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"Of course, cuore mio."
"Okay." Nico closed his menu and set it aside before turning to talk to Nicky.
I was glad they were making friends. Nicky seemed like a good man for him to befriend. I knew Vinnie was.
When the waiter came, we all put in our orders. Jake also ordered a couple of bottles of wine and extra carafes of water, which I was thankful for. I didn't mind the occasional glass of wine, but I wanted to keep my wits about me the entire time we were in New York.
I'd have wine once we were back in Italy.
I started a conversation with Vinnie and Jake, talking about various businesses that we might have in common, the legal ones anyway.
When Nico tugged on my shirt, I looked down at him.
"I need to use the little boy's room," Nico said.
"Okay." I started to get up, but Nico shook his head. "You can stay and chat with the others. I'll take Stefano with me."
I didn't like it, but we were in a public place. Stefano should be enough to keep him safe. Besides, it would look strange if several of us got up and went to the bathroom at the same time.
I was trying to keep a low profile anyway.
I watched Nico and Stefano leave the room and then turned my attention back to my conversation. When the food came, I glanced toward the doorway again.
My gut twisted.
"Vinnie."
He must have seen the look on my face because he instantly became very serious. "What's wrong?"
"Nico isn't back yet." I wasn't sure how long it had been, but he should have been back by now.
"Go," he said as he stood.
The two of us rushed out of the VIP room and hurried to the bathroom. I tried to hold in my fear as I pushed open the door and stepped inside the bathroom.
"Nico?"
It was a rather large bathroom with four toilet stalls. When I didn't see anyone at the sinks, I started going through each of the stalls. When I reached the last one and pushed the door open, I almost screamed.
"Stefano!" I dropped down next to the unmoving man. Stefano's eyes were wild, darting back and forth, but not a finger moved. "Where's Nico?"
Stefano just continued to look from side to side.
My heart instantly sank.
I raced out of the bathroom and searched the hallway and then several rooms connected to said hallway, including the woman's bathroom.
There was no sign of Nico.
"They have Nico!"
I knew it.
"I think I know what's going on," Vinnie said when I hurried back into the bathroom. He was holding an empty syringe in his hands.
"Nico said his mother shot him up with something that made him paralyzed. He could feel everything, but he couldn't move a single finger."
Just like Stefano.
