The three of them arrived downstairs.
Luke and Luca were at the lobby, waiting for them.
The moment they appeared, Luca nodded before turning around and walking out of the hotel entrance.
Luke walked toward Marcos and Kastov. He was not surprised to see that only Marcos and Kastov came. He immediately said,
"Let's go. I have a good bottle of red wine waiting for us at home."
He immediately felt more lax being around Marcos now that Ethan wasn't around.
The two of them no longer had a reserved partnership, they treated each other like friends instead. They were more at ease with
each other now.
They left the hotel together.
Jason, Marcos, and Kastov got into Lliam's car. After all, Marcos were not silly enough to enter the same car as Luke and Luca.
He would just be a third wheel.
He took the initiative to sit in the passenger seat, leaving the back seat for the two of them.
Luke's car was ahead of them, and Lliam followed behind.
An hour later, they arrived at Luke's villa.
When Aunt Neile heard the noises coming from the garden, she brought out the wine and finger foods she had prepared. Then,
she stood at the foyer, waiting for them to come in.
Luke and Luca were the first to come in.
Aunt Neile greeted them politely, "Welcome home, Mr. Crawford, Ms. Craw."
"We have two guests," said Luke, reminding Aunt Neile. Jason had left after dropping them off.
He had some other work to attend to.
"Okay, sir," nodded Aunt Neile, taking out two pairs of disposable men's slippers out of the shoe cabinet.
While Luca did not mention the gender of her guests, she nevertheless told Aunt Neile to prepare wine. Therefore, judging from
her past experience, she reckoned that the guests Luke were bringing home were most likely men.
Sure enough, Aunt Neile was a bit stunned when she saw Marcos and Kastov walk in. Another foreigner...
She could not understand any foreign language!
"Aunt Neile, you may leave." nodded Luca, noticing Aunt Neile's difficulties.
"Okay. Mr. Crawford, Ms. Craw, I'll be in the kitchen. Let me know if you need anything." Aunt Neile bowed to Marcos and Kastov
before turning to leave silently as she could not speak their language.
Luke explained to them, "My maid can't understand foreign languages."
"She's very polite." commented Marcos as he noticed the disposable slippers. He took off his shoes and put on the slippers.
Kastov followed suit and slid on his slippers.
"Come in," invited Luke.
They walked into the living room.
Marcos caught a whiff of the rich aroma of red wine as soon as he walked in. He had a playful glint in his eyes, "Mr. Crawford, it
looks like you've really prepared some fine wine."
"Hmm, it is good wine. It was a gift from a vineyard in France when I was on a business trip there a few years ago. I've been
saving it until now," smiled Luke. Before leaving to pick up them from the airport, he had asked what type of wine Luca had
chosen.
After making sure it was the right choice, only then did he set off.
Kastov could not help but let out a sigh as he watched the red wine being poured into a decanter. "It seems like I made the right
choice to come to A City this time. This one's better than all the wine in your vineyard."
Kastov was referring to Marcos.
Marcos chuckled and shook his head helplessly.
It was true that he did not have any bottles of good wine left in his vineyard. None that could parallel Luke's bottle anyway.
Someone who was well acquainted with wine would've immediately noticed the quality of the wine just from the aroma alone.
It was not like his vineyard did not have good wine. All the good ones had been taken away by Matysh.
Matysh justified his actions by saying that Marcos' money was the family's money. Therefore, the wine Marcos had stored also
belonged to them.
Matysh was also a wine connoisseur, which explains his choice to steal all the red wine.
Matysh, who was now being held in the detention center in A City, crossed Marcos' mind. He could not help but feel satisfied and
relieved.
Matysh has not been able to sleep with women, drink alcohol, or smoke cigars for some time now. He wondered if Matysh was
struggling with nicotine and alcohol withdrawals in prison.
He remembered what had been stated in the document, what he had done to his mother back then. Marcos felt a chill run down
his spine, realizing that if the allegations were true, Matysh's imprisonment in A City's prison might not be enough of a
punishment for him.
"Please, take a seat," Luke gestured towards the leather sofa.
Marcos and Kastov sat.
Luca stood aside. She understood that they were about to discuss important matters. She did not want to be a hindrance, so she
said, "Mr. Marcos, Mr. Kastov, I'm leaving as I have some matters to attend to. I hope you enjoy your drinks today."
Marcos nodded, not bothering to stop her.
He knew that Luke would want to discuss matters that were related to Luca.
However, everything was still uncertain, and he would not want to reveal too much to her just yet.
With Marcos' approval, Luca turned around and made her way up the stairs.
Luke kept silent and leaned forward to pour glasses of red wine for Marcos and Kastov before pouring one for himself.
"Cheers, gentlemen," said Luke as he raised his glass.
As clinking their glasses, they each took a sip of the red wine, savoring its rich flavors.
Luke slowly set down his wine glass, the information he wanted to show Marcos was already in the drawer of the coffee table.
Luke opened the drawer and took the folder out.
Marcos knew it was something Luke wanted to hand over to him. As Luke reached for it, he lifted his hand to stop Luke.
Luke halted his movement and watched as Marcos pulled out his phone from his pocket and shut it off.
Kastov asked, "Do I need to turn off my phone too?"
"It's okay. They won't keep an eye on you," replied Marcos. He did this only to avoid the risk of his phone being wiretapped.
Marcos was in A City to search for his mother, but he kept it a secret from his family.
Otherwise, he would not have been able to return to A City again.
If his family knew his true intentions, they would definitely disagree and try to stop him.
They did not want their past to be exposed...
Kastov shrugged his shoulders and turned off his phone as well since he was not waiting for any important phone calls or
messages. "It'd be better to stay alert. I don't want to risk exposing your matters.”
Kastov and Marcos had been friends for many years, but few others knew of their relationship.
Kastov specialized in dealing with troubles for others. He did not share Marcos's family's philosophy. Hence, even though they
were good friends, they were cautious and went unnoticed by others.
Kastov did not want to bring trouble to Marcos. He did not want Marcos' family to come looking for trouble either.
With both their phones off, Luke handed the folder to Marcos.
Knowing that Marcos was being monitored by his family, they had avoided saying too much online.
They only briefly talked about it when Marcos made sure that it was safe for them to do so. The details were all in this folder.