"Okay, you made sure we had a private room, double checked every corner for cameras or bugs. Can we please talk about the bitch now?" Miko asked impatiently and I nodded my head before downing my glass of wine and filling it back up.

"First, we need to know what she told you Milo." I stated and nodded at him. "So start from the beginning." It looked like he was trying to think of where to start and something told me that was strange. Almost like he was trying to come up with a story or hide certain information.

"I was at a meeting on the south side of London. Some associates and myself were getting coffee when we passed by each other. She asked if we could catch up and I agreed. We had dinner a couple nights after and she explained that her father was up her ass about getting married. She got mad and blurted out that we were already engaged. I got utterly pissed and told her to piss off but she claimed she had leverage over me. She wouldn't say what it was and I wasn't about to be bossed around by someone like her so I once again told her to piss off and left. Then I get a call from Dad that he's been sent something anonymously and that we needed to have a meeting. Which told me that she wasn't bluffing and that I was screwed either way I went."

"Do you still not know what it is she has on you?" I asked and Milo pursed his lips while shaking his head.

"It's why I asked you and my brother to figure it out for me because while I have been trying on my own, I'm very limited with what I can do since she's watching my every move."

"Well shit." I huffed and flopped back into my chair, downing my second glass of wine and deciding to just drink straight from the bottle this time. Eveyone was silent as we tried to brainstorm a course of action. The wedding date kept getting closer and closer and the mutal agreement that it would not be happening was silently agreed upon by everyone. Then, that's when my conversation with Cornelius came back into my head.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a box of menthols, pulling one out to light up and take a long drag. "Alright fellas, story time." I announced and everyones attention was on me.

"As I'm sure everyone has figured out by now, I did not bust my nose earlier by taking a fall."

"Yeah, no shit sherlock." Milo huffed and I pinned him with an unamused stare before continuing.

"Miko gave me a tip on a smaller gang that executed the hit on Sean. So, like the rebellious hellion I am, I went after them." I saw Miko beginning to open his mouth, so I spoke for him instead. "Yes, against your orders. Cool. Okay. Anyway. I was putting in the work on those guys until I got tag teamed and pistol whipped. I woke up in a car with a bag over my head and then was transported into a large warehouse and tied to a pole. From there, I met with a man named Cornelius and he and I had a nice little chat."

"Wait, Cornelius. As in Cornelius Ivanov, Fawn's brother?" Miko asked and I nodded my head slowly, taking another puff from my cigarette. I looked over at Milo and even he looked shocked by all this. But oh boy, were they about to be even more mind-fucked.

"Cornelius let me in on some juciy details about our near and dear Fawn. When he was married off to the Ivanovs daughter, she got pissed about it and threw a proper fit about the arrangement. She apparently tried multiple times to get her brothers attention and I'm sure everyone here in this room already has an image of some of the things she tried to do. But anyway, their Dad got pissed about it and was planning to do something about her behavior. Fawn was obviously scared, so she said that she was already engaged to you, which matches with what you told us." I said to Milo and he let out a long sigh. For as long as I've known this man, I knew when he was utterly pissed and he was slowly getting there right now.

Fawn has been taking him through the ringer and making a fool of him and if theres one thing I've learned about the Underground, its that you dont play any leaders for fools. Ands thats exaclty what shes been doing the past couple of months. Carlo decided to excuse himself to use the toliet and no one minded him going. He was kind of like the Switzerland in this whole situation. He had no particular side but he was just staying with us because he works for Milo.

"But it gets better, I assume?" Miko asked and I chuckled.

"Heh, you bet your sweet ass." Finsihing my cigarette, I chugged some more wine before lighting another and continuing. "Cornelius has hired me for a contract. A contract to kill his sister."

"I think the fuck not." Milo blurted out but I ignored him and continued.

"I'm insulted that you would think I would actually follow through with that, but I will let it go for now. Cornelius told me to get on recording from Fawn herself that everything shes doing is a lie. That way, once the contract has been fufilled, they can use the recording to claim what I did was self defense and have the rest of the underground know that no action will be taken upon me or your family." The brothers both seemed suspicious about the idea and I could tell they wanted to talk more on it, but neither of them got a chance to speak before Carlo came back into the room rather urgently.

"I saw Fawn walking up and down the street on my way back from the toliet." Well shit. This bitch is like a fucking mosquito. Without warning, Carlo was pulling me out of the room.

"Just what do you think youre doing?" I asked him as he led us to the entrance after grabbing our coats. I took mine and put it on as we left the building and was in utter shock when he grabbed my hand.

"If you want to keep up appearances, we need to make it look like we just arrived. If she had seen that we all had been there for a while then she would know something was up." He looked up for a second before looking back at me.

"Why couldn't we have just pretended to not be there?" I asked in a hushed whisper. It was a valid question. But by outing ourselves, now she's going to be more suspicious.

"Because Alec. She had most likely noticed we all weren't at the mansion. She's going to end up putting two and two together. Better to play it safe, dot all our i's and cross all our t's. Play along, okay?" I nodded my head reluctantly and just as we turned to walk back into the building, Fawn was coming up to us.

"Did you guys just get here?" She asked curiously and I nodded my head.

"Yeah, why?" I inquired and then cocked my head. "Wait, why are you over here? You were just at the mansion."

"Everyone was gone and I started to get worried something was happening and I was being left in the dark again. Just wanted to come out and see if I could spot anyone, and lucky me." She said with a smile and I found it almost laughable at how kind she was being towards me now after hearing about the totally real and not fake relationship I have with my ex's bodyguard.

I also didn't miss Carlo's side eye because his assumption earlier was accurate. Fucking prick.

"Ah, yeah, the brothers were having a little late dinner and Miko called us up. I think he wants us to announce our relationship." I explained with a sour look on my face and Fawn reached over to lay a supporting hand on my shoulder.

"I saw you guys out here talking really close together, so I figured something us up. But no worries! Whatever happens in there, I will have your back and calm Milo down if he gets upset." Weird how she was admitting that he would be upset over me dating someone else instead of being indifferent to it, like she seems to think he is towards everything involving me. But I guess shes turning over a new leaf.

A conniving and backstabbing leaf. But new, nonetheless.

"Shall we head in?" Carlo interrupted and Fawn nodded her head before going in first. We follwed behind her as she told the waiter the last name and when he saw Carlo and I, he looked confused and started to open his mouth but I shot him a deadly glare and he quickly changed face and took our coats before leading us to the room.

"Look who I found outside!" Fawn announced with a smile before walking over and kissing both of Milos cheeks before having a seat next to him. I gave a tight-lipped smile before sitting down next to Miko, who looked geeked out to the extreme by this whole situation.

Reminder to self - kick him in the balls when this is over.

"Strange seeing you two together." Milo said, swirling his wine in his glass as he put his arm on theback of Fawns chair.

"Uhm, yeah...about that." A knock on the door interuppted us and a waiter came in to take any orders. I quickly jumped on the occasion and orderd two bottles of Irish whiskey. I needed something way stronger to get through tonight. Especially now since I have to play couple with Carlo of all people. We made idle chit-chat after the waiter left, mainly because I was dodging every question about us until I got my whiskey.

"Have you chosen a venue yet?" Miko asked and Fawn clapped her hands together excitedly.

"Yes! Oh gosh, it is so gorgeous! But I'm not telling anyone because I want everyone to be shocked and surprised when they get there." Of course Fawn would think like that.

Shock.

Surprise.

I need my whiskey.

Another knock and the waiter came back with everyones orders and I immediately screwed the top of the first bottle and took a few giant gulps before sitting it down and taking a deep breath.

"Can we have an answer now about why you and my bodyguard are out and about togthere now?" Milo asked, an amused smirk on his face that he quickly dropped when Fawn looked at him.

"We are dating."

"Interesting. Thats cool."

"Excuse me?" I knew he was just playing along, but I was slightly tipsy from the bottle and a half of wine I had early and the giant chugs of whiskey I just took, so his comment was a little offensive to me. Note to new drinkers - don't chug strong liquor on an empty stomach. Get fucked faster.

"What? I just didn't know you changed your preferences." Milo answered nonchalantly and I scoffed at him.

"Oh you're one to talk. One hundred percent gay male suddenly falls in love with a women and proposes to her a few months after breaking up with his long-term boyfriend." I snapped back and everyone in the room could see I was taking this too personal now. Well , everyone expect Fawn obviously. "A long-term boyfriend that you practually propsed to before dumping me the next fucking day!"

"Wait...what?" Fawn asked quietly as she looked at Milo and I actually had to laugh at that. He really never told her that did he? And judging by the shocked look on Miko's face, he didnt know either. Wow, this is great. I began to chug some more whiskey before Carlo placed his hand on the bottle to slow me down, but I was just getting started.

"Yeah, he didn't tell anyone by the looks of it!" Carlo started to say my name but I wasnt having it. I stood up quickly, slamming my hands on the table and stumbling a bit. Damn, this was some strong ass whiskey. I needed to get the name and stock up on it in my room.

"He told me he wanted to marry me. I was so fucking...I dont think I could even explain the exact emotion I was feeling in that moment, but it had me on a high that I couldn't come down from. This man that I sacrificed everything for after I fucked over his life by my stupid mistakes. I gave up almost everything to get him back and I was going to spend the rest of my life with him. And then he fucking dumps me the next fucking day!" I was shouting now because I was pissed. All this bottled up emotions. All these words I wanted to say to him were just coming out now and I couldnt stop. Literal word vomit was happening right now.

"I want to be friends with you Fawn, I really do. But I just...I needed you to know why I was so reluctant at the beginning. Why I was such a dickhead to you. It had nothing to do with you but everything to do with him." I took another swig of whiskey before chuckling to myself. "It's kind of a shitty feeling when you date someone with a specific sexual orientation, and then they suddenly change it. Like, did I make you straight?" I asked Milo, staring him straight in his eyes. I wanted him to know what I was saying was true. All of this wasnt part of the act anymore. These were straight facts now.

And now I just wanted to be alone.

Downing the rest of the whiskey, I moved away from the table and grabbed the second bottle before leaving the room. Everything felt and sounded like I was underwater. I could hear my name being called, and hands trying to stop me and pull me back, but I was void of anything now. I was numb to feelings. God, I love alcohol.

I took a seat on a bench, drinking some more whiskey and enjoying the slow burn down my chest and into my stomach. A prescene beside me made me look over and I saw Carlo. "I called a cab, lets go." He told me and I just let him pull me along and into the car. The ride was silent and I was grateful he didnt want to talk about everything. Because Miko would've wanted to talk. Sean would've wanted to talk. Even Josh would've wanted to talk.

But Carlo was quiet. And I was relieved.

After pulling up to the gates, he helped me get inside and into a random room upstairs. I was slightly confused as to why I was up here but once I saw a bed, I didnt care anymore. Carlo took the bottle of whiskey from me and helped me onto the bed before leaving the room and coming back with a bin and some bottles of water. He handed me one and made me drink half of it before leaving the room and closing the door behind him. I stayed in the bed for a bit, drifitng in and out of sleep as I nursed the water bottle, finishing it off and getting up to pee. As I was relieving myself in the toliet, I heard someone knock on the door.

"Come in." I called out as I flused the toliet and washed my hands before coming into the room.

"Hey." Fawn greeted me quietly and I just gave her a limp wave as I trodded over to the bed and layed back down. She came over and took a seat on the edge of the bed, remaining silent for a few minutes. "I'm sorry about everything that happened." She finally spooke and I want everything to roll my eyes but I was only sobering up a bit and was still a little tipsy.

But hey, at least I didnt throw up while I was drunk. Thats a first.

"You had nothing to do with it, so why are you apologizing?"

"I dont know...I just feel bad. I was so judgmental towards you. Thinking you were the evil ex that was going to break us up because of how hateful you were. But that hatefulness was because of what happened before Milo and I got together. Stuff I never knew about. And now that I do, it makes sense."

"Yeah well it's whatever now." I grumbled and turned over so my back was facing her. I didn't want to talk to anyone anymore and I just wanted to sleep. 

It was quiet for some time before I felt a hand on my shoulder. "We can talk whenever you want." Fawn said softly before getting up and leaving, closing the door softly behind her. I didn't stay awake for long after that and when I woke up the next morning I regretted everything I did the night before. I started to get up to close the blinds so I could sleep this headache away but was greeted by a figure in the corner of the room.

"Who the fuck!" I snapped, winicng at the pain in my head from yelling.

"I see you're having a great morning." Milo greeted and I scowled. Why was he in my fucking room?

"What are you doing in here?" I voiced my thoughts and then paused. Wait, where was here? This wasn't my room. I turned back to Milo. "Next time I decide to drink when I'm stressed, why don't you be a good sport and stop me, yeah?"

Milo was silent before he decided to speak. "What do you remember from last night?" He asked and I made a horrified expression.

"Oh god. What did I do?"

"Just tell me what you can remember."

I thought for a bit. "Uhm, Fawn finding us, I ordered some whiskey and that was the end of it." He stayed quiet again and I started to get a bad feeling. "Is there something more?"

"Nope, that's about it." He answered, moving and getting up from the chair that was in the corner. "Carlo helped bring you home and took up here because you told Fawn you had moved upstairs and he didn't want her asking questions."

I nodded my head at that information. Explains the random bedroom. And here I thought he was going to tell me we slept together again. I would bury myself in a hole and swear off alcohol forever if that had happened. I sat for a while on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall and blanking out before deciding to get up and get dressed.

Business needed to be taken care of.

Making it down the stairs and to my actual room without Fawn catching me proved to be not very difficult. Once inside, I took a quick shower, making sure to shave the stubble that had started growing before coming my hair back so it looked at least slightly presentable. Then heading into the room, I changed into one of my many suits—opting for a light gray one with a light blue vest. Placing the silver cufflinks in each sleeve, I slid on some tan leather dress shoes and then looked myself over in the mirror before smirking.

"Got damn I am one sexy motherfucker." Grabbing my wallet and phone—which were conveniently places on my nightstand—I headed out of my room and towards the garage. Thankfully, I was stopped by no one on my way outside and my favorite car was available. Only problem was the new car guy Milo had hired. He was basically supposed to keep tabs on who took what cars and when. It was agreed a few months ago that all cars were allowed to be used by certain members and the car guy was to help keep track. This was only implemented after Oli's wife drove his car into a lake and smashed the keys with a hammer. Still don't know why she did it but it put a hinderance on things when it involved driving and Oli, thus the new car rule.

Hadn't seen the dude for the last couple of weeks when I came to the garage and now of course he has to be here when I'm trying to keep a low profile. He noticed me walk in and gave a smile and small wave before walking over.

"Hey there, need a car?" He asked and I gave him a forced smile which I hope he didn't realize was forced. It's not his fault so I don't want him to think I don't like him—I barely know the guy.

"Yeah mate. Whatcha got available?"

He paused and looked on the tablet he had woth him before looking back at me, "Seeing as your dressed up, I can put you down for the Aston Martin." He said with a smile and went to go grab the keys. I walked over to the car and waited for him to meet me there, handing me the keys and giving me another smile. I wonder if his smiles were forced too? It has to suck being stuck in a garage all the time handing out keys to mafia members.

"Thanks bud." I reached out for the keys but he was hesitant.

"I just have to know where you're headed to." He stayed and gave a sad smile when I made a face. "I know it's weird and invasive but it's protocol and you know how it gets when you don't do all of your job."

I sighed. Fucking Milo. "No no, I get it." I reassured after seeing him panic a bit at my annoyance. "I'm heading over to my parents house for a birthday dinner. My brother was discharged. Make sure you mention that to Milo and Miko when they come asking for me." I winked at him after snatching the keys and getting into the car. The guy didn't say much, just kinda stood still for a second before walking away and opening the garage doors for me. I sped out of the garage and made sure to not give the guards at the gate anytime to notice me as I left the property. The longer I could go without anyone knowing where I was, the better. I should probably call my mum though so she can help me out.

I quickly connected my phone to the Bluetooth in the car and asked Siri to ring my mum's number. After a few beeps, she picked up. "Hello sweetheart."

"Hey mum. How's Sean?" His hospital stay wasn't long and considering everything that had happened since then, I hadn't had time to go check on him. Of course I made sure to inform Josh so he could assure Sean and my brother was fine with it...kinda.

"Better. He's been getting a little frustrated lately, what with Josh constantly buzzing around him, but he's calmed down a bit." She was quiet before asking the question I knew was coming. "You planning to come over soon? Josh said some serious stuff was happening woth work and that's why you've been radio silent."

"Uhm, yeah. I'm gonna get dressed and head over there tonight for dinner, how's that sound?"

"Oh wonderful! I'll make your favorite." She sounded really excited and it made the pain in my heart worse. I was such a shit son and brother. "I'll let Sean know as well. I'm sure he's going to be so delighted."

"Alright, well I've gotta go. I'll give you a ring when I'm heading your way."

"Alright dear. Be safe and know I love you dearly."

"Love you too mum." She gave me a kiss over the phone before hanging up and I finally could let out a sigh. I needed to hurry up and get Fawn dealt woth so I could get back to a somewhat normal life. Because if this bitch makes me miss my brothers wedding, I will tear shit up.

Clearing my mind and getting back to my task, I turned my focus onto the buildings as I drove into the city. Finding the one I needed, I parked the car and headed inside.

"Welcome to Tameres Wine and Spirits. Are you looking for anything specific?" The young woman behind the bar greeted me and I gave her a warm smile.

"Beluga, please." Her smile faltered a bit before she gathered herself.

"This way please." I glanced at the other people in the store, all looking at bottles or tasting drinks, before following the woman. She led me into the back of the store before turning a corner and going through a door. I stayed behind, casually looking and memorizing everything. It was just a straight hallway that ended in a double door with two guys standing outside.

"Beluga." The woman said, her voice monotone—very different from the sweetness it had when I came in. She didn't wait for them before turning around and leaving. I watched her before looking back at the men as one stepped forward.

"Arms out." He said, his Russian accent thick. I complied and let him search me for weapons. He pulled out my phone and wallet and held them up. "These stay here. Go." Stepping aside, the other man opened the doors and I walked through and was greeted by just the man I needed to see.

"Alex. What do I owe this meeting?"

"Cornelius." I said smugly, taking a seat in one of the leather chairs in front of his desk, leaning back and draping a leg over the other. "Let's have a chat, shall we?"