last time we saw each other, so I doubt this shit is new to him.

'You're sleeping with Rafael Curzio?' He asks, shocked at the thought of it.

My stomach turns and I suddenly feel nauseous. 'No.'

Drew looks away, trying to process what I just said, allowing me time to walk away from him, and I do.

'He has a cousin. And I doubt you'll kill him.' I say, leaving him behind.

For a long five seconds, I don't hear a single thing. Not even his footsteps.

But just for five seconds, because he runs after me and looks at me with wide eyes. 'They're dangerous to be with.'

'Drew, I don't have time for this.' I brush past him and finally make it to my aunt's block. He continues to walk after me, slowly realizing I'm headed to my aunt's place, and sighs deeply. 'I just want you to be safe.'

'Can you just go away, please?' I fasten my pace, not that it helps because he's faster.

'You're going home?' Home. I simply keep walking, not even rolling my eyes at his stubbornness.

'Neveah-' Someone bumps into him and they start bickering, allowing me to basically run to the front door of the building.

I press the bell for apartment eighteen and wait for the buzzing sound. 'Neveah!' Why!?

'Drew, I'm begging you, just leave me alone.' He stays put and takes a deep breath, trying to get it back to normal since he's breathing like crazy.

The door finally buzzes open and I push against the door, rushing to the elevator.

He follows me inside and silently steps into the same elevator as me.

I know he has nothing to do here, yet he's following me.

'Go away.' 'I'm just going to pay your aunt a visit.' My heart stops for a second and I wish I shook him off earlier.

But it's too late for that because the door opens and we both step out.

'Andrew Kane, is it really you?' Her voice is as sweet as honey, filled with lies. She doesn't want me here, I can tell, but she'll take Drew any day.

She always loved him, even if he was a piece of shit to me.

'Natalie, how have you been?' Drew hugs my aunt and steps into the apartment, almost shutting the door in my face.

A distraction...

I'll use him as a distraction and get the fuck out of here.

While they talk, I look around the apartment, looking for the familiar box. But she probably still keeps it in her office.

I slip into the hall and make my way to her office, my hand on the doorknob when a deep voice rumbles from behind me.

'Neveah?' I stop and slowly turn around, seeing a limping Eric, heading towards me. 'Is that really you?' His eye... He can barely open his left eye.

What happened to him? 'It is, I just came to grab some things. I'll be out in a second.'

'Does Natalie know you're here?' He asks, opening the door for me. 'She opened the door.' Not for me...

He chuckles and watches me as I rush to the closet she used to keep the box in. I search every shelf and find it on the lowest one. It's still there.

'Looking for something?' He asks, his voice more exhausted than ever.

I keep my eyes on the box and take a deep breath. 'Yes, actually.' He steps closer and I look up at him. 'But what happened to you?' I have to ask because if I don't, I'll regret it.

I hear footsteps down the hall and quickly jump to my feet, before acting like I'm just standing there, talking to Eric.

'What are you doing here?' It's my aunt, and she does not seem pleased with me.

'I'm here to pick up some of my stuff.' I answer as politely as possible. 'In my office?'

I nod and swallow the lump back down my throat. I have so much I want to say to her, but now is not the time.

'I was just talking to her, dear.' Eric interferes before she starts attacking me again, 'Why don't you get her something to drink?'

'She needs to leave.' She says, crossing her arms over her chest. 'I'll leave if I can take the box.' I say, pointing at the box I just shoved back in place.

Her eyes widen when she realizes I touched it. She always hated when I touched anything in this house. 'What were you doing with that?'

'It's filled with stuff about my family, I want to keep it.'

She scoffs and steps closer to me. 'Some of it belonged to my brother.'

'Stop talking about him as if he's not my father.' She rolls her eyes and looks at Eric for help, but he stays silent this time. 'Why don't you start acting like it.'

'Excuse me, but the-' Drew's voice beams through my ears like sirens and I wish I could stab him with a fucking knife right now. 'Can you just get the fuck out already!'

My aunt's eyes widen but all Drew does is grin. 'Do not talk to him like that, Neveah!'

'He shouldn't be here!' I shout back, pointing at my annoying ex that made his way into my old address.

'No, you shouldn't.' I look at her and realize the tears streaming down her face. 'After everything we've done for you, you have the nerve to show up here after sending your friends over to beat us up!' What?

Everyone can see the confusion on my face, since I have no idea what she's talking about, but that doesn't stop her from pulling me out of her office and dragging me back to the door. 'Get out.'

'What the fuck are you talking about?' I ask, pulling my arm out of her grip.

She starts laughing hysterically, still trying to push me out of her house, but I rush into the living room. 'Tell me.'

'You're friends, the one you came here with last time?' Marco and Rafael... 'They came back after you left, trashing this place and beating the shit out of Eric!' Oh...

The fact that I only feel bad for Eric and not a single ounce of regret for my aunt, doesn't scare me at all.

'Look, Neveah.' She takes a deep breath and looks at me, anger in her eyes, 'I want you to get out and never come back. Because I'm done with all of this. I don't want to see you and I honestly don't give a single shit about where you end up. You picked their side, so you can-'

'Natalie.' Eric's voice is calm, yet hard enough for my aunt to stop her brain from functioning for a second. 'Just give her the box, it belongs to her.'

'No.' She replies, keeping her anger towards him now. 'I'm not leaving until you give me the box.'

'Then I'm calling the cops.' On me?! She heads to the little stand on the other side of the room, towards the phone there, and just as she's about to reach for it, Drew clears his throat.

'There's no need for that, Natalie.' He chimes, too cheerful for my liking. I know he's up to something, but I don't care what the fuck it is right now. 'We'll be going since I need to get this shit home.'

He lifts his bag into the air and smiles at my aunt, slowly heading over to me. 'Come on.' He says, keeping a smile on his face as he roughly leads me to the door. 'I'm not-' 'Move, kitty.'

'Goodbye Neveah, hope to never see you again!' My aunt shouts down the hall as Drew drags me towards the hall.

She shuts the door before I can make my way back inside, and I shove Drew away from me. 'What the fuck is wrong with you!?'

He chuckles and heads to the elevator, mumbling something to himself. 'Come on.'

I rush after him, slamming my fist so hard against his back that he needs to cough to catch his breath. 'What the fuck is-' He slams me against the back of the elevator and quickly presses the right buttons, before turning back to me.

'Calm. Down.' Fear fills me in an instant and I struggle to breathe for a second.

All this time, I wondered when this side of him was going to show up again.

He takes a deep breath and leans back, holding out the bag with goods he so-called needed to take home, and shrugs. 'Here.'

I look inside the bag and notice a blue shirt that was inside the box, before looking back at him. The doors slowly open and I move before he tries to speak again, running out of the building, straight into something hard.

'Woah, you okay?' It's Nikolai. Shit.

I look into his eyes and feel something wash over me for a second, before I turn towards the doors behind me and realize that Drew is still standing there, looking at me.

It takes me a full minute to realize what he did.

Drew stole this stuff while we were arguing... He stole this shit to help me...

Nikolai places his hand on my shoulders, looking me up and down to see if I'm okay, and looks at the person behind me. 'Can we please go?' Nico takes his time to respond but nods after a good ten seconds.

'Kitty, let's talk first.' Drew follows us down the street, making my heart speed up. 'There's nothing to talk about.' It's a good thing the car is parked right around the corner.

'Don't you want to thank me?' He asks, walking around us to block my way to the car. 'I-' 'Thank you, but this doesn't mean anything.'

He rolls his eyes and takes another step forward, making me lean back, against Nikolai.

Nico's hand is on my lower back, making sure I don't lean back too far. He always says that shows people you fear them, and right now, for some weird reason, I'm starting to fear Drew.

But Nico won't let me show it.

'Get the fuck out of here, before I shoot you.' I don't think I've ever heard Nico's voice turn this dark.

It makes my skin crawl.

It seriously makes me wonder if I'm fearing the right man right now.

'Or what?' Drew is really on a roll today. He wants everyone to kill him, first me, then my aunt, who probably hasn't noticed he stole from her, and now Nico.

'Just-' I can't finish my sentence, because Nico pulls his gun, right in the middle of the street, with people walking around, and points it at Drew. 'Nico!' I sneer, trying to keep my voice down as much as possible.

He ignores me and keeps his eyes on Drew, who's raising his hands, fear clear in his eyes.

'Now step away and move along, before I shoot.' I watch as Drew trembles back, silently praying for mercy, 'Get in the car, Neveah.'

It's not a question, more command, but I follow his order and jump in the car, feeling my heart race like crazy.

Killian is the one sitting behind the wheel now, smirking at me. 'He's so in love with you.' What?

When I look outside, I notice that Drew already left. It doesn't take long for Nico to hop in the car as well, and we take off.

Holy shit...

'Found the necklace?' Nico asks as if nothing happened.

As if he didn't just point a gun at my ex, in the middle of the fucking street.

I shake the thoughts out of my head and throw everything on the seat next to me, searching for the necklace on the picture.

But I only find some pictures from when I was younger and an empty notebook, some stickers, a shirt, a broken watch, and a golden pen.

A lot of useless things, but no necklace.

'All for nothing.' I groan, realizing that they're both looking at me as if I'm crazy. 'It wasn't for nothing,' Killian says, leaning back to grab one of te pictures, 'look how cute you were back then.'

'We didn't come here for pictures.' I say, not wanting to act like a total bitch towards him, but it's the truth.

We came for the necklace, and we didn't find it.

'Are you sure these were the only things she had?' Nico asks, typing on his phone. He's probably telling the others that we found nothing. 'Yes.' I grab my own phone and dial Rio's number.

It goes straight to voicemail and I sigh deeply, before calling Brandon.

'Why didn't you call when you landed?' Is the first question he asks when he picks up. I roll my eyes and look at the stuff in front of me. 'I forgot, is Rio around?'

'Good to hear from you too, but here you go.' I hear some mumbling on the other side of the line and end up with someone sighing deeply.

Not just anyone.

Rio.

'No necklace?' He says, not annoyed or shocked at all.

He probably knew there was going to be a small chance we were going to find it anyways.

'No necklace.' I say, looking up at the two men looking at me from the front seat. 'When were you going to tell me that you basically attacked my aunt's place and beat up my uncle?'

The line goes silent, but I know he's still there because I can hear Brandon laughing in the back. 'I thought you told her before she left!' Marco sneers, making Rio huff.

Apparently, everyone can hear me now.

'I didn't think it would be important.' He answers, his tone just as classy as always. 'You didn't have to hurt Eric like that, he's still limping and he can barely open his eyes.'

'That was all Marco.' Rio says as if that makes it okay. 'He didn't stand up for you!' Marco shouts from further into the room.

I roll my eyes, but can't contain a little laughter. 'You didn't have to beat him up.'

'I'm sorry.' As expected. Just Marco. Not Rio.

'Okay, so I'll send you some files to work on and we'll meet in Paris tomorrow night.' Rio suddenly says. What?

'Why tomorrow?' I ask, looking at Killian, who's starting the car.

'Because you can't leave already, I heard Killian say that people are watching you guys so it would be too suspicious if you left already.' Are you fucking- 'So you'll do some work from over there and finish it when you get to Paris.'

And as soon as he's finished talking, he hangs up the phone.

Obviously not giving me any time to debate.

I drop back into my seat and almost doze off as we drive away, having no idea where it is we're actually going.

No necklace. No Cataleya.

But I won't give up.

Not yet, not ever.

Because she needs to get out of there.

Even if she says she's fine with staying, even if she's not being tortured like I was, I know it's not where she wants to be.

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A/N: This chapter took so fucking LOOOONNNGGG. Not that you guys would notice tho. ANYWAYS!

WHERE I LIVE ITS ALREADY MIDNIGHT SO I WANTED TO WISH U GUYS A BLESSED 2022!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING AND AAAHHH!!! I CAN'T THANK U GUYS ENOUGH FOR ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT!

I hope you still like the story, let me know what you think will happen, and don't forget to comment and vote!

Have a good day and I'll see you in the next chapter!!