"Lexi are you sure about this? Why don't I just take you home right now and have your car brought home later?" Marc asked when I had told him to dropped me back at the restaurant. "You might want Dr. Lee taking a look at you too."

"No, its okay Marc. I'm fine, I'll be fine. I also need to get my stuff from my bag as well." I told him.

"I am staying with you though to make sure nothing else goes wrong." Marc said. "Dominic is already at the restaurant that is why I suggested taking you straight home. He would have arranged for one of the guys to deliver it."

"I need to go back to the restaurant Marc. I don't know what is really going on but I was targeted once again today. I can't trust anyone Dominic has right now either. I don't mean you obviously but since we're actually nearby the restaurant anyway. Just bring me back there." I said.

I had no idea how I had been that lucky. I thought that I would have been dead when I saw Cole stood above me with his gun pointed directly at me. But I guess it just wasn't my time. I remembered that day when I had gotten mad at Marc and asked him if he was stalking me when he said he knew I was seeing Gio. He had reassured me that he was stalking me but was actually making sure I was alright. Even though he wasn't exactly stalking, I was actually grateful for whatever it was that he was doing.

Marc had apparently decided to stopped by the restaurant earlier and the second he had exited his car, he had seen when the car Cole and Tank had kidnapped me in, sped away from the parking lot. He had suspected that something was wrong but confirmed it when he went inside and Derek told him that I had just left. Since my car was still in the parking lot, he had figured out that I was taken and had rushed to followed the car. When he had arrived at the scene and saw the parked car and Tank's body, he knew that I had somehow gotten away but that I was still in trouble. The sounds of gunshot which came from the woods confirmed everything and that had him rushing through the woods as well to rescued me. He said that he was worried that he had been too late when he heard the shots stopped and actually saw the back of Cole as he stood above me. It was then he had fired those shot which hit Cole right in the back of his head. I couldn't explained just how grateful I was that he had actually stopped by the restaurant then showed up when he did.

When I reached back at the restaurant I was greeted by Dominic who waited impatiently at my car. I gave him a brief run down of what had happened and how fortunate I had been that Marc had showed up. I was about to get into my car when I saw Gio's car drove up into the parking lot.

"Oh my God. Its Gio." I said to Marc and Dominic who was still by my car. "I can't deal with him now,".

"Don't worry we,ll be over there." Marc said as he walked off along with Dominic.

Gio's car finally reached mine then stopped right beside mine. I quickly smooth my hair down and flipped it over the side of my face in hopes that it would hid the small bruises that had started to formed due to being slapped twice earlier and banging my head against the car door.

"Lexi," Gio said as he came out of his car.

I noticed Lucas had came along as well as he opened the other door and stand there as he looked at us over the top of the car.

"Gio, hey." I gave him a smile even though my face and head hurt.

"What are you doing here?"

"I just came to check up on you, I missed you." Gio sighed.

"Really? That's so sweet." I smiled and placed my hand on his cheek.

"So are you okay?" Gio looked at me closely.

I lowered my head in case he took noticed of  my face that I knew probably had bruise  imprinted.

"Yeah I'm great," I smiled. "So what is he doing here?".

"Who Lucas? I gave him a ride." Gio chuckled. "And maybe he wanted to say hi as well."

"Hey Lukie." I chuckled then waved to Lucas.

"Hi Lexi." he rolled his eyes.

Lucas hadn't been as hostile towards me as before so I believed that he was eventually warming up to the idea of  Gio and I being together. I wasn't even sure why he had been so cold towards me in the first place. I found it hard to believed that it was only because he had caught me upstairs the club that first night. However, I had noticed that he seemed as if he was coming around. I had started to called him Lukie as a nickname which I found out he hated, so I continued just to get to him.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Gio asked once again, obviously concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just having a bit of... ladies' issue." I said to him.

I had noticed his confused face so I added, "Menstrual cramps. I just need to get home to take care of that."

I needed to get rid of Gio and Lucas as soon as possible before anyone of them had noticed my face.

"Alright then, I guess I should let you go then. Let me know when you're feeling better okay?" Gio leaned down and kissed my lips. "I'll call you later."

"Okay, bye." I smiled and gave him a wave as he went back into his car and drove off.

Marc came back from where he had went. Dominic also exited his car which he had went into after Gio had showed up. By the look on his face I knew he had seen everything that had happened between Gio and I.

"What the hell was that?" He asked as soon as he reached me.

'Crap.' I thought to myself.

"He just wanted to check upon me to see if I was fine." I sighed.

"And he kissed you?"

"Yeah about that... Were kind of seeing each other?" I told him sheepishly.

I really didn't have the time for his anger or lecture anymore after the afternoon I had.

"What the hell Lexi?! The guy we suspected to be an enemy?" Dominic asked angrily. "When did that happened?"

"I know, I know. But we don't know that for sure. Anyway I'm only trying to figure things out by getting close to him. Remember you asked me to help in figuring things out? Don't worry." I said to him.

I really wanted to be done with the conversation so that I could have went home, took a nice shower popped two painkillers then sleep.

"Why did he just want to stop by all of a sudden minutes after you were taken, and trying to figure out if you were okay?" Marc asked curiously.

"I don't know okay," I groaned. "He does that sometimes. Right now I really just want to go home, have a shower, take some painkillers then sleep it off. Please, I'm really not up for this."

"Alright. Move around the other side I'll drive you home." Marc said.

Even though Marc had his car there at the restaurant I had decided that I was not going to argue. I was already exhausted from what had happened earlier, so I just moved around to the passenger side and got in without arguing.

~|~|~|~

Giovanni's POV

I was sitting in a meeting with a potential client who had wanted to do business with me when my phone rang. I had considered letting it go to voicemail but I was almost finished with my meeting and decided to answer in case it was someone important. One missed call on my phone could mean something went wrong.

"Excuse me a minute Mr.Blake, I have to take this." I said to the guy who sat in front of me as I got up and took out my phone.

The call was from an unknown number but I answered anyway. I swiped the screen then put it to my ear.

"Cavelli, we've got your little bitch." I heard the voice on the other side. "If you want to see her again, you'll do exactly as I say."

"Who the f%*# is this?" I growled into the phone.

"Don't worry, she'll be great asset to us." the person laughed then hung up.

Lucas who was also there with us perked up from my sudden change of attitude.

"Mr.Blake, it is nice doing business with you. I'll contact you to discuss things further, right now I have a little emergency." I went and shook his hand.

"Looking forward to it." Mr. Blake replied as he shook my hand then left.

"What was that?" Lucas asked the minute Blake had left.

"I'm not sure but the person said they've got my little bitch and she'll be a great asset to them..."

"Lexi?" Lucas asked.

"I guess they were probably referring to her, she's the only female I'm currently involved with."

"We need to track that cellphone then." Lucas responded urgently.

"We can't, the call was made from a blocked number. I'll just have to call Lexi and see if she replies, if not we'll have to track her phone in case she still has it on her."

I dialled Lexi's number but her phone rang a few times then went straight to voicemail. I tried three more times but it was the same thing, no reply.

"Track her number." I said to Lucas as I pushed the phone in his hand.

It took nearly thirty minutes before we were able to tracked Lexi's phone because the signal was being blocked.

"It says she's at her restaurant." Lucas said to me.

"Well why didn't I think of that?" I said sarcastically. "We need to check there first."

I got in my car and Lucas got in as well as I drove in the direction of Lexi's restaurant. I had made sure that I had two guns secured in my waist under my jacket because if Lexi was indeed taken and I had caught whoever it was who did it, they were going to wish that they'd never entered into this world.

Within minutes I was at Lexi's restaurant and pulled into the park lot.

"Isn't that Lexi by her car?" Lucas asked confused.

"Yeah..." I responded.

"But if she's here, who was that person referring to then? Or was that a distraction of some sort?"
Lucas asked.

I drove up to Lexi's car then got out. I was so glad to know that she was safe but I couldn't really act too overjoyed to see her in case I looked weird or suspicious.

"Lexi," I said as I got out of the car.

I was relieved to see that she was there and safe.

"Gio, hey," she smiled at me. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to check up on you, I missed you." I sighed as I neared her.

I had to used that excuse as a cover story.

"Really? That's so sweet." she smiled then placed her hand on my cheek.

"So are you okay?" I asked as I looked at her closely.

Her face looked a bit flushed but otherwise from that she seemed fine to me.

"Yeah I'm good." she smiled then looked over at Lucas. "So what is he doing here?".

"Who Lucas? I gave him a ride." I chuckled. I couldn't tell her that we came to checked if she was there at her restaurant first in case we indeed needed to rescued her. 

"And maybe he wanted to say hi as well."

"Hey Lukie." Lexi chuckled and waved to Lucas.

"Hi Lexi." he replied as he rolled his eyes.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked once again, I was really concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just having a bit of ladies' issue." she said to me.

I was confused by what she meant but she must've noticed my confused face because she added, "Menstrual cramps. I just need to get home to take care of that."

I could tell that she was either lying or she was trying to hide something from me because she was obviously trying to get rid of me quickly.

"Alright then, I guess I should let you go then. Let me know when you're feeling better okay?" I leaned down and kissed her lips. "I'll call you later."

"Okay, bye." she smiled as she waved at me.

I turned then went back into my car and drove off.

"She's hiding something. I'm just not sure what." I had said to Lucas.

"It doesn't make sense. You got that call saying she was taken yet here she is unharmed." Lucas responded, "Unless that call was some form of game."

" I dont know but I will figure it out. I'm going to have someone keep an eye on her from now on to make sure that no one tries to hurt her. But for now I'm just going tail her to make sure she gets home okay."

"I'll call Josh and Ron let them know you have a job for them." Lucas replied as he took out his phone.

I followed Lexi's car as soon as she left the restaurant but I had made sure that I stayed at a distance behind the other vehicles on the road so that she wouldn't noticed that she was being followed. That would have been way too creepy and seemed stalker-ish. It would have no doubt had her freaked out.  I followed until her car reached a yard and drove in through the gate. I stopped a distance from there but could still see her car.

The driver's door opened but instead of Lexi coming out there it was a guy. The passenger door opened and Lexi came out as well. Both she and the guy walked up to the front door of the house obviously talking. Lexi rubbed her forehead and the guy stopped her as he put a hand on her shoulder. He tilted her head up and brushed his fingers over her forehead before they both proceeded inside the house.

"Well, there's your answer. She's probably cheating on you, that's why she was trying to get rid of you so fast." Lucas gestured to what we had just witnessed.

"I don't believed this," I said. "Still something doesn't quite add up. Lucas I'm not as pessimistic as you, therefore I won't jumped to any conclusions before I have things cleared up. Lexi mentioned that she had a brother, I can't say that is not her brother unless she tells me otherwise.  But about that call earlier, things still don't add up. And even though I doubt it, cheating or not I still need to make sure that no harm comes to her because of me."

"I warned you about something like this before." Lucas said.

"Shut up." I said to him as I started the car once more drove off.

Usually something like that wouldn't have caused me to budged before but for some reason when it came on to Lexi, all my sense of reasoning about what is right or wrong seemed to be dead. Seeing her with that guy as well, somehow made me uneasy even though I had refused to admit it to Lucas and it made me realised that I had became very possessive of her.

That call earlier had definitely sparked something within me. I had sworn that I was going to make sure that no harm came to Lexi while I was still alive. I was intended to made sure that if she had any other guy in her life who was interested in her the way I was, that she would got rid of that guy. I was determined to make sure that she knew that she was mine and only mine.