"What do you mean she's gone?! How can she just be gone?!" I yelled at the two goons standing in front of me and tried as hard as humanly possible not to take my gun out and shoot them both. They've let me down on numerous occasions so I've been more than generous. I think this was the final straw. "Who was watching her?"

"Uh..." Guido tried to think, his puny brain wasn't fucking capable though...obviously, "The new guy."

"New guy?" I asked. We hadn't had any one join in a couple of months. "What new guy?"

"What's his name?" He turned to Nico for help, but all he did was shrug. "It starts with a K. Kas...Kasim...ler?"

Kasimler?

Who the hell was that?

"Kasimir?" I asked, knowing that if that was the person he was talking about, we were going to have some serious trouble.

"Yeah! Him! He looks like a baby, why would you hire him?"

"I didn't," I pushed past the two of them.

I didn't know how I was going to get Chloe out of this.

Kasimir was a real asshole, I learned that the hard way. He told me to walk with him, so I did because I didn't want myself or my mini to get hurt. And for some reason he still bonked me over the heard with the backend of his gun.

I passed out and now here I was.

I didn't know where here was though.

I didn't feel good. I felt weak, like I had been heavily sedated for years and was only just now trying to survive without it. I didn't know if I had been drugged, but it seemed plausible.

I was beyond shocked to see where I was. Shocked wasn't even close to a good enough word to describe how I felt right now.

Actually, I was confused.

I was in my room. At my dad's house. In Los Angeles.

"What the holy hell?" I said quietly to myself while slowly sitting up. I was so convinced that whatever was going to happen to me was going to be way worse than this. At least I knew my dad wouldn't kill me.

I was starting to feel a little like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.

I crawled off the bed, and dragged myself across the room to the door. I poked my head out and looked around before exiting and slowly descending the stairs.

The house was quiet, too quiet as I searched for anyone. This was about to be one of the most awkward times of my life, I could tell.

I wasn't surprised in the least to come across Bradley first. He was sitting at the dining table, eating from a bowl of fruit when he looked up at me. He didn't say anything though, he just continued eating.

I felt odd, out of place even, unwanted, and unwelcome. Being here was the last thing I wanted, but no one seemed to care. "Where's dad?" I asked, my voice weak and shaky.

He kept his gaze away from me as he mumbled, "Upstairs."

Great. Exactly where I just was.

I turned around and walked back up the stairs and tried to think of which room he may have been in. I went with the office because the man did nothing but work. It was like his sanctuary or something.

I tapped lightly on the door before pushing it open. I sucked in a deep breath, hoping that this wouldn't go over badly. I walked in and closed the door behind me.

I looked up to see two people I haven't seen in awhile standing in front of my dad's desk, with their backs to me. Sienna and Lorenzo. My dad was seated in front of them, looking as angry as ever.

Well, they were real team players. Thanks guys.

Sienna turned her body just enough so that she could see me, but I couldn't really see her.

"We'll talk about this later," dad said to the both of them while running a hand through his unkempt hair. Seeing him with messy hair was kind of like seeing an eclipse. It hardly ever happened, but when it did there was always something in the way so you couldn't see it. "I need to talk to Chloe right now."

Sienna nodded, and the both of them left the office, leaving just me and my dad. I took a couple steps forward, so that I could be closer, but still remain semi close to the exit if for some reason I had to make a run for it. "How've ya been, Clo?"

I looked around the room, confused, before my eyes landed back on his, "Fine I guess."

"You're not hurt, are you?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm perfectly fine. I'm really confused though," I took a seat in the chair in front of his desk. "How did I get here? I was in New York."

"I know you were, but now you're here and that's all that matters."

"How did I get here though? Kasimir. Do you know him? Did you hire him? Who is he?"

"I don't know a Kasimir," he said simply, and I almost believed him for a moment. Something told me not to though.

"Who is he?" I asked again. "He could have killed me. Did you know that?!"

He looked annoyed and slightly angry, "Obviously you're no stranger to the mafia. The Italian mafia anyway. I don't think you've ever met anyone from the Russian mafia...until a few days ago."

I was shocked. The way he answered my question so calmly terrified me. The Russians?! Dom's seen everything that goes on in the Italian mafia, and he still said that the Russians were worse. Even he was scared of them.

Why was my dad working with them?

"They were the only people that said they could get you away from that damn place you've been living for too long. It doesn't really seem to matter anyway though, just look at...that," he thrusted his arm out in the direction of the bump. "And what is this?" He leaned over the desk and picked up my hand, examining the large diamond ring on my finger.

I pulled my hand away and stood up abruptly, "I don't want to talk to you right now. I think you've lost your mind. You brought in the Russian mafia, dad! Do you know who you're dealing with?"

"Sit back down, Chloe. We're not done."

"I don't want to be here. This is a prison!"

He leaned back in his fancy leather office chair, and threw his legs up onto the desk, "I want to meet him."

What?

"Who?" I asked, thinking that it could have literally been a hundred different people.

"Whoever the hell has had you!" He yelled. "You're not leaving until I talk to him."

"Uhh...I don't think he's gonna wanna talk to you. I don't think you want to talk to him either. He can be...scary. And besides, even if I wanted to contact him, I don't know how I would."

He reached for something in one of the desk drawers, and then put it on the desk. It was the useless phone Angelo gave me awhile back, "I found this in your room from the last time you were here. I'm sure you can get ahold of him."

I reached for the phone and held it in my hand for a moment, contemplating whether or not this was a good idea. I really didn't think it was, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to leave if I didn't, so I unlocked the phone and scrolled through the contacts list.

I didn't see Angelo's name anymore though. Luca's wasn't even there and neither was Dom's. What the actual hell?

There was only one name I recognized and I'll be damned if I called it. I looked up from the phone briefly just to see my dad staring impatiently at me.

I decided that calling Tony wasn't such a bad idea so long as it got me out of this room. I hit the call button and waited for an answer.

"Put it on speaker," dad demanded, so I did just to get him to shut up.

"Ah, if it isn't ole fiore," Tony said, causing my skin to crawl all over. "Where've ya been doll? And how may I be of service to your beautiful self?"

My dad looked beyond angry. I wonder if he thought this was Angelo.

"Where's Angelo?" I asked.

"I knew you calling just to talk to me was too good to be true. Why didn't you call him if you wanted to talk to him and not yours truly? Sorry though, love, he's a little busy with someone else at the moment. Where the hell are you anyway? He's been extra moody since you disappeared. I hear the Russians are involved, so that means we're about-"

"Tony, I need to talk to Angelo. Right now."

"I already told you, he's bu-"

"Tony!" I yelled.

"Alright, alright. Shut the hell up already. I'll forward your call, maybe he'll answer. Don't get all offended if he doesn't answer though because, like I said, he's busy," the second he finished his sentence the line went cold and ringing started up again.

"Criceta mia?" Angelo answered frantically.

I wanted to see my dad's reaction to this, so I looked up again and saw a super confused look on his aging face. I mouthed the words, "My hamster." And the look he gave now was priceless.

"You're on speaker phone, so you might want to limit the amount of Italian you use 'cause neither of us speak your language."

"Who's us?" He suddenly sounded more professional.

"My dad and I."

"You're at your father's house? How? Never mind, I don't care about that right now. Just don't move, we'll be there shortly."

"Actually," dad spoke up, "You won't if you value your life. The second you or anyone else walks onto my property is the second you die."

"You're working with la mafia russa," Angelo stated.

"Oui. But...you and I have some things to discuss, so...I'll remove them briefly."

"No," Angelo said simply. "If we must meet, it'll be on my terms. You won't bring anybody but Chloe, and I won't bring anyone either."

"It'll be a public place. A restaurant or something," dad added.

"Sì. Tomorrow at Spiro's. Noon."

Spiro's? The mafia boss wanted to go to Spiro's?

How freaking adorable.

___________________