Brandon hands me the last piece that, according to him, finishes my outfit for the meeting with Williams.

A brown blazer.

I put it on and keep my eyes on him as he averts his gaze. He has been doing that the entire time. 'You look great.'

'You're not even looking at me.' I say, moving to the bed.

I think I know why he's not looking at me and I hate it.

'I am,' He says, still not looking at me, 'and you look good.'

'Brandon, I promise you. I'm fine.' He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, before holding it for a few seconds, and releasing it as if it washes away something on his mind.

'You're not.' He walks over to me, still not looking me in the eye, 'You shouldn't be and that's fine.'

'Brandon...' Someone knocks on the door, grasping his full attention, but I don't care about the person behind the door right now.

I just want Brandon to look at me again. And not in a way that makes me feel small and weak.

'Are you guys done?' It's Nico. He's standing behind the door, not opening it until we answer.

'I think they are!' Victoria shouts, rushing over to the door to open it.

I keep my eyes on Brandon, for some reason waiting for him to look at me and just smile the way he always does. But he doesn't.

'We should get going.' Nico mumbles, probably looking at me as he speaks. 'We have four more hours until the meeting, we'll be fine.'

It's at the hotel in the city and it takes less than thirty minutes to get there, I don't see why he's in such a rush.

'Nico's right, Neveah. You should probably go. I'll pack your bags so they'll be ready when you get back.' It's not like there's much he has to do...

'I'm not going anywhere and I need everyone to stop talking like we're giving up.' They both sigh as Victoria runs over to me again, holding onto my legs as she continues to play with one of her dolls.

'Neveah, let's not do this right now.' Brandon groans, finally looking at me. But as soon as he realizes he's looking at me, as soon as he sees something in my eyes, he looks away again. 'Just go with him, please?'

I look at Victoria, who's smiling at me, and look back up at Nico. 'Fine, but we'll talk when I get back so don't you dare pack my shit.'

He rolls his eyes and reaches out to Victoria, trying to lure her away as I follow Nico down the stairs.

Rio leans against the frame of the door leading to the kitchen and chuckles when he sees me. 'You look very professional.' Is he drunk again?

'Find a way to convince him and come straight back here, okay?' I nod and step a little closer to him, trying to smell the alcohol off him, and yes. Rio is drunk.

'You need to stop drinking because we're going to talk when I get back.' He rolls his eyes and points his finger at me, before shaking his head. 'Not happening, now go.'

Nico already opened the door and is waiting outside, looking at Rio as if he's ready to kill him.

'I'm not going if we're not going to talk.' I don't care that I'm annoying him right now, I don't care that he's drunk and probably exhausted because of everything that happened in the past forty-eight hours, I don't give a single fuck.

We are not giving up on this search. There's just no fucking way.

'Fine, just leave.' He groans, stumbling towards the stairs, exactly like he did last night.

He gave in too early again, but that tends to happen when he's drunk apparently.

I sigh and follow Nico towards a car, hopping in the passenger seat in complete silence.

He starts the car and starts driving on the empty road I threw up on yesterday. God.

My stomach starts twisting and turning at the thought of it, but I'm somehow able to keep it all down.

'You want to go eat something first?' I frown at him and notice that he's keeping his eyes on the road, which is probably for the best.

Because he's driving.

And because I don't want him to look at me like I'm broken as well.

'You said so yourself, we have a few more hours, and you didn't finish your breakfast.' I don't think I can get anything in my stomach right now, but I know Nico won't drop this shit until I do. 'Fine with me.'

'I know a place.' Of course, he does.

He takes me to a small café in the city and tells the waiter that we want the most secluded seat they have as if we're celebrities or something.

As soon as the waitress, that introduces herself as Maya, leaves to get our drinks, Nico sighs deeply, looking at my hands on the table.

'What is it?' I ask, trying to keep my hands still under his gaze. I don't know why, but I still feel intimidated by him.

It's probably because he's all muscle and has an angry expression on his face every second he's awake.

'You look good.' He mumbles, forcing himself to smile at me for just a second. 'Make up does wonders.'

Because that's what it all is. Make up to cover the bruises.

'I'm just glad that all of this is over.' All of this is over? 'What do you mean?'

'We're finally stopping the search for a woman that does not want to be found.' What?

'Who says she doesn't want to be found?' I ask curiously, trying to find the answer in his eyes. 'I saw the way she ran out of that bathroom at that party, Neveah. She looked angry.'

'That's because I said some hurtful shit, but that does not mean she wants to stay with them.'

'I don't see her fighting for her freedom either, I mean, she had the chance and she didn't take it.' He says, his tone colder than ever before.

I almost throw the little salt and pepper mills at him, because I don't get where he got the audacity from to talk like this. Especially now.

'You're not with her the entire time, are you?' I sneer, making him look up at me. For a second, there's something else than just sadness or shock, there's anger.

Pure and wild rage.

But that quickly changes into sadness and disgust when he blinks a few times. 'It's best that we stop.'

'Don't say that.' His lips curl up and Maya places our drinks on the table, handing us the menus.

Just as she's about to leave, I hand her back my menu, making Nico frown. 'I would like the bill for just the drinks, thank you.'

She frowns at me, before hesitantly taking the menu and looking at Nico. 'What are you doing?'

'I'm not hungry,' I state, smiling at the sweet girl who's confused as fuck, but walks away anyways, 'and I don't need your shit.'

'For fuck's sake, Neveah.' I gulp down on the water I ordered and head to the bar to pay there, just to get the fuck away from Nico and his negative bullshit.

'No, you're not.' He walks past me and pays instead, before following me out of the café again.

I don't even think he finished his coffee, but I couldn't care less. 'What the fuck is your issue?'

'I should be asking you.' I say, continuing to walk in a random direction.

As soon as I lose him, I'll use google maps to see where that goddamn hotel is.

'Neveah, stop walking away while I'm talking to you.' He says from a distance. He stopped walking a few seconds ago and I didn't even realize until now.

'I have places to be.' I say, knowing that he knows it's total bullshit.

I have more than three hours until I have to be somewhere else. 'Oh really?' He quickly catches up with me because of those stupid long legs of his. 'Yes, really. Now leave me alone if you're going to be an asshole.'

'I'm not being an asshole, I'm just being realistic.'

I stop in my tracks and turn towards him, anger rising to a whole new level.

But we're in the middle of the streets and I don't want to have this conversation with all these people around.

We're in England. Unknown territory for all I know.

Hunter's men might be all around us.

'No, you're being pessimistic and I don't need that shit right now.'

He rolls his eyes and takes a step forward, the sudden movement startling me, making me stumble back.

His eyes widen as he notices my reaction, and he takes a big step back, almost ending on the road. 'Just- Please get back in the car, I'll take you to the hotel.'

'Fine.' I walk back to where the car is parked and wait for him to open the door.

'I'm sorry for scaring you.' He mumbles as I shut the door. He starts the car and immediately starts driving again. 'You didn't scare me, I just... It's nothing.'

I can tell that he wants to say something, but he doesn't. He doesn't say a word for the rest of the drive.

Not until we both get out and head inside, to the lobby. 'Hello, how may I help you?' A man at the front desk asks, he has a thick British accent, smiling politely at us. 'I'm here on mister Curzio's behalf for a meeting with Micheal Williams.'

The guy looks me up and down, his smile growing even wider before he looks at Nico and frowns. 'Is he with you?'

'Yes.' I sigh, following him to the other side of the desk, 'I know we're early, but we had nothing to do.'

'It's alright, follow me.' He chimes as he heads to an elevator behind the desk. Nico follows after us, stepping as far away from me as he can, but still staying close.

The elevator doors open and close, as the man scans his card and presses a few buttons. The top floor. That's where we're headed.

'I'm Jacob by the way.' He chimes, smiling at us both.

'We didn't ask, but I'm Nico and she's Neveah.' I roll my eyes and smile at Jacob. 'Ignore him, he's grumpy.'

'Oh so now I'm the grumpy one?' I nod and keep my eyes on the doors, waiting for them to open again. 'You always are grumpy.'

'I guess you're right because I'm a pessimist right?' Oh god... 'You are.' I say and I smile again because I hear the little bell ring right before the doors open.

'Your cards will be placed on the desk, if you need anything you can use the phone to call downstairs. I will give you a heads up when mister Williams will get here.' Jacob says as he stays in the elevator and Nico and I step out.

'Thank you.' I chime, while Nico walks around a bit.

I watch as the elevator doors close and slowly turn around, taking in the beautiful hall.

Even the chairs in here look more expensive than any piece of furniture I've ever owned. 'Look at this!' Nico shouts from a room he went in, at the end of the hall.

I walk over there, taking in every painting on the walls, and gasp for air at the view. Holy shit.

The Tower Bridge...

'Rio really outdid himself with this one.' Nico chimes as he drops onto one of the couches in the office, not even trying to keep everything clean as he rumbles through a bunch of stuff.

'He doesn't come here often, I think.' I say as I move over to the desk. There are three extra cards on there for when we need to get down. 'This place is amazing.'

I drop into the seat behind the desk, enjoying the way it feels underneath me, and take a deep breath. 'I could get used to this.'

'Well, you shouldn't because this is going to be your last time.' Nico says, suddenly sounding closer than I thought he was.

He's walking over to the seat on the other side of the desk, looking at my hands again.

'Only if he wants me to focus on finding Leya back as well, which he doesn't.' Nico rolls his eyes and starts going through all the things on the desk, not even placing them back correctly.

It's as if he wants to make it look like this office is used all the time, which it's not, by messing it up, placing stuff all over the place. 'What are you doing?'

'You're moving back to the US and everyone is going to move on with their lives, Neveah.'

'Stop saying that.' I say, pulling a notebook out of his hands and placing it back where it belongs. 'Stop touching everything.'

'This place looks like it hasn't been used in a million years.' Maybe that's true.

We both go silent as I open one of the drawers to find a laptop hidden in there. I place it on the desk and start it up, hoping that I can quickly log in and work on some emails before William gets here, while Nico watches me work.

'Can I help you?' I ask as I wait for the screen to load. 'Why is it such a big deal to you?' What? 'You already know why-' 'I don't buy that bullshit anymore.' He states, his voice going cold again.

'She's not just your best friend and she's not just Marco's lover either.' Marco's lover?

When did that become a thing?

'I know she has something to do with Rio as well, otherwise, he wouldn't be so messed up about seeing her at that party.' He looks at the notebook I pulled out of his hands, and keeps his eyes fixated on it as if he's trying to find the words in there, 'And Marco told me that most of the shit you guys told us is bullshit when he was drunk, so be honest with me.'

'What did Marco tell you?' I ask, not wanting to tell him more than he already knows.

If Marco did confess when he was drunk, what's the point in lying?

And if I can't convince Rio to continue our search, it won't change a thing.

'He likes Cataleya but he'll never get her because she's madly in love with Rio,' Oh no... I feel bad for Marco because he truly does love Cataleya, 'and Rio's madly in love with her but he hasn't told her yet, so that's why he's looking for her. Because he wants to tell her how he feels and because he wants her.'

'That's it.' I say, realizing that the screen loaded already. 'There has to be more.' Nico says, his eyes on me again.

I can feel them because it suddenly gets cold. Very cold.

'Why should there be more?' I ask as I type in a code to get into my email account. 'Because it doesn't add up.'

I look over the screen, straight at Nico, and he instantly looks away from me, acting like he wasn't just staring at me the entire time. 'Why not?'

'Why are you so eager to get her back? Why is Leonardo not here helping you guys? Why is he not here with you, I mean he loves you right? And why are you so calm about him not being here? And how did Cataleya get with the Steels? How did all of this happen? And how the fuck are you so calm about what happened last night?'

All his questions come out like water. As if everything was on the tip of his tongue, the words waiting to flow out.

'She's my best friend, how could I not be eager to want her back?' It's the only thing I can focus on and the only thing that's completely up to me. 'I doubt she'd go through all of this for you.'

'She would.' I sneer, almost throwing the laptop at his face, 'I know she would.'

'Why isn't Leon here?' He asks, moving to the edge of his seat. 'That doesn't matter.' I answer, looking at him again.

He's eager to know the truth, but I can't give that to him. Even if I trust him, it has to come from Rio or someone else, just not me.

Nico sighs deeply and leans back in his chair, grabbing his phone from his pocket, before going through something. 'I'm just glad it's over.'

'It's not.' He raises an eyebrow at me, but keeps his eyes on his phone. 'You heard what Rio said, we're going to stop the search.'

'I don't care what he said, we're not going to stop until we get her back.'

'Neveah, after what happened, I think it's best if we stop.' He says, placing his phone on the table, and looking at my hands again. 'Look at me when you're talking to me.'

His eyes widen and he takes a deep breath, before forcing himself to look at me.

But he can't look at me normally. He looks disgusted.

'What happened last night, happened for a reason. We can't give up.' I get up and head to the couch he was just sitting on, stopping in the middle of the office when Nico suddenly jumps to his feet.

'What?' He asks a little confused. 'You heard me.'

'Explain how it happened for a reason.' I sigh deeply and keep my eyes on him, still waiting for him to look me in my eyes again. But he doesn't.

'Cataleya stayed to keep me happy.' He steps closer and I keep him in my eyesight, ready to step back if he moves too fast, 'She stayed even if the circumstances were miserable for her, and I didn't even notice how bad everything was for her.' I mumble, hating the way I sound, as tears form in my eyes.

He shakes his head, taking another step forward, getting close enough to touch me, and I stumble back. 'So maybe I deserved it.' He finally looks at me again and grabs my arm, making me look at his hand around my wrist.

It's sudden and I want to crumble into pieces because I fucking flinch.

No. It's Nico. It's not the guy that's dead, it's not Adrian, because he's dead as well. It's just Nico.

He instantly removes his hand and stumbles back, looking at his hand as if it's disgusting.

'It's fine.' He shakes his head at my words and takes another step back, allowing me more space to move in. 'No, it's not. I'm sorry, I just- Fuck.' He says, heading back to the chair he was just sitting in, 'You can't say stuff like that, Neveah.'

'It happened.' I say, moving back to my seat behind the desk, 'It happened and I'll manage.' I'll have to. 'But we can not give up. Especially now.'

His eyes lock with mine and for the first time since last night, I don't see disgust. 'Neveah-' 'If we give up now, it would've been for nothing.'

'It shouldn't have happened in the first place.' He sneers, his tone cold and hard again as if he's thinking about murdering someone on the spot. 'But it did, and as I said, I'll survive.'

It feels like my heart is going to explode into a million pieces any second and I hate it. 'You... Neveah, how?'

'How what?' I ask, realizing that he's really having a hard time processing all of this. 'How can you sit here and act as if nothing happened?'

'Because if I keep thinking about it, I'll keep remembering and I don't want to remember. I want to find Leya and get the fuck out of here.' With or without her...

Because if she forgives Rio and marries him in the end, I won't stop her. I can't do that to her.

'That's not a good way to cope with what happened.' For some reason, it feels like this affects him more than it should. 'It's the only way I'll be able to move on.'

He wants to say something, I can tell, but when he opens his mouth, nothing comes out. He just stays silent, looking at me as if I'm insane.

'I'm sorry, but if you have to get assaulted to get her back, I don't want to help.' He says, getting up from his seat again, 'I don't- I can't even... It's not right.'

'I never said it was, but I understand and I appreciate you for being honest about it.' He chuckles without amusement, and grabs his phone from the desk, before heading to the door. 'I'm going for a walk, text me if you need anything.'

Without giving me time to reply, he heads to the elevator. Apparently, he already grabbed one of the cards to get downstairs.

What the fuck...

If they all think like this, it's going to be hard to convince them.

But I'll try.

And even if they don't want to help, I'll find a way to get Leya back.

I decide to quickly call Ariana, since I have some time left, and wait for her to pick up.

'Hello?' She sounds stressed. 'Hey, it's me-' 'Neveah!' She shouts, making me flinch at the loud sound coming through my phone. 'Yes, it's me. How are you?'

'I'm packing right now, tell me that you heard something from Leya, and do not lie to me.' Well...

Lying to her feels wrong. So I won't lie to her. But I do have to keep some things from her.

'I did hear from her, but I don't know where she is right now.' The silence is killing me and I can already see the frown on her face, even though I can't actually see her. 'But I know she's fine. She sent me letters, and she also sent you some, but it might take a while until they get to you. Please be patient.'

'Is she- Is she okay?' She asks, probably tearing up a little. God... 'She is. She's okay. She's...' She smiled. Rio was right about that. 'She's happy.'

A breath of relief flows through the line and I wish I could hug her. I know she could really use one right now.

I certainly do.

'I'll see if I can get her to call you.' I say, trying to hold in the tears myself. 'Thank you, Neveah. I miss you guys so much and I just- I need to hear her voice again.'

'Me too.' I miss Leya so much. A tear slips through and I instantly wipe it away, trying to keep my breathing steady. 'I'll see what I can do, okay?'

'Thank you.' She repeats a few times, before sniffling again. 'You said something about packing, where are you going?'

'Spain. I wanted to tell Leya first, but can you tell her?' She's going to Spain? 'I will, why are you going to Spain?' I ask, heading to the desk.

I quickly grab the notebook that was lying there and a pen, before writing all of it down as a reminder to tell Leya.

'I didn't go to work for the past weeks and they suddenly called to tell me they wanted to move me back to Spain, Feria to be exact.' What?

No. There's no way. Someone set her up.

'My flight leaves tonight.' She groans, dropping onto the couch or bed or anything else she can really sit on. 'I don't want to go without Leya, but I can't lose my job.'

'That sounds amazing.' I say honestly because it does, it sounds incredible. She always wanted to move back to Spain at some point, and for her job to make sure everything goes smoothly is just amazing.

But it's suspicious as well.

'Don't you think it's a little weird though?' She sighs deeply and mumbles something under her breath, before clearing her throat. 'I did at first, but I don't see the point in staying here. You say Cataleya is safe and I trust you on that because I know you two won't let each other down.'

We won't.

I won't let her down.

Not again.

Not this time.

'Neveah?' I blink a few times, trying to blink away the tears, while a phone rings. 'There's a phone going off.' Shit.

I look at the phone on the desk and see Front Desk on the little screen. 'I have to go, work and all. Text me when you get there okay?'

'I will, I love you Neveah.' My heart flutters at her words and I can't wait to see her again. 'I love you too.'

She hangs up the phone, leaving me with a ringing phone on my desk. 'Neveah speaking?'

'Miss North, mister Williams will be here in less than ten minutes.' Ten minutes. 'Okay, call me when he gets into the elevator, thank you.' I say right before I place the phone back on the desk.

I take a deep breath and look at everything I wrote down, which is not a lot.

Just: Work, Feria, Moving.

I have to talk to Rio about this because I don't know if he had anything to do with all of this.

But for now, Micheal Williams. And this deal.

I have to convince him and- Wait. We're going to be alone up here...

And no one is going to- Nope. Not happening.

I know I should probably get over myself already and just suck it up, but I can't.

I can't right now.

So I text Nico:

𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚞𝚙?

I place my phone on the desk, impatiently waiting for his reply, which takes less than a minute.

𝙾𝙼𝚆

Thank god... I honestly thought he would've gone back to the house and that it would take him longer than Williams to get here.

But just two minutes later, I hear the elevator doors open and Nico pops up behind the door. 'What's going on?'

'I just-' He steps closer and looks around the office, searching for a sign of someone else, before looking at me again. 'Are you okay?'

'Yes, yes. I'm fine. I just thought you wanted to be here...' Realization washes over him and he takes a deep breath, before walking over to the couch in the corner of the room again.

'I'll just sit here, okay?' I nod and smile at him. 'Thank you, Nikolai.'

He looks up at me and smiles softly, making my heart swell for some reason. 'It's nothing.'

We wait for the phone call and as soon as Williams gets here, we get straight to business.

Micheal Williams is a strict man, but he's not inhuman. At first, he's kind of weirded out that he's meeting with me instead of Rio, but in the end, I think I convinced him to go for the deal.

And I don't think he even noticed Nico sitting on the couch in the corner, which makes this a lot easier.

We sign a contract and I walk to the elevator with him, saying our goodbyes, before turning back to the office.

'You did great.' Again, my stupid heart swells a little at the compliment, and I smile at Nico. 'Thank you, we should probably go.'

He nods, jumps to his feet, and follows me into the elevator, pressing himself to the side so he doesn't even come near me.

'You can act normal you know.' I joke, looking at him strangely. It looks absurd.

He's basically pushing himself against the wall. 'I don't want to startle you.'

'I need to get used to people, so please just stand straight.' He keeps his eyes on me and takes a step away from the wall, still far enough to even come near me, and tries to read my face. 'Is this okay?'

I nod and smile as we both step out of the elevator at the same time.

'Miss North, I heard everything went well.' Jacob chimes, smiling at me. I nod and smile back at him. 'You're the first one to crack mister Williams, so you must have a great charm.' He jokes, placing his hand on my shoulder.

I try to stay calm, try to ignore his hands on me, but I can't.

And I simply freeze.

'Thank you, we'll tell Curzio, but right now, we have to go.' Nico doesn't put his hands on me, but walks through me, to get me moving towards the door.

Jacob looks at us strangely but turns back to a customer that has a complaint about their room or something.

My legs slowly start listening to my brain and I head outside, catching my breath as soon as the cold air touches my skin.

'I'm going to kill him.' Nico says as he checks in on me again. 'He doesn't know, so please just drop it.'

'He shouldn't be touching you in the first place!' He sneers, his loud voice making me flinch.

I hate that I'm so sensitive. I hate that everything scares me. And I hate that I have to reprogram my mind again.

'I- Shit.' 'Can we just go back to the house?' I ask desperately wanting to talk to Rio.

'Yes. Of course.' He heads back to the car and immediately jumps in.

Neither of us says a word as he drives us back to the house. And I don't know if I like it that way or not.

Nico only opens his mouth as he parks the car on the driveway, looking at me. 'Neveah, can I ask you something?'

'If it has something to do with what happened, then no, but anything else, sure.' I chime, looking at him, waiting for his question.

I'll probably answer it regardless.

'Did you text me to come up because you didn't want to be alone with that guy?' I look into his blue eyes and enjoy the silence for just another second, before nodding. 'I did.'

'I'm glad you texted me.' He says, smiling a little, 'I will always keep you safe Neveah, no matter what.'

For the third time today, my heart swells a little.

And I don't know if I like it or not, because it feels wrong but so right at the same time.

'Thank you, Nico.' I say, climbing out of the car. He follows me back inside, opening every door for me, smiling a lot more than I have ever seen him do for the past month.

'How did it go?' Brandon asks, while Victoria runs up to me. She hugs me tightly, making me smile as I hug her back.

Her touch is different. I don't know how, but it just is.

'She closed the deal.' Nico says proudly as I lift up Victoria and hug her a little tighter. She looks sleepy and I bet she had lots of fun today.

'Where's Rio?' I ask, looking at the others that slowly enter the hall, but they all stay silent.

I put Victoria down again and look at all of them, one by one, waiting for them to reply. 'Well?'

'Go put Victoria to bed, she looks tired.' Marco says, crossing his arms.

The last time he talked to me like that was when he was supposed to be watching us after that thing with Luca.

'When I come back, you're going to tell me where he is, and you,' I point at Vincent and smile, 'are going to tell me what you found on that drive.'

Because I know he looked at it last night.

I checked before I went to bed.

'I didn't-' 'No point in lying, Vince!' I shout as I grab Victoria's hand and rush up the stairs.

I wait until she's showered, looking at the room they put her in. It has a smaller bed than all the other rooms, but it's still way too big for just one kid. 'Veah?' I look at Victoria, who rubs her eyes and yawns.

It's already getting dark outside and I can't believe the day went by this fast. 'Yes, sweety?'

'Why is everyone so stressed?' She asks as she climbs underneath the sheets. 'It's some grown-up stuff, I'll explain all of that when you're older.'

Because there's no way I'm ever leaving her.

Maybe Vincent was right? Maybe I did get too attached to her?

Do I care? No.

I know she's not my child, but I love her very much.

'You should go to sleep, we'll talk in the morning, okay?' She nods and slowly closes her eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep.

I kiss her forehead and tuck her in, before heading to my own room to change into something more comfortable.

Sweatpants and a hoodie since it's freaking cold outside.

I notice a piece of paper on the nightstand and know that it wasn't there before.

What the- I open the paper and read what it says. No way...

Names.

Six names.

With two already crossed out.

ɢᴀʙʀɪËʟ ᴍᴏʀɪᴇʟʟᴇ ᴀᴅʀɪᴀɴ ꜱᴛᴇᴇʟ ɢᴇʀᴀʀᴅ ᴍᴄᴋᴇɴᴢɪᴇ ᴊᴏꜱʜᴜᴀ ʜᴀʀʀɪꜱᴏɴ ᴢᴀᴄʜᴀʀʏ ᴡᴀʀɴᴇʀ Qᴜɪɴᴛᴇɴ ᴊᴀᴍᴇꜱ

The names Gabriël Morielle and Adrian Steel are already crossed out.

But the others aren't.

Is this... I jump to my feet and shove the list in my pocket, before grabbing my phone and a random purse to stuff some keys in. If I even get them...

I rush down the stairs, into the dining room, where everyone looks at me as if they've seen a ghost.

'I need keys and Rio's location. Right now.' I state, waiting for any of them to move. But they all stay put. 'Guys.'

'Neveah we're not allowed to tell you where he is.' Brandon mumbles, looking away from me. 'Text me his location and give me keys, please.'

Nico places his keys on the table and smiles at me, before looking at the others, who all frown at him. 'Thank you, I'll be back in an hour!'

'You can't-' I ignore Marco and run through the front door.

I can see him at the front door as I race away from the house, waiting for that stupid text. Because without his location, I have nowhere else to go. 'Come on...'

I almost jump out of excitement when Brandon finally texts me the address.

When I make my way to a little street filled with bars, I park the car on the side of the road and jump out.

I almost get hit by a car as I run to the other side of the road, and look at the busted lights flickering from inside.

You've got to be fucking kidding me...

Of course, Rio ended up at a pub.

Okay. Gameplan. There will be lots of people in there, but I'll be fine. I won't panic, because I need to find Rio.

Find Rio.

Get Leya.

It's simple.

Alright.

I take a deep breath and brace myself, trying to ignore the fear creeping up inside. I'll be fine.

I'll be fine.

I enter the smelly pub and look around, trying to find the tall and dark Italian man that will definitely stand out in this dark and absolutely disgusting place.

A soft jazz record is playing in the background, making the place feel somewhat homey, even if it looks absolutely disgusting.

A lot of people cramped up in the little space. A lot of men.

I take a deep breath and look around, trying to find the tall Italian again.

As soon as I reach the bar, I notice him sitting there.

He's chugging away a glass of something that looks like something stronger than usual. It almost looks poisonous and seeing his state, it might be.

'Pour me another one!' He shouts, almost falling off of his chair as he throws his arms back.

Dear god...

I rush over to him and help him back on the chair, trying to not panic because of his weight.

It's just him. You know him, it's Rio. You need him to get to Leya.

Leya. This is for Leya.

He turns towards me, almost falling again, and points at me dramatically.

'North! What are- you look amazing!' I don't think he has ever complimented me. Ever. But now is not the time.

'What the fuck are you doing here?' I ask, shoving the new drink he ordered away before he can reach for it.

He frowns and shoves me away, not too far, since he needs me to keep himself from falling off the chair.

In my entire stay with the Curzio's, I have never seen him this drunk before.

'I should be asking you-' He burps and looks at me in shock, before laughing. 'Shouldn't you be at your date with Nico?' Date?

'Get your ass up, we're going back to the house.' I pull him off the chair and throw his arm around my shoulder.

We bump into a bunch of people, because he doesn't want to leave, and I apologize until we make it outside.

'You just had to get drunk again, didn't you?' I ask, almost falling because of the giant hanging on me.

'You could- just drop me.' He chuckles, making it sound all the more tempting to do so.

'Just get your ass in the car.' I groan as I reach for the keys in my pocket.

But he's quicker and falls on the ground with the keys in his hand.

'Curse.' I say warningly, trying to grab the keys from him. But he keeps pulling it away like a little kid.

I could just kick him, but he might not even flinch. So I don't.

'Just give me the keys so we can go back to the house. We don't have time for this.'

He starts laughing hysterically as if it's the funniest shit he has ever heard.

'It's useless. We won't get her back.' Oh god...

I've convinced Nico to help me again, so now I just have to convince Rio as well.

'Don't say that. We're close and-' He starts laughing again and throws the keys at me.

I swiftly catch them and keep my eyes on his.

Not that he's looking at me. He's simply looking at the star-filled sky.

'We won't find her North. She's probably dead or maybe being sold across the world. She's gone.'

He sounds... Defeated...

'Cataleya is not gone. You're just too weak so you want to give up.'

He chuckles again, making me want to hit him harder than ever before.

'I'm a weak curse!' He shouts, making me quickly look around.

It's late at night and we're standing in the middle of a street with no one around us.

'You're not-' 'You said so yourself, don't go cha-changing your words now North.'

I roll my eyes and watch as he lies down on his back. In the middle of the fucking ground.

'Get up.'

'You were right. I'm a curse.' He groans, throwing his arms in the air.

For fuck's sake...

'You are a curse.' I mumble, slowly stepping closer to him.

'A curse of destruction. A curse of darkness and revenge and anger and hate.'

He finally looks at me, a frown on his face. 'Thanks for the reminder but-'

'But you're also a curse of power and honesty and determination.'

I take the last step and hold out my hand for him to grab so I can help him off the ground. Not that it will do that much since I'll probably fall over as well. 'And love.'

He looks at my hand and turns back to the stars above as if he's praying for answers to questions that can not be answered.

'Isn't there a different word for that?' He asks, frowning at the sky. 'Just go with it.'

I keep my on him, waiting for him to get up so we can go back to the house.

'I don't know about you, but I'm not going to give up on getting Cataleya back.' I look at the disgusting ground and sigh deeply.

I've had worse.

So I take a seat and look at him.

'Even after what happened yesterday?' He mumbles, trying to look at me without me noticing.

'Even after yesterday.' I state, looking at the stars as well.

It's beautiful. The night sky is filled with stars, big and small, even some falling, and no clouds. None at all.

'I'm sorry North...'

I almost gasp for air at the words, and if this wasn't a serious moment, I would have, but somehow I can't.

'Why are you sorry?'

'I told you to lead him on, I told you to go with him and I-' He stops to catch his breath and finally looks at me.

'You still saved me.'

He shakes his head and takes a deep breath. 'That does not make it okay.'

'We needed to get that information out of him and we did, I'm okay.' I can't help but smile a little.

'Now come on, your friends will start to worry about us.'

'They're not my friends. They just don't want to be my enemy.' He answers in a deadly tone.

'Then what are they to you?' I ask, jumping on my feet before waiting for him to do the same.

'Allies.' Allies. That's all everyone is to him—an ally.

'So we're all allies to you?'

He shakes his head and looks back at the sky. 'Not you. You're my friend.'

A wave of something flows through me and my heart swells again. I can't tell if it's happiness or excitement, or both. But I smile and put my hand out again.

'I thought I was your ally?'

'Not anymore.' He groans, before finally grabbing my hand. I pull him up a little and try not to fall myself.

When he's finally back on his feet, he turns to me with a smile.

'But you're right. We should head back if we want to get Valentina back.' I nod and head back to the car.

'North.' I turn around and realize he's a lot closer than I thought. 'I'm sorry.'

'Rio, it's not-' 'For everything I ever did to you.' Oh...

It's as if the alcohol opened his eyes. As if tonight is magical like someone gave him some type of truth serum and everything's just flowing out of him.

'Apologize again when you're sober.' I say, smiling at him as we head back to the car.

'I probably won't, but oh well.' I know...

He jumps in the back seat, groaning as I drive back to the house, helping him inside. He can barely walk and I wonder how much alcohol he consumed in the past twenty-four hours. 'Can someone carry him to bed?' I ask as we get into the hall.

The others rush towards us, all staring at us as if we're insane. But I get that.

I didn't think I would be doing this shit either, but here I am.

'No, North come to bed with me?' What? Everyone looks at him with wide eyes and I stumble back, making him fall to the floor.

He groans and rolls onto his back, rubbing his head. 'Not like that, you idiot.' Oh... 'I want to tell you something.' He says, dramatically throwing his arms up so that someone can help him up.

I get why Leya said he was a lot more fun when he's drunk.

Because he is.

'Can someone please take him upstairs?' He shakes his head and looks at me, a little annoyed that I'm not taking him upstairs myself. But there's no way I'll be able to carry him up the stairs.

He's way too heavy for me.

'No wonder she went to Steel!' Rio shouts, leaning all the way back.

He's going to fall if he's going to continue acting like a kid. 'What is he-'

'Boss, be careful.' Nico says, trying to get Rio to stand up by himself.

He looks at his companion and sighs deeply.

'I am worthless!' As much as I should be enjoying this, I can't.

'What did he just-' Rio slumps down onto Nico and sighs deeply.

'He said it before.' Marco chimes, before helping Nico with Rio.

'I'll come by before I go to bed, okay?' He sighs deeply, but lets Nico and Marco carry him up the stairs, while Brandon follows behind to help them a little.

I sigh deeply and let all of this wash over me, processing everything that happened today, before looking at Killian, Vincent, and Kai.

'Vincent, can we talk in the morning? I'm exhausted?' He nods and smiles at me, before he walks back into the living room, Killian rushing after him.

'I guess this means the search is back on track?' Kai asks, smiling softly. 'It never stopped.' He chuckles and heads to the kitchen, doing whatever he has in mind, as I head up the stairs to head to my own room.

Nico and Marco are standing there, discussing something.

'Did you guys get Rio to bed yet?' They look at me and shake their head. 'He didn't want to listen and-' 'He ran into your room and doesn't want to leave.' What?

I reach for the door and realize it's locked from the inside. You have to be fucking kidding me... 'What's the code?' Rio chuckles from behind the door. Oh god...

'I could kick the door down if you want?' Nico asks, smiling devilishly. I shake my head and smile at both of them. 'Thank you, I'll handle it from here.'

'Are you sure?' Marco asks, looking a bit concerned. 'I managed to carry him inside, I'll manage.'

Marco doesn't need to hear me say it twice and heads to his own room, probably ready to sleep as well, but Nico stays another second, checking if I'm really fine.

And strangely, I am.

'Go, we'll talk in the morning.' I mumble, leaning against the door. 'Goodnight Neveah.' 'Goodnight Nikolai.' I reply, knocking on the door again.

'What's the code?' Rio repeats, moving around a lot. What the fuck is he doing? 'Open the door, it's just me.'

I hear the door unlock and slowly open it, peeking inside to find Rio lying on my bed.

'What are you doing in here?' I ask, closing the door behind me. 'I said I wanted to talk with you, right?'

Suddenly, he doesn't sound so childish anymore.

It's as if he flipped a switch and he's back to sober Rio again.

'What did you want to talk about?' I ask, heading to the bag lying on the ground so that I can grab my toothbrush and shit.

'Valentina.' He mumbles as if he's melting at just saying her name. 'What about her?' I ask as I quickly brush my teeth.

He doesn't answer me the entire time, and when I walk back into the bedroom, I notice he's almost falling asleep on my bed. 'Rio?'

'I'm tired.' He groans, trying to raise his arm, but failing miserably.

He'll need it if he wants to be able to do anything tomorrow.

He's still drunk. 'Here.' I throw a bottle of water at him and watch as he rolls over to take a sip. 'Tell me what you wanted to say in the morning and get out of my bed.'

'But it's so comfy.' He says, snuggling into my sheets a bit more. I sigh deeply and grab some of my stuff so I can head to his room to sleep there.

Because I know he's not going to move.

'But, about Valentina.' He starts, looking at me patiently, as if I'm the one who's supposed to talk. 'What about her?' I ask again, smiling a little.

I should probably record this.

I look at Rio while I try to aim my phone at him, to catch him on camera, but it's too dark. And he's moving too much.

Guess I should write it down instead...

'There is something between us, something physical that defies every law that exists.' I almost drop my phone and look at him, even if it's too dark for him to notice me looking at him. 'What did you just say?'

'I love her Neveah.' Oh. My. God! 'And I miss her so fucking much.' AH!

'And I just want to feel her again, I just... I need her.' His voice deepens and his breathing slows down. 'Tell her that as soon as you get the chance, okay?'

He moves around a little more, he's probably nodding, and I walk over to the bed, smiling at him.

I tuck him in, just like I did with Victoria, quickly grabbing the notebooks, before tiptoeing to the hall.

'Goodnight Rio.' The idiot that fell in love with my best friend.

As soon as I get to his room, I start writing, almost dozing off. When I'm done writing, I put everything to the side and fall asleep. And when I wake up, I'm not sleeping in Rio's bed anymore.

I'm sleeping in my own bed, meaning someone moved me while I was asleep.

I quickly find the notebooks on my nightstand and get ready for today, changing into baggy clothes because it's still fucking cold.

I can hear Victoria chatting downstairs, and head to the dining room first. 'Goodmorning everyone.' I chime when I notice that most of the people are seated at the table.

Rio is standing on the other side of the table, rubbing his temples, and stops as soon as he sees me.

'Sign the papers.' He points at a contract in the middle of the table and waits for me to move. 'What for?'

'The Northern Curse.' What? The way he just said that, sounds very deadly.

'What the hell is that?' He groans and walks over to the pen and paper, picking it up before heading over to me. 'A boat.'

He places the contract in front of me and waits for me to grab the pen.

'Why would we need a boat?' I ask, not getting why he needs me to sign the papers. 'It will be our escape vehicle.' So he's back on track!

'We don't even know where the girl is.' Vincent sighs, looking at Rio. 'At least we have a way out.'

He turns back to me and looks at the pen in his hand.

I slowly grab it and look at the papers. 'Why do you need me to sign it though?' I ask curiously, while I read the contract. 'You'll be the co-owner.'

My eyes widen as I see the price of the boat. 'Sixty. Million. Dollars?!'

The others in the room chuckle because apparently, it's very funny.

'What kind of boat did you buy?' I ask, looking up at Rio again. 'A yacht of course.'

'More like a cruise ship because what the fuck!?' I look at the contract again and see that one of the boxes is already signed.

Rafael's signature.

'Why do you want me as co-owner, shouldn't Tiago be co-owner?'

He shakes his head, before smiling at me a little. 'I guess you deserve it North. For all the shit you had to go through and last night.'

I don't know what happened to the Rio I hated, but I don't miss him at all.

'Okay.' I nod and sign the papers, feeling empowered when I hand him the contract. He gives it to Killian, who rushes out of the room.

'So you have an entire escape plan, but we don't even know where the girl is.' Vincent says, chuckling a little. 'I know where we have to go next.' Rio says, heading back to his seat.

'We're going to catch Quinten James.'

----

A/N: They gave up and picked it back up in one chapter... Damn!

FOR EVERYONE THINKING THEY WERE GOING TO SLEEP TOGETHER, WHATTHEACTUALFUCKISWRONGWITHYOU?

They're relationship is strictly platonic you sick fucks! There will be no romantic shit between these two EVER. Okay.

ANYWAYS! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know in the comments, and don't forget to vote! I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful day!!!!