28. Luxtyn

28

LUXTYN

A fter our argument, I storm back into my room and fall backward onto my bed.

The fact he thinks he can still order me around like he owns me makes me livid. How dare he treat me like that, especially in front of his siblings. It's so damn disrespectful. I should be allowed to go and help, but he treats me like I'm some child who'll get in the way, and that infuriates me.

A knock comes through my door, and I would be inclined to think it's Matteo, but the soft taps tell me it's most likely Izzy.

"Come in," I call out as I bring myself to a seated position on the edge of my bed. If it was Matteo, I'd be telling him to fuck off.

Izzy pushes the door open, letting herself in before closing it behind her. "Are you okay?" she asks softly, the expression on her face displaying remorse.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Your brother's just an asshole. . . no offense."

She lets out a small laugh before climbing onto the bed next to me. "No offense taken. He can definitely be a dick." I let out a humorous scoff because if that isn't the statement of the century, then I don't know what is. "But I'm sorry," she continues. "This is all my fault."

I whip my head in her direction, surprised at her apology. Not understanding her apology. She must read the confusion on my face because she continues.

"The only reason that fight happened is because of me. I shouldn't have told you that he was going to speak to Enzo about your mom. I should've let him come to you instead of causing this fight." She fidgets with her fingers in her lap. She truly believes she's responsible for this.

I place my hand over hers and give it a light squeeze, attempting to stop her unease. "This is not your fault, Izzy. I appreciate you having my back and telling me when you did. You heard your brother. He wasn't planning on telling me. He was just going to lie to me." And here I thought he was the only one I could trust. The one who wouldn't ever lie to me.

"Matteo's a lot of things, but he's not a liar," Izzy says softly. "He might've not come out and told you the way he did, but he would've told you eventually. And had you called him out on it, he wouldn't have lied to your face. He would've been honest with you."

"Great, so you're sticking up for him now?" I snap, and immediately wince at my tone. She rounds her shoulders slightly, lowering her gaze. "I'm sorry, Izzy. You didn't deserve that. I'm just. . . a little tense."

"It's okay. I really am sorry, though. I should've stayed out of it."

Shaking my head, I say, "No more apologizing. I appreciate you for telling me. I truly do. Your brother just knows how to get under my skin, which is even more annoying because he hasn't even known me that long."

I flop myself down onto my back again, letting my legs dangle over the edge of the bed, and let out a long sigh. "I just wish he understood where I was coming from. It's my mom we're talking about, and he thinks it's okay to keep me in the dark. Leave me here to twiddle my damn fingers all day and night while he does whatever it is he's doing."

"I can't imagine what you're going through, but I know if I was in your position, I'd want to do everything in my power to help, too."

"It's a terrible feeling. My mom's my best friend. Whenever I've needed her, she's always there for me, whether that be teaching me how to ride a bike when I was five or teaching me how to do my makeup when I went into high school. And now I'm stuck here feeling helpless, not able to be there for her like she's always been there for me." I let out a long sigh. "I just want to help, Izzy."

A few silent moments pass between us before she gasps. "Wait a second. I might have an idea on how we can help find your mom."

I shoot up, back into a seated position. Bending my knee, I hike my leg onto the bed as I turn to face Izzy, who is mirroring my position. "Please continue."

"Now let me preface this with saying my brother is going to be furious if he finds out."

Waving her off with my hand, I encourage her to continue. "If anything, that just makes me want to see this plan of yours out even more."

She chuckles as she shakes her head. "You're lucky my brother has a soft spot for you."

"What do you mean? "

"I mean, if anyone's going to be able to pull this off and not get killed by my brother in the process, it's you. He has a soft spot for me because I'm his little sister, but you. . . you, he has a soft spot for a whole other reason. And it'll be the only protection you have in this situation."

A whole other reason.

I want to inquire more, but I'm still too frustrated with Matteo to care right now. Ignoring what she said, I shake my hand, gesturing for her to continue. "Okay, so what's this plan of yours?"

"We're going to the strip club."

"Um, okay. . . how, though? We have a guard watching us. There's no way he's going to just let us leave to go to a strip club."

"Oh, gosh no. But I do know that we can easily evade him, and by the time he realizes we're not in the penthouse anymore, we'll already be long gone and he won't have any idea where we've disappeared to."

Pulling out her phone, Izzy starts typing something. "I know just the person who can help. I'll get us to the strip club," she says, pointing to herself before pointing to me. "You take it from there." She wiggles her brows at me, and the gleam in her eye tells me we're going to be in for an interesting night.

"I take it from there," I repeat, nodding to myself while I think about what that means exactly.

Izzy's phone dings, catching my attention. A smile breaks out on her face. "Perfect! Liana's going to pick us up out front. We just need to get there, and we'll be good. Do you have a plan?"

Not really, but here goes nothing.

"Bear with me, okay? This plan could easily change once we get there, but I'm assuming Mauricio isn't going to be at the strip club by himself, so while Matteo's busy with Mauricio and the stripper"— which I don't love —"what if I talk up whoever he's with? This could be a good plan B in case Matteo's stripper doesn't pull through for him. I'm sure whoever's with Mauricio will know something ."

Izzy slowly nods as she purses her lips and thinks about my plan. It might not be the greatest, but it's the best I can come up with. I want to be useful, and if we're going to be this close to these guys, we need to get some kind of information out of them. The more hands on this, the better.

Reverting to her phone, Izzy quickly types something on it again.

She holds her phone out to me so I can see the screen. She has a website pulled up for The Ruby Lounge, displaying a flier for an amateur night for dancers. I look at her, confused. How did she know?—

"I overheard Enzo and Matteo after you stormed out of the kitchen, and they mentioned The Ruby Lounge, so I'm sure that's where they're going tonight. And you're in luck. Looks like The Ruby Lounge has their annual amateur night tonight."

I cock a brow at her. "Okay?"

Dropping her phone back into her lap, she continues. "So this is how we're going to get in. You and I are participating in amateur night, and we're going to blow the socks off whatever men Mauricio has with him. That's how we're going to get them to talk."

Oh yeah, Matteo is going to hate this plan if he catches us. A sinister grin takes over my face. Pissing him off the way he's pissed me off only makes me want to follow through with this plan even more.

"I'm in," I say. "But I don't have anything to wear. I don't even know what to wear to a strip club's amateur night."

"Already on it," she says, typing on her phone. "Also, don't worry about Matteo catching us. Liana has some wigs, so I'll ask her to bring a couple for us. After I do your makeup, even if he does see you, he won't recognize you."

I hope she's right, because the last thing I need is to have him barging in, destroying any chance I have of getting information about my mom.