<h4>Chapter 635: Chapter 635 : A Sudden Encounter</h4>


    *Elio*


    ‘Why is Alessandro calling me?’ I asked myself.


    I was so happy Cat had agreed to spend the day out with me. Having driven through L.A. nearly on a daily basis and seeing all the incredible artwork on disy, I just knew that it would be right up her alley.


    There were multiple points throughout yesterday’s disaster that truly had me thinking that things were over between us.


    That conversation I’d been having with Matilde was not meant to be heard beyond those four walls. And the look that Caterina gave us haunted me for hours. It was a mixture of pure disbeliefced with shattered betrayal.


    When her eyes filled with tears and her brows knitted together in anguished confusion, I knew right then and there that there was no way of getting out of the truth. I’d spent so many years strategically keeping Cat hidden from the unsightly business that had clouded my family history, including that of her father’s.


    There were numerous reasons why I’d never chosen to tell her about it. It was never my ce, nor my business, to tell her. That, and I was strictly put in charge of watching over her. God only knew what could have happened had Cat found out any sooner.


    Every nerve in my body was screaming out for me to follow her when she left the house. But I knew that would have done more harm than good in the end. Granted, I’d tried calling her to at least know where she’d ended up.


    When she refused to answer any of my calls, my anxiety practically hit the ceiling. I knew in the back of my mind that Cat went to see her friend Anna, but I was raised never to make loose assumptions.


    Cat needed space. And I’d been in no position to deny her that.


    Although, when she finally returned home, at least half of my anxiety had disappeared. All that really remained was exhaustion and a heavy dose of guilt.


    I knew she was hurt. Hell, I’d anticipated her arrival to be filled with anger and fury. I expected to be yelled at and cursed out, regardless of her mother’s presence.


    But no.


    She returned to the house calm and collected. She confronted the two of us with a firm, almost grim, behavior that left me shocked and severely disced. I didn’t know how to handle such a version of her. But Cat was direct and straight to the point in her argument.


    My heart mmed in my chest when she forced me to step back in her living room. She’d spoken her peace and was looking to retreat to her room. I should’ve let her be at that moment, but my body had other ns.


    I didn’t want her to leave the room on such a solemn note. I wanted tofort her—to pull her into my arms and promise that nothing would ever hurt her again.


    As if I had the power to make such a promise... but I was still willing to try.


    I let her go, nheless. But still arge part of me was too nervous that she’d wake up the next day and rethink our entire rtionship. So, I’d waited for her mother to leave her room in order for a real chance to talk with her. Of course, any ns of talking were immediately altered when I saw just how distraught she looked. Her eyes were puffy and red from all the tears she’d been crying.


    ‘It’s my fault,’ I thought bitterly to myself. ‘I made her feel this way.’


    I hadn’t initially intended to tell Cat about how deep my feelings ran for her. One moment we were talking about the shadows of my past, and the next thing I knew I was divulging how much I loved her. I didn’t want it to sound like some cheap plea to get her to listen to me. I meant every word of it.


    Before my eyes even fully closed, I nned this whole day out and centered it specifically around Cat. I knew she’d love the art district and I wanted to make her feel happy after such a horrible day prior. But now my time with her was being rudely interrupted.


    I cursed myself inwardly for even letting Cat see that Alessandro was the one who was trying to reach me. Without a word, I switched the Bluetooth off from my car and answered the call on my phone.


    “Alessandro,” I greeted him curtly.


    “Elio. New intel on Antonio has juste in. We’ll be waiting for you toe to the house,” he told me.


    My stomach lurched at the sound of hearing his name. I gritted my teeth and spoke hastily.


    “See you in an hour.”


    I ended the call and threw the gear shift into drive. My eyes focused solely on the road while Caterina’s gaze burned into my side profile.


    “Elio, what’s going on?” she asked with a hint of worry in her voice.


    I let out an honest sigh of disappointment. “I’m afraid I have to cut our day out together short,” I said.


    “Oh.” Cat looked deted and a bit saddened by this bit of news.


    I nodded my head. “Yeah, Alessandro wants to discuss another property purchase. I’m not entirely sure how long he’s going to be around before heading back to Italy, so I want to lock in as much time as I can before then,” I exined.


    Much to my surprise, Cat didn’t try to question anything about my false exnation. God, I hated lying to her. After everything that we’d spoken about in the past twenty-four hours, this was truly thest thing on my mind. But I couldn’t very well tell her the truth now.


    I knew for fact that she’d demand toe with me when I’d go to meet Alessandro. Regardless of her feelings, she would insist on being a part of trying to bring Antonio down. At the end of the day, the reality of it all still stood. I needed to keep her safe.


    After everything she’d found out, something as miniscule as this could certainly wait. If it was all just about a piece of information, then I was more than happy to keep this on the down low.


    Unfortunately, I could feel the energy in the car shift between us from that point on. I knew she was just as disappointed as I was to not spend more time together.


    As I pulled into her driveway, I turned to face her and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.


    “I promise I’ll be back as soon as I can,” I said.


    I leaned across the center console and ced a quick kiss on her head. The second Cat headed inside the house, I reconnected my phone to my car’s speaker and quickly dialed Leo’s number.


    After two rings, his voice came through the other side of the line. “Hey, Elio. What’s up?”


    “I got a call from Alessandro just now,” I told him. “I’ming to pick you up. Are you at the club or your ce?”


    “My ce. The club doesn’t open for another couple of hours,” he exined. “What’s the situation with Alessandro?”


    “He says that they received some sort of information on Antonio,” I said.


    Christ, I hoped it had something to do with a location. Maybe there was a particr ce the man was caught hanging around. Maybe some of Alessandro’s men were close to having actually nailed down the literal ce to where he’s been hiding. I hoped they were close to circling in.


    I wanted this to be over. Whether I decided to truly be part of it was no longer part of the question. For the sake of Cat and her mother, I wanted Antonio to be taken down. Jail and possible imprisonment had proven to be useless. I wanted the ongoing threat of his existence to be gone.


    Hearing Leo’s voice snapped me out of my deep thoughts.


    “Interesting. Alright, I’ll meet you outside my ce,” he said.


    “Great. I’ll be right over.”


    I ended the call and weaved in and out of the moving traffic. By the time I reached Leo’s apartment building, my head was sore from all the recurring thoughts and ideas that kept popping up.


    As much as I wanted to know what Alessandro discovered, all I really wanted was to return home to Caterina. Had our day not been cut short so abruptly, I’d nned on taking us out to a nice restaurant, possibly a ce that was quiet and private where we could just focus on each other. I wanted to clear away any potential doubts that she could have had about our rtionship.


    I needed her to understand just how important she was to me.


    I turned my head to see Leo heading out of the main doors of his building. He looked as determined as I felt. But in the corner of my eye, I noticed another figure heading toward the car.


    A man dressed in all ck with a pair of sunsses covering half his face approached Leo from behind. My stomach twisted in knots when my gaze suddenly fell to the handgun the man had pulled from behind his back. With his other hand, he snagged Leo by the back of his shirt and dug the head of the gun into his shoulder.


    Leo’s eyes widened in unspoken fear, not even fullyprehending what was happening behind him. I instantly threw the door open and rushed out of the car without a single coherent thought.


    I didn’t have a fucking clue as to how I was going to help him. It wasn’t as though I was armed myself. What the hell was going on?


    Just as I stood a couple feet away from Leo and his unknown attacker, the picture started to clear up. I recognized some of the prominent details the man possessed.


    “Antonio,” I gritted through my teeth.


    “Stop helping Alessandro,” he spat out.


    The older man tilted his head as though to intimidate me. The air caught in my chest in panic, but I wasn’t about to let him know that.


    “We both know that you aren’t in this sort of life,” Antonio said tauntingly.


    “Maybe not,” I snarled back. “But surely you know that this kind of life doesn’t just leave people so easily.”


    The older man sneered in disdain.


    “Don’t be ignorant. You’re way in over your head, boy. If you continue to work with Alessandro, I can promise that you’re as good as dead.”


    My heart nearly jumped out of my chest when instead of firing his weapon, Antonio chose to shove Leo toward me. My hands reached out to steady my friend.


    I quickly nced back to where Antonio was once standing, but I no longer saw him. I nced around and spotted a dark colored van speeding away in the opposite direction. And just like that, he was gone.


    Both Leo and I rushed into the car and locked the doors. I whipped the steering wheel and put us back onto the road. I tapped a few buttons on the screen on my dashboard, pulling up Alessandro’s number.


    Soon his voice came through the speakers. “Elio? What is it?”


    “It was Antonio,” I hissed angrily. “We saw him. He pulled a gun on Leo.”


    “Shit. Is he alright? Are the two of you alright?”


    “Yeah,” I grunted. “He didn’t fire it. He just spoke a few words and left. Some car picked him up. He’s gone.”


    “What exactly did he say?”


    I let out a long, exhausted breath. “I’ll tell you everything in a few minutes. We’reing to you now.”