"Don't give up."

Daniel shrugged with a carefree attitude after he uttered the three words.

Gael's curious expression slipped from his face and was replaced with a 'Are you fûcking kidding me?' look on his face, his brows deeply furrowed and jaw ticked. "What?!"

"Don't give up," Daniel repeated, ignoring the scowl on Gael's face.

"I heard you the first time."

"You asked, 'What'."

"What kind of advice is that?" Gael rolled his eyes, thinking that talking to Daniel right now was a waste of his time.

Daniel suppressed a smirk from forming fully on his face, but it was apparent that it annoyed the other even more. "So you're admitting that you're asking advice from me?" he asked.

"I'm not. We just happened to talk about it, and you're telling me what to do." Gael's tone sounded passive like he wasn't at all interested.

"Sure…" Picking up his glass from the table, Daniel took another sip from his drink and checked the time on his watch like he was in a hurry or something.

Gael shook his head and rested his elbows on his knees, holding his head and looking exhausted. He let out a sigh before responding, "Even if you didn't say it, that's what I was going to do anyway."

"You're right. You don't need my advice. You've got women left and right. Why does this one matter now?" Daniel questioned. He didn't mean to appear uncaring about his women woes as he had so much respect for women. But Gael didn't seem like he's… Gael. He's a grown-ass man who was perfectly capable and confident in everything he did, yet now, he's having this problem.

Gael did not respond to his question and only stared at him, looking conflicted as if he wanted to say something but couldn't. Then Daniel added, "Then why the hell are you here?"

As if thankful to have a different question thrown at him, Gael relaxed his brows and answered, "I told you, I'm here to talk to Samantha."

"I don't know what to tell you, Man. She doesn't want to talk to you." Daniel glanced at his watch again and got up from his chair. And he tapped Gael's shoulder as if he was urging him to stand and told him, "Now, go home. I'm busy."

'Busy my ass,' Gael thought, but he stood up anyway, and they headed towards the door. "I thought you were working out?" His voice was hardened by sarcasm.

Reaching the door, Daniel swiftly opened it and nodded towards the outside of his house. He exchanged looks with the other and saw that Gael was waiting for a response, so without shame, he spoke with a sigh of irritation, "I was having sex with my wife until you arrived unannounced."

"I did not need to know that." Gael's cheek twitched upon hearing the other's statement. Now, how the hell was he going to get that off his head? "Then… My apologies for disturbing your conquest."

He turned around, ready to walk away until he heard his friend respond.

"Well, you should have thought of that before coming here, De Luca. I've been gone for a while. If my wife ignores me when I go back up there, it will be your fault."

Daniel closed the main door and locked it, leaving Gael standing outside on the villa's entryway deck alone.

An exhausted chuckle escaped Gael's lips as he walked back to his car. He couldn't believe his luck that night.

Well… He couldn't believe his luck ever since.

…

Sunday — December 9

It's been two days since the last time Gael saw Angela. He had been itching to see her already, but he had to restrain himself as he didn't want to aggravate her even further. But that didn't stop him from checking out her social networking profile.

Lying in bed with nothing but grey lounge shorts on, he swiped the screen on his phone, seeing everything he had already seen before.

Angela's account was aesthetically pleasing to look at. She took pictures of random stuff and posted it with captions that were sometimes one or two paragraphs long. Some of her posts were about the sun, the beach, nature, a lost cat, a stranger's puppy, and a bunch of other stuff that he didn't think mattered. But after seeing her post about them, he changed his mind.

She would post some pictures of herself too, and he thought she was stunning in all of them. Then his brows would furrow whenever he saw men commenting on her posts. Stupid men. And it frustrated him that he couldn't comment on it—well, he could, but he wouldn't.

Gael's sister made him an account, which was totally unlike him at all. She even urged him to put up a picture, but that's where he drew the line. So his account was nothing but a faceless and empty one, which he only used to check on Angela's timeline or stories.

He wasn't stalking or anything. He was just checking all her daily posts—even the old ones. But she hadn't posted anything for two days. And it made him wonder what she was up to now. Or if she was okay.

For the past hour, he had been debating with himself whether he should send her a message or call her, but he already knew that it wouldn't end well. She would either hang up or straight up ignore him.

Thinking that staring at her face was both pleasure and torture, he decided to stop what he was doing. Just as Gael was about to close the application, his phone buzzed, and his ex's caller I.D. flashed on the screen. He shot up in a sitting position and stared at his phone for a few seconds before answering it.

"Becca."

"You're a very mean person. Do you know that?" she muttered.

He could hear a noisy background on her end as if she was in someplace crowded.

"I could say the same to you. Where are you? We need to talk."

Becca let out a sigh and was quiet for a few beats before she answered, "I just finished a photoshoot uptown. But I don't think it's a good idea for you to come—"

"I don't care. Send me the address, and I'll be there." Gael was already up and headed towards his closet to change.

"Fine. Suit yourself. Don't say I didn't warn you," replied Becca.

The phone call ended, and he hastened his moves. In five minutes, he had already changed into a casual outfit of a white shirt and jeans.

He needed to meet up with his ex to know what exactly she told Angela. The latter didn't want to speak to him, so he couldn't tell what the two talked about.

Gael hoped that knowing what happened would help him get his Angel back.

That is... If she still wants him.

...

While he was headed towards the location that Becca sent him, he received a phone call from one of his men.

Turning on his wireless earphones, Gael answered the call. "Speak."

And a male's voice sounded from the other line and replied politely, "Boss, I've got intel on Leos."

Gael's gaze darkened at the mention of the name. He gripped the wheels tight and put more pressure on the gas pedal while a devilish smile was forming on his face. "Good. Send it through."