Episode 18

"Sir, we lost him," reported one of the men Leandro had sent to watch Luka.

"What do you mean you lost him?" He stood up and walked towards him, gun in hand. "Didn't I tell you to watch him carefully?"

"He met with the young Emanuele, and after they finished talking, he ran off, but he entered a street where they were doing construction, so we went to look for another way in, but we couldn't find him," he explained, feeling the gun's barrel against his chin.

"That bastard again, damn it!" he complained. "Where is he?"

"He left with a girl, he didn't follow her and he didn't talk to her. But, Mr. Luka seemed to be crying, I think... I think they weren't just friends, or he wouldn't cry like that..."

"Shut your fucking mouth and find him, stop drawing stupid conclusions." The threatening voice of his boss made him lower his head and nod. "I'll go personally with Emanuele, tell Leo to have the van ready."

The employee nodded and left. Leandro returned to his desk and searched the drawers until he found the beige folder that had arrived that morning.

...----------------...

Emanuele was arriving at the building where he lived. He thought that going out with someone would get Luka out of his mind, however, after that encounter, the outing with that girl turned out to be too boring. He couldn't even pay attention to everything she was saying. He only responded by nodding and with vague words. Luka's gaze and broken voice had been hammering at his thoughts.

He let out a heavy sigh and continued walking, however, he was soon stopped by a pair of designer shoes. Looking up, his eyes met the furious gaze of the jet-black eyes.

"Mr. Leandro," he stammered. Remembering the warning and what had happened hours before, he thought he had signed his death warrant. But he hadn't looked for Luka, he didn't even call or text him for fear that his phone would be checked in the future. However, knowing the unorthodox methods he used, he knew he would not believe a word of his explanation.

"Seeing your reaction, I must assume you know why I'm here," he said, placing one of his hands on the student's shoulder. Although they were no more than five centimeters apart, Emanuele could feel a strong pressure on him. It was as if he were a prey at the mercy of his hunter.

"Don't look for him, I can assure you. We met at the entrance of the university by chance, I didn't talk to him about you or about what he told me..." Emanuele could not deny that he was sweating. While he could easily fight hand-to-hand, he was still just a country boy with a family without much wealth or power.

"Calm down, I'm not here for that," he said, confusing Emanuele. "Luka has disappeared and you're the last person who had contact with him, don't you know where he could have gone?"

"No, I have no idea... maybe Andrea knows. If I can help, I'll do whatever it takes to find him." Emanuele's face was bathed in concern. Leandro could see that his feelings were sincere, however, he was not going to allow him to find him first, after all, he wanted to take all the credit for it.

"What can you do? You better study and earn money." Leandro turned and left.

Emanuele felt important. It was true, he could do nothing more than be a nuisance. He thought about going to the police, but quickly dismissed those thoughts. Leandro was a mobster and Luka had been his secretary, he couldn't put him in the crosshairs of the law.

But he couldn't stand there and do nothing either. He turned and went to David's bar, at least he wanted some answers or clues to his whereabouts.

...----------------...

Luka was dressed in transparent clothing, a white veil on his face, and some shiny objects adorned his body. Never in his life had he thought that one day he would be humiliated in such a way. His hands and feet were shackled with a chain that bound them together. His eyes burned with rage. If he could have, there would have been more than one dead person right now.

The lewd eyes of those men, as they took pictures of him, putting his body in different positions, churned his stomach. Luckily, he hadn't eaten anything, or he would surely have vomited everything up by now.

"Take the gag off him," ordered that horrible, burly man. From the moment his employees started dressing him and taking pictures of him, he hadn't stopped rubbing his disgusting hand against his pants.

"You sons of bitches, once I get out of here, I'll kill you myself!" he shouted, as soon as they took the gag off.

The man seemed unfazed by his threats. As if his words were nothing more than a fucking circus. An arrogant smile adorned his face and his yellowed teeth appeared. Just when he couldn't look more nauseating, he managed to outdo himself.

"When you get out of here?" he questioned mockingly and disdainfully. "When you get out of here, you'll be nothing more than some millionaire's whore who'll pay handsomely for your filthy body."

The muscles in the pale body contracted. He had to escape before he was sold to God knows who. His mother or siblings, no one knew anything about him and, as he had distanced himself in recent days, he very much doubted they would start looking for him in time, they would not know of him until he had been auctioned off somewhere in the world.

"I'm not the person you're looking for," he said, his voice a thread, "I don't know who you're looking for, but it's definitely not me."

"Do you think we're idiots? We've been looking for you since the raid in the United States," the disgusting man stood up and walked over to him. "Get out, I'll talk to him in private," he ordered, sending shivers down Luka's spine.

"You're mistaking me for someone else, I have nothing to do with anything that happened abroad. I haven't even left the country!" He shouted, trying to sound strong, but, the truth was, deep down, he was trembling with fear.

"Of course, and I'm your father," he said sarcastically. "By the way, the face you have is beautiful, and your body is especially lovely." The man narrowed his eyes and licked his lips. Luka could only feel nauseous. The look he had on him and the way he was stroking his lower parts with his disgusting hand made it clear what he was thinking about him.

"Don't come near me, you son of a bitch!" Luka tried to back away, but the restraints on his limbs prevented him.

"I don't think customers will mind that their product has been used a little."

The man reached out and ran his hand down Luka's legs, licking his lips eagerly.

"Are you sure?" Luka asked, as if it didn't bother him to be touched by that bastard, however, inside, the urge to vomit was present. "Anyone would be upset if what they bought is used, especially if they pay millions for it."

"Don't try to save yourself, kid. If I want, I can say you never arrived or that there was an accident during your transfer. No one would be upset because you're missing. So cooperate if you don't want to get hurt."

...----------------...

"Do they have him?" he questioned, his voice soft and cold.

"Yes, the wizard is with him," he replied. He held out his hand and a USB stick was placed on the desk. "This arrived less than twenty minutes ago. I've checked it out and it's him, it's Luka Mancini."

He picked up the USB stick and looked at it closely. He remembered the idiot's face and his brow furrowed. "Have Elisa or Vincenzo made any moves?"

"Not at the moment. The two siblings have stayed out of it, however, the Bernocchi are the ones who are looking for the boy. Also that country boy: Emanuele? Yes, I think that's his name. He went to David's bar for information."

The slender hands clenched into a fist and the anger towards Luka grew tenfold. He still couldn't understand why they were so interested in that nobody. Although Luka had nothing to do with it, he had to be made to pay for meddling in what was his, and what better way to disguise his crime than with that filthy criminal organization.

"Keep an eye on Andrea and Emanuele. I don't want anyone interfering, and if they do, you know what to do. I'll take care of the Bernocchi."

"Yes, sir."

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