Grim

22

"Last seen location wasn't Italy," Azias informed as he read the documents Faith had given him.

I frowned, "Where was it then?"

"Here in California," Azias answered.

"Does he have a safe house here that we can check?" I asked.

Azias nodded, "He does, but the alarm never went off. Besides, the location he was last seen at...well, it doesn't make any sense that he was there. We don't have anything set up over there."

"So why would he go there after Italy then?" I frowned.

Azias shrugged, "I don't know. He had no business being in the city he was last seen in."

"What about Emily? Was she with him?" I asked.

Azias handed me the bottom half of the documents for me to search as he flipped through those that remained in his hands.

"Look," I said as I came across a picture of two people getting shoved in a van. "Looks like Ace and Emily."

"Maybe he stopped there because of her. Maybe she has family over there or something," Azias suggested.

I frowned, "You didn't run a background check on her?"

Azias shook his head and explained, "I met her not too long before I met you. I left the background check up to Ace, since he was interested in her. Besides, even if I did, I wouldn't have remembered everything. That was a whole year ago."

"Makes sense. Can you get someone to run a background check? Maybe we can track her family and see if they know anything that'll help us find them," I suggested.

Azias nodded, "Yeah, I know someone who might be able to help."

"Not another billionaire tech person again right?"

Azias chuckled, "No."

"Good. Don't need anyone else sending their flirty messenger to turn us down," I teased.

"Facts," he nodded. "This guy, though, he's definitely not to be trusted. He has a record of switching sides."

I joked, "Do you always work with untrustworthy people?"

Azias nodded in all seriousness as he explained, "That's why I had to run a background check on you before allowing myself to get close. Shit like what happened with Faith is common too, only I wouldn't have a girlfriend, so I'd usually entertain what she did. Often, the women and I exchange flirty banter, and the men and I exchange threats and insults. That's just how my world works, which is also why I was so unfazed by what Faith was doing at the restaurant. That's about to change though. If they don't respect you, they'll get the same backlash as if they had disrespected me."

"Doesn't that get tiring though— dealing with so many people you can't trust?" I asked.

He huffed, "You think the business world is any better? My clubs are clean. They have no ties to my other life, yet I deal with the same idiots disguised in different expensive attire. The only difference I really see: who's able to bend the law better. You'd think it's the business men and women since they're already legally established, but really, it's those who are underground because they don't abide by any laws."

"Damn," I replied. I could see why he had to protect his space at all times, and even why he had so many safe houses. I also could see why he was having difficulty finding who was after him. It wasn't even about the amount of enemies he had. Practically everyone he knew or worked with posed a threat. He lived in a life where dogs ate dogs too!

"If you don't wanna take the chance with this hacker guy, tell me right now, and we'll look for another way," he said as he stared seriously into my eyes. I was glad to know that he actually cared about what I thought and that he was already actively making the changes he promised me.

"Do you have another alternative at the moment?" I asked. I didn't want to risk losing the opportunity of finding Ace, and if everyone he knew was untrustworthy, I thought it best to go with our best options and deal with the repercussions after. Azias shook his head, so I shrugged, "We just have to take that chance."

"Okay," he agreed before going quiet. I could tell that he was thinking about something.

"What is it?" I asked, hoping he'd share his thoughts.

"If the Boss has my brother, why not use him to lure me in?" Azias pointed out. "It's mad weird that Ace was kidnapped, yet there hasn't been any noise. No ransom, no blackmail, no threats, no requests. Just radio silent."

I agreed, "That definitely is weird!" I thought about what Azias was saying, but I genuinely had no answer to his question. "I guess we should just take things step by step. We should meet up with the guy who can run the background check and then figure things out from there."

"Yeah," he agreed while placing the documents into the file, so I did the same with the documents I had. "Let's go."

"Where exactly are we going?" I asked as I followed Azias to the car. We got situated inside before Azias drove off.

"To meet the flip-flop. Better to catch him off guard. It gives him less time to snake you," he answered.

Two hours later
Azias parked in a private parking space that featured a bunch of expensive, flashy cars. He hopped out and got my door for me, and then we walked hand in hand to the back door of a building. The door was guarded by two guards, who looked stunned to see Azias.

"Reaper!" the two guards said in unison before letting out a big smile and dapping Azias up.

One of them chuckled, "Man, you went radio silent for a hot minute!"

"Thought you forgot about us," the other teased.

Azias chuckled, "Could never forget my kids."

The two guards burst out laughing, and the three engaged in playful mockery of the other.

Azias then introduced, "Sapphire, this is Eddy and Elijah, two annoying ass frat twins."

"Oh wow," they chuckled.

They had similar features but weren't identical. You could tell that they were related, however. They seemed to share the same responses, which I thought was funny because that was the only identical thing about them.

"This is my girlfriend, Sapphire," Azias finished his introduction.

"Hi," I shyly waived.

The twins looked at each other in surprise before looking at me and then at Azias. In unison, they teased, "Girlfriend?"

Azias playfully sighed, and the two chuckled again.

Elijah then said to me, "You must be very special, Sapphire. This is Mr.I-don't-settle-down."

"Whatever," Azias chuckled. "And she is. Now step aside so I can do my job."

"You got it, boss," Eddy chuckled, and the three dapped each other up again before opening the door and letting us enter.

Once inside, the sound of music filled my ears. We walked down a hall and through another door that led us to a strip club. I figured this was his, given that Eddy called Azias his boss.

Azias scanned the floor, completely unfazed by the stares he had been getting. Some of the stares showed surprise, others showed lust. Either way, people were excited to see him.

Azias led me to a table where a guy sat. Azias then said something in his ear before bringing me to a private room. It wasn't before long that the guy joined us.

"Reaper," the guy greeted as he put on a fake smile. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

A/N: The tea y'all bout to get tomorrow🤭 Three chapters tomorrow 🎀✨