𝘾𝙊𝘿𝙀𝙋𝙀𝙉𝘿𝙀𝙉𝘾𝙀 - Rio x Reader

•Chapter 21•

The phone rang once again.

And again.

And again.

Rio had managed to get about five hours of sleep before the fros of his line of work abruptly yanked him back out of his much needed slumber. He muttered a groggy curse under his breath and rubbed his hand over his face as he sat up. No light offered to glow against the threads of the curtain— signaling that night had well and truly fallen. He had seemingly became nocturnal. The demands of the position he held sort of forced that schedule onto him. Nothing good happens after dark. Rio was no exception.

After your departure, he had forced himself to arrange some defenses against whatever payback your uncle was surely planning as he lingered in the kitchen. But the problem with making these plans over the phone from the comfort of his home meant someone would surely call him back with a problem. He takes the phone into his hand as he stands up.

3 MISSED CALLS- ELIZABETH

An internalized groan rumbles through his brain. It was always something with her. A few weeks ago, it was endearing— well, sort of. Now, her inhibitions had lost their luster. She was a chore, a check off of a list. Laundering fake cash has seemingly fell to the rock bottom of that list- meaning so had she. His thumb swiveled her name in the call log of his phone. With an exhale he tapped her name. It only rang twice.

"Hey we have problems. Not a problem, problems. The FBI is practically breathing down my neck-"

He cut her off, having already lost his patience. "We all got shit goin on. Take a number, sweetheart."

Her huff brushed the mic of the phone pressed against her ear.

"Where have you been? I've been calling like nonstop."

He sighed, standing up from the comfort of his bed that still held faint remnants of your scent laced within the linen.

"What do you want Elizabeth?"

He peered out of the blinds, a nearby streetlight casting a yellow sliver of light onto his face. The street was empty save for his own car parked out on the curb.

"I don't really feel.. comfortable talking about this on the phone.", her voice was almost comically hushed.

He chuckled lightly as she said it.

"That serious huh?"

Your car wasn't on the curb.
Your car wasn't on the curb.

He hadn't quite noticed it at first, considering its occupancy had just became a regular occurrence. He checked the time— 11:56 PM. What business did you have being out so late?

"Rio?"

Beth's voice pulled him back out of his train of thought. Only now he had realized she had been talking the entire time he was focused on your absence.

"You at the club, right?"

She bit her tongue, a vibrating annoyance laced her tone. "That's what I just said."

"Be there in 20."

He promptly hung up before she could go off on another tangent. His eyes scanned the street down below once again for good measure— almost absentmindedly. Surely, Mick would have called him had something happened to you. He shook it off— coming to the realization that he was becoming way too concerned about your whereabouts— about you.

-

The bass rattled through every body and every glass poured with liquor. It was busier than usual for a weekday. Rio slipped through the crowd, haphazardly scanning the patrons on the off chance that your Uncle had a thing for strippers. Killing him here would have most definitely put him behind bars. But at this point, he didn't really care. He pushed himself to the back entry way, headed towards the office, leaving the bustling club behind the swinging door.