I was in a shitty fucking mood today. My guys have been steering clear of me in hopes of avoiding my lashing out. I ended up just locking myself in my office at The Velvet Lounge to get a moment of quiet. I planted my hands on my desk to shut my eyes for a second. I can't even pinpoint what the hell I'm even mad at. I guess I can pinpoint it, but I haven't admitted that to myself yet. That only pisses me off even more.
My thoughts were cut short when there was a knock at my office door. The place isn't open yet, so I know it can only be one of three people. "Yeah" I called for them to open the door. It was my cousin Alessandro, and by the way he poked his head in the doorway, I assume he's already heard about my mood. "Hey, man, are you busy?" He asked me. I was just standing there holding my desk, so he wasn't sure what he was actually seeing here.
"I was just taking a minute" I told him, straightening my suit jacket before taking my place behind the desk again. "Yeah, I heard about that. That's why I came up. What's up? Did things go bad with the Serbians?" He looked for a logical explanation. Only, my explanation isn't logical.
"Nah" was all I said about it. "Then?" He tipped his head at me. My nostrils flared which made him take a tentative seat across the desk from me. "I'm just in a shitty mood. No reason," I looked away from him to pull open my laptop. "You act like we didn't grow up together. I know you" he chuckled, which only irked me more. "Did you come here for a reason or just to gossip?" I ended this bullshit conversation. "Uh, I came to ask you why everyone is hiding from you. Someone's gotta talk some sense into you" he leaned back with a stupid smirk.
"And that person is you? Get out of my office," I waved him away.
Alessandro is my number two, but he's also just my cousin who can piss me off just like anyone else. "Elio said you snapped at him. Now he's in a bad mood too. I came to stop whatever the hell is going on," he didn't budge. "There's nothing going on. Elio wouldn't stop pressing me just like you're doing right now, and I told him to fuck off. If his feelings are hurt that's his problem" I waved him off.
"If it's not business then it's personal...do you even have a personal life? All you do is fuck and work" he chuckled. I wanted to throw this stapler at his head, and when I eyed it he removed it from my grasp, like he knew what I was already thinking of doing with it. "Ah, you haven't gotten laid. Your pipes are backed up" he nodded like he understood something now.
I sucked my teeth at him. "I have no problem getting laid. I'm not you," I messed with him. I get laid plenty, the problem is I can't seem to douse this fire that Mia Fiore has set inside me.
I can fuck whoever I want, but I can't fuck her and it's getting to me. I know it's just a bullshit power play thing. It's not like I care that she told me she was cutting me out of her life because we can't fuck around. I barely know the girl. I've spent a handful of times with her. Sure, I guess I know a lot about her now, since I let her talk my ear off the night I took her out, and for the fact that I was present when she told Elio about her past. But still. I barely know the girl.
I don't care that she had a horrible past. It doesn't get under my skin and make me wanna kill her father the way I already killed her ex boyfriend. I don't think of her when I jerk off. I don't even remember what her mouth tastes like when it's against mine.
It just pissed me off, the way she went about cutting me off. Who is she to do all that? People don't tell me what to do. I tell people what to do. But when I told her I wasn't cutting her out of my life, she didn't care. She cut me out. It's fucking bullshit. She's sticking to it too.
It's been a week of utter silence from her. I haven't run into her anywhere around the building, or when I go to Elio's place. Almost like she's fucking listening out for me and hiding when I come. That pisses me off.
"HELLO?" Alessandro's voice cut in like a knife. "What?!" I snapped. "Where the hell did you just go? You zoned out" he looked perplexed at me. I'm sharp minded. I don't really 'zone out' as he called it, unless I am working up a business plan of some kind and that's not the same thing. "I'm thinking about work. What else would it be?" I challenged him. He seemed to consider this and shrug. "Welp, if you aren't gonna tell me why you're in a shitty mood, then I guess I got nothing else to do here" he stood as he spoke, saluting me before walking out.
Good. I need the quiet. I need to settle my aggravation because it's for a stupid reason. Elio told me this past weekend Mia was 'out', and I just know Tatum has something to do with it. It's very clearly obvious that he wants her. I don't know how Elio doesn't fucking see that. He'd never let me touch her, but what? Is Tatum any better?
The thing is I have no access to her, which means I don't know what's going on. I'm a control freak. That type of shit irks me beyond belief. I want to be in absolute control of my every situation. I don't like not having access to something, because I have access to everything. All the time. I really do.
I know people in high places. I could hack her phone if I really wanted to. I could send a guy to watch her every move. I can look up her credit score or her fucking first grade teacher, but I don't wanna do that. That would be crazy. It isn't about Mia. It's about the lack of control. That's it. Hacking her phone is too much, but looking at her social media....
-
I called Riccardo to come to my office, but I didn't tell him why. He came in like a dog with its tail between its legs, thinking I was gonna yell at him for something. On the contrary. I need him. "You have social media, correct?" I asked him. His face dropped like I just stunned the man or something. "Uh...yes?" It sounded like a damn question. "Gimme it" I ordered him.
"Give you what?" He looked confused. My nostrils flared which had him pulling out his phone without even understanding the order yet. "If you breathe a word of this, even in your sleep, I will kill you. Got it?" I asked him before telling him what I wanted from him. He just nodded along. "Are you friends with Mia on her instagram or whatever the fuck she's always talking about posting on?"
I felt fucking ridiculous even asking this out loud. He looked nervous to answer me, like maybe he thought I would be mad if they're friends online. "Um, yes...she asked me to follow her page" he admitted quickly. "Good, gimme it," I reiterated my first point. He opened the app for me and pulled up her page.
"Is something wrong?" He asked me, walking towards the chair across the desk. He smoothed down his slick hair and eyeballed me. "Mind your business" I told him. I saw her most recent posts. Things like her outfit and some of the girls at the shop. She calls it an aesthetics page or whatever. She mostly does fashion stuff. I don't know what I was looking for, but I was looking for something.
I idoled over one post that surprised me. It was her sketches of designs she created after being inspired by the Dior exhibit I'd brought her to. She's talented. More talented than I realized. I didn't know the event affected her this way. I saw how happy she was, but I didn't know she came home after our long, interesting night and created these dress designs that are honestly stunning.
I saw comments on all her pictures, she's got a lot of damn people following her on here. When I saw one comment in particular it stood out to me. Some asshole named Ryan was a constant on her feed. He left some flirty ass comment on her last post. "Who is this?" I held the screen towards Riccardo. "Uh, I don't know...you'd have to click on the page" he told me. When I did I saw it was private. That made me grit my teeth.
"How far back does this thing go?" I asked him. "Uh, since Los Angeles I believe....I haven't gone through her whole feed or anything," he made sure to let me know. Good answer.
I decided to scroll back as far as I could. I started seeing parts of her life back in LA, and her fashion school, and shitty apartment. She had all these friends even though when I asked her she told me she hadn't left anyone behind.
If that was true then who the fuck is this Ryan character that's all over her page. He comments on everything, but he's also in her pictures. Intimate photos, not just group ones. Muttering under my breath I read one of the comments. "Look at this asshole," I slid the phone across my desk to Riccardo. He leaned over and scanned it, but I snatched it back before he could touch it. Pictures of her and some blondes, of her and this Ryan guy holding hands, amongst other things. This whole life she claimed she didn't have there.
I was hooked. I ended up looking through the whole thing. It's not that long seeing as she said she wiped her social media after she left Kristoff. Still, it was a piece of her I hadn't experienced. A glimpse into some other life. "Why do I see the same few people commenting? I see she has a lot of comments?" I asked him.
He waited patiently across the desk from me. He didn't dare alter his expression, but I know he must be wondering what the hell is wrong with me. I'd like to know that myself. "She has too many followers, so it usually shows the comments of the people she actually follows back. Like her friends and stuff."
I scratched at my stubble, looking up at him slumped with his belly hanging against his brown belt. "And what do you know about it? You're always driving her around. I'm sure she talks to you" I arched a dark brow at him. He straightened in his chair. "No, sir. Not on such a personal level...you asked me not to" he tried reminding me. I told him if she sat up front, and got too friendly with him I'd knock his head in. I guess he took it to heart. I make him take her around, but it doesn't mean I want them to become pals. He's working for me and Elio, which means he's working for her. He better treat her accordingly.
"Well, maybe you have a new task from me. Get to know her. I wanna know what she's up to" I told him. He paused. "Is something wrong? Mr. Fiore hasn't shown concern for anything endangering her. Is there something I should know?" He asked me. I clenched my fists, "Just do as you're told and keep Elio out of it."
I grit my teeth at myself. I'm acting like an idiot and I don't like it. It's just a matter of control. Once I have control over the situation I won't care anymore. Things will end on my terms. "Sir," Riccardo cleared his throat. When his eyes looked down at the phone I still had in my hand I remembered what he was waiting for. "Look what this prick wrote," I snorted, keeping it with me.
He ended up rounding the desk, and we talked about it. He helped me look through some of the friends' pages who weren't private. Most of them weren't. They all put on a show making themselves self important. This Ryan guy is the one asshole who I can't see. I saw him throughout the other accounts though. I have a feel for the guy. He doesn't seem crazy like Kristoff, but she lied to me when she said she had no other boyfriends. He was clearly something to her. Why did she lie? That only irks me more.
Once I realized I was gossiping with one of my fucking goons about a bunch of California 20-something years olds, I banged my fist on the table, and shoved the phone back at him. "I have shit to do," I snapped, even though I know it's my fault. He knows it too, but he'd never call me out on it. He'll take the blame for my stalking this goddamn girl. "Enough" I said out loud. To the both of us. He nodded, then quietly exited the room. I don't even wanna know what he thinks of me now. I'm more comfortable gutting a man than facing a man who's watching me look through a girls page to creep on her. Fucking ridiculous. The whole thing.
-
For the rest of the day I kept busy so I could avoid thinking about what I did today. I honestly feel less contemplative about murder. I really do. I worked late and when I got home I went to the private gym they offer here and worked out. Even though I already had this morning. It's my routine. Wake up, work out, come shower and jerk off to clear my head, then dress, eat breakfast, and start my day. It's like clock work.
By the time I came back to the penthouse I was already decided on something. Mia might pretend she wants to shut me out, but I know something she won't resist if I bring it up to her. I'm going to make her answer me, and then I am going to be the one to end things. Like there is even anything to end. There isn't. Still, I know something Mia can't refuse.
So I called.