“Fuck you,” he muttered.
Cree raised a brow. “Your mood is about as bad as Alessio’s this morning when I saw him.”
What?
The word rang so loudly in his mind that everything else around him came to a standstill, including his desire to defend himself against Cree’s oncoming attack. Corrado froze—like a fucking cafone.
Cree, never one to miss out on an opportunity, used the chance to swing back with a roundhouse. The kick landed hard against Corrado’s ribcage and sent him flying back to the mat with enough force to take the air right out of his lungs.
Pain bloomed in three of his ribs as he sucked in a gulp of air, and stared at the ceiling of the complex’s gym, trying to let his mind catch up to what he learned. Cree said when I saw him and this morning. Meaning, Alessio had to be back in the country, but not just back ... no, here. In Vegas.
And he hadn’t told him? Didn’t come to the penthouse?
“What?” Corrado asked, still looking like an idiot on his back.
Cree’s figure came into his view when he moved to stand next to Corrado’s prone form. “He got back this morning—job finished two days ago.”
“Well, where the fuck is he now?”
“Doing something he wants to do, I imagine. You know how he is.”
Very well.
And whenever Alessio came home, he came back to Corrado. So, what was different this time? Hadn’t the last week, and a half been bad enough for him dealing with the Ginevra thing alone while Alessio had to go out of the country?
“You look confused,” Cree murmured.
“I’m fine.”
Corrado wouldn’t let them see his pain.
Cree kneeled down next to Corrado on the mat and rested his arms along his bent knees as he spoke. He didn’t look at Corrado, and yet it still seemed like the man stared into his mind even so. “There was a time, and I still think it’s possible—if I cared to try, which I don’t—when I believed I would beat the pride out of you. It’s something you couldn’t get rid of, and it still holds you back in your life when it shouldn’t. Alessio has accepted it is a flaw in your character he has to love like the rest of you. So, where I want to fix it, he will work around it.”
Corrado’s brow dipped. “What?”
And damn, his ribs ached now.
Fucking Cree.
The man reached over and patted Corrado’s head like he might for a goddamn puppy. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You’re a smart man.”
Annoyed, Corrado waved his arm to knock Cree’s hand away from his body, lest the fool pet him again. “Knock it the fuck off. Either tell me where Alessio is, or—”
“Or what?” Cree cocked his head with a slight smirk that rivaled the devil’s. “Because one of us can make threats and demands, and one of us cannot. Guess which one you are, Corrado? Go ahead, I’ll wait.”
Fucking asshole.
“I’ll go speak with Dare,” he muttered, pushing up from the mat to stand. “And see what he can tell me.”
“Wise choice,” Cree replied, “not that he will tell you anything, either.”
Right.
Well, Corrado would try.
Cree lounged at the edge of the ring, resting his arms over the ropes as he eyed Corrado while he gathered his things. All the while, he said nothing, but he didn’t wipe that amusement off his damn face.
Corrado headed out of the gym with his phone in one hand, and his discarded cross-body bag in the other. The bag wasn’t his style, but neither were the jeans and faded T-shirt he’d thrown on that day to go with his runners, either.
He didn’t come to The League to look like he walked out of his parents’ mansion, though. He came here because he needed to work out some of his frustration, and there was only one person who might help with that in a short amount of time.
Cree.
Or rather, he usually helped with that. Today, he only pissed Corrado off and left him with more questions than answers.
Speaking of which ...
Swiping his thumb over the screen of his phone, Corrado woke the device up, and typed his pin in. Pulling up the call icon, he selected the top contact highest on his list.
Alessio.
He hadn’t bothered to call the man for the last week and a half because he assumed it would be pointless. Being on a job meant Alessio needed to leave his phone behind, and when he was back, then he would call Corrado, or show up at home.
This time, Alessio did neither.
He was back.
But where?
Despite being back in Vegas for the last week, Corrado had a flight to catch tomorrow that would take him back to Toronto for the weekend. His parents annual Halloween party, something they threw every year for all the kids who lived in their gated community, was on Sunday evening, and if he didn’t show up ...
He’d never hear the fucking end.
Which meant if he didn’t get ahold of Alessio, and let him know where he would be, if the man wanted to see him, it was going to be several more days before they got together. Corrado didn’t like that at all.
The past while had been hell on him. He didn’t like being alone, and if he couldn’t have both people he loved, then he needed one.
Where the fuck was Les?
In his head, the phone rang and rang. By the fourth ring, Alessio’s voicemail would pick up because the man wasn’t answering his calls. Or maybe it was just Corrado’s number he didn’t want to pick up.
But why?
That heaviness came back in his chest.
Hard.
Thick.
And aching.
Actually, it hadn’t left him since he got the news Ginevra headed back to New York, but he got better at ignoring it. Now, it was back with a vengeance.
Fuck his whole life.
The call clicked, and Alessio’s standard message to leave a message came through the speaker. Corrado gritted his teeth, yet still left a simple message that said, “Les, call me.”
Stuffing the phone back into his pocket, Corrado navigated the halls of The League’s complex until he stood in the doorway of Dare’s office. He never understood why the man rarely closed his door, but he didn’t.
Not unless Cree was in there.
“What can I do for you, Corrado?”
Dare, with his back facing Corrado as he watched a screen on the wall showcasing a news reel, hadn’t even twitched a finger to let him know he was aware of his presence.
“Alessio arrived back from his assignment today?”
“Apparently.”
“What does that mean? Either he did, or he fucking didn’t.”
“It means yes, he was here, and no, I didn’t see him.”
“Well, where is he?”
“I’m not sure, but if he’s not picking up your calls, and he didn’t let you—”
“Try not being an asshole for five minutes.”
Dare shook his head. “Eh.”
Corrado clenched his teeth so hard his molars ached. “Dare—”
“I made a promise to Les—I would stay out of his business for you, and other personal issues. That’s what he asked, and that’s what I will do. But understand, Corrado, that if he’s taken off again because of something you did, I will cut your heart out and mail it to your father with blood still in the chambers. Do you hear me?”