The three of them sat facing each other, Spade didn't like this one bit but they didn't have much of a choice, he didn't trust Stefano, but like Matteo said, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for them, they might never get another chance to uncover anything about their mystery man.

"So who took the weapon shipments"? Spade grunted out as Stefano just turned to look at him, almost rolling his eyes at Spade.

"Easy there Spade, there are processes before the main information is divulged to you" he said making Spade to clench his jaw hard. "A month ago you sent Matteo to tail me, after I gave your boyfriend a package to give to his daddy" Stefano said pointing at Spade as he mentioned the word boyfriend, this made Spade to blink, Nate's name being mentioned made him clench his jaw, but he didn't say anything "Fortunately for you, when I found him" he said pointing to Matteo "I didn't kill him, like I should, instead I told him a little bit of what he came looking for"

This made Spade to turn to Matteo, the blonde wasn't looking at him, Spade didn't know that the small information Matteo had given him a month ago came from Stefano, he was wondering why Matteo hadn't told him.

Stefano on the other hand, had a huge grin on his face as he watched the both of them "I didn't tell him everything though, like everything that happened prior to me handing a package to Nate and why"

He intertwined his fingers on the counter in front of him "See the thing there is, a month before that time, Greg had contacted me, said he had someone that wanted to sell a truckload of guns, ammunition and other arms, at first I didn't think he was serious, I thought he wanted to set me up and kill me, or worse steal from me" Stefano's voice had gone from playful to serious as his eyes moved from Spade to Matteo as he now had their full attention. "Until I actually saw the arms, everything, all good stuff, infact the best, that was when I took interest in the deal, but there was still something fishy about the person that was selling it to me" he paused "we never met face to face, he either spoke to me through electronic means, or he used Greg as an intermediary"

This caught Spade's attention as he furrowed his brows, he always knew Greg was a two timing bastard, and a coward, but now he was hearing even more things that made him hate the man even more

"I agreed to buy it, it was quite cheaper than the usual stuff I get, I saw it as a freebie, but they had a condition for selling it to me, which made it even more suspicious" he paused for the next part because he knew this would be the deal breaker, the main juice, the real reason he wanted Spade here. "They wanted me to kill you"

This made both Spade and Matteo's eyes to grow wide as they stared at Stefano, Matteo felt his blood run cold, this wasn't just a joke anymore, now he realized that whoever this mystery man was, they would stop at nothing to make sure Spade is out of their way

Spade on the other hand, just stared at Stefano, he was surprised but not shock, he's had enemies before, countless that tried to kill him, this mystery man was just another piece on the chess table, and he was gonna knock him off just like the others, but still he wanted to hear what Stefano would say next.

"Relax gentlemen, they didn't ask me to kill you right away, they told me they'd call me when the time was right, so I collected the arms shipments, had them delivered at my warehouse, my meeting with Nate was to give him the payment for the arms so he could give it to Greg"

Spade clenched his jaw again, he didn't like that Stefano kept calling Nate into this, asides the fact that it made him want to question Nate's motive, it was also a reminder that he still had the other problem to deal with, his emotional problem "So you're saying Nate knows about his father's bullshit"? He asked and Stefano just shook his head, chuckling out

"Oh no, the kid's as clueless as you see him, he doesn't know shit" he rushed out and Spade could feel himself relax, because he was already asking himself so many questions. Like the fact that if indeed Nate was involved with his father and his shady business, he didn't think he had it in him to kill Nate, not while he was battling to even stay without him for more than 24 hours.

Stefano smacked his lips as his eyes lit up again "So as I was saying, after I got the arms back to my warehouse, I started doing some diggings of my own, I called up some friends, asking about any bulky arms collection they sold lately to Greg or someone close to Greg, but it came back negative" He paused again "of course at first I thought Greg was lying and he was the owner of the arms, but after asking around I realized they really didn't belong to him, but something still wasn't adding up"

Spade placed his hand on his beards as he scratched it slightly, making a small noise in the quiet room, this was getting longer and even more interesting than he'd expected "What did you do"? Matteo asked, his whole attention was in whatever Stefano was saying, his eyes looking very determined, Stefano stared at those eyes, the way the steel blue looked back at him, as if he was the only one in the room, he knew Matteo was only interested in what he had to say.

"I called Martineli, he was the only other arms dealer that sold good stuff like this, and in bulk like I do" he explained, his eyes leaving Matteo and landing on Spade. "At first he didn't want to come, courtesy of the devil here" he said gesturing his head towards Spade "everyone in the underworld knows how much you hate my guts, maybe that's why the people who sold the arms to me asked me to kill you" this made Spade to roll his eyes at Stefano. "Eventually he came, after a whole lot of persuasion, and I was right, the arms were from him, but when I asked him, he said he didn't do business with Greg, which meant he also didn't sell those arms to Greg, or anyone for that matter, except for you of course, he was sure the arms matched the ones he sold to you prior to that time"

Spade narrowed his eyes, and so did Matteo, they already had an idea where this conversation was going "So you're saying whoever sold the weapons to you stole it"? Matteo's asked and Stefano winked at him

"Bingo" he squealed out "and they stole it from you"

Spade chewed on his inner cheek, feeling his anger slowly start to surface, his hands on the table had fisted themselves "There's more" Stefano added, making Spade to look at him again, his face blank and bored, an indication he was angrier than he looked, he was so close to exploding. "After realizing your stolen arms were sold to me, Martineli decided to let me in on a few things, earlier on someone had contacted him through an encrypted phone, the voice was tampered with, they told him to stop selling arms to you, to cut off all alliances and businesses he has with you, they were offering him money" Stefano explained. "He refused, he turned them down, I'm guessing they came to me after he declined, hoping I'd accept it"

"Did you"? Matteo asked, his voice hard and a little accusatory.

Stefano turned to look at him as he blinked slowly "If I did, he wouldn't be here right now" he muttered pointing to Spade Matteo growled out as Stefano just shook his head.

"So bottom line is, you don't know who this person is, they've only contacted you through Greg"? Matteo asked and Stefano nodded his head.

"Yes and I also know that whoever they are, they're closer to you than you think" he muttered before his eyes moved to Spade, watching as the man was lost in thoughts. "What are you thinking about"? Stefano asked, and Spade just turned to look at him

He let out a deep breath, before running his hands down his face "What do you know about the shooting that happened two weeks ago"? He asked

Stefano shook his head "nothing much, I just know that the shooting was not a coincidence, they picked out everyone close to you, Liam, Martineli, Batroix" he explained. Spade already knew this, but why? "They're cornering you Spade, whoever they are, they're cornering you, trying to cut you off" he muttered.

Spade sighed out, already feeling his head throb, he rubbed his eyes and stood up, same time as Stefano stood up "I have given you the information I promised" he paused his eyes turning to look at Matteo "you hold up your end of the bargain" he winked before he walked away and out of the apartment.

Leaving just Spade there and Matteo, both of them thinking about their conversation with Matteo "They knew why they targeted him" Matteo muttered "Martineli, they killed him because he refused to stop selling to you"

Spade grounded his teeth, he didn't even need Stefano to tell him everything for him to know that Greg was working with whoever has been trying to kill him "I'm gonna kill him" he muttered, and Matteo just looked at him

"Who"? He asked

"Greg, I'm gonna fucking kill him" he gritted out "he had been toying with me from the onset, it was all part of his plans"

Matteo quickly got up and stood in front of Spade "Calm down Gio, I know you're pissed and you wanna kill, which you will but not yet" he tried to calm Spade down "but we have to be careful, we still don't know what they want"

"We know enough, Greg's gonna tell us the rest" he growled out

"Spade, if you take Greg in now, he's not gonna tell you anything, and we'd never find out who he's working with, we have to act cautiously" Matteo explained.

Spade clenched his jaw and grounded his teeth, breathing hard, Matteo was right, as much as he wanted blood, he couldn't just charge in on Greg, but what would he do?

He moved away from Matteo and sat down on the chair, facing the empty space where Stefano just left. Matteo sat beside him watching as he kept sighing out in distress.

"We can't just leave him like that, we have to do something"

"And we will, but first we have to deal with your own problem" he muttered as his eyes landed on Spade's face, watching as his brows furrowed together

"What problem"? He asked as he turned to look at Matteo, he didn't think they had another problem asides this one that they were currently discussing.

"Don't think I didn't notice how distracted you've been these past few days" he muttered, raising his brows up at Spade "Gio you barely even contributed to what Stefano was saying, it was as if your mind was divided in two places at once"

Spade sighed out and looked away from Matteo "There's nothing going on with me, I'm just really stressed out that's all" he grunted out, making the blonde to scoff out

"Even if you lie to everyone, Spade you can't lie to me" he paused "what is going on with you"? He asked gently.

Spade grounded his teeth together, Matteo was right, Spade could do almost anything but lie to Matteo. The blonde could see right through him. "It's Nate" he muttered out, feeling his heart beat pick up at the mention of the young man's name

Matteo's brows creased together "Nate, what about him? Don't tell me you think he knows about what his father has been doing"? He asked and Spade just shook his head

"Of course not"

"Then what is it"?

Spade swallowed, it has never been hard for him to open up to Matteo, but he never really had to, he was always claiming the position of the eldest and talking both their burdens on his shoulders, but this new problem he was having, he wasn't sure it was like any other he's ever had, even his heart couldn't hold it on his own

"Last week we went out for dinner" he paused

"Wait you really did take him on a date that evening didn't you"? He asked, a slight tease in his voice, making Spade to glare at him

"Matteo" he growled out and blonde just raised his hands up in surrender He sighed out and continued "it was beautiful, very amazing, we had fun, we ate and drank and then he got a little tipsy and I had to take him home" he paused and swallowed "we got to his place and I tried to put him to bed, but he was too drunk to even understand anything, and then he started saying things, things that messed with my head and made me almost lose control"

"Wait, you didn't take advantage of him did you"? Matteo asked, his eyes slowly growing wide, Spade just growled out at the interruption again "Sorry sorry, continue" he whispered

"We kissed" he muttered out, feeling his whole body heat up as the memory from that night started to resurface again in his mind "technically he kissed me first and then I kissed him back, and it was so beautiful, unlike anything I've ever felt before" he said with a distant look in his eyes, almost as if he was reliving the whole thing again, Matteo could see the fondness in his eyes, which was making him to smile

He didn't say anything again, he just sat there, looking into the distance, as if he was right back at Nate's apartment that night

"So..." Matteo drawled out, almost as if snapping him back to reality.

😜😜😜

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