LOGINDaisy didn’t even wait for her breathing to settle properly before she reached for her phone.The sheets were still warm beneath her, tangled around her legs, the faint scent of him lingering in the air like something that refused to leave even when she wanted it to. For a brief second, her body stayed still, caught between the aftermath of what had just happened and the reality she was already trying to run back into, but then her fingers unlocked her screen and whatever softness had tried to creep in disappeared just as quickly.“This means nothing,” she said, her eyes glued to her phone as she scrolled, her tone flat, almost rehearsed, like she had already told herself that same thing a hundred times before saying it out loud.Dante didn’t respond immediately.He remained where he was, lying back against the headboard, one arm resting behind his head as he watched her, his gaze observant, almost confused in a way he didn’t quite understand himself. There was something about the wa
~Elena~I sat on the couch long before he returned, the mug in my hands growing colder with every passing minute, though I hadn’t taken a single sip from it. My fingers wrapped around it anyway, like I needed something to hold onto, something steady in a moment where nothing inside me felt stable anymore.The house was quiet, but it wasn’t peaceful. It felt like something was ending.I had rehearsed the words in my head over and over again, trying to find a way to say them that wouldn’t sound as final as they truly were, but every version led to the same place. There was no soft way to break something that had already been stretched this thin.The door opened and I didn’t look immediately.I heard his footsteps first, familiar, and then I felt his presence before I finally lifted my head. He stood there for a second, taking me in, and I knew instantly that he could see it.He could see that this wasn’t going to be a normal conversation.“We need to talk,” I said. The words came out st
~Richard~The call connected faster than I expected.I didn’t bother with greetings this time, didn’t bother easing into it or pretending there was anything civil left between us. The moment she picked up, I spoke.“Put Julian on the phone.”There was a pause on the other end, the kind that usually came before she tried to control the conversation, but I wasn’t in the mood for it.“He doesn’t want to speak to you,” she replied, already defensive.“I didn’t ask what he wants,” I said, cutting through it cleanly. “Put him on the phone.”“You don’t get to speak to him like that,” she shot back, her voice rising slightly. “After everything that has happened, you think you can just...”“Listen carefully,” I interrupted, my grip tightening around the phone as I stepped further away from the hallway window. “If he doesn’t stop what he’s doing right now, I will have him locked up.”That stopped her and silence filled the line. “You wouldn’t dare,” she said finally, but there was less certain
~Elena~Morning light had a way of sneaking into the room before I was ready for it, soft against the curtains, spilling across the bed until it touched my face. I woke slowly, not because I wanted to, but because the warmth beside me shifted slightly and pulled me out of sleep in the gentlest way possible.Richard was still asleep.His arm was draped around my waist like he had been holding onto me even in dreams, his breathing steady, his face relaxed in a way the world rarely got to see. I stayed still for a moment longer, just watching him, letting my fingers hover before I finally let myself smile.The bulge of my stomach was more noticeable now when I turned slightly, a quiet reminder that things had changed in ways I still wasn’t fully used to. My hand moved instinctively to it, resting there for a moment as if I needed to confirm it was real.I leaned in slowly and kissed him.It was light, almost hesitant, but enough to make him stir faintly. His hand tightened around me for
~Julian~The hotel room carried a strange kind of silence. I stood by the window for a while, hands in my pockets, watching the city move below without caring that I was in it. Cars drifted through the streets like scattered thoughts, people crossed roads with heads down, and somewhere in all that movement, my name was already being chewed up and passed around like it belonged to everyone but me.I turned away from the window and checked the room again. It was neat in that impersonal way hotels always were, like no one had ever lived inside it and no one ever truly would. The chair had already been pulled to the center of the space, facing the empty armchair across from it. Matteo had been very specific about the setup when we spoke. A clean frame and controlled lighting.I sat down and leaned back slightly, stretching my arms across the chair while I waited. My phone lay on the table beside me, screen dark, notifications piling somewhere in the background I did not care to check. E
~Matteo~I did not like being told no.It wasn’t the word itself that lingered in my mind as I stepped out of the restaurant that night, Diego’s presence still hovering like an unnecessary interruption behind me, but the implication behind it, the quiet assumption that she could simply walk away from something I had already set in motion, as though stories, real stories, waited patiently for permission before becoming something bigger than the people inside them.The cool evening air in Rome met my face the moment I stepped onto the street, but it did nothing to settle the irritation sitting beneath my skin, the faint sting on my cheek from Diego’s impulsive punch a reminder not of pain, but of something far more interesting.Uncontrolled, predictable emotion.I adjusted my coat slowly, my fingers brushing over the fabric as I exhaled through my nose, replaying the moment in my head, the way Elena had looked at me, not with fear, not even with anger, but with disappointment, and someh
~Richard~“You… you are a virgin?”I slowly moved back, and she gulped hard and sat up. She closed her thighs and covered her upper body with her hands. She lowered her head and nodded as if she had been caught committing a crime.“No. No.” I shook my head, moving closer to her. “You don’t have to
~Elena~We soon finished eating, and after clearing the table, we both walked to the living room and sat on the same couch with the last bottle of wine.“You know what is so crazy? I have done that, thinking about you too,” I answered shyly, lowering my head.“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he ans
~Elena~I woke up the next morning to an empty bed. Mr. Richard was nowhere to be found, and that was okay. I knew he was going to leave very early anyway. He told me he would.I stared at the ceiling for a short while, replaying the events of the night in my head. Even though it didn’t go down the
~Elena~The car slowly came to a stop, and Julian happily alighted. He hurried to the other side of the car and opened the door. He gave me his hand, and I took it as I also alighted. I looked around again; the place didn’t look familiar.“Where are we?” I asked. He smiled and tilted his head cutel







