11: She's just like the rest of them

Francesco

"Franky you are just overthinking everything." Ciro says as he closes Lucca's bedroom door.

I just stare at him, because I am not sure what to say. He could be right, but he could be wrong too. It was a 50:50 situation and after what happened yesterday, I didn't wanted to take more chances. I wanted to be ready for every situation.

"She is not Elea...." I glare at him, daring him to finish his sentence.

He raises his hand in surrender as he starts walking backward. "I am sorry Franky. I know her name is forbidden here. But bro she is no her, she is not here to hurt Lucca. She really seems to like our brother. And you need to give buttercup a chance to prove that." He turns and starts walking down the hall.  "Not all girls are the same franky." He says just before he takes the stairs to head down.

Eleanor. Her name alone brings back memories. Memories from the day when I first saw her - she was all quiet and shy. The day she became my best friend. The day I gave her my heart, my everything. The day I told her that I loved her and would marry her one day. And the day she left me. I close my eyes and shake my head to clear it. It's not the time dwell on what happened but to learn from my mistake. And to make sure Lucca didn't get hurt just like I did several years ago.

And that's why I had to be extra careful here. Because something about Miss. Gabrielle screamed trouble. And it was not just her eyes, which resembled to Eleanor, that were stopping me from trusting her. But also how all her past files had empty blanks and they way her real parents were not listed in any of her records. Not even her hospital record or birth certificate, nothing. It was like either the information was deleted or destroyed. But by whom?? Or why??

My mind was running around in circles trying to find something or anything that could solve the mystery when K called. K works for me and I had trained him for almost five years now. He is the one I go to when I want to do some dirty research work.

"Did you get it?" I get straight to the point as I answer the call.

"Yes sir. I have it and I am downstairs in the security room."

"I am on my way," I say and end the call as I head downstairs to the security room.

When the three of us built our houses, I suggested we should each have our own security room at the ground floor. The security room in Lucca's house was the biggest. It was massive and had one wall completely covered with LED screens and five to six desks were laid out. We had three security workers monitoring the premises 24/7.

As I enter the room, I was greeted with three of my security staff.

"Everyone out, K you stay," I order.

"Yes sir." the other two security members replied in unison and hurry out.

K moves from behind his desk and hands me a white paper bag with apple logo on it. "Here sir."

I grab the bag and pull out the box. It was a brand-new apple watch but only modified. I asked K to install a tracker in it along with a small mic. I even asked him to sync the watch with my phone so I could read all the messages and track the call.

I look back at him "All done??"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Any updates??"I ask him as I put back the watch in the paper bag.

"No new activity is seen at the Dante's end, but Corbinian's men has been seen making a move towards our local drug deals. It seems like he is planning to sell his drug here with the help of the locals. Also just an hour back three young girls were reported missing. I am trying to figure out if this has anything to do with them been in town."

My jaw tightens at that, but I remain quite letting him complete the report.

"And as for Miss.Gabrielle I am trying to contract the hospital she was born. But apparently both the attending doctor and nurse have resigned. I am planning to reach out to them personally."

I nod in acknowledgement "For now ask our men to  keep an eye on Corbiniano and advice our local drug deals to approach Corbinian's men for the new drug and see what they are planning. But make sure they keep it subtle. Also get in touch with the head police officer regarding the missing girls and see if they have any update."

As the head of security, I have many people all around the city working for me. Some are disguised as drug deals while others are normal bystanders. Just observing everything and keeping eye at the situations. They all are well trained soldiers who I personally picked for this job.

"Will do Sir. Anything else Sir??" K asked.

"For now no. So just get back to work and let me know what the head officer say." He nods as I head out of the room with the paper bag in my hand.

I head to Lucca's study which is few doors on the left and sit at my desk. I sign in my laptop and start going through Corbiniano files the one Ciro found. Ciro hacked into the pharmaceutical company  Corbiniano worked in and retracted many files. I wanted go through them personally before handing them to K to read.

I was so engulfed in reading Corbiniano's file that lost track of time. It was only when Ciro messaged me that I realised it was almost dinner time. I closed the file tap and logged out of my laptop and headed out to my car with the paper bag in my hand. I unlocked my car and placed the bag in the glove compartment and headed back in.

As I was walking back inside, I started thinking of a plan to give the digital watch to Miss. Gabrielle without being suspicious. I could offer it as a peace offering and ask for her forgiveness, I thought.

I enter the living room and noticed Ciro was sitting there on a couch with his laptop.

"Oh there you are. I thought you left." Ciro said as I sat next to him on the couch.

"Na just went to check on something." I replied as I turned on the tv and started watching the news channel.

"I swear bro you are a 80-year-old man stuck in the body of 30 years old man." Ciro said as he chuckled softly.

I ignored him and continued to watch the news.

When 5 minutes have passed, I notice Ciro kept staring at his watch. I glanced at him and raised one eyebrow, silently asking him what's the problem.

"It's been almost two hours, can you check with Lucca, if everything is okay?? And also I am hungry, so hurry up. And Lucca to invite buttercup to join us for a dinner." Ciro says and then quickly goes back to typing.

"You seem pretty cozy with Miss.Gabrielle." I say as I pull my phone out of suit jacket. Ciro has meet Miss.Gabrielle just yesterday and he has already given her nickname. Ciro only does that to people he like or is accepting to do see on regular bases.

"She is sweet " He says with a smile "and super possessive about Lucca. I mean bro she even threatened to track me down and beat the hell out of me if I didn't take care of Lucca properly." He adds as he goes back to typing on his laptop.

"What are you doing anyways??" I ask Ciro ignoring his statement about Miss.Gabrielle and the last part about her being possessive about Lucca. It could all be for a show, you never know. I need evidence to trust her, that's it nothing more or less would satisfy my predator instinct. And yes, Eleanor was partly responsible for it but I think there is nothing wrong in getting concrete evidence of Miss. Gabrielle innocence. If she is who she says she is, there should be nothing to hide. But if she not then that's whole new chapter of trouble coming her way. So until then I will keep her under surveillance.

"Just found some password protected files on Corbiniano desktop." When I remain quite, he explains as he continues to type. "Corbiniano's desktop - the one he used at the pharmaceutical company. Virus got it the company and while he was retrieving old files and deleted files from it. He came across a password protected folder. So that what I have been busy cracking up."

Virus is Ciro's assistant. He is also good at hacking but not better than Ciro. And don't ask me why he is called Virus because honestly, I don't even want to know. The dude looks like a high school student who lives in his mom's basement even when he got million dollar in his account. He is just weird. But he is loyal to us, so I don't care how he spends his money.

"Did you hear about the missing girls???" I ask Ciro once I was done texting Lucca.

Francesco:  All okay???

"Yes. Apparently all three of them were from the same high school. I asked Virus to hack into their social media account to get some information on them. It will be easy and he will be done in an hour."

I nod and wait for 5 minutes before texting Lucca again.

Francesco: If you don't reply in a minute. I am walking in  !!

Well, that got his attention and he replied in seconds.

Lucca: All okay and don't you dare barge in. She is sleeping and I would like to keep it that way.

"It looks like Miss. Gabrielle is fast asleep. So I don't think so they will be joining us for dinner. "I inform Ciro as I put my phone down and got back to watching tv.

"Sleeping??" He says as he glances at his wrist watch and looks up at me "But she got work at 9."

"And how do you know that??" I ask him."

He just smiles up at me, apparently both Ciro and Lucca have been doing that a lot since Miss. Gabrielle's arrival. "She told me on our way over."

I nod and then a brilliant idea pops up in my head. I quickly glance down at my wrist watch and notice its 7:20pm. Miss. Gabrielle must be leaving soon. I quickly text Lucca.

Francesco: Just letting you know she has night shift today. So she has to get going in an hour, if she wants to make it on time. Also the dinner is ready.

Lucca: And how on earth do you know that??

I roll my eyes at his text but then remember my plan and rush to explain him .

Francesco: Ciro just told me that. Apparently they both bonded on their way over and she mentioned it to him.

The explanation might have calmed him down because he doesn't text be back. Lucca got super protective about Miss. Gabrielle in short time and I hope for Lucca's sake that she is not using Lucca for his name or money and really like him.

"So what did he say. Are they joining us??"  Ciro ask.

"He will let me know soon." i reply as I place my phone on my thigh and point in the direction of the laptop "Any luck??"

"I am almost there. I bet this folder contains something important. It's has three different kind of locks." He says as he continues to type on his laptop.

"I hope it does. Ciro I really hope." I say as I go back to the news on the tv.

After almost 30 minutes or so Lucca texts me back, letting me know that both Miss.Gabrielle and he will be joining us for dinner. I relay the information to Ciro and he decides to take a break from his laptop and we both head in the direction of the dining room.

It takes both Lucca and Miss.Gabrielle close to ten minutes to join us and once they enter the room I buzz our butler to bring in the food.

"Buttercup, you are up." Ciro say in a welcoming tone. He sounded all happy to see her that I decided to keep quiet and let him talk for now.

"Cello" Miss. Gabrielle replies with a soft smile on her face. Her tone sounded rather playful instead of  been irritated. It seemed like she was warming up to Ciro's humour filled character. Among the three of us, Ciro is the one who likes to crack joke every now and then.

"Thank you for waiting for us. Hope you guys didn't had to wait so much." I open my mouth to say it was okay but Ciro beats me to it.

"Oh it's okay." Ciro says and Miss. Gabrielle relaxes and smile at him.

Once we all are seated, the butler enters the room and starts serving us. Once he reaches Lucca's seat Miss. Gabrielle offers him a container filled with chicken porridge, which I assume she cooked. Then she politely ask our buttler to reheat it and serve it to Lucca.

The rest of the dinner goes  by uneventfully and we eat in peace. Then we all head to the living room while Miss.Gabrielle excuses herself to use the restroom.

"Ciro can you drop angel home,she got work at 9??" Lucca says once we all are seating on the soaf in the living room.

Here was my chances. "I can take Miss.Gabrielle."

They both look at me in shock. Well I should say I was not expecting it but who am I kidding.

"I don't think that's a smart idea." Ciro says gently not trying to be rude.

I avoid Ciro's gaze and look straight at Lucca "Lucca, I know I have been acting all paranoid about Miss. Gabrielle's past. But you need to understand, I am trying to secure all our ends. And after what happened yesterday, I needed to do that."

"But what your way was way over the line Francesco." Lucca growled at me and I wonder what he will do when he finds out about my next plan.

"I agree with you and I am sorry for doing that. I promise you I will be more careful from now on. And if you would let me, I would like to apologize to miss.Gabrielle too." I say and wish that Miss.Gabrielle is genuinely here for Lucca and not anything else.

After a second he nods and accepts my apology along with my offer to take Miss.Gabrielle home.

"Francesco, Angel is important to me and I don't want you to ruin this for me anymore than you have already done. So you better behave yourself." He warns me once again.

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I parked my car in front of Miss. Gabrielle's apartment and shifted my body towards her. Miss Gabrielle was sitting in the passenger seat with of my car.

When Lucca first informed Miss. Gabrielle that I was going to drop her home. She was hesitant at first but when Lucca whispered something in her ear she nodded her head and agreed to let me drop her.

"Miss.Gabrielle I would like to apologise for what I did back there. I had no right going behind your back and digging into your past. I was wrong and I would really appreciate if you could forgive me and accept my apology." I say as I open the glove compartment and take the paper bag out and offer it to her.

Miss.Gabrielle stares at me and then at the paper bag I was offering "Francesco, I forgave you the moment Lucca told me he is the underboss of Massimo family. I realised you were just doing your job and I am happy you take Lucca's protection very serious." She says as she gently refuses the gift. "And you don't have to give me anything to forgive you. I understand what you did was all for Lucca's security and I really appreciate it."

"Miss.Gabrielle please I would really appreciate if you take this small gift." I say as I place the bag in her lap "Or else I would think you are still angry with me and you haven't forgiven me"  I add and hoped this lame tactic works.

She look down at the bag and then at me and then inhales deeply before saying "Francesco you really don't have to give me anything"

I cut in "But I really want to. I want to show you I really mean this and would really love if you take it please. And plus its just a digital watch that would help you at work and make your life easy." the last part and please gets her and she agree to take it.

"Okay, I will only accept this if you would promise me one thing." She looks up at me with hopeful eyes."It's more like a requeste actually." She says as she tries to smile. But I don't say a thing, because making promises means you trust that person but I wasn't sure if I trusted her or not.

When I remain quite, she continues "It's actually about Lucca." and that gets my attention.

"I want you to increase his security because after what happened yesterday I am worried that the bad guys might try to attack him again. And I am worried he might get hurt." she says as she nervously looks at me.

She was worried, worried about Lucca's safety. Okay I didn't see this one coming.... She was worried for Lucca and her eyes clearly showed how much she cared. Maybe both Ciro and Lucca were right about her, that she didn't have any ulterior motive. And she really like my brother.

"Can you Francesco??" Her words brings me back.

"Miss. Gabrielle, I promises you that I will always keep Lucca's safety my number one priority." I assure her.

The relief in her eyes made me realise that I should abort my stupid mission and come clear. But before I could, she smiles up and me and grabs the paper bag and push opens the car door.

"Thank you so much Francesco. I am counting on you." She says with a bright smile on her face and that makes me feel bad. She was trusting me with Lucca's safety and in return I was doubting her.

The drive back home was more confusing now. I kept thinking about Miss. Gabrielle's words and her reaction to Lucca's safety.

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THE NEXT DAY

I was out of my bed at sharp 4:00 am. I changed into my workout clothes and headed straight to my indoor gym. I had build one in my house because I loved working out in my spare time and I don't like to be disturbed.

After two hours of the intense workout, I headed back to my room on the second floor and took a hot shower. As the hot water ran through my sole muscles, I felt them relax slowly. This was the best part of workout - the relaxation, the clam feeling that I get after an intense session.

After the shower I quickly shave my face as I always do. I like having my face clean shaved and sometimes I have to shave my face twice to keep it that way. Then I walked into my walk-in-closet and grabbed my usual black Armani suit and black shoes. I got ready in five minutes and headed out.

I entered Lucca's house using the connecting door in the back and headed straight for the dining room. Both Lucca and Ciro were sitting there, waiting for me. All three of us always made sure that we ate our breakfast together. It was a tradition in our home, and Lucca was keeping it alive.

"Morning," I said as I took my seat next to Lucca and looked at both of them.

"Morning," they both replied in unison.

We ate our breakfast in comfortable silence and then headed to Lucca's study to update him regarding the missing girls and drug dealers.

As we entered the study Lucca walked to his desk in the center and sat behind it. Both Ciro and I had our own desk, but we got our laptops and sat opposite to Lucca at his desk.

"Got any update??" Lucca asked as he turned his desktop on.

"There has been no movement at Dante's side. But yesterday around 8 pm we had three high school girls gone missing. And according to Virus all three of them were taking drugs and they all had the same dealer."I informed him.

"You think Cobra is responsible for this." Lucca asked me and nodded silently. Because before this nothing like this has happened in our area. People have gone missing but not young girls and also all from same high school and they all were drug addict.

"We have been tracking Corbiniano via his cell phone signals but so far there has been no movement at his end." As soon as I was done saying that a loud ping on Ciro's laptop got all three of our attention. It was a notification alerting us that Corbiniano was on move.

"It looks like he is moving into the city." Ciro said as he enlarged the GPS window.

Ciro has been tracking both Dante and Corbiniano since the incident but none of them had made any move. Dante was still hiding at his club while Corbiniano was in the outskirts of our city. But now he was heading back in our city which only meant one thing. Trouble.

"Maybe Dante and Cobra are planning to meet." I said as Ciro continued to track Cobra's move.

"It doesn't seem like that. He is heading in the opposite direction of Dante." Ciro said in confusion as he continued to stare at the screen.

"Dante is still at the club." I asked Ciro, and he checked Dante's GPS tracker and nodded.

"He is still at the club, and I got live CCTV surveillance of him too." I nodded.Ciro must have hacked into Dante's club surveillance and was keeping an on him through that. He is definitely our hidden treasure.

"We should get our men's ready then, this could be our chance to catch them in action." Lucca said as he stood from his chair.

"He stopped." Ciro said sounding perplexed and both Lucca and I looked at him.

"Where did he stop?" Lucca asked as he circled around the big table and stood right behind Ciro's chair. At the same time my phone vibrated in my suit pocket and I pulled it out ot answer.

"What is it K ?" I asked him in rush as I glanced down at Ciro's laptop screen. He was trying to get the exact location of Corbiniano.

Corbiniano signals was showing that he was in the main city now. But what was he doing here???

"Sir we got a problem." K said sounding unsure and that got my attention.

"What do you mean problem?" I ask in irritation. I had asked K to keep eye on Miss. Gabrielle house and to inform me if there is any suspicious activity at her side.

"He is at 26th BR street" Ciro says as he glanced up at Lucca with the worried eye.

"Sir Corbiniano is here, outside Miss.Gabrielle's house." K says and I freeze.

Lucca had no idea 26th BR street was Miss. Gabrielle's apartment building and I had no idea how he was going to take this news.