With the thoughts of his previous conversation with Nate in mind, Matteo steps out of the elevator on the top floor and walks towards the penthouse door, it's the only apartment on the last floor

He used his key card, swiping it through the door and it clicked open, he strolled inside, the huge living room, looking pitch black, since he's just coming from outside his eyes aren't adjusted to the darkness yet

It takes a while before his eyes adjust to the room's darkness, without turning on the lights he just walks towards the kitchen on the left hand side of the room, there's no divider between his kitchen and the living room, just a huge counter in front of the kitchen, separating the kitchen from the living room.

He walks around the counter, reaching for the top cupboard, he open it and pulls out a glass and fills it up with water before drinking it.

From his peripheral he sees a figure in the dark shadows, suddenly making his whole body tense and at alert. He slowly pulled the cup away from his lips and dropped it on the kitchen island, slowly reaching for his gun behind him, his eyes still trained on the figure in the shadows

"Don't bother Teo" the voice came from the person in the shadow, making him slowly relax as he already recognized the voice immediately. He sighed out and bring his hands back to the front, before turning on the lights in the kitchen

The face of the intruder comes into view and Matteo's lips slightly parts as he drinks in the facial features of the man in front of him. His semi hazel black brooding eyes, long almost shoulder length black hair, his eyes trailed further down and stopped at his lips, before slowly moving to the rest of his body, chiseled, squared shoulders, he could almost see the perfectness of his body from the top he was wearing, black long sleeve round neck,with black slacks.

"You really need to stop sneaking up on me like that, or one of these days I'm really going to shoot you" he muttered with a bored tone and expression before turning around and putting the glass back in the cupboard

"Are you threatening me Matteo"? He asked his voice having a playful tone to it, Matteo just sighed out slightly clenching his jaw as he turned around to face the man in front of him. He was almost shocked when he came face to face with him, he had moved from his initial spot to stand directly in front of him

"I'm not threatening you Stefano, I'm just giving you a nice warning" he muttered matching the playful stare the man was giving him, with his lips slightly titled upward in a half smile "What are you doing here"? Matteo asked keeping his facial expression stoic, even though everything in him was in a total puddle because of the presence of this man in front of him

"Matteo, Matteo, Matteo" he muttered stalking slowly around the blonde man, stopping in front of the counter "always so uptight" he taunted before walking right behind Matteo and just looking at him from head to toe, he stood a few inches taller than Matteo but Matteo was more muscular. "Well, if you must know, we had a deal and I'm here to collect" he muttered and Matteo just sighed out, he could feel every muscle in his body tick, being very aware of the man behind him, the closeness, it was messing with his head

"I already to you Stefano, it's not that easy to do what you're asking me to do" he gritted out

"Please, I'm not asking you to kill Spade for me, I'm only asking for a small favor, a very tiny favor" he whispered standing right beside Matteo, staring at him intently.

The blonde swallowed and shut his eyes "Spade won't exactly just hand you the slot, incase you haven't noticed, he's not very fond of you" he muttered

"Are you"? Stefano asked making Matteo to gulp and look at him, with his face so close and their bodies almost at touching range, he could feel his palms get sweaty, Stefano's eyes was staring right back at him with so much intensity, it felt like it was drilling holes in him, pirecing his soul and mind

"Huh" he mumbled out lowly, feeling his throat dry up immediately as his lips part

"Are you fond of me Matteo"? He whispered lowly, his voice husky, deep and full of something strange. Matteo swallowed and let his tongue run through his lower lips, he noticed how Stefano's eyes moved to his lips, as he copied his action, both men standing so close to each other, one could almost feel the breath of the other on his skin, while the other could smell the strong smell of cologne coming from the other.

As if something snapped, Matteo quickly cleared his throat and moved away from Stefano, already feeling suffocated and hot with the close proximity between the both of them.

"Seeing as you jumped and kidnapped me, I'm not exactly excited about meeting with you or even considering helping you" he muttered and Stefano just chuckled lightly, the sound deep, vibrating and somewhat liberating almost making Matteo's knees buckle as he sucked in a breath

"I didn't kidnap you Teo, you were following me, and I'm not exactly receptive when people spy on me" he muttered "and besides I didn't kill, I should have, I could have but I didn't"

"Why"? Matteo muttered looking at him and he just shrugged running his hands through the counter in front of him.

"I don't know, maybe I like you, or maybe I see you as a necessary tool" he muttered making Matteo scrunch his brows in confusion

"Necessary tool to do what"? He asked

"Spade" he muttered looking at Matteo "he likes you, he trusts you, and that's something he really doesn't have for me, likeness or trust, you just confirmed it, I want you to get me on his good side" he muttered and Matteo just scoffed in disbelief looking at him

"And why would I do that"? He asked and Stefano just shrugged spreading his hands open

"Because Matteo, I helped you, I gave you information about my own personal business, when I should have killed you and I let you go after catching you spying on me" he told him making Matteo sigh out as his mind drifted to the night Stefano jumped and kidnapped him

Flashback

He had been watching him now for the past 24 hours, he hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary, just the usual things people do, or people like Van Horne.

Go to work, attend meetings, go home and then a club. But he never went to the same club twice, it was always a different club every night, and Matteo followed closely behind him every night, hoping he'd find something out that was worth the time he wasted watching him but nothing was forth coming.

As always, today he had dressed in a white buttoned up shirt and black pants, before leaving his penthouse and heading out, to a club as usual.

Matteo's trailed his car, making sure he was far enough that he wasn't noticed and close enough so he wouldn't lose him. He drove for about thirty minutes before he stopped his car in front of a small bar, quite different from the usual clubs he always went to.

It wasn't a run down bar, more like an average bar, cars were parked outside, the exterior topside of the bar was lit with lights, as it surrounded the name of the bar, boldly written in neon light.

Matteo's looked directly at the bar and then at Van Horne's car, he opened the door and stepped out of it as he walked right inside.

Matteo waited a few seconds before he got out of his own car and followed him into the bar. Stepping inside, the whole place was busy and almost filled with people, men especially. Huge, bulky, dangerous looking men filled the bar up in different tables as they all drank and cheered away, his eyes raked through the room and it finally landed on the man he'd been following, the same person he followed down here.

He was sitting at one of the tables on the far right end of the room, not drinking anything, just sitting there, as if waiting for someone, he was on his phone.

Matteo walked down the two steps in front of him before walking towards the bar, with his eyes subtly watching Van Horne, he hadn't noticed Matteo was watching him.

The bartender was a lady, brown hair, wearing a white top and her face was kind of milky, like she'd been working all night. She stopped in front of the counter and smiled sweetly at Matteo.

"Hello, what can I get you"? She asked professionally but sweetly, he looked behind her at the cabinet filled with different drinks, he wasn't a beer person and definitely not a martini, he was more of a scotch person, his eyes landed back on her and her smile was still strong as ever.

"Do you have any whiskey" his baritone voice sounded and she turned around looking at the counter he just scanned and she faced him back, with a sad smile, she shook her head

"No, sorry, we're out of whiskey, but we have tequila" she tells him and he just sighs, slowly letting his eyes look at the man on his right, thank God he wasn't hidden, he could watch him from the bar counter.

He faced the bartender again "a shot of tequila please" he muttered and she nods before bringing out a small glass and the tequila bottle.

Her eyes move between the counter and Matteo "First time coming here"? She asks breaking his eyes away from Van Horne, he looked at her and smiled nervously and briefly

"Is it that obvious"? He asked and she just shrugged before pouring the liquid inside the small glass

"Not really, it's just that I haven't seen your face here before, trust me I'd remember such a handsome face if I did" she whispers before winking at him and dropping the glass of tequila in front of him.

He looks from her face to the tequila before nodding and picking it up, in one go he gulps the whole thing, grimacing as he felt the burning sensation in his chest, he dropped the cup on the table again "Another one" he muttered and she cocked her brows letting a small playfully look rest on her face

"Are you sure"? She asks and he just nods "okay" she mutters before going ahead to pour another one for him, placing it in front of him.

This time he doesn't drink it in one gulp, infact he doesn't even pick it up, he just turns around facing Van Horne who was still very much on his phone, oblivious of the fact that someone was watching him

Matteo looked around the bar hoping to see whoever Van Horne was meeting in this bar, but he couldn't find anyone he could recognize here, except for Van Horne.

He ran his hands down his face before turning back and picking up his tequila, taking it to his lips, he swallowed it all and dropped the glass with a thud, it burnt his chest just like the first time, unlike scotch it didn't have a taste, or flavour. It was just very hot, bland liquid that burnt the chest, leaving a very weird taste on the tongue.

He turned to where Van Horne was sitting and the man had gotten up and was leaving the bar. He quickly signalled the bartender with the snapping of his fingers, he reached into his pocket and fished out his wallet.

Going through it he pulled out a few dollar bills and dropped it on the table, the bartender reached for it. "Keep the change" he muttered before slowly following Van Horne, who had already walked out of the bar.

He rushed and opened the doors, walking outside, the cool air hit his face, but he didn't have time to bask at how refreshing it felt, especially after just being inside a very stuffed bar.

He looked around from left, not finding anything, to where Van Horne had parked his car, but he wasn't there

Then his eyes followed a shadow walking into an alley on his right hand side, he quickly dashed towards that direction, hastening his pace so he could catch up with him.

He soon got close to the alley, he looked behind him but no one was following him, the streets were now quiet, except for the music coming from inside the bar, which was at least a few feet away from them

He took the right turn and walked directly into the dark alley but to his surprise no one was there, it was empty and very dark. He looked behind him but saw nothing, he walked further down the pitch black alley, Van Horne couldn't have just vanished like that, he has to be around here somewhere.

He could feel his senses tingle, something inside him was screaming danger but he pushed it back deep into his mind, discarding the warning, he kept walking deep into the alley

The more he moved further, the darker it got, and the more quieter it got. It got colder and chillier too. He could feel the goosebumps on his skin, the hair on his skin tingled and he felt like someone was watching him or following him.

He quickly turned around reaching for his gun tucked safely behind his pants, but there was no one, just a single stray paper bag being howled around by the wind.

He turned around and continued walking down the dark alley, his grip on his gun very tight His senses extra as he felt something was off.

His skin burned, a strange sensation was making him uneasy. Someone was watching him, he could feel eyes on his skin. Then he heard light footsteps, very light that it would be easy to miss, but he was hyper alert, he couldn't miss something like that.

He quickly turned around but was met with a heavy hit to his head, making him fall down with a loud thud. He groaned as his body came in contact with the ground, a figure was standing over him, as the person watched him writh in pain, he tried to get up but his vision was hazy. His head felt too heavy for him, and he could feel warm liquid on his forhead where he'd been hit.

Slowly but surely his eyes closed and he welcomed the darkness

Decided to add a little Matteo drama, just to show you guys what happened when he went to spy on Van Horne.

Just do y'all know, Van Horne is the same person as Stefano