12. Chapter 12 - Emiliano
T he alarm rings on my phone, showing me it’s seven in the evening. Fuck, I slept through the day, but in my defense, I tossed and turned until the sun was already out. I know I did the wrong thing with Cole, just like I know I need to apologize to him. I should’ve never said he was a mistake. Especially not after the moment we shared. But damn it, I was freaking the fuck out. The thought of losing Matteo was like a weight in my chest, and I could barely breathe at the possibility of it. I’m not delusional. I know that if I do this—give Cole a real shot—Matteo will disown me as his father. I will be out of his life for good, and I can’t bear the thought of losing him. I just also can’t bear the thought of Cole walking out of my life either.
Getting out of bed, I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth. My skin is clear of any marks from Cole, no evidence of our night together left behind. And I hate it, yet also feel relieved. My bed is a different story though. The sheets are crumpled and cum-stained, and my pillows smell just like him—like coconut. It’s odd that he’d smell tropical, but it also suits him at the same time.
I stand in front of my bedroom door, take a deep breath, and open it slowly. The house is eerily quiet. Matteo has clearly not come back yet. I walk down the hallway toward Cole’s room, just to stop in my tracks. His bedroom door is open, and when I get closer, I see there are bags and a suitcase on his bed. I don’t care if it’s an invasion of privacy. I head over to his dresser and closet, just to find all his stuff is packed up.
My stomach sinks, and it feels like I have to throw up.
I fucked up— really fucked up—and I need to find him. But where the hell would he go right now? I can’t call Matteo either. He’d be suspicious and definitely ask why Cole and I are fighting. He’d forget all about his hurt feelings and confront Cole as well, and knowing him, he’d probably spill his guts to my son out of spite. But he wouldn’t, would he? I’m not even sure anymore.
My phone begins to ring, startling me, and I run back to my room in hopes it’s Cole. I’m disappointed when I see it’s my brother Alessandro instead. I think about not answering. I think about hiding out in my room until Cole gets back and tries to leave me, but something tells me it might be an important call.
“Hello?” I mutter. “This better be good, Alex.”
“I’ll forgive you just this once, Emiliano.” My brother sighs, and I can imagine him pinching the bridge of his nose. He always does it when he uses this tone of voice. “The Russians are on our territory. We just picked up two of them.”
“ What ?” I bark, suddenly even more worried about Cole. If they find him, they’re probably going to want payback for Andrey. I can’t let them take him. “Find them all. Whatever it takes.”
“Yes, brother.” Alessandro sighs again. “I’m on it.”
Alessandro hangs up, and I lower my cell phone from my ear. I don’t know where Cole could be right now, but I know where I want to be. In that basement, torturing the motherfuckers who dared to step into my territory. And maybe, just maybe, get information from them. It all depends on how loyal they are. But my methods have made many men sing for me.
An hour later, I’m standing in the basement of The Pink Pony Club. My brothers are all with me, standing against a wall and watching the two men tied up in the middle of the room. Their hands are bound behind the chairs, a rope tied around each other’s torsos. For a split moment, I want to kill them and get it over with. But then I remember Cole, and I know I need to figure out why they’re here. Except I’m not all there. My head is definitely elsewhere.
I pace in front of them, and if I could wear a hole into the concrete, I definitely would’ve by now. My brothers all have their eyes on me, most of them with a curious look in their eyes. All except Alessandro, who seems to be more suspicious than curious. He can probably read me better than the rest of them. We’ve always been inseparable, which means not much gets past him. It’s hard for me to lie to him and even harder to keep things from him.
“Emiliano,” Alessandro snaps, and I look at him. His mouth is set in a tight line, his eyes searching my face for what I imagine are answers. “What the fuck is going on?”
“They’re probably here for Cole,” I explain. “As revenge for what happened to Andrey now that he’s out of prison.”
My brother nods slowly.
I turn toward the Russians. “Isn’t that right?”
One of them doesn’t even look at me, keeping his eyes on the ground. It honestly pisses me off. The utter disrespect. The other guy, however, looks right into my eyes defiantly, and I realize it’ll be fun to break them.
“I asked a question,” I tell them. “And I expect an answer.”
The brave one looks right into my eyes and spits on the floor. “Italian scum.”
I laugh, a full belly laugh. “Oh, you’re definitely the brave one, aren’t you? I’ll enjoy breaking you the most.”
“Cole is actually here, Emiliano,” Giovanni says, and I look at him, my heart beating faster. “Do you think he’d like to do the honors?”
“No,” I reply quickly, and Alessandro frowns.
“What aren’t you telling us?” he asks. “What’s wrong with you?”
I sigh. “It’s complicated.”
“We have all night,” Lorenzo says, and I want to throttle him. They may have all night, but now that I know Cole is here, I definitely do not have all night. They’ll be lucky if I stick around for another ten minutes. I need to lay eyes on him. “Spill.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I snap.
“Well, you’re going to,” Tony says with a smile. It pisses me off even more that he’s smiling, like he already knows the answer to Alessandro’s question. “We do have all night.”
“Fine,” I growl. “Cole and I had sex.”
The room is so silent you could hear a pin drop. My brothers are all wide-eyed, and if the situation weren’t so serious, it would be comical. I’d be laughing my ass off. Except nothing about this is funny. Cole hates me and now he’s in danger, and something tells me I can’t do anything about it. He wants nothing to do with me if the suitcase and bags on his bed are any indication.
Alessandro is the first to speak up. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t,” I reply dryly. “Clearly.”
“Okay,” Giovanni says, “so you had sex with him. What’s the big deal?”
“Other than the obvious?” I frown. “Maybe the fact that I told him it was a mistake.”
“Ouch.” Lorenzo looks at me with a sympathetic look in his eyes, and I want to punch him in the face until he doesn’t pity me anymore.
“Yeah, that ,” Tony chimes in.
I love my brothers, but sometimes I wish they weren’t so overbearing. I want to lick my wounds in peace and in private. I don’t want to expose myself to them, but I know they’re just trying to help me.
“Want me to get him for you?” Giovanni asks.
“No.” I shake my head. “If you do that, he’ll run away. His bags are already packed on his bed.”
“Double fuck,” Lorenzo says, pity in his eyes yet again.
“If you keep looking at me with pity, I’m going to fucking stab you,” I say to him, and he grins.
“Bring it on, old man.” He grins. “I got moves.”
“Not for long,” I mutter.
Alessandro steps away from the wall, coming to my side. He keeps his eyes on our captives, but he talks to me in a low voice.
“I got this,” he murmurs. “Go get your boy.”
“He’s not mine,” I tell him. “And he’s not a boy .”
Alessandro smirks, pushing me toward the door, and I stumble back a couple of steps. Before I can speak, Giovanni hums.
“I texted the bouncers,” he says. “They’ll get him from the VIP area. He’s a little occupied.”
“Occupied?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“Yeah.” He smirks. “He’s on some guy’s lap.”
Oh, hell no. How fucking dare he? My cock was inside him just a few hours ago. That just won’t do. “Get answers,” I tell Alessandro, then make my way up the stairs.
The music is booming when I step back into the club, and I fully expect the bouncers to bring Cole to me. Except when they knock on the door, they’re empty-handed.
“Where the hell is he?” I snap.
“He gave us the slip,” John says. “Went out the back.”
I nod, getting up from my chair and going to the back of the club. I open the door, because these fuckers are incompetent as hell, and slip out. I text Alessandro to let him know where I am and that I need him. It’s not smart for me to be out here alone in an alley. And when I hear the sound of fists connecting with flesh, I know I’ve made the right choice.
I make my way toward the sound, and there, behind the dumpsters, I can make out three guys beating someone. I take out my knife with my heart in my throat, somehow sensing Cole’s presence. One of the men speaks in Russian, and I step forward quietly.
“Hey, fucker!” I yell, and all three turn around, momentarily distracted. It’s long enough of a distraction that Cole takes his scalpel out and stabs one of them in the neck with it. The man goes down, and I smirk. “Coming here wasn’t a good idea,” I tell them.
They whirl on Cole, but now he’s ready, and I’ve seen him take down more than one man before. I walk closer, debating if I should shoot them, but they’re too close to Cole, so it’s not an option. Then my brothers step out of the club, whistling a tune, and the Russians freeze.
Yeah, fuckers.
This was a bad idea.