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(edited)

As I wipe the blood from Vince's cut on his cheek, I can't help but hold myself responsible for the state he is in.

Just look at his face. His eye is swollen, his lip busted, there are cuts on his cheek, nose and eyebrow, a purple bruise has already formed on the other cheek and I'm guessing a rib or two are bruised because of his constant wincing with every little turn.

"I know that look." All of a sudden Vince comments, his voice hoarse and tired, and I move my eyes to meet his brown ones.

"What look?"

"That look right there. You think I'm like this because of you." He states, but hisses when the alcohol pad touches the open cut on his cheek. I don't like hurting him even more than he already is, but I have to clean it before putting a plaster on.

"Aren't I? I mean, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be looking like a bloody and fucked up Christmas tree that's been driven over with a truck right now." I talk back, making him chuckle painfully.

"Oh, god, I feel like I've been hit by a truck. You're right. However, it's not your fault, Willa. Yeah, maybe you begged me to help you and even offered to die for me in a way, but that is not the real reason why I agreed to find Jade." He says and heaves a sigh as I furrow my eyebrows in a slight confusion.

"What do you mean? I thought you were just scared of her killing you." I ask him and continue to dab the pad on his cheek to wipe all the dried out blood.

"I still am, but that's not the point. It's because of my sister."

"Your sister?" I try to understand Vince. How's his sister connected with all this now?

"Yeah. Savanna was working with Jade, I think. She was also a CIA agent and two years ago she was killed on an undercover op. Or at least that's what they told me. I did a little digging and found out that in fact she was killed by a fellow agent. However, I still can't find out who killed her or why." As Vince explains his face shows more and more sadness and sorrow, his voice becoming quieter.

"I'm sorry, Vince." I say when a tear escapes his non-swollen eye, but he quickly wipes it off.

"It's fine." He sniffles and puts a smile on his face like nothing happened. "I look like a wussy now, don't I?"

"Nah." I reply as the air around us is filled with our silent laughs.

"I just wanna find her killer, y'know. Just like you're set on finding Jade. When you called and mentioned Jade, I remembered she is also an agent and I hoped you two can help me with that somehow. And you can make her promise not to kill me, too. "

"When we find Jade I promise you we'll catch Savanna's killer."

***

Vince and I have been glued to the laptops ever since I cleaned him up, which was around seven hours ago. He showed me how to search for Jade using face recognition and the traffic cameras all over the world. If any camera picked up her face it binged. Up to now, we got a several hits but they were all people who looked close to Jade. Two of Silvio's men have been guarding us from the start, too, in fear of using the laptops for something else.

"I'm gonna go to the kitchen. You want anything?" I stand up from the sofa, stretching my back and legs, and ask Vince who looks half asleep already.

"Coffee, please. If I keep my eyes open for one more hour my body will shut down automatically."

"Okay. I'll be right back." With that, I walk straight to the kitchen and Randy follows me. It's past midnight and all the lights in this enormous house are turned off except for some lamps, but there's enough light for me to see where I'm walking and not bump into a door.

Walking into the kitchen, I spot the coffee maker instantly and go straight to it. There's already a premade coffee in the pot so I just need two mugs to pour it in for Vince and me.

With the coffee mugs ready, I start raiding the fridge for something to eat, but there's barely anything.

"Bingo." I whisper when my eyes land on a tray of cooked, one day old lasagna. After taking it out, I remember I need a plate and to heat it up in the new microwave. I guess they replaced it quickly.

"Where the bloody hell are the plates?" Five minutes pass and I still can't find a single plate. Do they not have plates in this huge kitchen?

I turn around to open the cupboard under the kitchen island, but as I do that I spot a guy with earbuds plugged in his ears and silently humming a tune as he's entering the kitchen. He startles me and I start screaming. The guy acknowledges me and screams, too. Randy stays silent.

"Tu chi sei?" The guy says something to me unrecognizable as my eyebrows form a frown.

"What?"

"I said who are you?" He repeats himself with a more demanding tone and this time in english, but his accent is close to Silvio's.

"I'm Willa. Who are you?" I ask him back, but he doesn't seem to calm down. He is still wary.

"What are you doing here?" He demands again, completely ignoring my question.

"Trying to find food. Who are you again?" I try again and raise an eyebrow at him. The guy only seems to stare at me as if I'm a threat to him. I take a step forward and he starts to glare at me. He glances at Randy, who says nothing, then to someone behind Randy.

"Silvio, c'è una ragazza qui. È tua?" The tall dude yells after Silvio I believe and no longer than a second later Silvio appears in the kitchen looking annoyed.

"Che cosa?" Silvio raises an eyebrow at the unknown guy.

"La ragazza. Tu la conosci?" The guy tells Silvio after giving me a quick look.

"Si. Perché hai urlato comunque? Ti ha spaventato?" A snicker leaves Silvio's lips as he says this and the guy's posture straightens up.

"Ovviamente no. Chi è lei comunque?" They continue to speak in Italian, I think, as if I'm not present. Waiting a few more seconds, I clear my throat and then the both of them turn to face me.

"Her name's Willa. She's here because..." Silvio starts introducing me to the tall guy but he stops, thinking what to say next as to why I'm in this house.

"He kidnapped me." I speak and earn a wide eyed look from the guy. He turns to look at Silvio in confusion while I stare at in in hatred and wishing he'd combust alive.

"You're not kidnapped." He objects blankly, looking at me. The longer we stare into each other's eyes the more angry I become with him.

"No, no. Now, you just hold me here under threats about my little brother." I say sarcastically and continue glaring at the brown eyed devil.

"What?" The guy asks and looks between me and Silvio but all he sees are the glares we exchange. "Is it true?" Silvio refuses to answer him and instead he walks out of the kitchen without a word said.

An awkward silence falls between the guy and me but thankfully he brakes the awkwardness. "I'm Lazzaro, Silvio's brother. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too." I say as my mind goes over this Lorenzo guy.

Does Silvio really have a brother? But, when I think about it they do share quiet a few characteristics; they both have the same brown colored hair and the same chocolate-y eyes. They are both above six feet tall and devilishly handsome.

"Sorry about the screaming by the way. I don't usually...scream." Lazzaro offers me a sheepish smile. I smile back as a assurance that it's okay.

"I also screamed so we're kinda even." I laugh awkwardly and turn around to continue to look for a plate.

"You need help with something?" Lazzaro's deep voice makes me turn around and look at him once more.

"Yeah, actually. I can't find a plate."

"Here. Let me." He says and walks towards me. When he suddenly stands next to me a waft of his masculine cologne hits me like a wave and I find myself liking the musky yet sharp smelltones.

Lazzaro reaches with his hand and opens the cupboard above my head that I couldn't have reached even if I tried to open it. He then takes a clean white plate and offers it to me.

"Thanks." I say with another smile and avert my eyes away from his. I put the plate with the lasagna in the microwave and wait for it to heat up. Lazzaro sends me a smile befire going on the other side and making himself a cup of tea without another word to me. The microwave pings and I take the hot plate out before heading upstairs.

"What took you so long?" Vince asks me as soon as I walk back into my room with Randy. He is in the same position as when I left him.

"Lazzaro." I answer him without thinking. Vince only squints his eyes at me, not understanding my answer, but then spots the coffee in my hand and instantly looks relieved.

Couple more hours pass and we finally decide to call it a night. At 5am. I know Vince feels the pressure of Christopher's life and so do I—more than him—but we need rest. We can't function properly.

Just as he relaxes on the comfortable sofa and I on the bed, a loud bang coming from outside startles us and we both jump in fright.

"The hell was that?" He exclaims as he stands up, his body tensing up. I walk towards the window and when I turn the curtains to the side, I see men scattered around the yard, running with their rifles in their arms and looking very alarmed. Just then, a few shots resonate outside and soon enough Silvio's men start shooting back.

"What the hell is happening?" Vince whispers mostly to himself and then looks at me. Jerking away from the window in fear the attackers might spot me, I walk to the wall and drag Vince down with me to sit on the ground. He tries to get up and peep from the corner of the window, but my hand draws him back down.

"Stay low. Someone might see us." I say to him and take a deep breath, my heart thumping like on drugs. The shooting doesn't die down. In fact, I can hear more and more bullets being fired off.

As Vince and I stay down on the ground and behind the sofa, we hear some voices behind the door of my room. More fear slips in my body when someone rattles the doorknob before they open the door. Randy and the other guy have their guns out, but the other guys are quicker to knock them out unconscious.

"Willa?" A male voice says my name and I need a second for my brain to recognize it as Giovanni's, the guy from the warehouse and who Silvio held in the basement. How did he even get out of there?

"They know your name." Vince's face is pale as he sends me a frightful look.

"Willa, come out." Giovanni says once again before he appears at the side of the sofa and sees us. A relieved sigh escapes his lips afterwards. Shit.

"Back off!" I say to Giovanni when he starts to come closer to me and Vince. Vince makes a move and stands in front of me, trying to protect me from Giovanni.

"I won't hurt her nor you. Come on, we don't have much time. A car waits at the back entrance and we must go, now." Giovanni says urgently, his eyes holding a pleading look.

"Why would we go with you? I don't even know you." Vince objects and takes a step back. Giovanni only sighs.

"I have a plan about Jade. I need to find her before Silvio the douche gets his hands on her and kills her. Please."

"Why do you also want to find Jade? Jesus, why does everyone want to find her and kill her?" I groan and glare at Giovanni. His eyes seem to widen before he retorts,

"No, no, no. I don't want to kill her. I–just... please. Come with me and I'll tell you everything."He pleads while I stare at his eyes.

My grandma used to say that a person's eyes always show the truth if you stare long enough and now all I can see in Giovanni's eyes is hope and sadness. Is he hoping I'll go with him? But why sadness though?

"You don't want to kill Jade?" I ask him reluctantly before I see Giovanni shake his head.

"It's the opposite. I want to save her." When he says this I make my decision that I know is stupid and it'll probably make me regret it later. But it's better than being under Silvio's orders.

"Okay. Let's go." Vince shoots me a 'what the hell' look but I ignore it and grab his hand before following Giovanni. We take the laptops before we exit and then carefully make our way to the pick up point where a car apparently waits for us.