Nate stepped out of the bedroom, his hair dripping with water, slowly wetting the grey tank top he was putting on, he had on black sweatpants as he walked towards the couch

"Sorry I took so long" he apologized taking a seat on the couch just beside Matteo "I decided to take a shower" he muttered nervously as Matteo just smiled and waved it away

"It's okay" he muttered his eyes trained on Nate, the kid was fiddling with his fingers on his thighs, Matteo could feel the nervousness oozing out of him, drinking in his facial features, his hair was dark brownish, like evening wet dust, with his pale face adorned with small dark spots and his lips, those almost invincible skin that rested on his face, his brown eyes looking away and around the room

Matteo could understand why Spade found him interesting, he could see how the kid was able to catch Spade's attention this much. With the amount of innocence he radiated, it was easy to catch anyone's attention. The fact that he was clueless to almost anything going on around him, and the nervousness and fear that clouded him

"I don't bite you know" Matteo muttered making Nate to look at him sharply, his face creasing in question

"What"? He muttered with his lips parting in the middle

"You're nervous, I don't bite Nate" he muttered making him to chuckle out nervously as he scratched the back of his head Matteo just smiled and tried to ease his nerves, and make this less nervous for him "How's the project coming up"? He asked and this immediately piqued Nate's interest as he sighed out

"It's kind of going great" he muttered "I thought getting all the resources at my disposal would make things easier but it's only making it harder" he muttered

"What do you mean"? Matteo asked and he just slumped on the couch, letting out a deep breath

"Well, now I have everything I need, but I don't even know where to start" he muttered his voice going low "I mean I know where to start but..." He paused as if finding the right words to use

"You're having doubts"? Matteo asked completing it for him and he just nodded

"I don't know if it's a good idea to tear down the whole building and start afresh with my own plans, or just bring down some things there and add my own" he muttered

"That should depend on how the whole place looks now, is it something you can salvage and make it better or does it need a new everything"? Matteo asked him and he stopped for a while thinking about Matteo's words.

Of course there were some things there that he didn't wanna destroy, they somehow still had significant use, especially for the plans he has for the project

"There are some things I wanna leave but I don't know if it's a good idea" he finished

"What are those things you wanna leave"? Matteo asked and his face lit up as he faced Matteo fully on the couch

"There's a swing there, initially it was built for kids but now that the place is about to be turned into a hotel, I don't know if leaving it there would be a good idea, but it would because of kids, some families come to hotels for vacation, so leaving the swing there can be really good, especially for family with kids, and plus it's not even close to where the main hotel building would be at" he rushed out, Matteo rolled his tongue in his mouth as he watched Nate speak "I'm also thinking about adding a mini casino inside the hotel building" he whispered that part out remembering his experience with Spade at the Casino, seeing as Spade brought most of the money he was using for this project, adding something like that seemed plausible

Matteo sighed out and studied him, he was jittery, nervous, his mind was in so many places. He was having doubts with himself, Nate could see the slight shift in his self esteem as he rambled on

"Nate" he called stopping him as he stared at him "You need to calm down, I know this is a big project for you and you're kind of scared you might blow it" he muttered making Nate to sigh out as he looked down on his thighs "But there's one thing you need to know, regardless of those who own the project, you should be doing what you think is best and not what you think they'd like" he added gently "They picked you for a reason, if they didn't think you were capable enough, they wouldn't pick you, they want you to give them what you think is best and not what you think they'd be impressed with" he finished making Nate swallow as he took in the words, understanding them and nodding his head slowly

"Just relax and work at your own pace and preference, don't over think it, or undermine yourself" he added placing his hands on top of Nate's, giving it a gentle and encouraging squeeze

"And if you're worried about Spade, trust me whatever you do he's going to like" he finished with a small smile.

Nate bit his lips gently, sucking on the lower lip before letting it go and nodding his head, Matteo was right, he was stressing about this too much, pulling his hair in so many directions.

This wasn't his first project, infact he couldn't count how many similar project he'd handle since taking over as CEO, so why was this proving to be a problem for him? Maybe because this will be the first time he'd be working for Spade, his inner voice taunted but he shook his head and focused on Matteo.

"Okay" he whispered feeling the nerves leave his body, he smiled as he watched Matteo smile back at him. There was something about the blonde sitting in front of him that always seemed to calm him down.

He always felt safe and relaxed around Matteo, even before he knew Matteo was working for Spade, the blonde just knew how to calm him, assure and encourage him.

When he talked to Matteo, it felt almost as if he was talking to his mom, even with Su, he never felt this calm. Thinking about his sister, his smile quickly faded. It had been a week since Spade promised they'd find her and he still hadn't heard anything.

What if his father found her first and killed her? No he doubt his father would make such a brash decision, even though he didn't love either of them, the greed in him wouldn't let him just kill Su like that

Matteo noticed the drop in his smile as his own smile faded, he looked at the young man with concern "What is it"? He asked and Nate just sighed out, looking away at the table in front of them

"Nothing" he muttered his voice going low as he tried to mask his emotions, but Matteo was much better at reading people and he wasn't buying it

"What is it Nate"? He pressed moving closer to Nate, they had gotten closer over the last two weeks, so he kind of felt confident asking the kid about some personal things.

Nate looked at him, doubt swirling in his eyes, not that he didn't want to open up to Matteo but he just wasn't good at letting people in. He's only ever had Su all his life and he barely even opened up to her, he was used to keeping his problems locked away deep inside his heart and mind. But he could see the concern and somewhat care in Matteo's eyes, he let out a deep breath.

"It's uhm.... It's about my sister" he whispered and Matteo grounded his teeth together, making small sounds "Spade told me that he would help me find her but I haven't heard from him" he muttered looking away and Matteo grabbed his hands again and squeezed them gently

"And he will find her, it's just been really crazy for him, he's been mad busy, there's a lot going on that he needs to sort out" he explained making Nate nod his head.

He kind of understood, but he really needed to find his sister, at least to be sure she was okay, that his father hadn't gotten to her.

"Okay" he whispered.

*****

Nate buttoned up his shirt and fixed the sleeved as he picked up his jacket and wore it. He was putting on a royal blue tux with matching tie, his hair was styled to one side with a parting in the middle

He picked out black shoes as he stepped out of the closet and sat on his bed, putting on his socks and shoes, he pulled the wristwatch that was sitting on the table beside his bed and put it on, taking one long look at the wristwatch. It was a gift from his sister when he just became CEO, he let out a deep breath as he got up, trying to keep his mind from drifting back to his sister.

It had been almost four weeks since Spade told him they'd find her and he hadn't heard anything from Spade. Infact he hadn't seen him, since he told him he'd think about his offer of going to work for him, the only person he'd seen on three other occasions was Matteo and Matteo hadn't really said much about Spade to him.

He'd thought Spade would show up to one of his visits to the project site, maybe to supervise but he hadn't seen him. Even with everything going on and how busy he was, deep down something inside him kept longing for Spade's presence, even if it was just for a second, he'd want to see those grey eyes again, chiseled jawline, perfectly shaped nose and dark inviting lips.

He cleared his throat as he stood in front of his huge mirror, he couldn't deny that he somehow found Spade attractive, why that was so he didn't really know. He was someone that never really paid much attention to how people looked, but since Spade showed up, he found himself always captivated by Spade's look.

He looked at his wristwatch and realized the time was almost 8, he had less than 15 minutes left to get to the event center. He didn't wanna go as always but he didn't really have much of a choice his mind going back to the previous day when his father showed up at the office, inviting him to the event.

Ever since the man beat him up four weeks ago and gave him that ultimatum, the previous day would be the first time he'd be seeing him again, and it did nothing to help his nerves, he was surprised he didn't have a panic attack after he left.

He shook his head to rid himself of anything that would mess with his mind tonight as he looked himself over in the mirror one last time, he brushed up his hair again and fixed his tux, making sure everything was in place.

Before picking up his keys and walking out of the bedroom, he locked his apartment door and walked over to the elevator, getting inside he was thinking he'd see a certain blonde in there but to his disappointment again it was empty.

He drummed his fingers on his upper thighs while he waited for the elevator to get to the bottom floor, he really didn't even know what the event was all about after all he wouldn't stay till the thing ended, he would spend an hour there tops and come back to the comfort of his apartment.

The elevator dinged and he stepped out of the elevator, walking past the lobby, he nodded at the security man standing behind the counter, and the man returned the gesture before walked out of the building.

It was already dark outside, he clicked on his car remote and it chimed before it clicked open, he opened the door and entered inside the car, turning on the engine he zoomed away.

Short chapter I know.

I promise the next one would be longer 😊😊💋