The Underbosses Chef [M/M]

27 - Twenty - Seven - Matteo Concetta's Point Of View.

I knew I should take the hint that Caio was walking away before this got into a larger argument than it was, but I hated he walked away from me.

"Caio, I am not done speaking with you. Don't just walk away from me like I am just someone without a connection to you. We agreed we can't go back."

Caio stopped, turning away from Jackson. His eyes, telling me all I needed to know. Caio didn't want me to say anything else. He didn't want anyone to know.

"You don't need to yell about our business in public." Caio snapped, his voice taking a nasty tone.

"Then don't walk away from me. I hate that. I want you to have a conversation with me, mad, upset, whatever you may be. I want you to be able to have a conversation with me, not just stomp away because you don't like something I said."

"Go home Matteo, I'm not going to fight with you here about this," Caio snapped at me again, his voice far nastier than before.

"I did that once already, Caio, and that worked out well for me until I came back." I sighed, not even checking to see how my words had affected Caio. I didn't care. Not feeling in the mood to even go and see Andrei anymore, I texted him and asked for the recipe for the ravioli, and if he could send a photo. And left it at that.

Caio's words were eating away at me, and I knocked on Alessio's office door. He was quick to let me inside. He was sitting down, Lev with him at the desk and they were eating.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I can come back. Actually, that's the better option." I said.

"Sit. Something is eating at you. You have that look, Matteo." Lev said.

"Yeah, Lev's right. You have that. My skin is a few sizes too tight look."

I sat down and exhaled.

"Spill, I have room for some spare issues not of my own." Alessio said.

"I told Caio about meeting Ilya and he lost his shit over it. He is of the belief that he should have been left to his family, and I know what that means, so does he. I am not of that belief. Not at all. We argued about it. He told me I wouldn't be protecting him if I knew how you had found him."

Lev set down his coffee, not following through with the drink he was going to take, and spoke. "We are aware of how Caio feels about Ilya. Caio isn't wrong, he should have been left to his family as per normal rules. But Alessio and I refused to allow that."

"That being said, how we found Ilya was traumatizing for a few of us. They kept Ilya in a dark room, and when we found him, he wasn't in the dark anymore. He was dripping with the blood of the family that tortured him. He looked like an animal, Matteo. Ilya was carrying a piece of glass in his hand, that being the only weapon he had against those that hurt him." Alessio said.

"To make the horror short. Ilya bit Vito, and even after Vito broke several of his ribs, he didn't let go. He was numb to the pain, and Caio shot Ilya in the thigh, and Ilya let go of Vito. Vito then knocked Ilya out, and that's how we got him." Lev said.

"Ilya has apologized several times to everyone who was involved. He wasn't in his right mind. A lot has changed in two years." Alessio said.

"Ilya is beyond traumatized by what they did to him. It's understandable why he behaved that way." I said.

"This goes deeper than just you seeing Ilya, doesn't it?" Lev said, sipping his coffee..

"Yeah. Kind of." I sighed.

Alessio narrowed his eyes and was about to say something, but Lev spoke first.

"Watch your words, Alessio. Those in glass houses should cast stones."