~ Asher's POV ~
* KNOCK! * KNOCK! * KNOCK! *
Asher woke up to a loud pounding on the door. He rolled over to his side, checking the time on his phone. It was eight in the morning. Letting out a tired groan, he rolled off the mattress on the floor and got up to his feet.
"Someone please get the damn door or I'm gonna fúcking kill someone!" Mikey groaned with his eyes still closed. He was sleeping on the couch, and on the floor next to him were Malcolm and Hayden.
"I'm coming," Asher croaked.
His throat was sore. Probably from that jager bomb last night. Oh, last night was rough. That was the thing about alcohol. One glass was never enough, yet somehow also too much because it'll always lead to more.
Asher didn't remember how much he drank last night. He remembered agreeing to one drink, and then somehow another drink, and another one, and the last thing he remembered was watching Hayden and Malcolm doing keg stands. Then all of a sudden, he was passed out on the floor mattress with the trophy lying next to him, smelling of tequila.
* KNOCK! * KNOCK! * KNOCK! *
The pounding on the door never stopped. Asher rubbed his eyes lazily as he swung the garage door open. The bright sunlight filled his eyes and it took a second for him to see who was out there. There was a guy standing in front of him, wearing dark sunglasses, a black suit, and tie.
"Hey, brother," he spoke, taking his sunglasses off. Asher narrowed his eyes to get a better look.
"Who is it?" Mikey's voice was heard from inside the garage.
"Landon?" Asher was taken aback. He had to do a double look to make sure he was seeing right. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you, of course," Landon smiled bitterly.
"How'd you-"
"How'd I find you?" Landon cut him off rather snarkily. "I had a PI look for you,"
"Why?"
"Because I wanna know where you went. How you're doing and stuff. You left everyone without saying goodbye,"
"Yeah, I had my reasons," Asher replied curtly, not wanting to give too much away.
"What's the reason?" Landon asked. "Zoie?"
"What?"
"That's the reason, right?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Drop the act, big brother," Landon shook his head. "She admitted it to me,"
Admitted what? What is he talking about? Damn, this is way too early and I'm way too hungover for this.
"Over the past few months, I've been trying to piece all the pieces of the puzzle together but I still have one thing that doesn't make sense," Landon continued, pausing for a beat before saying, "Why'd you leave all of a sudden? Was she just a play thing to you and things got too serious, so you bailed?"
"Landon," Asher said warningly. "You don't know what you're talking about,"
"So you love her too, right?" Landon shot point-blankly. Asher didn't respond, but he didn't have to. The look on his face said it all. Landon let out a bitter scoff and muttered, "Yeah. That's what I figured,"
Asher sighed and raked his hair with his hand. His brain wasn't even fully working yet and there was a pounding in his head. And still, he had to somehow have this conversation with Landon.
"Did she send you here to get answers?" Asher said finally.
"No, she doesn't even know I'm here," Landon replied. "I just wanna know for myself if my brother is also in love with my future fiance,"
Ouch. The f word.
"Look..." Asher said with another long sigh. "I left because I'm doing what's best for her. She deserves to be with someone better and I know that,"
"Then why'd you send the goddamn unicorn?"
"What?"
"The fúcking doll you sent on her birthday,"
"I never sent anything..." Asher was confused. He did buy the unicorn doll but he kept it for himself. And the only other person who saw that unicorn doll with him and knew about his history with Zoie was...
"Mikey," he muttered under his breath. "That conniving son of a bitch,"
"Well, that was the last straw for me," Landon said. "I realized after that, that she's not gonna be able to move on from you while I'm still around. I was a buffer for her feelings. She can detach and pretend like everything's okay because I'm there. So, I left-"
"Wait, what do you mean you left?" Asher cut him off, narrowing his eyes.
"I left her last night. I was gonna go straight home, but then I thought I should pay you a visit first. I just wanna hear it from your mouth. Are you gonna leave her alone for good or do I have to make you?"
"Wait, wait wait," Asher shook his head and processed everything. Was he hearing this right? "What do you mean you left her last night? You're supposed to be watching her,"
"I had Uncle Damon send someone over,"
"From where? New Jersey? That's gonna take time!"
"The guy's arriving at the airport as we speak-"
"Dumbass!" Asher cursed and walked away abruptly.
Landon was confused, but he quickly followed after Asher. Asher went straight through the garage to the back office, and Landon kept following him.
"Asher! Where are you going?!"
Asher didn't respond. He went straight to the computer and checked the CCTV video feed. His face was clearly distressed. His breathing was labored.
"What's with all the commotion here?" Mikey groaned, appearing at the doorway, standing behind Landon. He eyed Landon up and down and said, "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm his brother. Who the hell are you?"
"His other brother,"
"Fúck!" Asher cursed loudly, banging his fist on the computer desk.
"What's going on?" Mikey looked at Asher in confusion. He was also still very hungover.
"You should've never left her!" Asher yelled at Landon. He turned the computer screen around so Landon could see the feed. The CCTV captured the moment when Zoie opened the door for a mystery guy in a black suit and sunglasses. The guy put a handkerchief over her mouth and she struggled for a moment before passing out and he carried her out.
"Holy shit!" Mikey gaped in shock. Landon, on the other hand, didn't even have any words. He was just frozen in pure shock.
"What on God's green earth is going on here, guys?" Malcolm and Hayden decided to join the party. Their eyes were still half closed, and they were yawning.
No one said a word. Everyone could only stare at the screen and at Asher. Asher, with all the rage and fury fuming from within, was going straight for the desk drawer and he pulled a gun out. Not wasting another second, he put the gun in his back pocket and shoved past everyone to get out the door.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
~ Zoie's POV ~
"Wakey-wakey, little princess!"
* SPLASH! *
Zoie woke up to the icy cold water hitting her face. She flinched back and her eyes jolted open. It was blurry and she couldn't see that well. But slowly, she started to see some light. Everything around her was white. She was sitting down somewhere and she couldn't move her hands or feet.
"Ciao, bella. How was your sleep?" the voice spoke again.
Zoie squinted her eyes to see a figure standing in front of her. It took a moment for her to realize who it was. It was a young guy, about her age. He had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. His face was familiar. She'd definitely seen him around before.
"G... Giulio?" she croaked.
"That's right, it's me," he beamed.
Zoie was confused. Was this a dream? This had to be a dream. What else would this be?
"Where am I?"
"On a plane, en route to my safe house in Italy,"
"What...?"
Giulio let out a smile and leaned closer. He was so close to her face that Zoie could smell his cologne. At this moment, she started to think that maybe this wasn't a dream. It felt too real. Also, there were maybe six guys standing around the back of the plane. One of them Zoie recognized as the guy who came into her apartment moments before she passed out.
"I thought this was gonna be a lot harder. My dad always said that your family's always careful. But luckily for me, your bodyguard decided to take a day off," Giulio said in that heavy Italian accent of his.
"Your dad...?"
Giulio was smiling menacingly. Completely different from his usual innocent, kind, and sweet Italian student look.
"You don't know how long I've been waiting for the perfect moment to come. Almost two decades later, and finally, here we are," he said as he stood up straighter, stretching his arms out.
Zoie looked around the plane. Those men behind him didn't look like normal people. They were all wearing black suits and they were carrying guns. Zoie then looked down to see her legs tied together with a rope and her wrists were cuffed to the seat's armrests. She couldn't move an inch.
Oh, no.
"W-who are you...?" she snapped, trying her best to act calm, but she was horrified.
"I'm Giulio, the Italian exchange student," he said convincingly, and he paused for a beat and smirked, "Oh, but I forgot to tell you my last name. It's Giulio DeSantis,"
Zoie's face went pale like she'd seen a ghost. Growing up, she always heard stories, mainly from her brothers about how their dad used to fight a war against the DeSantis family. Her brothers tend to exaggerate things, so she never knew what was real and what was not. But the story was that the DeSantis family was involved in her Grandpa James's death somehow, so Damon called for revenge. He ended up killing every member of the DeSantis family, including Hugo DeSantis's only daughter, Celina, and his other illegitimate sons. There were supposed to be no more DeSantis men left in the world. And this was the war that also claimed Adrian Luciano's life, Asher's father.
"Does the name sound familiar to you?" Giulio asked, gauging her expression. "The name might not mean much on this side of the world now, but in Italy twenty years ago, our family name was the most powerful name out there. That is, until your father came along and destroyed everything,"
Giulio's face turned dark instantly. There was a burning rage filling his eyes. Anger, hurt, and the desire for revenge. Zoie froze in her spot as Giulio leaned closer again. She went as far back as she could, but she couldn't move much. Giulio's face was only an inch away from hers as he said, "That's right. I am Hugo DeSantis's grandson, and your father, Damon Van Zandt, murdered my family,"
*
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- - - - - - To Be Continued - - - - - -