Not a single word was spoke between them the entire journey from the club to her apartment. Tanya's head was bursting with a jumble of thoughts, she was alternately furious, then scared, then furious again in righteous indignation. In contrast, one very specific emotion was swirling around in Ilario.

Anger.

Anger at the stupid girl with no sense of self-preservation sitting beside him. Anger at the way she jumped headfirst into a trouble she had no idea how deep it was.

Maybe in a way, it had been his fault. He never should have involved anyone in this. Especially not someone who was as naïve as they came, not someone who...

But Ilario hadn't known what else he would have done, really. It had felt like he was standing in front of an ant hill with its numerous tunnels, impossible to reach all. Just when he thought he found the entrance, another one opened up and got lost in the quagmire.

Until...

Tanya, the girl with whom Mateo was infatuated with, walked in that small conference room for her interview, with her sunny disposition and an air of self-righteousness. It was ironic that Mateo, of all people, had fallen for this girl. If she was sunshine, his brother was the long shadow of the evening.

But then they said that opposites attracted.

Besides, who was he to judge? Was he any better than his brother? Yes, Ilario did have a higher code of moral than his younger brother, but did it stretch all the way till his deepest desire? If it did, could he have taken advantage of a naïve girl's infatuation with himself, to ask her to jump into a fire she had no idea how hot it was?

As he looked sideways towards the object of all of his musings lately, Ilario was cut to the bone by the abject misery on her face. No doubt she was reliving her embarrassment at the club. He shuddered too. The management of that club was ruthless, if he weren't there, what would they have done with Tanya?

He shook his head to dispel the thought. No, he had to stop her from doing anything as foolish as this. It would be difficult given how stubborn the girl could be, he will ensure that it all ended tonight.

When she alighted from the car in front of her building, Ilario parked the car on the opposite side of the street. Then he crossed the road and took the stairs to her apartment.

Tanya was in the process of unlocking the door. She gave a little yelp when she felt someone standing behind her. She turned with a scream in her throat.

"Oh my!" She exclaimed, clutching her chest. "You gave me a fright. What are you doing here?" So surprised was she, that she forgot that she was angry with him.

"We have a lot to talk about, don't you think?" He grimly answered as he pushed past her to open the door and stride inside her apartment.

"Hey! I didn't invite you in." She entered behind her and closed the door. "You can't just barge in here." She said indignantly.

In response, Ilario raised an imperious brow. "Really? After the stunt you pulled?"

Tanya's anger returned. "Yeah that was pretty humiliating, I admit. But there was no need for you to treat me like an imbecile in front of all those people."

"Are you serious right now?" Ilario thundered, taking a menacing step towards her. "Do you know where they were taking you?"

They were still at the threshold of her house, too engrossed in each other to go past the entryway. Tanya glared back at him. She was going to thank him for saving her ass, but not when he had this attitude.

"I was handling on my own." She replied with gusto. "I was following a lead."

"A lead to what, dammit?" Ilario asked with an angry incredulousness.

"Rio, I went to see if I could locate Gurminder Chadda!"

She fully expected to ask her who she was talking about, but Ilario surprised her with a whitening of his lips.

"Where did you hear that name?" He asked, his eyes suddenly alert, the anger on his face replaced by alarm.

"Tanya, how do you know that name? Who have you been talking to?" He asked with a strange intensity, which, frankly alarmed Tanya.

"N-no one. I just found the name last night."

"Last night? How?"

"No, not last night. I meant, on Saturday night. After you dropped me home, I did a little research on the Wazisi Capitals."

She proceeded to explain the dots she had connected to arrive at the conclusion that Visconti Empires was somehow connected to Wazisi Capitals.

"I went to that club today to find out if my suspicions were correct. The last time I went, I made a friend there, Shalini. Actually, friend might not be the right word. I chatted with this waitress, and she told me that a lot of them that work for the club were from Punjab, and they are mostly from this one region. I told you about her already last time."

"You also promised last time that you won't go to that place again."