PART TRUTH BEHIND PAIN
Marco POVI remember the smell of iron that night. How it hung in the air so thick, it made my throat itch. The silence after the gunshot was louder than the bang itself. Real silence. The kind that makes your ears ring and your chest go tight like you can’t breathe right.Enzo’s hands were shaking like hell. His shirt stuck to his chest, soaked in red. Not his blood... But it didn’t matter. He stood there like he’d just died too.I stood over the body. Some asshole from the viscari side — I don’t even remember his name now. I just remember his face. The surprise frozen on it. Eyes open. Still. Done.I was much older. Already knee-deep in shit I couldn’t crawl out of. And that night? That was the first time I ever saw what fear really looked like in a boy’s eyes.He dropped the gun. It clattered across the stone floor like it had burned him. I could still hear it spinning. “Marco...” His voice cracked, barely a whisper. “I–I dMESSY INVITATION Leona POV It was late in the afternoon; they had just rung bell for closing. I was tired anyways, after the long hours of teaching and students’ noises, I needed my quiet area to myself, I just wanted to go home and sleep. I quickly packed my school bag as I made my way to the garage. Noise cluttered in my head like a storm when I stepped into the garage, it was the honking of cars, noises everywhere. Immediately rain started falling, I was just steps closer to getting to where Marco driver was waiting, a man with an umbrella blocked me, covering my front, when I looked up to see who it was, I couldn’t recognize him. He had a black shady glass on, in a tailored black suit. My heart thumped hard, I quickly lifted my gaze away from him as I tried to pretend that someone wasn’t in front of me as I turned the other way to leave, walking past a couple of kids. But he immediately came to my front again, l
PART TRUTH BEHIND PAINMarco POVI remember the smell of iron that night. How it hung in the air so thick, it made my throat itch. The silence after the gunshot was louder than the bang itself. Real silence. The kind that makes your ears ring and your chest go tight like you can’t breathe right.Enzo’s hands were shaking like hell. His shirt stuck to his chest, soaked in red. Not his blood... But it didn’t matter. He stood there like he’d just died too.I stood over the body. Some asshole from the viscari side — I don’t even remember his name now. I just remember his face. The surprise frozen on it. Eyes open. Still. Done.I was much older. Already knee-deep in shit I couldn’t crawl out of. And that night? That was the first time I ever saw what fear really looked like in a boy’s eyes.He dropped the gun. It clattered across the stone floor like it had burned him. I could still hear it spinning. “Marco...” His voice cracked, barely a whisper. “I–I d
WHO AM I LIVING WITH Leona’s povI texted Marco when the driver picked me from school.Me: hey… can we talk when you get back? Please.After five mins, he replied:Marco: I’ll be late tonight, kitten. Don’t wait up.I just locked my phone and watched the traffic blur past the window. My head felt heavy.When I got home, the main door was already open. I stepped in and one of the guards was at the hallway, watching me. I looked away and walked past him. My steps echoed too loud in the house.The whole house was clean and silent as usual. Dining table looked untouched. Marco didn’t eat. Or maybe he did and cleaned up after? Doesn’t matter.The chef wasn’t around. I went to the fridge and I heated some leftover pasta. I didn’t even feel like eating and sat alone in the dining room. The walls were quiet. Like they were listening instead of echoing.I poked the food around the plate and my mind drifted, again, back to the way Marco’s father had l
ENZO RETURNSLeona’s POV I woke up tangled in warmth that didn’t feel like mine.Marco’s arm was slung around my waist, heavy, like even in sleep he didn’t want to let go. The sheets smelled like him. The night before flooded back in flashes his mouth, his voice, the way we ponded each other in thrusts.I felt... Exposed.Not just physically, but inside, too.For a moment, I didn’t move. I just lay there, staring at the clock detailing on the ceiling, listening to his breathing. Then I turned to meet his face. He looked calm making me to almost rach for his face but I refrained.But something in my chest tightened, and I couldn’t stay. I needed to understand his father and what he wanted with me but I didn’t know how. I needed to prepare for school. I gently lifted his arm, holding my breath as I slipped out from under it. My legs felt sore, shaky. His shirt was still on the floor, and I pulled it over me to cover my body. I opened the door ge
PROTECTING HERMarco povI came harder than I meant to. Like my whole damn body gave out. One second I was buried deep in her, and the next, I was falling—breathing like I’d run five miles uphill, heart slamming against my ribs like it wanted to get the hell out.And for a second, just one insane, quiet second, I let myself stay there.She was warm. Still. Soft in a way I didn't think I deserved. Her breath hitched against my neck, fingers curling around my back like she didn't wanna let go. And I... Fuck, I didn’t want to move either.But I had to.I rolled off her slowly, like if I moved too fast I’d ruin something I couldn’t fix. My chest still felt tight. Not from the sex—no, it was something else. Something heavier. I sat up on the edge of the bed, elbows on my knees, eyes staring at the damn floor like it had answers.What the fuck am I doing?Behind me, Leona shifted. The sheets rustled, and I felt her eyes. Not just looking. Searching. Like s
SEXUAL FEELINGS ENTANGLED Leona POVThe room felt colder after he left.Marco didn’t speak.Neither did I.I watched him, trying to read his face, but there wasn’t much there. He looked calm on the surface, but I’d been around him long enough now to know when he was boiling inside. And right now, his whole body was screaming tension even though he hadn’t moved. I walked down the staircase to meet him where he was still standing. I wanted to ask if he was okay, but the words got stuck somewhere in my throat. It felt like we were both frozen in that heavy silence left behind by his father.My fingers tightened a little around the edge of the couch. Something about that phone call kept echoing in my head. Tools. Playing. That wasn’t normal talk. That wasn’t someone planning a business dinner or a party.Only when I heard the low growl of an engine outside, then the subtle rumble as the car pulled away, did I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.I glanced at Marco, who st