Angela stood anxious in the middle of the living room, her focus on the closed door where Gael disappeared with his men. She tucked her hair behind her, flicking it before she crossed her arms under her breasts and began tapping her foot. Different scenarios played in her head.

The door opened, and she straightened, only to see Trigger entering the apartment. She let out an unsatisfied sigh. "Where are they?"

"They left. I don't know where."

"Can you find out later? I just want to know they're okay."

He nodded. "I can try."

She let out another sigh. Clearly, Gael was hiding something from her, and she wanted to believe that it had nothing to do with her but everything to do with Giovanni. Angela couldn't get mad at that; after all, she had secrets too. But curiosity gnawed on her and the scene from earlier kept playing in her head. Giovanni was thoroughly pissed—no, he was outraged.

The first time she saw Giovanni was at Gael's house in Esmea one morning. He looked like an asshole in a pissy mood. And then the second time was when she met him officially at her apartment where he was carefree and charming. Ever since she got to know the guy, there was something in him she couldn't figure out—underneath all the cocky and endearing personality. And today, she was surprised—at the same time, she somehow felt like she had seen the real Giovanni. Or at least a part of his true self.

Scanning the living room thoroughly, Angela noticed the broken pieces of glass scattered around the floor next to the TV rack. There was a mark on the wall next to the TV where the glass had probably hit and shattered. Spilled bottle of scotch also laid on the floor and books and papers that were once on top of the coffee table.

"Can you help me tidy up?" she asked Trigger who readily lent her a hand. He even insisted on cleaning up the broken glass and asked her to stay away until he was sure there were no more shards. When he was done, they began to pick up things, wipe down the mess, and moved the heavy coffee table back to its spot.

While Trigger went to the recycling area to throw the bottle, Angela fluffed up the pillows and folded the knitted throw blanket over the back of the couch. "Oh?" Her brow raised upon noticing a black leather wallet on the armchair.

As she picked it up, she already knew it wasn't Gael's. The style and the designer brand were different. It was thick with many bills inside—she didn't check the money, but it was obvious. However, she opened to know whose it was. Although, by this time, she already knew it was Giovanni's, but what the hell. It was there, so she snooped a little.

The wallet had a red leather interior with several slots on both sides filled with credit and debit cards. One thing caught her eye in an instant: a small 2x2 picture with worn edges slid out halfway in one of the slots.

It was already there. Half of the face of the person was already seen. It wouldn't hurt to take a better peek, right?

Angela carefully took out the picture, and her lips parted upon laying her eyes on a beautiful woman. She had dark, shoulder-length hair; blue eyes; pinkish, bow-shaped lips; and fair skin. Her features looked familiar like Angela had seen her before, but she couldn't remember where. The woman in the picture looked young as if she was in her early twenties. Could this be Lia?

She swallowed. Even though she didn't know what could have possibly happened between the two, judging by how Giovanni kept the woman's photo in his wallet, he must have been pretty hung up on her. Maybe even loved her.

A large, calloused hand covered the wallet. "I'll…take this and give it to him," said Trigger as he gently took the leather from her. And she let him.

"You know something. Who's Lia? Is that her?" she tried asking, though she knew he wouldn't be telling her anything.

"I don't know." Trigger put the picture back in the slot and tucked the wallet into his jeans. She knitted her brows at him, but he shrugged. "You can try asking Gio, but I doubt he'll tell you."

Disappointed that she didn't get anything from him, Angela cleaned up for a few more minutes and then went to the bedroom. It took her a few minutes to find the news she looked for on her phone, trying to recall the keywords she caught when the commotion happened earlier. And then she came across a business article that mentioned Kline Morgan Holdings.

The financial holdings company had been around for nearly two decades, run by two friends, Kline and Morgan, two of the few hundred thousand millionaires in New York. Crazy number. It wasn't anything new. There were tons of wealthy people in the city. Kline decided to retire, and he sold his shares of the company to a certain Mr. Keith Perry, a businessman from Chicago. The article didn't say much except that the turn-over had gone smoothly and that Mr. Perry was looking forward to a bright future with his fiancée.

Angela ran her fingers over her bottom lip as she focused on the photo of Perry with a smiling woman next to him. She looked exactly like the woman in the picture in Giovanni's wallet—only she looked a little more mature. Below the picture were their names. Malia Rose. Huh. So this was Lia…

Now that she knew her full name, Angela searched it on google—only to be disappointed. There wasn't anything about her. She had no social media presence. And the only ones that came up were the articles that tied her up with Keith Perry. Their engagement and the recent news of them moving to Queens, New York where Malia apparently grew up. Other than that, the woman practically didn't exist on the Internet.

"Well, that's a bummer." She huffed and tossed her phone to the side, giving up the idea of ever finding more about the woman.

Angela lay in silence, thinking about Gael and hoping that he and his uncle were okay. Her phone rang, and she picked it up when she saw Nina's name. They spoke on the phone before she boarded the plane, but Angela didn't tell the other about what happened after she left.

***

Gael had managed to catch up with Giovanni just before he drove away. His uncle wasn't thinking clearly at the moment, and if he hadn't gotten to him, he didn't know where he would have found him. Giovanni called up someone, and Gael guessed that it was his guy for P.I. stuff since Giovanni ordered to find out where Perry was. The news shown on TV wasn't live, but it was apparently taken this morning outside KMH's office building. And that meant that Perry and Lia were in New York.

Perry moving to New York for business changed things they didn't expect. Even though he wasn't a Morelli, he was involved in their drug trafficking business. Gael was mad about this development, and his mind churned at all the possibilities this could lead to. Perry was a sneaky son-of-a-bitch. Giovanni was also angry—but more so because Lia was involved.

After convincing Giovanni to calm down and think things through before doing something he'd regret, they headed to The Manor in Brooklyn. Drinking in the middle of the day. Great.

Gael had been trying to cut back drinking again, but Giovanni was getting worse every day. The stress was eating up both of them, and if they didn't find a solution to this, God knows what would happen next.

Alessandro came to The Manor soon after Gael and Giovanni arrived. Gael had called his father on the way and now the three of them were discussing their course of action in the private room on the third floor.

Perry's business with the financial company was legal, so there wasn't anything they could do about that. But the more Gael thought about it, the more he itched to do something.

"I have an idea," Gael muttered in almost a whisper, his hands steeple under his chin. The other two looked up at him, waiting for what he was about to say. "And you're not going to like it."

"Does it involve breaking his face? I'm in," Giovanni said in a toneless voice, his face devoid of mirth and filled with gloom.

Alessandro ignored his brother and probed his son, "Will it solve the problem?"

"Not completely, but it can contain it."

"What will it cost us?"

"Depends. But we'll also benefit from it." Gael matched his father's curious gaze with his serious one. "First, we need to get a hold of Morgan."

Giovanni's phone rang, interrupting their conversation. His brows deepened when he didn't recognize the phone number flashing on his screen. After contemplating, he answered in a disinterested tone, "Giovanni."

"Gio…"

He clenched his teeth so hard it almost cracked. The familiar voice that turned his world upside down held him in a death grip. When he spoke, his voice was laced with venom. "Lia."