'Everything is set, right?' Kai looks at me and gulps, before looking at Celine for a while. 'I am talking to you, not her.'

He turns back to me and sighs deeply. 'Everything is set. Right?' I ask again, frowning a bit.

'I think so.' He answers, looking at his hands on the table. He tends to do that when he's nervous.

'What do you mean, you think so?' He flinches for a second and looks at Celine again, as if she's going to help him, but she's too busy talking to North to care, 'I need you to be sure.'

It's probably stupid to put this much trust in him again, but he's our only way inside right now.

'Are you sure this is a smart idea?' Everyone looks at me, waiting for my answer to Marco's question.

'He's kind of our only way in.' Celine answers in my stead, making everyone look at her.

Vincent grabs her hand and squeezes it tightly. 'What if he betrays you again?' Nico asks, annoyed as hell.

He has been a bitch about this ever since I told them the plan two days ago. 'Then I'll kill him the moment I see him.'

'Can someone explain to me what's going on, just one more time?' Brandon asks a little confused.

We've been over this a billion times and I honestly didn't expect North to have this much patience, but I'm slowly losing it. I sigh and look at North, considering she came up with this ridiculous plan to get inside.

'We're going to send Kai to Hunter so we can see how everything is put together so we can get her out of there as soon as possible.'

Nico rolls his eyes and looks at her as if it's the most stupid shit ever. It might be, but she worked it all out.

Even though they all told her to take it easy for a while, since she's still a bit sick, she just couldn't drop it.

'And you honestly think he's going to get back in there without any questions?' She shakes her head and stares at Nico for a while, murdering him in her mind, because that's how those two communicate.

Without words.

'That's where Celine comes in.' I say since she doesn't continue to explain for the tenth time. 'Yes, that's where Celine comes in.' North repeats, making some people chuckle.

'He's going to crawl his ass back to Hunter, acting like he's all heartbroken and seeking for revenge to get Celine back.'

'About that...' Kai mumbles, making everyone look at him, 'I don't think I'm that good of an actor on that part.'

'Oh, I'm sure we can all agree that you are.' North chimes, looking Kai up and down, before smiling at him. 'You fooled us, didn't you?'

I can see the pain in his eyes as he takes in Celine's words. One by one, soaking them in and trying to keep himself calm at the same time.

'I had no choice.' He mumbles, not even looking at her.

'I don't care if you did or didn't, I should've killed you after messing with me the first time.' Kai looks at me again and I swear I catch a glimpse of a tear in his eyes, 'I won't go so easily the next time.'

He should be dead...

But I knew he would come in handy at some point and look at us now. 'If you fail this shit, I'll kill you.'

He quickly nods and looks at North. 'Is there anything you want me to tell her?'

What? Why is he asking her and not me? 'Tell her we're searching and that she'll be back soon and that we love her and that-' 'No.' North looks at me and sighs deeply.

'She'll know sooner or later.' She chimes, making me roll my eyes. I know she's never going to drop my stupid drunk confession, but I don't want her to find out like this.

I want to tell her myself.

'You shouldn't even be talking to her.' I say to Kai, making him look at me.

I like the fact that he still somewhat fears me.

'Right. I should be digging deeper.' Exactly.

'I just-' Marco's phone rings and he quickly looks at it. The look in his eyes says enough and I nod, allowing him to take the call so we can get one of the last pieces of the puzzle.

'You really don't have a choice anymore.' I can tell Kai wasn't done talking yet. But he is now because we're all done with his shit.

Especially Celine.

'Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go by the hospital and check on some people.' Celine continues as she gets up from her seat. She's clearly struggling but won't admit it.

'I'll be back later.' She walks past everyone and quickly smiles at some of us, before walking through the door.

I can tell that Kai wants to run after her, but he's not moving a single inch. 'Shouldn't you say goodbye?'

'We already talked last night.' I heard them screaming down the hall.

Something about him not being at the birth of his firstborn or something, but she doesn't mind.

'Can I go pack my bags?' He asks as he looks at me with desperation in his eyes. He needs to get out of here.

And I kind of want to make him suffer a little longer. Just a little longer.

But I nod and let him go, needing to get this shit over with. The faster he's in England, the better. 'Everyone go back to work.'

And within seconds, I'm left alone with North. 'Work?'

'They all have shit to do.' 'For you.' She adds and I nod. Because that's what they're here for. To help me get Valentina back.

'You should sleep or something.' She rolls her eyes and stays seated, watching me as I go through my phone.

Marco hasn't texted me yet and I need confirmation on our plan. 'I'm not tired.'

'But your body is.' I reply, looking at her for a second. 'She told you, didn't she?'

She did. Celine told me that North isn't getting any better, meaning she needs more rest. 'Maybe, but I need you to get better so you can arrange another meeting with Williams.'

A frown forms on her face and I quickly turn back to my phone, since it's lighting up, and let a sigh of relief escape my mouth.

𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚜

Meaning we might get to him tonight. Yes.

'Why would that be necessary?' She asks curiously, making me sigh again. I thought we were already past the part where I have to explain everything.

'Because we need to get back to England somehow.' I can see the information fall in place through her eyes and get up from my seat. 'Meet me in my office after your nap, we have to discuss something.'

'I'm not taking a nap, so we can discuss it now.' I ignore her statement and head to the door, hearing her groan behind me. 'After your nap.'

She's like a little kid, worse than Victoria, but she can be so easy to talk to. Sometimes.

Only when it comes to Valentina.

Which is a lot more times than I want to admit.

I head to my office and notice something off. I can't put my finger on what it is, but something is off.

All of this is too easy. We're getting too close, too fast, and it's making me wonder how all of this is happening.

As if something is going on on their side as well.

As if someone is pulling a trick on us, but it's benefitting us for some reason. I hope...

'Rio!' I turn to the sweet voice behind me and watch as Victoria rushes into my office, stumbling with Night in her arms. 'Night needs more toys!'

I lean on my desk and watch as she tries to hand the ball of fur to me. I take the kitten from her and sigh deeply.

'Don't you think we bought her enough toys already?' She shakes her head and starts pouting at me. 'She needs more.'

She doesn't.

She truly doesn't.

It was a quick cover-up for the fact that we shoved Quinten in the van, she wouldn't stop talking about that stupid cat, so I decided to buy it for her in order to keep her silenced about the Quinten thing.

'We bought her ten toys already, remember?' She tilts her head a little, thinking about it for a second. 'I lost five of them.' She mumbles, trying to cover it with a smile.

I chuckle and look at the kitten in my hand. 'She'll be fine with just five toys for now.'

I honestly have no idea how many toys a kitten needs, but I think five should be enough. 'But what if she gets bored?'

'If she gets bored, she can play with you, right?' She thinks about it for another second and starts smiling at me. 'You're right!'

Victoria grabs Night and runs out of the room again, leaving me with a grumpy Nico walking into my office.

Mio Dio...

'Can I help you?' He takes a seat in one of the seats and sighs deeply, keeping his eyes on his watch. 'I'm waiting for you to admit that this plan is complete bullshit.'

'I would if it was, but it's not.' I reply, moving to my own seat behind the desk. 'Do you really think Hunter is going to let Kai back in?'

'It's worth a shot.' Even if he won't, at least we'll know if we have the right address. 'It's not. Either he's not going to be allowed in or he's going to rat us out and make sure we never get to her at all.'

He might. But I don't think he will.

Kai is desperate to get on Celine's good side again, and she's having his baby, a new life he wants to be involved in.

So if he even pulls one wrong move, I'll know what to do. And I'll do it.

'He won't.'

'It's a stupid thing to do.' He replies, his annoyance rising even more. 'It might be stupid, but I'm the one making the decisions here.'

'Well, you're making a stupid decision.' I look into his eyes and sigh deeply. 'Is that all, because I have a meeting to go to.'

'You're meeting up with Justine Norman, correct?' Marco... I swear someone needs to keep him away from the alcohol.

'It doesn't matter who I'm meeting with.' 'Does Neveah know?' I roll my eyes and watch as he leans forward. 'So you haven't told her.'

'Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. What does it matter to you?' He leans back again, smiling at me. 'She deserves to know.'

'You're really eager to get on her good side, aren't you?' My question unsettles him and he shifts in his seat. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Is that why you're trying to stall? So you can have extra time with her before she runs back to my cousin?' I know I'm pressing him too hard, but it's a reality check for him.

'I don't care about her like that, it's just-' 'There's no reason for you to lie here.' I say, looking into his eyes.

He does. He cares about Neveah more than he's willing to admit.

'I don't care about her.' I hope so... Because I know it won't end well between them.

Leon is not going to let North go, he'll do anything to get her back and she will eventually go back to him, I just know it.

So Nico will get his heart crushed and he will mess up because of his feelings getting in the way.

That's the last thing we need right now.

'She's too annoying and stubborn and optimistic.' He rambles, trying to convince us both that he doesn't care when it's clear that he does. 'If you say so.'

'I am, now don't annoy me more than you already have Curzio.' He states, getting up from his seat. 'Don't forget who's in charge here, Brovsi.'

He mumbles something under his breath and walks out of the office, stumbling into North, who smiles as they pass each other. Great...

'Didn't I tell you to take a nap?' She shrugs as she drops into the seat Nico was just sitting in.

It's like it's a doctor's office during open hours, for fuck's sake.

'I just got off the phone with Williams assistant, he's going to call me back later and I went through some emails while I was on it, there's something wrong with an order in Germany so you'll have to send someone in to fix it.' You.

No. I can't send her in.

We're getting close and I know my presence will scare Valentina away, so it's the last thing I should be doing.

'Can't you get someone to go there?' I ask, wondering if Marco gave her all the contacts she could use to do the work for her. 'How the fuck am I supposed to do that?' He did not...

'I'll send you a list of contacts you can use, now go to your room. I have shit to do.' She frowns at me as I get up from my seat and wait for her to do the same. 'Where are you going?'

'I don't have to tell you where I'm going, get moving.' I walk past her and head to the hall, bumping into Marco. 'Everything is set.'

I nod and watch as he realizes North is standing behind me. 'Is she coming with us?' Oh god...

'No, she-' 'Where is it you're going exactly?' She asks, almost pushing me aside to get to Marco.

Marco will tell her where we're going and then she'll come along. I can not have her come along to this meeting.

Not with Justine.

The less people the better.

'Didn't we say you wouldn't ask questions about the illegal shit?' She turns back to me and looks into my eyes again, trying to pry into my mind.

Technically I'm not lying. Justine is doing some illegal stuff, but that's not why I'm going to talk to her.

And North knows as well.

'Why didn't you say that in the first place?' She asks, smiling at me a little, 'I'll be in my room, trying to see what I can do to fix the issues.'

'Exactly what I'm paying you for.' She frowns as she walks away, shaking her head, and I look back at Marco. 'Why are you lying to her.'

'Shut up and let's go.' He chuckles as he follows me through the door, out of the house.

I jump behind the wheel and let him type in the right address since all the talking went through him.

'Anything she said?' He shrugs and looks at me, before smiling. 'She's just curious as to why you wanted to meet up after so long, but that's it.' Alright...

I need to convince Justine that Valentina is not for sale, even if I have to spend a lot of money today. I'll do it.

I'll fucking do it.

Because without the bounty being lifted, getting her back won't help at all. People will hunt us all down to get her.

I've heard a lot of shit lately, people trying to get into England to get to her. Alive or dead.

Most of them are dead now, but that doesn't mean that there won't be more.

For some reason, Hunter is able to keep everyone away from her. Probably because of Skull, but why is he helping her? God...

There are so many missing puzzle pieces.

And that's not the only thing I have to worry about. Because as soon as we get her back, I'll have to tell her how I feel.

Just the thought of finally telling her is making me sick.

I have no clue what to tell her. Like, where do you begin with that shit?

And North.

North will make my life a living hell. She'll probably do anything in her power to keep me from convincing Valentina so that they can both go.

But she gave me a week, seven fucking days, to convince her to stay. How the fuck am I going to do that...

Maybe I'll be able to keep North away from her for a while? That way she won't be able to convince Valentina to go, to leave, and never turn back again.

I can't let that happen, there's just no way.

If North goes, Valentina and Leon will probably follow her. Even if I can somehow convince Valentina to stay with me, she'll be mad at me for letting North go.

But it's not my decision.

Even if she doesn't end up with Leon, like she says, I'll let her go.

Because if it was up to me, I would gladly let her go, but I just know she's not actually going. She's too in love with Leon to let him go.

But I did that before. I let her go the last time.

And look where it got us.

In a messed up war, a war that goes deeper than I expected it to, between the Steels and my family.

When North left, everything went to shit again. After a few years of repairing all the damage that was done to our organization, gaining back the respect of our associates and the police.

It took a long time and it all went down the drain when she left.

When I let her go.

Because I could've stopped her, but I didn't.

And now I'm starting to think that it will be a bad thing to let her go again.

But I can't keep her here if she doesn't want to, I won't. So I hope that Leon finds a way to keep her here so that I won't have to worry about convincing Valentina to stay either.

As soon as I get to the location, we both jump out of the car and head to the field.

I turn to Marco and frown. 'She wanted it to be secluded.'

'Did she come alone?' I ask as we walk through the giant field. 'I did.' I look ahead and come eye to eye with someone I thought I wouldn't see again.

'Justine Norman.' I say, trying to greet her in a polite way. She smiles at me, her silver hair flowing with the wind. 'It has been a long time since we talked.'

'The last time you bought my entire club.' I nod and take another step forward, making her stare at Marco, who's still standing behind me, before looking at me again. 'I heard you have a new one now.'

'I did, but Hunter Steel destroyed it when he left with that wench.' I almost pull my gun on her. Almost.

'Good thing you brought that up,' She frowns and tilts her head a little, 'I need you to drop the price on her head.'

For a second it's completely silent. The wind is the only sound surrounding us, but she doesn't say a word.

'I am-' She starts laughing, throwing her head back, almost falling, before looking at me again. 'You want me to drop the bounty?'

'Yes.' She laughs again, acting like a complete maniac if you ask me. 'Tell me why I would do that?'

'Hunter already bought her, fair and square, I don't see why you would need her back.' I state, feeling my anger rise a little.

I hate that he bought her, but at least I know where she is right now. With him...

'He's not the only one that was interested in buying her.' She states, looking at her nails.

'How did you get her in the first place?' Someone else was involved. A third party. But I have no clue who it is.

'My men found her of course.' Pride drips from her voice, but I know what that means. It's not something she should be proud of.

'You want her, don't you?' I try to keep my face as emotionless as I can, which is not hard. Yet.

I know she'll keep pushing me until I give her just a hint of emotion. 'She has something of mine and I want to take care of it myself.'

'What does she have?' She steps forward and tries to pry her way into my mind again. 'It does not concern you.'

Justine's stupid grin only grows and the urge to shoot her right now only grows as well. 'It's something I need, it shouldn't matter to you what it is.'

She rolls her eyes and turns around, facing the huge field behind her. 'You know you're not the only one who wants her, right?'

'But I'm the one willing to pay the most, that's for sure.' She frowns at me before looking away again. 'More than twenty million?' Fucking hell...

'I'll give you fifty million.' Her eyes widen as she thinks about it for a second, 'All I ask is that you tell me who gave you twenty million and for you to keep your mouth shut.'

'Money first.' I roll my eyes, grab my phone and go through my contacts, before ending at Vincent.

It takes a few seconds before he picks up. 'What's up?'

I take a deep breath, hoping that he remembers our deal. 'I need you to deposit fifty million dollars to Justine Norman's bank account.'

Justine takes a step forward, looking at my phone. 'What?' Vincent asks completely confused.

'Transfer fifty million dollars to Justine Norman's bank account.' I repeat, hearing Marco groan behind me.

We can easily win that shit back. Especially if we get Valentina back. Because then I can focus on making money again.

'Alright, I'll fix it.' Vince mumbles as he hangs up. Justine's eyes widen as she watches me put my phone away. 'You would really-' 'Tell me who gave you twenty million.'

I'm not asking anymore. I'm tired and I need fucking answers.

'Jason Nadora.' Nadora... 'Why?' She chuckles and crosses her arms. 'Nondisclosure, can't say. But a deal is a deal. I told you who wanted that pretty girl and I promise to keep my mouth shut, so I'll be waiting for my money.'

I contain the urge to slam her to the ground to get more answers out of her, and simply nod.

'I'll see you around, Curzio.' She heads deeper into the field, probably walking to the other side, and Marco walks over to me. 'What the fuck was that?'

I shrug and head back to the car, ready to head back to the house. Kai should be on his way to England by now and- 'You are paying her fifty million!?'

'Not yet.' He follows me back to the car and hops in the passenger seat, keeping his eyes on me. 'What do you mean, you just-' 'She's getting her money as soon as we get Valentina.'

'So you lied to her?' I shake my head and start the car. 'I told her she would be getting her money, but I didn't say when.'

'You know she'll find out that you're playing her.' I drive back to the house and glance at Marco for a second. 'She'll be too late when she does.'

'Messing with her will only make things-' 'We'll be fine.' He sighs deeply and grabs his phone again. 'How is the other thing coming along?'

'Word goes that they're in Germany or something, but I'm still trying to figure out if it's true.'

'How long will it take?' I ask as I turn right to drive up the driveway. 'Not sure.' 'Let me know.'

He nods and gets out of the car, leaving me behind. I have a few more things to do, and it's getting late already.

I head inside, straight towards North's room, and hear some laughter coming from inside.

When I open the door and peek inside, I notice that she's not alone. Victoria, Brandon, Killian, and North are all wearing something green on their faces. It looks disgusting.

'Back already?' Brandon asks, keeping the cucumbers on his eyes. 'What the fuck are you guys doing?'

'Since you told Brandon to keep me busy and he wanted to have a little self-care moment, we're doing facemasks.' North replies, smiling at me.

I did tell Brandon to keep her busy, but he wasn't supposed to tell her. 'It's really relaxing so far.'

Victoria is eating the cucumbers while she looks at the ceiling, her head on North's lap. 'It looks disgusting.' I say as I walk over to the chair in the corner of the room.

'It's a natural facemask.' Brandon sneers as if that makes it any better. It still looks disgusting. 'How is everything coming along?'

'Kai left and he wanted to tell you that he's going to give his all to get her back.' Killian says, taking the cucumbers off of his eyes. 'He better.'

'He's going to miss the birth of his child.' North mumbles, looking at me. She's the only one who doesn't have cucumbers on her eyes, and she's the only one not lying down.

'He can meet his child as soon as we get Valentina back.' She nods and smiles at me, before looking at Victoria. 'Also dinner will be ready soon.' Brandon chimes, letting a deep sigh come out of his mouth.

He looks like he's enjoying this a lot.

'Fine with me.' I head back to the hall, hearing North mumble something as soon as I close the door.

She's probably mad at me for sending Kai away at this moment, but it was her idea to begin with. And the longer we wait, the further she could go.

I head back to my office and take a seat behind the desk, taking it all in.

We're getting close.

So fucking close.

I just know it.

But I can't help but fear the moment we find her. Because there's a lot that still needs to be talked about and I don't know if I'm ready for that to happen yet.

I remember talking about this shit with Leon. Or at least I tried.

A few days after I found out Monica was dead. A few days after ignoring her, it was the hardest shit I had to do.

He wanted to talk to me about what happened, but I didn't want to hear it.

He murdered Monica because of North. That's what happened and that's all I needed to know.

But he wasn't going to drop it and somehow the conversation landed on my feelings towards Valentina.

'Why are you ignoring her?' He asked, time and time again. And I always gave him the same answer, 'She lied.'

'That can't be the real reason.' As if he knew what I felt. As if he knew what was going through my mind. And he probably did.

He knows me better than I do sometimes.

'It is.' Was I too stubborn to admit? Yes. For sure I was.

'Don't lie to yourself, Adriano.' He chimed, trying to provoke me all the more.

That's what he enjoyed, annoying the fuck out of me, just like North. But North doesn't do it on purpose, it's just who she is.

'I'm not lying to me or you.' I was, I was lying so hard. Not just to him, but to myself as well.

I was selfishly trying to push her away because it hurt when she didn't tell me about Monica. I expected her to tell me first, if she even knew, and she didn't. She didn't tell me and that made me angry.

Especially after realizing that it wasn't just an agreement anymore. It meant more to me and I hated it. I hated every second of it.

And now it's too late.

'At least stop treating her like shit, she doesn't deserve it.' I remember rolling my eyes at his statement and getting up from my chair. 'I'll treat her how I want.'

Someone knocks on the door, stopping my train of thoughts, and I look up. 'Dinner is ready!' It's Victoria.

I follow her to the dining room and we all enjoy dinner, I have no clue what it is exactly, but it's delicious.

After dinner, I head back to my office and go through some shipments that need to be made. I have to wait for clearance around Argentina. It's going to bring in a lot of money, and they want more than twenty-five percent.

For only allowing me to go through the country.

No fucking way.

Normally I would let Marco handle stuff like this, but right now he's working on finding our last lead.

After finishing off some stuff, I head to my room, stopping at North's for a second.

I peek inside and see her sitting on the couch, blankets draped around her, and her laptop on her lap.

'Can I help you?' She asks, looking up for just a second. 'Shouldn't you be sleeping?' The last time I checked to see what time it is was around midnight.

'I could ask you the same question.' She says, typing away again. She's right, I should be sleeping as well, but I'm still waiting for Marco's reply.

When I send Marco out to fix something, I leave him to it until he comes to me. That's just how it goes.

'I don't look as exhausted as you do.' I reply, looking at the sleeping Victoria, laying on the bed.

She's a very deep sleeper. 'Are you sure about that?'

I turn back to North with a frown and walk over to the couch she's sitting on. 'You look like shit.'

She rolls her eyes and shuts down her laptop, closing it before looking at me. 'You look like you need one of those face-mask thingies we did today, it felt really nice.'

I watch as she moves around the room, folding the blanket, and putting her laptop away.

'And you need to shave your face, you look like a caveman.' Excuse me? 'Don't get all offended now, you're the one who called me ugly.'

'And annoying, add that to the list.' I grunt as I get up again, heading to the door.

She's obviously ready to go to bed, so I won't stop her.

'Rio.' Unless she starts again. 'What is it?' 'Do you think it will take much longer?'

I walk to the middle of the room and shrug. 'It might.' But I'm not planning on it.

'Maybe Nico was right, maybe it was a bad idea to send Kai over there?'

It's not. I know it's not.

He cares too much about Celine to fuck this up because he knows what the consequences are.

'He told you he would give his everything right?' She nods at my question and climbs onto the bed, laying down to face the ceiling. 'He did do that.' 'Let's just hope he's not lying this time.'

'What if he is though?' She's doubting her own plan already? 'Well if that happens I can always blame you, since it was your idea and we hate each other already, right?'

She chuckles and takes a deep breath, 'You know you don't hate me.'

I don't think I do anymore.

I hate to admit it, but she grew on me. Even her annoying parts aren't as annoying anymore. I still want to murder her after thirty minutes, which was a second before all of this, but she became a little more endurable.

'What makes you think that?' I ask as I move a bit closer to the bed.

'You said so yourself.' She yawns, obviously having a hard time keeping her eyes open. I did say it.

I was drunk and I said she was my friend. And she won't drop it. Ever.

'I still hate you most of the time.' I admit. It's the truth. I'll probably always hate her a little, but that's because it's buried deep down. 'That's something that will probably never change.'

'Do you want to tell me why?'

I freeze and think about it for a second. I've always been honest with her about the part where I don't like her, the part where I hate her. But I've never told her why. I mean, I told her parts.

Those are all truths, but the reason that will never disappear, no matter what, is the one I've never told anyone before.

And maybe it's time that I do?

'I blamed you, you know?' She rolls over and frowns at me. 'What?' Why am I even... Fuck it.

'I blamed the Steels first, they murdered the last family I had left and I blamed them.' North watches as I start walking around the room, and I hate the fact that she's looking at me while I'm talking.

'But when I started putting everything together, I somehow started to blame you.'

Something sparks through her eyes.

Hurt.

She's genuinely hurt by what I'm saying right now, yet she doesn't cry, which is a first.

'If it wasn't for you, Leon would've never gone looking.' If it wasn't for his stupid heart to care.

'That's why you hate me.' A chuckle leaves my lips at her reply to what I just said, and I know it's wrong of me but I find it very amusing. 'It's one of the many reasons I hate you.'

She nods and lays back down, staring at the ceiling. 'But I can't do that anymore.' Even though I probably always will.

'Why not?' She asks, still not looking at me again. She probably knows I don't like her eyes on me when we talk about stuff like this.

It's hard for me to even be doing this in the first place.

'Because I'm the one that let you go that night.' I keep my eyes and her and watch as she freezes for a second, 'And I would've done the same for Valentina.'

I hate to admit it, but I would.

I would search the entire world to find her.

'You would, wouldn't you?' She asks, probably smirking like crazy. 'If you don't stop with that shit, I'm going to put a bullet between your fucking eyes and-' 'Take it easy! I'm just messing with you.'

I roll my eyes and walk over to the door, feeling my phone vibrate just on time:

𝙷𝚎'𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚖

Great... A one-hour flight and I'll be there.

𝙶𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢, 𝚠𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚗

'Rio?' I turn back to North and notice that she's writing in that stupid notebook again. 'What is it now?'

'You don't need to be so grumpy-' 'North.' She rolls her eyes and sighs deeply, before looking at me again. 'Thanks for telling me.'

I wish I could tell her that I told her because she needed to know, but she didn't. She didn't have to know, because it doesn't change a thing.

And I didn't do it for her.

'I didn't do it for you.' I say honestly, nodding as I take my leave and head out to grab my stuff. 'Goodnight.' Is all I hear as I close the door behind me.

Goodnight North...

'Keep her busy for a while, make sure she doesn't know where I'm going.' I say to Brandon, who's frowning at me. 'I still don't see why you don't just tell her.'

'See it as a surprise.' He rolls his eyes and throws me a set of car keys, before heading back to his room. 'Don't ruin it.'

Oh, I won't...

I quickly grab a jacket and head out to the car parked on the driveway. Marco and Nico are probably already at the hangar, or so I hope, because we have to hurry.

I want to get this over with before Kai gets to Hunter.

Or at least before he gets the information to us.

When I finally get to the hangar, I notice that Nico and Marco indeed are waiting for me already.

'Took you long enough.' Nico grunts, following me into the plane all grumpy and shit, 'What took you so long?'

'I was kissing North goodnight.' I joke, watching as his grip on the chair he's in tightens. 'You wouldn't-' 'What happened to you not caring about her?'

'Wow, what are we talking about here?' Marco asks as he takes a seat next to Nico. 'He's being a piece of shit.'

'Lui è innamorato.' I say, smirking a little. Marco starts smirking as well, leaving his friend in complete oblivion. 'What the fuck did he just say?'

'Old news, let's focus on our task here.'

I can tell Nico wants to continue our conversation about North, but we don't have time for that shit right now.

'What do we know?' I ask, looking at Marco as we ascend. 'He came alone because apparently, Hunter send him in to look for us.' They think we're in Germany?

'He wanted to get in through Germany since that would be less suspicious, but Julian spotted him a few hours ago, so he's shit at laying low.'

'Good, so what are we going to do to him?' Nico asks curiously, suddenly getting excited about all of this. 'We're just going to talk to him, see if he's willing to let us in on anything, and take him back to France.'

'What?' He asks with a frown on his face, 'Why go through all of this, just to take him back to France?'

'Neveah is going to kill him, he's the last on her list.' Marco answers in my stead, and all I do is nod. 'What?' Nico asks, still confused as fuck. 'You can torture him all you want, as long as North gets to kill him.'

He leans back in his chair, still frowning at all of this, and I look at Marco. 'É pazzo.' Marco chimes, laughing a little.

For the rest of the flight, we talk about our strategy, and as soon as we land we get into the cars waiting outside.

I drive up to a house in the middle of nowhere, as if he's trying to get himself killed.

There's one car parked on the driveway, but that's it.

We make our way to the house and within seconds, Marco opened the door.

'Go look upstairs.' I whisper to Marco, while Nico snoops downstairs. I step into the living room and see the guy we need, laying on the couch with the remote in his hand.

As if he's not trying to do anything at all.

'Gerard Mckenzie.' I say, making him groan softly.

I lift up my side of the couch, tilting it just enough for him to drop on the ground, and move around frantically. 'Get up.'

He reaches for something, anything to protect himself with, but all he has is a remote control.

'No fucking way!' He shouts, making me chuckle, 'What are you doing here?'

I hear movement behind me and stay put, keeping my eyes on him just in case he pulls a gun. 'I should be asking you, don't you think?'

He gulps and looks at the two people to my sides, stepping back just a little. 'You're in my territory after all...'

Gerard tries to run away, but he's locked in a corner and bumps into Nico, who pushes him to the ground and chuckles darkly.

He came prepared, pulling a hammer from the bag he took with him, slamming it straight on Gerard's hand.

He screams, but Nico quickly presses his hand on Gerard's mouth, trying to silence him.

I hear bones crunch as Nico hits him again and again, leaving him in pain and rolling around the ground.

He's bleeding a lot, but starts to bleed more when Nico uses his other things.

'Tie him to a chair.' It's the easiest way to do this.

They do as I say and shine a bright light straight into his face, both stepping out of my way as I inch closer. 'So, Gerard. Let's try again, shall we?'

'What do you want?' He asks, blood dripping from his mouth. 'You're going to tell me what the security is like around Whitegate Manor, and for every answer that satisfies me, you'll be spared.'

His eyes close for a second, but he's still breathing. Barely, but still breathing. 'Gerard... We don't have all day.'

'I don't know what you're talking about.' Lies... He knows exactly what I'm talking about.

I look at Nico and nod, allowing him to take his worst one yet. He grabs the small bucket from his bag and puts on some gloves, before opening it. 'Say that again, please.'

'I- what even is that?' Nico fills a metal cup with the liquid and walks over to Gerard, who starts screaming at the familiar smell.

Acid.

'Okay! I'll tell you! I'll tell you!' Nico stops, almost pouring it on the pour man, and looks at me. I nod and take a step closer again. 'Tell me what exactly?'

'There are guards walking around the grounds, he knows that you guys are coming.' Nothing new to me. I snap my fingers, making Nico pour just a little acid on Gerard, who starts screaming.

His screams echo through my soul and I can't help but smile a little.

This fear, this terror is what I missed so much. 'Tell me more.'

'I don't know more!' I nod, unimpressed, and take a step back while Nico drips just a bit more.

I can hear his skin sizzle because of the little droplets of acid, but his screams are feeding my dark and messed-up soul. 'Don't lie to me, it won't get you anywhere.'

'There are shifts! They change every hour but there's no one from midnight to three in the morning.' That's something useful...

'What about cameras?' Marco asks, taking a step forward as well. 'There aren't any, it's-' Nico accidentally pours a little more acid on Gerald and chuckles softly, 'Oops.'

Piece of shit... I can't help but smile as Gerald screams at the top of his lungs, his throat breaking at the force.

'Who's at the house?' We need to know how many people are inside.

'At least six, fuck!' He sneers, trying to break free from his chair. I wonder why he didn't try before?

'Anything else you're keeping from me, Gerald?'

'No, I'm telling you the truth, please!' He screams, his throat hoarse because of all the shouting he just did. 'Please just let me go!'

'You're going to wish we would've just killed you now, but we can't.' I say, smiling at him. I love the fear in his eyes, it's one of the things I enjoy most in the world.

'No, please don't kill me!' A chuckle escapes, not just from me, but from Nico as well. 'We're not done with you yet.'

----

A/N: Rio is a lot darker right now... Maybe it's because of the stress of getting her back? How do you think shit went with Kai and all?

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