8. Elio
ELIO
I took a small sip of my beer and looked around the dim bar. It was late, and most of the crowd had dispersed from the place, even if there was still a good two hours before the bar would close for the night.
I didn’t want to go home to that big, empty house.
At least, not tonight, anyway. And it seemed Matteo was feeling the same way.
He sat beside me and took a huge gulp of his beer, his eyes moving around the room, stopping on some of the few women there.
If his goal was to pick up someone for the night, he should have come in earlier.
He leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh.
“Remind me again why we’re here at nearly two in the morning?”
I shot him a look. “I’m here to enjoy my drink. And your nosy ass is here because you thought I was going somewhere much more exciting than this, and you didn’t want to be left out.”
He purposely widened his eyes and pouted a little. There was something truly shameful about seeing a grown man pouting at me. “Why would you want to leave me behind?” he asked.
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered under my breath before turning to him. “Don’t ever look at me like that ever again.”
The fucker laughed and downed the rest of his beer before moving his eyes over to the waitress across the room. I didn’t need to see his face to know he was giving her one of his signature smiles that always seemed to get him laid. Although, I was sure the De Luca name helped some.
He needed to be careful, or one of these days, it was going to get him in trouble, and I was afraid the consequences weren't going to be something he would be willing to pay.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, drawing me away from my thoughts.
I barely noticed Matteo getting out of his seat and heading over to the waitress.
Valentino’s name popped up on the screen.
I checked the time—five minutes away from being two.
So there usually wasn't a good reason why Valentino would be calling at this time unless he was in trouble.
“Is everything okay?” I asked in greeting.
“She’s not here,” Valentino called out. I could hear him running, and I sat up in my seat. There was only one “she” he was referring to. “I can’t fucking find her anywhere. Where the hell did she go? Where the fuck did she go?”
“Calm down and tell me where you’re at.”
“Back at my dad’s house. The fucker is passed out on the fucking couch, empty beer bottles everywhere, and Isa is not in her fucking room.”
My heart raced at his words. Matteo caught my eye, and he quickly came back without saying anything else to the waitress.
“What’s going on?” Matteo asked.
I didn’t answer him but spoke into the phone. “Are you sure she’s not somewhere in the house?”
“I’m fucking positive. I’ve searched everywhere, including the places she liked to hide in when we were kids. She’s not in this house. What if… Fuck. What if they took her?”
“Who?” I asked.
“The stupid fuckers from the Devil’s Wings MC!”
“Hold on. I need you to calm down and think rationally about this. Would those fuckers really be brave enough to kidnap her from your father’s house?”
He didn’t say anything. There was logic in my statement. I knew that.
And why would they take Isa in the first place? If they were going to target someone, it was more likely to be either Luna or Giulia. Except we had Luna and Giulia under lock and key. I closed my eyes, my fist clenching around the phone. If anything happened to Isa…
“Then where the hell could she be in the middle of the fucking night? I should have fucking come by and checked on her earlier,” Valentino said.
“It’s not your fault. We’ll find her. Go to Santino. If those MC fuckers got Isa, they wouldn’t stay quiet about it. Santino would have heard something. Matteo is with me now. We’re going to drive around some of the more likely places she could be. We’ll find her, Valentino.”
“We better.”
The line went dead, and I turned to Matteo.
“Who’s missing?” he asked.
“Isa.”
“Fuck. Let’s go.”
We stepped out of the bar and into the cool night air. I looked around, feeling my mind in a fucking jumble. I was usually more levelheaded than this, but fuck if I was thinking clearly enough now.
If anything happened to her…
I didn’t know.
Please don’t let anything happen to her.
“Are you okay?” Matteo asked when I didn’t say anything for a long moment.
I didn’t answer him, trying to remember some of the places Waylen Thompson was known to hang around in. I had learned everything there was to know about the fucker since Massimo mentioned his name. And the things I knew…
He wasn’t exactly known for his fair treatment, especially of women or children, for that matter. A known misogynist who had done time before for beating an ex-girlfriend within an inch of her life.
I closed my eyes briefly, trying to resist the urge to ram my fist against the side of the building.
“What if they have her?” I asked Matteo.
He didn’t say anything for a beat, his eyes roaming my face as if he didn’t know how to react to that. “We don’t know that.”
I shook my head. “Then where the hell could she be? And why the fuck wasn’t she in her room in the first place?”
He placed his hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Where should we look first? And do you want to call Massimo and Romeo? We could have a few more soldiers out on the street.”
“Yes,” I said as we walked to my car, just parked down the street. “And we can start at the bar Waylen Thompson is known to frequent.”
“You really think he has her?” Matteo asked, pulling out his phone.
“I don’t know,” I said. While I wouldn’t put it past Thompson to do this shit to try and mess with us, it didn’t make sense to target Isa at all.
Matteo stopped walking when we were about halfway to my car. I turned to look back at him. “What?”
“I don’t think Thompson has her,” he said, looking at something to his left. I followed his gaze and pulled up short when I found Isa there, sitting on the edge of a water fountain, beer bottles nearby.
What the fuck?
“Isa!” I called out.
She startled at the sound of her name, her head moving frantically as she tried to find the source of the sound. Her eyes connected with mine as I rushed over, with Matteo close behind.
I could already tell she was drunk before I got near her. She tilted her head back and looked up at me with a soft smile, her blue eyes glazed over.
What the fuck happened here?
“Elio, you’re here,” she said, placing the beer bottle down and making a small reaching motion for me. I grabbed her hands and bent down so that we were at eye level, letting my gaze take her in, trying to look for injuries. She didn’t look hurt.
Her eyes stayed connected to mine the entire time, making my heart pinch from the sight. I didn’t know if I wanted to hug her or shake her.
Matteo came up and stood by my side, his eyes rounding in surprise as he got a good look at Isa.
“Is she drunk?” he asked. “Oh, Valentino is not going to be happy.”
She looked away from me and over at my brother. “Matteo! You’re here too.”
“Hi, sweetheart,” Matteo said softly, sitting down next to her a little too fucking close. I narrowed my eyes at him, and he shot me a strange look before turning back to Isa. “What are you doing here?”
She moved in closer to him, and he bent his head down, as if they were conspiring with each other.
“Getting drunk. Valentino doesn’t know. Neither does Elio.
” She brought her pointer finger up to her lips and made a shushing sound.
“Don’t tell them. Valentino will just lecture me, and Elio will grunt and give me one of his disappointed looks. ”
Matteo glanced over at me, chuckling a little. “Hate to break it to you, but Elio already knows. And I’m sure Valentino will as well.”
She glared at him. “Did you tell him?”
He held his hands up and shook his head.
This conversation was getting out of hand. I squeezed her hand to bring her attention back to me. “How did you get here, Isa?”
“I took a taxi.” The look she shot me told me she thought the answer was obvious.
Matteo made a small sound in the back of his throat that sounded a hell of a lot like a laugh. I glared at him.
“Text Valentino,” I said, before turning back to Isa. “Did you come here by yourself?”
“Of course.” She frowned. “I used up all my money on that taxi ride and beer. And beer doesn’t even taste good. I think I might have to walk home.”
Jesus Christ. Was she serious? Did she really get drunk in the middle of the night with no way to get home?
“Isa,” I said sternly.
She let out a small sigh and turned to Matteo. “See? His disappointed look is out.”
Matteo glanced at me and nodded. “I see what you mean, sweetheart. He does have that disappointed dad look down.”
This was getting nowhere. She was too drunk to reason with.
I stood up and pulled her with me.
She looked down at the beer bottles. “I didn’t finish drinking.”
“You’re done,” I said.
“But—”
I cut her off and pressed my thumb against her lips. “You’re. Done.”
She pushed her tongue out and licked my thumb. I quickly pulled away. Fucking hell.
“How come I never get to do anything? It’s not fair,” she said sadly, and perhaps it was the alcohol making her talk like this, and that she didn’t really feel this way, but fuck if I didn’t hate the sad look on her face.
I wasn’t like Matteo. I didn’t know what to say in situations like this to make her smile and be happy again.
I could probably tell Matteo to work his magic, but the thought of my little brother bringing a smile out of Isa had my fists clenching and my thoughts turning red with murderous rage.
And I didn’t know why the fuck that was, or why I was acting so possessively with Isa.