LOGIN꧁♡ 𝓣𝓲𝓶♡꧂ “Stop running, Micah!” My voice echoed through the house as the little menace laughed loudly while running down the stairs with one shoe on and the other missing. “I don’t wanna wear it!” he shouted back dramatically. “You said the same thing about the pants!” “Because they’re itchy!” “They are not itchy!” “Yes they are!” I heard Frank snort from the kitchen. Traitor. I glared toward the sound while still trying to chase after a six year old that somehow moved faster than grown adults. This was my life now. And honestly? I loved it. Two years ago, Frank and I had decided to stay in Italy permanently. What started as temporary peace slowly became home before either of us realized it. I resigned from the hospital back in New York, and surprisingly, I didn’t regret it. Italy felt softer. Slower. Like life here gave us permission to breathe. Frank had built a legitimate business here too, and although I knew there were still shadows of his old life hanging arou
꧁♡ 𝓣𝓲𝓶♡꧂The moment we stepped into the room, Sheila immediately wiped her tears away like they had never existed in the first place.It was honestly impressive.One second she looked like she was about to break down in the hallway and the next she had that same cold expression back on her face like emotions personally offended her.Phil noticed too.I could tell from the tiny smile that appeared on his lips before he quickly hid it behind sarcasm. Sheila walked toward the bed slowly, crossing her arms once she stopped beside him.“So,” she said flatly. “You’re still alive.”Phil looked pale as hell against the pillows, but somehow he still managed to smirk. “Disappointed?”“A little.”“Wow,” he muttered dramatically. “And here I thought you’d cry over me.”Sheila rolled her eyes instantly. “Don’t flatter yourself.”“I got shot for this relationship.”“There is no relationship.”“Cold.”She stared down at him for a second longer before muttering quietly, “You look terrible.”Phil g
꧁♡ 𝓣𝓲𝓶♡꧂“Frank.”His name left my mouth immediately the moment I saw him standing there. For one second, I genuinely thought I was hallucinating.Maybe it was the alcohol still sitting in my system. Maybe it was the panic from almost getting assaulted. Maybe my brain had simply missed him too much and decided to create him out of thin air.But no.He was real.Standing under the dim streetlights with murder written all over his face, my breath caught in my throat as I stared at him. The black coat hanging over his shoulders moved slightly with the night breeze, his expression cold enough to freeze the entire damn street.The man pinning me against the wall finally noticed him too. “Who the fu—”Frank moved before he could finish.Everything happened so fast.One second Luca was still holding me and the next Frank had grabbed him violently by the collar and slammed him against the nearby wall so hard the sound echoed.Sheila gasped nearby.Luca barely got the chance to react befor
꧁♡ 𝔉𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔨 ♡꧂The moment the doctor told me Phil was going to be fine, the tightness around my chest finally loosened.“He lost a lot of blood,” the doctor explained while adjusting his gloves, “but the bullet missed anything fatal. He’ll need rest and observation for a few days.”I exhaled slowly, dragging a hand down my face. “Thank you.”The doctor nodded once before walking away down the hallway, leaving me standing there outside the private ward with exhaustion practically hanging off my body.Everything from the last twenty four hours crashed into me all at once. Kagemoto Kazama was dead, Laura was dead, Eric was dead and Tim was somewhere in Italy probably worrying himself sick.I leaned back briefly against the wall and closed my eyes for a second.Just one second.That was all I allowed myself before pushing away and walking toward Phil’s room. The VIP ward was quiet when I stepped inside. Machines beeped softly while Phil laid against the hospital bed looking pale as hell
꧁♡ 𝔉𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔨 ♡꧂“I need to get to Tim.”The words kept leaving my mouth between breaths as I forced myself forward through the smoke. My lungs burned with every inhale, heat clawing at my skin while flames swallowed what used to be Kagemoto Kazama’s estate behind us.The bastard really meant it when he said the building was going down with him.The explosion had thrown both me and Phil across the office. I still couldn’t hear properly from the blast ringing in my ears, but adrenaline kept my body moving even when every muscle screamed at me to stop.“Move,” I coughed out while dragging Phil’s arm over my shoulder.Phil groaned beside me. “You know… this is officially the worst house visit ever.”“Shut up and walk.”“I’m trying.”Another explosion thundered somewhere deeper inside the estate, shaking the entire floor beneath us. Part of the ceiling collapsed behind us with a deafening crash, sparks and debris scattering everywhere.“Jesus Christ,” Phil muttered.Smoke filled the hallw
꧁♡ 𝓣𝓲𝓶♡꧂“Tim, stop worrying. I’m sure he’s fine.”Sheila’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts for barely two seconds before my attention drifted back to my phone again. I stared at the screen, waiting for it to light up, waiting for Frank’s name to appear, waiting for anything.Nothing.I sighed and dropped the phone onto the table for what was probably the fiftieth time that day.“At least that’s what you said thirty minutes ago,” I muttered.Sheila rolled her eyes from where she was stretched across the couch in Frank's Italy Mansion. “Because it’s still true thirty minutes later.”I rubbed a hand down my face tiredly. “You don’t know that.”“And neither do you,” she countered immediately. “If something happened to Frank, Peter would call, that man treats his phone like it’s attached to his soul.”I wanted to argue with her, but deep down I knew she was right. Peter would have said something. He wouldn’t hide it from me if things had gone wrong.At least… I hoped he wouldn’t.S
𝓣𝓲𝓶I stared at the ceiling for a long time before I finally spoke.“Thank you.”The word came out small, almost weak, but it carried everything I had been holding inside. Frank turned his head slightly and looked at me.“For what?” he asked.I swallowed and forced myself to look at him. My hear
𝓣𝓲𝓶I didn’t understand what I had done at first.The gun was still in my hand, and my arm was still raised in front of me. My finger was stiff on the trigger, and the world around me felt strangely quiet. Not peaceful quiet, but the kind of quiet that comes after something breaks and everyone i
𝓣𝓲𝓶I was lying down in the hospital bed when Eric came in.The door opened quietly, and I didn’t even need to look to know it was him. His footsteps were too familiar and too careful, he always walked like he was afraid of disturbing something fragile.I turned my head slowly.Eric stood there
꧁♡ 𝔉𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔨 ♡꧂By the time I got back into my car, the decision had already settled in my body, not in my head but somewhere lower, deeper, like a weight pressing against bone. I didn’t sit there and argue with myself. I didn’t list pros and cons or pretend there was a smarter way to handle this







