Chapter 14 Falco
FALCO
The bar Giacomo takes us to, Cloud, is a mix of a bar and restaurant.
Near the door, a small cluster of tables sit filled with people sharing nachos, chicken wings, and a variety of drinks from the bar.
The bar itself takes up most of the left wall and is tended by four people darting back and forth to serve the growing crowd.
From the middle to the right is a dance floor and DJ booth filled with people rocking and grinding on one another to the music churned out by a man dressed in leopard print with pink hair.
Not the sort of place I expect someone like Giacomo to enjoy spending time in.
He’s greeted at the bar like a friend, orders some drinks and food, then he and Aerin settle into their conversation at the tables.
I remain at a distance, watching Aerin out of the corner of my eye while keeping a closer eye on Giacomo’s security and all the other people mingling around the tables.
His request for me to stand down was a first, and I would oblige if not for the oath I swore to Guido.
Only he has the power to end my watch on Aerin, and until that order comes I’m sticking to her like glue.
No matter how much it hurts.
As much as it pains me, I’ve tried to distance myself this past week.
I was so close to kissing her in the garden and ruining the delicate balance I’ve curated between myself and my feelings. It’s tempting to give in.
Every second I’m with her, every time I hear her laugh or see her smile or watch her engage in gentle conversation with the staff at the estate, I’m tempted to sweep her into my arms and show her how much I care.
The only thing holding me back is that the momentary gratification of giving in to my feelings isn’t worth it.
Not when I can have the rest of my life by her side, keeping her alive, loving her from a distance.
It’s pain I can channel into other things.
As turbulent as it makes my mind, what’s another thing keeping me awake at night?
Distance is best.
I remain her statue, never taking my attention off her even as I scan the bar. What started as a quiet, late-afternoon trip quickly turns into something much more.
Football appears on the TV and draws the crowds while a new DJ, this one with a neon mask covering their face, changes the music into something with a deeper bass that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on edge.
Each thump that’s a tad too loud aggravates my ears. As time ticks on, my chest grows tighter and tighter.
I hate it here.
But I’ll stick it out for Aerin.
Several hours after we arrive, Aerin slips off to the bathroom and I linger outside with my eye on Giacomo who is busy on his phone.
Once Aerin’s finished, I guide her back to her table, which is suddenly empty.
“Where’s my brother?” Aerin glances up at me then scans the crowd. “Did he go to the bathroom?”
“I didn’t see.”
“Oh.” She slips back onto her stool and pulls out her phone. “He said his friends were coming.”
“Maybe he changed his mind?”
“He wouldn’t leave without saying something,” she snaps then points past me to one of his guards. “See? They’re still here.”
They are, and they look worried. Knitted brows and flat mouths immediately bring a rise of concern in my chest. “Stay here,” I order Aerin, then I weave through the crowd to the closest man on Giacomo’s security detail.
“Oi. Where’s Giacomo?”
The man glances at me with narrowed eyes but doesn’t speak. As I’m about to repeat myself, I catch his finger pressed to his ear as he intently listens to someone buzzing in his ear.
I glance back at Aerin. She remains at her table, sliding her phone back and forth between her hands.
“He’s…” The guard finally speaks and draws my attention back. “He was right here.”
“Well now he’s not.”
“I know,” the man snaps. “I blinked and he just…”
My eyes narrow. “You’ve lost him?”
“No, we’ve just…” The guard steps away from me but I tightly grab his arm and drag him back. “Don’t walk away from me. Tell me what the fuck is going on, where’s Giacomo? If something is going on that has even the slightest hint of affecting my detail, then I need to know.”
“Fucking hell!” The man attempts to drag his arm out of my grip but fails. My fists are like iron. “Fine, we’ve momentarily lost him. He stepped out to make a call because he couldn’t hear over the music and we just…we lost him.”
“I’m taking Aerin out of here. If you find him, tell him she’s gone home.” Giacomo isn’t my concern, but I’m not waiting around for his games after last time. Spinning on my heel, I turn back to Aerin’s table.
And freeze.
Her stool is empty.
My heart punches up into my chest while I immediately climb onto the nearest table and rapidly scan the crowd for her fair, auburn hair to no avail.
There’s not a single glimpse of her.
Fuck.
Dragging my phone from my pocket, I call her but as I hop down from the table, a flashing light catches my eye.
Aerin’s phone is on the ground, kicked under the table she was previously sitting at.
Gone.
She can’t be gone.
Not again.
There’s no way this happened again.
Unlike last time, my desire to prove myself doesn’t take priority.
With a click of a button on my phone, I raise the alert that Aerin has vanished.
“You lost my sister?” Giacomo’s voice suddenly bellows from behind me and I turn with a flinch. “How the fuck could you lose her? I left her right here with you!”
His fist raises and I smoothly sidestep his punch while my phone erupts in my hand with the various security alerts that slide into place.
Security teams stationed in the area will leap into action and those with the know-how will start pouring through the streets in search of Aerin.
But it’s not enough.
This time I need to know what the hell I’m dealing with, never mind how someone found us again.
“You bastard!” Giacomo lunges at me again.
This time I let his fist connect with my shoulder, then I grab his wrist and jerk his arm up his back while slamming him face down on the nearest table.
“Back off,” I snarl. “I don’t have time for your fucking tantrum right now, you hear me?
Lunge at me again and you’ll be waking up in the fucking hospital.
” With a final shove, I dart away from Giacomo and sprint through the crowd to the security box at the front door.
It takes a couple of furious minutes of yelling, but as soon as I name-drop Guido, I’m taken through the club to the security office at the back.
“It’s been six minutes,” I say while dialing Pidge’s number. “I need to see the cameras pointed at the tables from eight minutes ago.”
The small guy at the desk shoves his glasses up his nose and taps furiously on the keyboard.
A few agonizingly slow seconds later, the screens on the wall in front of me flash with the three cameras pointed at the tables just as Giacomo joins me.
“Have you found her?” he demands.
I ignore him while Pidge’s voice fills my ear.
“You’re calling because you miss me, right?”
“I lost her.”
Pidge snorts. “Wait, you’re serious?”
“I need your help.”
“Again? Seriously, how did you lose her again?”
“I don’t know. Listen, I just need you to—there!” I slap the guard on the shoulder and point at the screen. “That’s her. Fast forward until she leaves.”
Aerin sits at the table just like I last saw her, sliding her phone between her hands.
Ten seconds later, a tall man with dark hair walks up to her and leans close, whispering something into her ear.
His face is hidden by the cameras, but whatever he says to her makes Aerin immediately get up from the table.
As she follows him and walks off camera, her phone falls to the floor.
“Where’s the next camera?” I bark out.
“There’s nothing until the entrance.”
“Show me.”
He switches cameras and a few seconds later, Aerin walks onto the screen and immediately gets into a waiting black car with the stranger.
He glances over his shoulder, giving the camera a slight glimpse of his face, then he climbs inside and the car pulls away.
“Do you know him?” I ask Giacomo who glares at the screen.
“No. Maybe she knows him, though. Fuck, maybe she scored.”
“No. Not after last time. She wouldn’t be this reckless. Send his picture to everyone, I want to know who he is.”
Ignoring Giacomo’s snappy remarks about how she looked like she left willingly, I rush from the office and make it out into the street. “Pidge?”
“Still here.”
“I have a license plate. Can you guide me from Cloud?”
“The bar?”
“Mhm.”
“Sure, but it’ll take some time.”
“I don’t have time, Pidge. I have—” As I reach my car, chest heaving, a sudden painful tightness spears across my chest and I gasp. The pain collides with the fury igniting my blood as suddenly I’m right back where I started.
I scared Gina away. I scared her away, she ran, and she died.
Not again.
“Falco?” Pidge’s light voice immediately grows heavy with concern. “You good?”
I can’t speak. My chest has solidified into rock, making breathing impossible.
Fuzziness draws in around the edge of my vision, and the car door handle doubles as I reach for it, making me miss and scrape the paint with my fingers instead.
Did I do this?
Did I push her too far away that she would just leave with a stranger?
Maybe I missed something in her contacts and she does have a friend that she never mentioned.
History is poised to repeat itself.
“Falco?” Pidge’s voice fuzzes in my ears. “Falco! Talk to me, dude.”
My legs wobble and give way as my throat burns and my body screams for air, air that my chest refuses to allow with how tightly my muscles spasm.
It’s panic.
I’m having a panic attack.
Not now. Not now. Fucking hell not now!
“Falco!” Pidge suddenly yells, shocking me enough to gasp in a ragged breath and unlock the tension in my chest. A few seconds spread like an eternity.
“I’m here,” I croak. “Shit. I’m here.”
“Dude, I thought you died on me.”
“No, I’m—fuck.” Ragged pants tear through me as I climb to my feet. “I’m fine.”
“You’re far from fine,” Pidge replies. “I’m calling in some help.”
“I’m fine,” I gasp, finally unlocking the door. “Find me that car.”
“I’m on it. But I’m still calling a friend.”