Mattia

I sat in my parked car in Gia's driveway with my hands still on the steering wheel and Nuelle still on my mind. From the moment Marissa had called to tell me that she was sending Nuelle up, she was all that I could think about.

I hated the way I had treated her. I hated the things I had said to her, yet I said them. Her questions caught me off guard, I did not have a response in mind.

What was I suppose to say? I'm sorry for abandoning you? But, it's all good now, cause I want you?

The last thing I needed was for her to think that I was some sick bastard that lusted after his little sister, even if we were not actually related. The whole situation was already messed up as it was. There was absolutely no need to make it worse, besides I had Gia.

I got out of the car and walked into the house. Whilst I made my way to the back of the house my phone rang.

"Yeah."

"We're done and on our way home." Anthony stated.

"Good and Rafael?"

"Set for Saturday at 2.00 pm after the meeting with the lawyer. Also, I told Marissa that you had me take care of some business in New York, in case she asks."

"Noted." I sighed.

I was not against Anthony and Marissa's relationship, but it did come with its consequences. At times I wished she would have picked someone that did not work for us, because whenever I had him take care of business I had to make sure that he would not get himself hurt. Not that I cared less about my other employees, I just had to care more about Anthony.

I stopped near the infinity pool that Gia was taking laps in. She noticed me and swam to where I was standing which was near the built in stairs.

I watched as she climbed out, wearing a blue two piece swimsuit. I took the towel from the sun lounger and wrapped it around her as she leaned in for a kiss.

"You had a good day?"

"Yeah, I did." I lied.

We took a shower together after which we snuggled in her bed. Soon the night fell upon us and I once again started to worry about my father's will.

I got out of bed, leaving Gia who was scrolling through her instagram feed. I left the room and rang Marco up. After hearing it ring for over four times he picked up.

"Meeting with the lawyer tomorrow is at 11.00 am." I said.

He was talking to people in the background before he answered me. "Yeah, cool."

"Where are you?"

"Home, but me and the others are leaving in a few. We're waiting on Anthony."

I scratched the back of my neck.

"Who do you mean by the others?"

"Marissa and Nuelle."

"Where to?"

"What's up with all the questions. Muse. We're heading to Muse."

"Ah, okay. Have fun then. Bye." I hung up the phone.

Muse...fucking Tobias' club...

I looked over my shoulders as I decided to go with the idiotic idea that crossed my mind.

"Want to go to a club?"

Gia shrugged her shoulders. "Which one?" She asked whilst her eyes were still on her phone, she seemed uninterested.

I sighed. "Muse."

Her eyes shot up to mine. "Muse? Really?" She asked, surprised by my answer.

I nodded.

With a smile she got up and headed into her walk-in-closet.

I looked at the time, it was almost eleven. An hour later we pulled up to the club. Gia wore a short lilac dress with strappy heels. I just went for a casual look. Black jeans, black shirt and black loafers.

The club was crowded with too many familiar faces which is the main reason why I avoided these places, but Gia loved the nightlife. So, I compromised. I parked the car in the private parking, luckily I was able to reach Tobias' business partner who happened to be a friend.

We walked past the long line, trying our best to avoid the flashing camera's. My family received a lot of attention, because of our name— because of who our father used to be.

I held Gia's hand in mine as I led her deeper into the packed club. Loud music, flashing lights, people making out and grinding on one another.

We stood still as my eyes roamed the private lounges, knowing that my siblings would most likely take one of those.

My eyes went all around the club until they found her. The sound that my heart made muffled the song that was playing, suddenly everyone around me was moving to the rhythm of my heartbeat.

Nuelle was leaning over the railing, looking at the those who were dancing on the dance-floor. James was standing next to her, doing the same thing that she was doing.

Gia and I maneuvered through the dance floor and we walked up the stairs. I nodded at the bouncer who granted us access to the lounge. The others were sitting on the couches. Marco was talking to a young brunette. Anthony and Marissa were drinking and talking to two other people I had never seen before.

Marco was first to see us, the raise in his eyebrows gave away that he was surprises by our presence. Yet, a smirk coated his lips before he turned back to the woman he was so openly flirting with. Anthony yelled something through the music whilst he held up his drink to me. I could not understand what he had said, but I still smiled, pretending that I was happy to be there.

My sister must have already been drunk when I got there, because she genuinely seemed happy to see Gia. She looked at her in a way that I had not seen in a long time which made Gia let go of my hand and join Marissa on the couch.

This was when the two others noticed us. James put his white pearls on display as he walked my way and gave me a handshake as though we were friends, though at this point the hate in our love/ hate friendship weighed more.

He smirked at me as he grabbed my left shoulder and turned to look at Nuelle who was still standing in the same position. She had on black leather pants and a light pink silk top that was all strings at the back. Her dark hair was put up in a high ponytail that stopped under her shoulders.

James licked his lips as he drank in her figure, clearly trying to get a reaction out of me. We stared each other down, the grip he had on my shoulder tightened before he pushed me back. My fists balled, but I could not make a scene.

Nuelle straightened herself and turned to look over her shoulder. Her eyes found their way to mine, but she did not look at me the same way she did before. She looked at me with nothing other than hate.

Probably for the best...

When an old-school dance-hall song came on, Anthony and Marissa rushed to get to the dance-floor. Marco and the random woman followed soon after. Gia was still doing shots and seeing that I, myself needed a strong one to be able to enjoy my surroundings, I joined her.

I leaned back, Gia positioned herself on my lap with her back against my chest. She continued downing the alcohol. Shot, after shot, after shot until she started giggling about literally nothing. James and Nuelle were still standing against the railing with their backs facing us.

That sight was the only one I could focus on and I could not shake away my jealousy when he moved behind her. He had his arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back against him.

I gulped, the alcohol was starting to kick in and I was aware of the effect that it would have on me, which is why I pulled Gia to the dance-floor. I was never the type to dance, but I needed to get away from James and Nuelle before I would pull them apart and drag her out of the club.

Gia had the time of her life and by the looks of it Nuelle did too. We were dancing when next thing I know my eyes moved to where James and her where standing— but they were no longer there.

I turned 360 degrees around myself, but she was nowhere to be seen. Luckily, Gia was too busy dancing on her own to notice that I was starting to panic. I rushed through the crowd to where we were sitting before, only to see that the place was empty.

Trying to calm myself down, I ran my fingers through my hair as I once again looked around the club until I saw them walking out of one of the private rooms at the very back of the club and I nearly lost my mind.

Within seconds I had pushed James against the wall, holding him slightly up. He just stared at me with a smile. Nuelle kept mouthing something but the music was too loud for me to be able to hear what she was saying. To my surprise, she put her hand on my arms, her eyes pleading me to let go of him. As much as I wanted to go against her, I did not.

Maybe I felt bad about the things I had said to her at the office or maybe it was my consciousness that had reminded me that James was my business partner. Either way, I let go of him but without thinking twice I took Nuelle's hand in mine and pulled her towards the others on the dance-floor.

She tried to fight me, but her attempt was weak. I was not going to leave her with him. I made my way to the others and pulled Anthony aside, telling for to take Marissa and Nuelle home. He basically had to drag them out whilst I took Gia by the hand and had Marco follow us.

Gia and I drove to her place whilst the others went back to the house. By the time we reached her place she was already asleep and I had to carry her to bed. As I laid her down my phone started to buzz.

"The hell was that about?" Marco breathed out.

"James, he just—" I stopped myself.

"He what?"

I lowered the phone from my ear as I sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Mattia—"

"Yeah. Listen, let's talk this over tomorrow". I hung up whilst he was still talking. I did not know what to say.

Nuelle was an adult, capable of making her own choices. Yet, I felt the need to protect her from James. Looking over my shoulders at Gia who was peacefully sleeping, I felt guilty.

Have we not put her through enough? Have we not put Nuelle through enough?

My mind did not want to leave me alone.