6. Freda

"Matt, there you are! Where have you been all night? Why did you ignore my calls and messages?! Which lowly bitch got your attention?!" Freda demanded.

This was Matthias' fiancée that his grandfather arranged for him. Matthias didn't want to marry her, but to please his grandfather and family, he had to.

"Freda, what are you doing here?" Matthias spoke calmly.

Behind her, Drake appeared and gave Matthias an apologetic look. "She barged in, sir. We couldn't stop her. I'm sorry."

"What am I doing here?" She scoffed, glancing around before pinning her gaze back at Matthias.

"You were supposed to get ready for our engagement party tomorrow night. Look at you, still working! I think you want to embarrass me on purpose!" Freda raised her voice.

Matthias regarded her with contempt. He never liked her. She was haughty, selfish, pampered, and chased wealth and power. That was the reason why she agreed to this marriage. All she cared about was herself.

"Unlike you, I have a business to run and thousands of employees to manage. This engagement isn't real. Don't cross my line, Freda," Matthias warned.

Freda snorted. Her eyes then shifted to Dante, her gaze sweeping over him. Her pupils widened with interest and obvious lust.

Seeing this, Matthias had a sudden thought to bash her head on the desk.

She sashayed her hips as she walked over to Dante and casually flipped her hair. Matthias wanted to puke. Which man would think that was sexy? Maybe not him, but someone might, since Freda seemed to have no shortage of men.

"Hi, I'm Freda. My father is the chairman of the Johnson Group, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the States," she sounded like she was showing off her wealth and power.

She stuck out a hand to shake Dante's.

Drake looked as if he wanted to vomit behind her while Matthias was losing his patience. Matthias' gaze fell on Dante. What was he going to say? He felt a little wary.

Would Freda save him if she knew that he was being held hostage? No. She would only do it for money.

.....

If Dante had a chance, he would say, "Hi, I'm Dante. Younger brother to the head of the N'drangheta. I unalive people and torture them by peeling off their skin for a living."

Instead, Dante flashed her a charming smile.

"Hi, I'm Dante. Matthias'... friend," kidnapper. He wanted to say that but stopped himself at the last second. Dante took her hand and shook it, smiling charmingly.

In truth, Freda reminded Dante of Gianpaolo's trashy cheating ex-fiancée. He remembered that her name was Carly or Carla, Car-something.

"I didn't know he had such a handsome friend like you. Are you free three days from now? Do you want to come to my bachelorette party? I'll turn the engagement party's decorations into my bachelorette party since he doesn't want to come. I know I said that it was all for girls, but I can make an exception," Freda spoke in a seductive tone, her chest pushed up to showcase her cleavage to Dante.

"A party? Ooh, I like parties. Send me the address," Dante feigned interest.

Dante felt Matthias' eyes on him as they exchanged numbers. Then Freda left, making sure Dante promised to visit. She didn't mention anything to Matthias about the engagement party.

Wait, Matthias is engaged to her? So... he's not gay? Dante was secretly relieved. That proves that what happened back there was purely an accident.

"Phew..." The secretary, Drake—by the name on the lanyard hanging around his neck—released a breath.

"She's gone. Go back to what you were doing," Dante ordered.

Matthias grumpily sat back down and returned to the computer. When the computer stopped generating the search results, he rose from his seat and pointed to the screen. Dante frowned at the results. There was no one by the name of Antonio. And no one who looked like him.

It couldn't be that Antonio had undergone plastic surgery to change his face, right?

"That's all?" Dante noticed that the results weren't much.

"It'll take some time to go through all the names. I have over thousands of employees all over the country, Dante," Matthias said his name for the first time.

Dante didn't know why goosebumps crept up his skin. Or why it felt as if Matthias' deep and smooth voice with a husky undertone was like a knife sliding over butter.

"I don't know if you have managed a company before. But it's not that easy to pull names fast," Matthias said.

Dante put a scowl on his face. Matthias was right. Dante didn't know a thing about managing a corporation. In the N'drangheta, he was in charge of killing, torturing, and catching those motherfuckers who dared to screw up in the N'drangheta. He was like their enforcer.

"How long?" Dante asked.

"Three days."

Dante's eyes flickered up to Matthias' face, searching for a lie.

"Three days?"

"Yes."

"Very well then. I shall go to your fiancée's bachelorette party while waiting, and I shall explore Los Angeles. Do not try anything funny, Matthias. I have eyes watching you," Dante said, gesturing to his bodyguards.

Drake swallowed and glanced at the men in black.

Suddenly, a man rushed in and threw his arms around Matthias, hugging him tightly and punching him in the arm. On instinct, Dante almost pulled his gun out.

"There you are! You've been missing for a whole day and night! I've thought of calling the police!" the man said.

He continued to hug Matthias in a clingy way.

"I'm fine. It was all just..." Matthias' eyes flitted to Dante, who raised an eyebrow.

Dante lovingly caressed the remote control, smirking at Matthias, daring him to reveal the truth.

Matthias' throat bobbed.

"A misunderstanding," Matthias finished his sentence.

"Who's this?" The man looked at Dante.

He also noticed the bodyguards, who had obvious tattoos on their necks and hands peeking out from beneath their suits.

"I'm his master," Dante smirked, crossing the short distance to rest an arm over Matthias' shoulder.

"What?" The man looked confused.

"He's actually... my new friend," he lied.

"I didn't know you had a new friend," the man muttered, suspicion clear in his pupils.

"I got drunk and nearly got into an accident. Dante saved me. So we became quick friends," Matthias said.

Dante was surprised by how smoothly he lied.

"Dante, this is Ryan. Ryan, Dante."

Ryan's hand came in front of Dante for a handshake. He smiled.

"Nice to meet you."

Dante took his hand and shook it, smiling back. "Nice to meet you too."

"I'm a little busy here. Next week is your wedding, right?" Matthias said.

"Yeah. Bring your sister along. It's time you have some fun and de-stress," Ryan patted Matthias' shoulder.

Then he left the room, but he occasionally glanced between Matthias and Dante. Dante knew they didn't look like friends, and Ryan was suspicious. Who wouldn't?

"I'll take my leave. Don't forget what you said, Matthias," Dante flashed him a sly smile before striding out.

Once out of the office, two guards came up to Dante.

"Master Dante, you're not worried he might run?"

Dante let out an evil laugh. "No worries. Even if he runs, I'll chase him and drag him back. He can't escape me."