Chapter 41: Chapter 41

◇ KEL  ◇

Body.

Niccolo's body.

Too late.

The damned Russians. They slashed his head off. Those merciless animals had chained him, cut his tongue in half, then dumped his remains somewhere in the outskirts. Like maimed roadkill.

Niccolo's dead.  The cops couldn't find him in time. They failed.

I failed.  "I'm sorry, Nicco." My chest felt hollow.  Heavy.  The sting of a sudden loss...  "He's gone," I whispered to myself while I gripped my phone.

"Mykaela?" Enzo's deep voice poured over the line, jolting me out of the daze his news just put me in.  "Still there?"

The initial shock stunned me like a bolt of lightning. When I asked for more information, only then did Enzo share the gory details. His contacts had found Niccolo's body in the morgue.

It had to have a lick of truth to it...Enzo delivered the news with an empathetic certainty that just shook me. I leaned against the edge of the sink and glanced at Miles.

He stood right next to me, no longer sweaty. His arm touched the side of my waist, trapping me between the cold sink and his taller physique. His creased brows and squinting gaze just glued me to the floor.

"Mykaela?" Enzo was still on the phone. My utter silence must've worried him a bit.

"Yeah. Walkin' out the restroom now," I lied before ending the call. For a quiet while, I just thought of Niccolo.  I only met him twice and we weren't even friends...but I still felt horrible. My chest felt clogged with apprehension, grief, confusion...  Just imagining what he must've gone through was enough to weaken every muscle in my body.

"Sorry. Food's here, by the way," Enzo said before hanging up.

The apology barely registered in my jumbled thoughts when Miles stepped away to step inside the corner stall. He locked himself in without another word.

I let him be. Maybe he needed total privacy? For a moment, I listened for any noises and waited for him to get out. I heard him cough and sniffle a few times before he flushed the toilet.

From the sounds of it, he no longer seemed to be suffering from harrowing stomach pains or anything.  Could he be feeling much better now?  Miles stepped out of the stall a minute later. He avoided my attentive gaze and walked back to the sink where I stood idly.

"Where is it?" I muttered while studying his noticeably calmer expression.

"It's fine."

Fine? What did he do with the drugs?  "No more pain?"

Instead of replying, Miles washed his hands and face before spitting in the sink twice.

Did he vomit in the toilet? I didn't hear anything while he locked himself in. "Just tell me if, something feels off again."

"Yeah. I'm fine. Don't worry," he mumbled before I could get nearer to inspect his midsection again.

Were the bruises caused by him alone? How? "I'll take you to the clinic at least, if you don't wanna go to the ER."  I had to know what exactly caused the contusions, but he simply didn't want to get it checked.  "Miles. Please?"

With a sigh, Miles didn't bother to respond and just hugged me tight before kissing my forehead. He was about to walk out on me when I caught his wrist.

"You have to get it checked. At some point."

"I'm fine."

"I missed you," I confessed. So what if he didn't want to hear it? At least I was being completely honest with him. Myself included. Denying the fact would just worsen my anxiety.

"I'm okay. Stop worrying." Miles leaned in  again and kissed my cheek. His cold hands cupped my face while he kept avoiding my eyes.

Why? I had no clue. When his soft lips stayed on my face, I put my arms around him to hug him again. It felt like he wanted to say a lot but couldn't even begin.  "Just get it checked. I'll be there with you."

In response, Miles hugged me back and buried his face in the crook of my neck.

We stayed idle for a moment, with his arms wrapped tight around me. Then my phone went off again. Drats. Probably Enzo. Still waiting outside.

"Go." Miles pulled back and flung something into the bin. "Prince Charming's waiting."

Prince Charming?

The taunt was quite difficult to ignore, but I shouldn't put a lot of thought into it. I tried not to frown when he didn't say anything else and opened the door for me. I walked off.

One brisk step after another, Miles followed me out of the men's room. We crossed the empty hallway leading back to the restaurant's spacious dining area. I halted in my steps when Miles grabbed my shoulder. "What?"

He let go of me almost immediately. His brows creased at my flinching, clearly not expecting such a reaction. "You mad?"

"No. Just...let's just eat. Then drop me off to campus."

"Fine."

"Fine," I mumbled before walking back to the dining area. Just a minute ago, we were snuggling in each other's arms, murmuring nostalgic thoughts to each other. Now I couldn't even tolerate the idea of other people seeing me getting personal with the Falco heir. Apparently he didn't want that, either.

The waiters had also served food for the bodyguards seated around the table Enzo had chosen. Miles settled back in his seat opposite mine at our designated table, smack in the middle of the restaurant. His group of bodyguards looked outnumbered by Enzo's suit-clad detail.

Enzo reclined in his chair and kept still. His knuckles paled while he gripped his phone. He followed me and Miles with his watchful eyes.

"Sorry." I put on a pleasant smile.

"You okay?" Enzo grinned faintly at me.

"Yeah." I scanned the plates of food on the table. Pasta, salads, scrumptious-looking steaks, and sliced potato crisps. Everything looked...heavy. "Wow. Ordered a lot."

"Figured the exams made you hungry," Enzo said with a quick chuckle. "Shall we?"

"Let's be quick." Miles cleared his throat, glancing at Enzo with a fairly serious look. "She needs to go back to class."

"Of course. I know she's busy getting straight As." Enzo drank some water and looked at me again. He even sounded quite...proud?

"Thanks for the treat." I put on another smile for the two.

For a while, Miles ate his food and looked like he was forcing his expression to stay stoic.

Throughout the next fifteen minutes, noises of clinking glasses and utensils evened out the casual conversations in the restaurant. I gripped my cup of tea and glanced around. The noise of grown men eating and having a good time echoed around us, with Enzo and Miles' security staff chitchatting in pure Italian.

Hands busy with his pork cutlets, Enzo kept quiet, mirroring me and Miles' taciturnity. Until Enzo struck up another conversation. "Sorry, bellezza. Really thought we could find him sooner." His tone sounded genuinely contrite.  "Also, I talked to Ricchar." Enzo faced Miles and gave him a nod.

Were they going to discuss business again? I stared at my plate.  I picked off the pieces of lettuce in my salad, pretending my appetite was still intact.  The horrible news of Niccolo's demise just effaced my hunger completely.

But Miles didn't seem to care at all. Maybe he knew about it already. If he was already aware of what happened to Niccolo, why didn't he say anything?

"Ricchar said you're supposed to meet up tomorrow with Stefano." Enzo stayed focused on Miles.

Tomorrow?  I nearly choked on my drink. I stared at my bland tea and put the cup down.  Miles was going back to Italy? Today? But...he just got here.

"Meeting with the board." Miles checked his phone and sighed. He sounded like he'd rather stay at home painting all night than spend another day in the corporate world.

"How's the job?" I asked him. I kept my tone as casual as possible, holding a fork and a knife as if busy with my steak, as if I still had the stomach to enjoy my lunch after hearing of Niccolo's untimely, gruesome death. "You like working for your Pappa?"

"Not particularly." Miles squinted at me.

"Oh."

"You think I'm enjoying it?" he mumbled.

Seconds of full-on staring and an uncomfortable silence followed.

"It's just jetlag," Enzo chimed in with a chuckle. He drank his champagne and talked to Miles again. "Your Pappa's really proud, Maxim. Doesn't forget to mention his only son's finally taken an interest in the family business now. So whatever you're doing, man, keep it up."

"Right."

To my dismay, Miles abruptly ended his lunch minutes later and left me with Enzo. Miles excused himself and left the restaurant with his bodyguards. He didn't even say a proper goodbye.

"That was quick," Enzo muttered when I stayed mum for a while.

I drank water and held in a sigh of disappointment. "He's just busy."

"Yeah. Of course." Enzo cleared his throat and slightly grinned at me. "Dessert?"

◇

Together with his security detail, Enzo drove me back to campus. It was a quiet ride because he got busy taking calls again. He was a legit businessman, no doubt, and I wondered if he had any spare time to take a vacation. A weekend out of town or something.

"Mi spiace molto, bellezza."

"For what?" I muttered after I saw him frown and put his phone away. He just called me "bellezza" again. It was his favorite nickname for me, I noticed.

He never called me Kel. It was either Mykaela or "bellezza". Did he often use pet names for his other female friends? Probably. He was the friendly and affectionate type. Often smiling, upbeat, pleasant.  "Been on my phone all day," Enzo explained.

"No; it's fine," I replied with a quick smile. "You're busy, and...you shouldn't have bothered. I could've just taken a cab."

"Don't be silly."

"Do you work weekends, too?"

"Depends. Leo can be a handful sometimes."

"Oh. Your brother," I muttered, confused. "So he's now your boss?"

"No. But he thinks so." Enzo chuckled. "I have my own business, like I said. But they wanted me to help with the expansion, so..." He shrugged casually while he stared at the busy road ahead.

"They as in your entire family?"

"None other."

"You're a licensed engineer. Right?" I recalled he studied Industrial Engineering in a university in the UK. But I wasn't sure whether he was practicing his profession.

"Yeah. But I only worked in the industry for two years. Then I partnered with Rafa, my best friend. We started the pharmacy chain."

"Right. How many branches now in Italy?"

"More than five by next year. Hopefully." He stared at the traffic and checked his expensive-looking wristwatch. "Sorry. You're gonna be late."

"It's fine," I said with another smile. "Thanks for lunch."

"Thanks for making time." He put his arm on my shoulders and sighed when his phone rang again. "Cazzo."  Enzo glanced at me and apologized for swearing.

It made me snicker.  "I don't mind."

"Glad you're smiling again." He sat closer to me before he took the call. "Cavolo, Rafa. Continua senza di me. È meglio se andate—  Sì, sì.  Ciao." He hung up after faintly shaking his head.

"Your best friend?"

"Yeah. Raffaele. He's too hardheaded for my patience sometimes."

"You went to school together?"

"Primary till middle school." He resumed texting on his phone while his arm rested on my shoulders. "Let's meet up again soon. Yeah?" Enzo regarded me with quite expectant eyes.

"When?"

"Couple weeks. I have to check on the construction."

"Which one?" I frowned.  So he also had a construction firm? "Take a break once in a while."

"I try." He chuckled and looked outside the tinted windows.

"You sound like a bona fide workaholic."

"It's just the new house I'm trying to build."

"Where? Here? In New York?" I made a face. He had properties here in New York? It shouldn't be surprising, though. His family had a long list of companies I didn't even want to ask about or keep count.

"Yeah. Up in the hills. Nice view."

"You're planning to move here?"

"Sure. Not permanently, but, yeah."

"I mean...you got dozens of businesses all over the world to check up on," I mumbled. "Might as well live on a plane."

Enzo laughed at my comment. "You're funny."  Then he resumed texting on his phone.  "Just text me if you need anything. Alright?"

Did he mean if ever I needed to borrow money again?  "Okay."  I looked away after putting on another smile. It was a lie, but I couldn't say no to his face. He'd keep at it until I gave in; I didn't have the time or energy to argue.

"I'll let you know if I hear more news about your friend. I have some guys working for the police."

Of course he did.  "Thanks."

"Call me anytime."

◇

I sat through our  next class with my consciousness stuck in a fog. Notes-taking left me preoccupied the rest of the afternoon. Constantly stressing over Miles showing up here in New York bothered me all day.

In front of everyone else, I could pretend everything was fine, but I just couldn't stop worrying about him.  He might have another pain attack any minute now—I hadn't taken him to the doctor.

Miles just refused to listen to me; he wouldn't even tell me what exact medications he was taking. Also, I had to talk to him again about Niccolo. Did he know something I didn't? Why was he so suspicious of Lorenzio?

Should I call him? Would Miles even pick up?

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