>>>-M-A-T-T-E-O->
Laying down in the comfort of my bed, my train of thought was disturbed by the sound of my phone alerting me of a new message. I was expecting it to come from Giovanni. Surprisingly, it was Ila. Reading her name on my screen made my heart beat faster.
Ila: Matteo, can you come to my apartment? We need to talk about us.
With the intentions of replying, I began typing. I revised my 'ok' to 'okay' and then changing it altogether to 'alright'. My responses seemed unfit and I was wasting time on thinking about what to send. Instead, I chose to not reply and headed out.
"Where are you going?" Marcella asked as I ran into her in the elevator.
"Ila's," I answered.
"To snoop again?"
I frowned, "No. She wants to talk to me."
Marcella's face brightened, "Can I come? We can take Aiden and Giovanni and all go see her."
"No," I opposed.
Marcella got the hint and changed her facial expression to suggestive, "Oh, it's that kind of 'talk'."
I parted ways with Marcella and walked out of the house. I hopped into my BMW and rolled onto the highway. Despite it being night, there was traffic. The slow jam got me more time to anticipate and think about what Ila could possibly want to talk about.
I knew very well how I felt about her. What I didn't know was how Ila felt towards me. I thought the feeling I had for her was mutual. Whatever Ila felt for me wasn't strong enough to keep her from leaving the mafia and my side. Was she going to break up with me? I didn't see how that was possible for we never became official. However, I was afraid that that was the case.
I had spent two hours driving and contemplating by the time I reached Ila's apartment complex. Taking the stairs, I found myself at the door. I knocked, right under the peephole. Looking down, I noticed there was something wrong with the handle of the door. It was barely attached. Before I could take a step back, the door swung open and I was tackled to the ground by a man. I tried to push him off of me but I was pinned down.
"Hey," someone said as they called for my attention. Still struggling to get back up on my two feet, I looked up to see another man standing above me. He lifted his leg and brought it down. Painfully, his foot met my face.
<-I-L-A-<<<
A scream escaped my mouth as I fearfully watched Matteo be struck drown. At the man's kick, he went limp. The man who was securing him on the floor got off of Matteo to help the man who knocked him out. The two began to drag Matteo out of my view, going to the ground floor.
Stollo, in front of me, checked his wristwatch. He signaled for one of his men closet to him to come forward. Then, he looked at me while the man approached me.
"It's your turn," Stollo said, smiling. His words dropped all hopes of the approaching man coming to untie me.
<...>
I could feel my conscious waking. Even before I opened my eyes, I remembered the events leading up to that moment. With my eyes shut, I prayed that I wasn't in another basement.
I opened my eyes and saw that I was still at the same place I had blacked out at. I was sprawled on the couch, unbound from tape. I jolted up, gasping for air that I unconsciously rejected.
I frantically looked around for my phone. I couldn't find it in the living room. Stumbling every few steps, I ran to my bedroom. It was in worse condition than the living room. The men who stayed in my room while I was held captive in my own living room rummaged through every nook and cranny. Making the mess worse, I threw everything aside in search of my cellular device. I couldn't find it anywhere.
Without much of a plan accumulated in my mind, I dashed out of my apartment. I ran down the stairs, hopping down the last few steps. Entering the garage of the building, I spotted a familiar vehicle parked in my parking space. I ran to my car. I was too busy dealing with adrenaline to be astonished. Immediately, I dropped to the ground to look underneath the back bumper of the car. Securely taped, I found the set of keys. I ripped it off, and with some pieces of tape still on it, I started the ignition.
I pulled out of the parking garage with the wheels to my car screeching agaisnt the smooth garage floor. I had to get to the mafia house. I needed to find Mr. Casciani and tell him that Stollo had Matteo.
"Oh, gosh," I muttered hysterically to myself as I pulled onto the highway. "Oh, gosh."
I breathed heavily through my mouth, trying to get as much air to circulate and stop my panic state. Sweat covered my body, representing the guilt that consumed me. Matteo was captured by the help of me. I had lured him to his death. Stollo was going to kill him. Surely, Stollo wasn't going to be quick to end Matteo. He'd want to enjoy it. There was hope that there will be enough time to find Matteo and get him back before Stollo kills him.
I reached the mafia house and saw the dishevel. The lights coming from the inside through the opened front door showed a mess. From within the car, I saw the picture frames from the accent wall was cattered all over the floor. Not one furniture from the living room was planted upright. I stopped the car in the driveway. My headlights made the inside of the garage visible. Through the open garage, I could see that it was empty of cars.
With the keys still in the ignition and the engine on, I jumped out of the car and ran inside the house.
"Is anyone here?" I yelled as I dashed room to room, searching for anyone that was possibly injured. From the looks of it, Stollo's men must have raided the place. The fact the there wasn't any cars in the garage told me the Il Bisbiglio people must have fled. I searched for anyone that might have been left behind. "Anyone hurt?"
Using the elevator, I searched the upper floors. Fortunately, the house was empty of people. Unfortunately, I had no idea where everyone had gone to. I walked back to my car and sat in the driver seat while thinking to myself. What was I going to do next? I drove away from the abandoned mansion and went a few miles next door. Did Stollo's men reach Aurelio's house?
With the vague memory of the direction's to the hacker's house, I made it to Aurelio's house within 15 minutes. I knocked at the door and waited a few seconds until it was opened by the savvy tech.
"Ila, what are you doing here?" He asked.
Relief washed over me. I was glad to see someone from Il Bisbiglio. I stepped closer to him and caught him in a hug. I began sobbing as I tried forming an audible sentence, "Oh my gosh, you are okay."
"What's going on? Are you okay?" Aurelio asked, trying to make sense of why I was crying.
Aurielo brought me inside him home. I sat on the couch of his living room. Aurelio went to fetch his cellular device. Once I received it, I dialed Marcella. My anxiety rose with every ring. My phone call went unanswered, three times. I tried Giovanni's cell and Aiden's number. Unfortunately, it ended with the same result, voicemail.
"They aren't picking up," I cried.
"Calm down, Ila. What's going on? Explain."
"Stollo broke into my apartment and made me lure Matteo. I did and Stollo has Matteo. I drove to the mafia house after waking up from being knocked out. Everyone was gone. The house is a mess but vacant and I don't know where everyone is. I need to tell them that Stollo has Matteo. Stollo is going to kill him. It's my fault. I- I-"
Aurelio left the room at the beginning of my panic attack. He came back with a glass of water. Extending his arm, he handed me the glass and said, "Drink up, you're probably really dehydrated. I'll go see if I can track them. They probably fled to another safe house."
My water was left untouched as I sat it down on the coffee table in front of me before following Aurelio up the stairs to a room where he had his system set up. I stood beside him as he began typing away. At one point, Aurelio yawned and rubbed his eyes.
"Sorry. Did I wake you up?" I asked, aware that it was currently four in the morning.
"Don't worry about it. I don't sleep. I have insomnia," Aurelio said. "You can sit down on the couch over there if you are tired."
Feeling self-aware that I wasn't feeling all that good, I went to the couch. Eventually, I dozed off while I was waiting for him to track down Marcella and the rest. When I woke up, I was in the passenger seat of my car.
Aurelio saw me stir awake and explained, "I found where they were at and you were asleep. I didn't want to wake you up."
"Thank you," I said. It was six and the sky was turning a lighter shade of purple as the sun began to rise. "Are we close to there?"
"Yeah, the house is around this corner," he said as he turned right at the stop. He stopped in front of yet another huge house. There were many cars surrounding the block on which the property is at. I recognized Marcella's car.
I got out of my car and Aurelio returned the keys to me before reaching the front door. I knocked on the door. I saw a figure by the window blinds as the person peeped through to see us. The door opened a few seconds later. It was Kianzo.
He held the door opened and stepped aside for us to walk in.
"Where's Marcella?" I asked.
"I could be wrong but I think she's down the hall, the second door to the left. The first one to the left is the bathroom. She says that she sleeping but we all know she's stressing. I would knock before going in," Kianzo said, closing the door.
I looked at Aurelio, wondering if he was going to come with me. He shook his head and explained, "I'm going to find myself a room."
I smiled in gratefulness, "Okay. Thank you for helping me and driving us here this morning."'
He returned my smile and waved as he walked to the stairs of the house. I parted ways with him, going to Marcella's room based on Kianzo's instructions. I knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Marcella asked, coming from far within the room. I smiled at the sound of my best friend's voice. It comforted me but I could hear the strain and stress in her vocals which made me anxious.
"It's me, Ila," I answered.
I heard Marcella's heavy footsteps running to the door. She opened it with her eyes wide and mouth agape.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"I... uh..." I searched for words to explain.
"Ila?" Aiden asked, sounding shocked. Marcella and I both broke eye contact and turned to the door down from us. There was Aiden, in nothing but drawers, waiting for the bathroom to be free.
"Hi," I said.
Coming from inside the bathroom, the toilet flushed. The door opened and Giovanni walked out. He was in a silk robe and there was no guarantee that he was wearing any undergarment like Aiden. He stopped, seeing that Aiden, Marcella and I were gathered around.
"Ila, babe, is that you?" He spread his arms wide open for a hug.
I stopped him, disgusted, "Did you even wash your hands?"
Giovanni halted on his advanced and returned back into the bathroom. While the faucet was running and Giovanni was scrubbing his hands with soap, Marcella asked, "Where's Matteo? Wasn't he with you? Didn't you guy talk or something?"
"That's why I am here. I didn't need to talk to Matteo. Stollo broke into my house and made me lure him in with that excuse. When Matteo came Stollo knocked him out and took him. He knocked me out right after. When I woke up, I drove to the mafia house but it was empty and messy. Then I drove to Aurelio's and he tracked you guys from there. He drove us here. Kianzo opened the door and I asked where Marcella was. He replied, saying that your room was..." I was rambling out of hysteria as I mentioned the whole situation I was in. I was shut up as Marcella pulled me into a hug.
One of her arms was firmly behind my back, embracing me, as one hand was petting the back of my head. Marella whispered into my ear as she calmed me down, "It's okay. We are fine."
"Leo was out and about driving when he saw a bunch of Stollo's cars heading our way. We left before they came to the house. They must have trashed the place when they got there." Aiden assumed.
"Yes, but what about Matteo? He's not okay. We have to find him. It's my fault." I said, my voice dripping with guilt. A wet hand touched my elbow. I turned around to see it was Giovanni placing his recently washed hand on me as a sign of support. Disgusted once again, I asked, "You didn't dry your hands?"
Giovanni, without breaking eye contact, moved his hand from my elbow to my back. He dragged his hand down and used my shirt as a towel, "No... but I am now."
<~>
Please show much love <3
Literally three or so more chapters ya'll...