"Mrs... Judy, you're saying you didn't know of anyone who would want your husband dead, maybe someone from work"? Spade repeated the question again as he watched her, she was suddenly acting nervous and suspicious, her eyes moved quizzically at both men, he knew she was hiding something

She looked at both of them, still rocking her child who was still playing and blabbing stuff "Look, I already told you, Liam doesn't talk about work at home, and I already told the cops everything I know, he didn't have any enemies I knew of" she rushed out

Spade let out a deep breath, turning to look at Nate, who's face wasn't giving away anything. "Alright"

She nodded, the child in her hands started crying, making her get up and bounce him up and down in her arms, trying to stop him from crying

"What's his name"? Nate asked, making Spade to turn to him, the woman also looked at him

"David" she whispered with a small smile, the child was already playing again. "Liam's funeral is tomorrow" she muttered her eyes still on the child, but when she finally looked up, there was sadness in them. "Would I be seeing the both of you"?

Spade turned to look at Nate, seeing the young man didn't have an answer fit for the question, he decided to step in "Yes, we will be there"

Nate did a double take on him, his mind already wondering when they'd discussed that and when he'd agreed to go to the funeral, he didn't even know they were having a funeral.

Spade couldn't think of a way to get her to talk without compromising a lot of things, one of them being the real identity of her husband. Instead he got up, making Nate to look at him "Thank you very much for the warm welcome, we'll be on our way now"

Nate slowly got up too, she gave them both a warm smile "You're welcome"

Spade was thinking of dropping his card here but that would be too risky, considering the cops had been frequenting her house a lot, and the fact that she's definitely hiding something from him, she would definitely not hesitate to show the cops his card, letting them know he was here.

And since the cops didn't tell her yet about her husband's involvement in the mafia, that means they know, and him being here and at the same party Liam was shot would he putting him on their list of suspects.

Instead he turned and walked towards the door while Nate followed behind him, he turned the knob and pulled it open, stepping outside into the porch, and Nate followed him.

Without looking back, he walked down the flight of stairs and then headed for his car. He unlocked the door, pulling it open, Nate walked around to the other side, standing close to the door. Spade looked at the door, she had closed it. "She's hiding something" he muttered, before he entered the car and shut the door.

Nate did the same, scrunching his brows at Spade's statement. How could he tell she was hiding something?

Nate sat himself inside the car and buckled up before Spade backed away from the compound and drove back into the deserted road.

Unlike the first time when they had a slight conversation before they got to the house, even though it ended in a slight argument, they didn't talk to each other, the car was silent until Spade pulled up in front of Nate's apartment building.

Nate didn't know if he should say something or just go into the building, but then again, if he wanted to say something, what would he say? Apologise? He didn't really do anything he was supposed to apologise for.

He was about to unbuckle his seatbelt when Spade's voice stopped him "Wait" he paused and like clockwork Nate stopped and turned to face him. He sighed out, his face showing the conflict he was feeling inside about what he was about to talk about "Look I know you're not exactly happy about how our last talk went, but I don't know how I'm going to explain to you that things don't work that way in the underworld" he paused again, his eyes scanning Nate's face as he tried to determine what the young man was thinking.

"Underworld or not, she was his wife, if not anything, she deserved to know the truth"

Spade let go off the steering, running his hands down his face, stopping at the almost bushy beards on his jaw, he scratched at it. "She does deserve the truth, but telling her the truth would have only complicated things the more" Nate's brows creased together as more questions swirled in his eyes, trying to understand what Spade was talking about. "If he had told her the truth, she would have been in more danger than she is now, the people who killed her husband would have made her a target, and her child too"

Nate's face was becoming more calm and understanding as Spade spoke "But I thought marriage is about love, trust and communication, not keeping secrets from each other" Nate muttered

"It is, but in our world, you have to keep some secrets to protect the ones you love, him not telling her doesn't mean he doesn't love her, it's actually because loves her that's why he didn't tell her"

Nate was more confused than he was before, Spade could see the questions dancing in his eyes, the conflict swimming in those brown orbs as he tried to make sense of what he was saying "So you're telling me that if you're married, and you love your wife, you wouldn't tell her you're in the mafia, let alone telling her you run one"? He asked making Spade to lean closer to him a bit, crowding his space.

"Fortunately for me I'm not married, but if I was and I truly loved her, I'd try my best to keep her sheltered from this life" his voice went low with each word he spoke, as if carving each one into Nate's skin, mind and brain.

Nate's lips parted in the middle slightly as he watched and listened to Spade, he didn't know if he understood what Spade was saying or he was just interested in how he said it, word for word, but he didn't want to argue with him again, because the more he argued the more confused he got. He just slowly nodded his head, even though that wasn't the response Spade was expecting, it was still better than Nate arguing with him before.

"Did you mean it"? Nate asked again, making Spade to fix his eyes on him, his eyes picking out every detail on Nate's face.

"What"?

"The funeral, did you mean it when you said we would go"? Nate clarified.

Spade ran his hands down his face again as he kissed his teeth together "I'm not going for the funeral"

Nate's eyes grew big as he stared at Spade, he would never understand this man, this was the same person that assured Liam's wife that they'd both be there for the funeral "Why? And why did you tell her we'd be there"?

"I can't go there because it's too dangerous, we still don't know who killed Liam, and if I was a target" his voice was calm and so was his face as he spoke "I told her we'd be there so she wouldn't ask questions"

Nate didn't say anything, he just looked away from Spade, his face was blank so Spade couldn't read his expression and determine what he was thinking "Matteo will go in my stead" he added making Nate to turn facing him again. Spade could feel the strain between himself and Nate since their talk during the drive a few hours ago, and he didn't like that.

He felt like Nate had withdrawn from him again, giving him space. They were doing just fine before this whole visit to Liam's house, now it was like they took 10 steps back again. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring Nate with him. Maybe asking Nate what he wanted would help "Do you want to go"? He asked and Nate's eyes matched his, looking between each eye ball, as if reading the answer to the question there "the funeral I mean, do you want to go"?

He watched as Nate's whole face went from relaxed to thinking, like his brain was actually turning gears and thinking hard about what he wanted, if Nate wanted to go for the funeral, then he was ready to take him. Contrary to what he had told Matteo, he would go himself, asking Matteo to sit it out.

Nate let out a deep breath "what would I do there, he was your friend, not mine"

"He wasn't my friend, he was an ally" Spade quickly corrected Nate, his eyes fixated on an intense stare as he watched the younger man.

"Don't you have a single person you consider your friend"? Nate asked letting out an exasperated sigh

"You" one word, but the weight which it carried, was enough to outweigh every other thing that was going through Nate's mind, every anger he'd been feeling for Spade since they set out for Liam's house, all vanished, moving along with the air, changing it's course. His breath hitched as his eyes rested on the consuming ones of Spade, seeing the sincerity in those eyes, as Spade declared that he considered him alone as his friend.

Not that he hadn't heard it before, but hearing Spade say it again made his heart skip a beat, he felt as though he could melt into the chair he was sitting on. He was at a loss for words as he stared at Spade. "I.... I should go in" Nate whispered and he just hummed, leaving a trail of deep vibration from that single sound that left his mouth, Nate felt like it shook the whole inside of the car, but in truth he was the only one that felt it, deep inside his veins, in every cell in his body.

Nate was the first to break eye contact as he looked away, suddenly missing the warmth of Spade's eyes, or maybe he was just seeing things and there was no warmth, maybe he'd come to see them as warm eyes because he was getting used to looking into them all the time.

Without as much as another word from him, he opened the car and stepped out of it, shutting the door. Spade watched him as he walked into the building, already feeling his absence in his car. He walked with precision, one foot in front of the other, steadily and slowly, there was no rush or haste in the way he walked, and there was nothing domineering about his steps, but Spade still found it alluring, he found it interesting as he watched him open the door to the building and step inside.

He dragged his hand down his face, letting out a deep sigh in the process He kind of felt frustrated with himself, things weren't going as smooth as he wanted it to.

He had a lot of problems to curb. Why was it taking so long to find who shot Liam and why? He felt like he was getting sloppy and it was frustrating. There was still the problem of the mystery man at hand, even though they'd gone radio silent, which he didn't think was completely true, there was a possibility that they'd strike again, and this time even harder than before.

And then there was the issue of his feelings, he didn't even know if that was what he was supposed to call it. Him liking Nate, there was no space in his life for that, he shouldn't be entertaining such feelings, especially at time like this.

What was he even thinking in the first place, that he'd like Nate and after telling him the young man would confess to feeling the same way? And then what? He hadn't really thought about that.

He hadn't thought about a lot of things, his emotions had some how overwhelmed him and was making him act too fast and too irrational. Or maybe guilt of how he'd treated Nate had made him feel like he owed the young man that much attention.

But now something inside him was suddenly feeling different. He had always been alone, save for Matteo, so why did he wanted to suddenly change that and add the stress and burden of someone else to his life? He was way in over his head, he needed to get his mind straight, and set himself back on the right track if he wanted to continue leading like he'd always done.

He started the car, and backed out of the building, heading straight for the club. Maybe doing a little bit of work or mingling with people like him, would get him back on track, and out of this fantasy world he was almost getting lost in

He needed a distraction and he knew just who to call, to get him thinking straight again.

😳😳

What do you think will happen now

Drama soon

So this is the last chapter for today, and probably the next two days

So here's the surprise

I'm turning this book into an anime very soon.

I already have a trailer for it, and will post it on my tiktok soon 😃😃

I'm excited guys