◆ MILES ◆
1 new messageFrom: Ricchar"Ignazio called to ask if I'll be there at his party tomorrow. Zio still ghosting you? My calls still can't get through"Today 01:29AMShit. He's asking again if I'd heard from Pappa. Meaning: my father's been MIA for about two days now. What the shit's he up to now?With a sigh, I curbed the painful urge to smash my useless phone onto the nightstand while the naked brunette on top of me kept stroking my hair like I was a baby she had to put to sleep.
The girl wasn't totally naked under the covers, though. Her bra still covered her heaving chest—even after she'd screwed me twice. Maybe she was a tad insecure about her rack. Or maybe she just liked to keep them on during sex.
I didn't really care—I just needed some distraction. A willing and very attractive distraction. Even though I doubted her at fir
◇ KEL ◇ [ New York ] "The new consultant's here. We're doing ward rounds all day. Please be here first thing. Dr. Z's been up our asses before I could even grab coffee." "Yeah. Okay." I held back a sigh as I stared at my long to-do list for today. It was my classmate on the other line, basically begging me to cover for her tomorrow and forget about my supposed last off-day for the month. "I'll be in before seven. Just gotta do laundry and get some sleep." "Yay! Really, thank you, Kel. See you tomorrow." "Yep. See ya." I hung up and placed my phone on the table before getting up from the dining chair. I stretched my back and limbs. All morning, the piles of laundry kept me busy while I updated my to-do list as best as I could on five hours of sleep. The dizziness eventually passed. Not to mention a dozen distracti
Valle Astra, Italy ◆ MILES ◆ She didn't block me. Yet. An hour and a half later and the sickening feeling in my gut still threatened my self-restraint. My fist had been itching to hit something since she hung up on me. All my fault. Fuck. I didn't mean to hurt her. I'd prepared that stupid speech in my head last night. I'd chosen my words carefully. And I'd apologized over and over. Still, it wasn't enough. It felt like someone stabbed me in the chest the second I heard her sniveling, just trying her best to restrain the tears while staying on the phone with me. But it's for her own good. I only did it for her. And her family. I had to push her away. Or Kel would end up dangerously tangled into my family's mess. Again. It always made me feel like shit to think that meeting me only complicated her life. But if we didn't put a stop to it now, I'd only keep hurting her, lying to her, cheating on her, disappointing her... And then I'd hate myself even more for pretending
◆ MILES ◆ "He won't even answer my texts." "Don't bother." "Did you try calling him again?" "No." Right. Fine. Clearly in no mood to talk to anyone. "You okay?" I crouched closer to my mother when she stayed motionless on the bed, the gun stuck in my back pocket now. Loaded. But the safety was still on. I almost had a heart attack barely a minute ago. Thankfully the gun hadn't been used. She was okay. For the most part she seemed fine. The reddish marks on her cheek and swollen eyes told me a different story, though. "No." "Tsk." Of course she wasn't okay. "Sorry. I should've been here earlier." "It's fine." "Sorry." I stared at her, just wa
◇ KEL ◇ After another busy day at the hospital, I went straight home after my shift. I didn't want to hang around especially after pissing off our new consultant—on his very first day of training us. Sheesh. I blamed the mind-numbing daze after that awful phone call with Miles. I went through my day feeling like a zombie on weed. Not that I liked to smoke weed. I tried it once with him and Paul, his best friend. Trippy night with lots of nausea and forgotten banters. Never tried it again. I checked my phone. Ugh. No new notifications. I told my best friend about my last conversation with Miles. I tried calling her but Gaia wouldn't answer. Probably too busy with another case. She sent a short text an hour ago, though: 1 messagefrom: Gaia"Good riddance! It's his loss. You're better off without his toxic bullshit."Today 18:24
◆ MILES ◆ "She looks knackered. Stressed." Well, "stressed" would be downplaying it, considering the things Mamma Eleana went through. For someone who'd been married to that sonuvabitch she called her husband for decades, it's impressive she's still sane. "Does she know? The things I told you and Ricchar?" "She knows enough." I glanced at Enzo as we approached the outdoor table facing my mother's beloved garden. "Why?" "Just asking," he murmured amid a shrug. He hiked up the sleeves of his dark button-down and watched Mamma from afar. She wasn't pleasantly surprised upon seeing Enzo on her doorstep, but now she's gladly cooking lunch for us in the spacious kitchen. Her idea of a distraction...apart from Enzo showing up today for a private one-on-one I scheduled. The large bulletproof windows and the nice weather gave us a clear view of the kitchen, including the dinin
◆ MILES ◆ "Permanently?" "I don't know yet. We'll see," Enzo sighed while I stared at him. Not the best liar. I was way better. And I had a few ideas why he would suddenly leave Italy for a new life in New York. Way more important reasons aside from Mykaela. Maybe he's convinced that keeping his freedom would require him to seek refuge in another country. Until the authorities gathered enough evidence to prosecute Leandro and Ignazio, including Pappa. Enough to make sure they served time in maximum security prisons only. "What does your new company do mostly?" "Pharma research for now." Enzo grinned at me briefly while checking his phone. "We have 12 scientists right now working on a universal flu vaccine. Very promising team. The chief scientist worked for Vyzerg. His partner worked for J&J." Two of the biggest pharmaceutical conglomerates in the world. H
◆ MAGNUS ◆Pressure points. Certain areas on the human body that could be manipulated to cause pain or other significant effects.I was no masseur, but in this world I lived in, using specific pressure points to deal with people from all walks of life helped me get to where I am today.Privileged. Comfortable. Somewhat influential. Running my own businesses. Free to do whatever I wanted. Whenever. Wherever possible.Growing up in a family of hardened criminals could be the major catalyst, but I wasn't one to dwell on the past. Not anymore. Most people who knew me did things for me because I helped them see their future. Not the opposite.Being a bit of a fortune-teller didn't always amuse
◆ MILES ◆ "How's the baby?" "Baby Jules is healthy, and ready to go home," Ricchar announced over the phone. "And Cloe?" "She's doing fine. Tired and bled for a few hours, but, all's good. Doc said it's normal." "Congrats." I smiled and pressed my phone onto my ear, the pinch of panic after hearing Cloe just gave birth now subsiding. At least my cousin had good news for me tonight. Good enough to distract me from the sense of imminent doom creeping into my thoughts. "Still no sign of him?" Ricchar sighed after a stretch of silence. "Don't bother." I lit a cigarette and glared at a black SUV as it snuck into the half-empty parking lot beside the nightclub. "He's prolly holing up in a beach house somewhere with his whore." "And Zia?" "Mamma's home. Resting