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“Elio!” My voice rings out across the halls, but there is no response. Instead, a young lady in a plaid uniform walks up to me with her head bowed and hands clasped together.
“Mr. Donatelli is in his study, Miss Aria,” she says politely.
The urgency in my being leaves no room to respond as I make my way down the hall to his study.
“Elio?” The door squeaks lightly as I push it in.
“Come in,” his gruff voice responds.
He’s seated at his desk, tie loosened, sleeves rolled to his elbows, revealing his barrel-like forearms. Papers are strewn all over his table, one of them held down by a glass of whiskey.
When he looks up at me, the bags under his eyes seem to pull the strength from his gaze.
“Aria,” he calls again, straightening himself in his chair, “You’re supposed to be at work. Did you just miss me too much? I heard you yelling all the way from outside.”
He manages to give me a smirk as I roll my eyes.
“There’s no time for jokes, okay? I heard about the shooting at the hotel. Are you okay?”
His nostrils flare as he releases a deep breath. “The police took care of it already. Thankfully, none of my men were arrested or injured.”
Relief washes over me, but by his tone, I can tell that’s not what has him seated so dejectedly. Something else is eating at him.
“Despite that, you don’t seem okay,” I venture, crossing my arms and lowering myself onto the edge of the desk.
He shakes his head, his lips pressing into a thin line. “It’s not the hotel that’s bothering me. Most of those patrons are fools, and my men know how to handle them.”
“Then what is it?”
He holds my gaze, and I can see the hesitation in his eyes. I roll my eyes. “Not trusting me is a waste of your time. I’ve helped with two of your big cases now.”
His lips part to release a groan as he yanks his fingers through his hair. “That guy you discovered…Mendez. He’s gone missing.”
The news catches me off guard. “Mendez? Missing? How does a guy like that just… vanish? He doesn’t seem like the type to up and disappear, especially since he’s in a lot of debt.”
Elio’s eyes darken, and I can almost see his frustration bubbling to the surface. “That’s what’s suspicious. Mendez has lived at his address for ten years after leaving prison. If he’s suddenly disappeared, someone helped him… or forced him to.”
My eyes pry over him, watching the way his hand clenches into a fist on the desk and the set in his jaw as he stares blankly into the distance.
“Elio,” I say softly, stepping closer. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You always do.”
He glances at me, his expression softening for just a moment. “I’m trying, Aria,” he says quietly. “But it feels like everything’s slipping through my fingers.”
Something in his voice breaks me. I’ve seen him angry, commanding, and ruthless. But this? This raw vulnerability? It catches me off guard.
That’s when it hits me. Hearing Elio finally confide in me about what he had gone through in his childhood −or rather lack of it− made me see beyond his cruel façade. It made me stop seeing him as just the author of this tangled mess I’ve stepped into. I think, deep in me, I truly want him to be okay. More than I ever thought I could wish for someone.
I push the stray thought aside, swallowing hard. Now isn’t the time for feelings. I just need to make sure he’s fine and head right back to work.
“You’ll be okay.” My fingers reach up to caress the sides of his smooth face. He stands to his full height, hand clutching onto mine, holding it in place on his cheek.
“I have something to show you,” he grumbles. Before I can protest or ask what it is, he places one arm underneath my thighs and the other one around my back, lifting me from the desk, carrying me all the way up the stairs to his bedroom.
It’s the first time I’m going into his bedroom. I’ve never seen a more masculine space.
Plush, charcoal gray carpeting covers the entire floor, causing his feet to sink in, muffling his footsteps. A sturdy, king-size orthopedic bed dominates the center of the room, dressed in crisp, white linens.
He plops me onto the massive bed and reaches out for a drawer in his nightstand.