MARIO'S POVWhoever had taken that picture was gone, and fast.Shit.I didn’t wait to think. I bolted out of the club and into my car, not even checking if Leo was still inside. He could find his way home. I had bigger problems.I gripped the steering wheel tearing through the streets, drivers cursing at me when I swerved last minute. My mind was running wild.There were only two reasons anyone would take that photo:One... to send it to the press.Two... to send it to Sylvia.Both options spelled hell.By the time I got to the house, I’d nearly crashed four times. I didn’t even remember how I unlocked the door, just that the moment I stepped inside, a thick stench of alcohol hit me.My stomach dropped.There she was. Sylvia. On the couch. Unmoving. Empty bottles littered around her.I stepped in slowly.Her phone wasn’t in her hand. Good. Maybe she hadn’t seen anything yet.I crouched in front of her and studied her face. Passed out. Completely.I sighed. My chest felt tight. Tight w
Mario's POVI didn’t go back to work.Couldn’t.The air there felt too full, like it remembered what I’d done. What I hadn’t said.So I just drove.No destination, no music. Just the quiet hum of the engine and the occasional bump in the road keeping me from falling into the kind of thoughts I wasn’t ready to confront yet.I ended up parking outside Leo’s gym. Not because I planned to. I just looked up and there it was. The old red sign flickering like always, half the letters dead, the other half working overtime.I found him inside, gloves on, sweat pouring down his back as he punished a punching bag like it owed him money.“You look like shit,” he said as soon as he saw me. No hello.“Good to see you too.”He grinned and unwrapped his hands, tossing the gloves aside. “What brings you here? Mafia drama or girl drama?”I didn’t answer, just sat on the bench and rubbed the back of my neck. He took the hint.“Alright. You need a drink.”I raised a brow. “It’s not even six yet.”He grab
Mario's POV I didn't go back inside. I didn't want to.So I drove off.The drive to the cemetery was quiet. I didn’t put on music. Didn’t open the windows. Just sat behind the wheel with one hand gripping the steering and the other pressed against my mouth like that would hold back the guilt crawling up my throat.It was my fault she died.If I hadn’t dragged her into the Mafia ring, if I hadn’t fallen so deep into the shit I was trying to protect her from Vivienne would still be alive. With our baby. We'd be somewhere far from all of this. Maybe Italy. She used to say she wanted to raise our child in a town with cobblestone streets and lemon trees. I used to laugh. Tell her we were too deep in this life for fantasies.But now she was gone.And the baby was gone.And I’d replaced her with Sylvia. Like she was just… a placeholder. Fuck.When I pulled up at the cemetery gate, it was overcast. Gray clouds smeared across the sky. The kind of clouds that felt heavy, like they knew what da
MARIO'S POVThe first few days after our fight... they were manageable. Uncomfortable, yes, but manageable. I was still pissed, still bitter, but I’d made peace with the fact that we needed time. And time, we had.I kept to myself mostly, gave her the cold shoulder when she tried to be close, barely answered when she asked questions, but deep down, I was trying. Slowly. Quietly. I was trying.I'd even made a plan.After Vivienne’s posthumous birthday which was also her birthday, I was going to open my heart to her again. Try, genuinely try, to let Sylvia in. We’d talk. We’d maybe start over. I didn’t know if we’d survive it, but I owed her that much.But first... I had to visit Vivienne’s grave.I sat at the breakfast table that morning, unmoving, a bunch of flower lying limp beside my untouched bacon. My head throbbed, but not from lack of sleep, from guilt. That heavy, pressing kind that sits on your chest like a demon.The truth I’d kept from Sylvia had started to eat me alive. I k
SYLVIA'S POVThe next few days after the talk with Mario were hard, hard in a way that had nothing to do with yelling or slamming doors. He didn’t scream at me or curse or throw things like I sometimes feared he might. No. He was just… gone.He moved around the house like a ghost, silent and withdrawn, like my presence physically exhausted him. He barely looked at me. When I spoke, his responses were clipped, and most times he didn’t respond at all. The distance between us was suffocating, and still, I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t expect forgiveness. Not from him. Not so soon. Maybe not ever.But it didn’t stop it from hurting.Especially now... especially as my birthday crept closer like some monster under the bed I couldn’t escape from. I had tried so hard to pretend this year would be different. I thought maybe with Mario around, I wouldn’t have to spiral like I always did. I wouldn’t have to drown in the memories alone.But Mario wasn’t even looking at me.And I guess… that was my
SYLVIA'S POV I knew the second the words slipped out of my mouth, I’d done it.I broke him.I watched it happen, the way his face just collapsed. Like something inside him folded and didn’t bother to get back up. His eyes went dull. And my chest? It clenched so tight I thought I’d choke on my own shame.Even my heart couldn’t believe me. Couldn’t believe what I was willing to throw away.For what?"I'm sorry, Mario," I whispered, not sure if I even meant it anymore. "I know you’ve done nothing but try to make me happy. I know. But it’s still there. That feeling. That ache. No matter how much I try to push it down, it doesn’t go away."He didn’t look at me. Just stared at the floor like he was waiting for it to swallow him whole."I want to know what it feels like to choose someone. I’ve never had that. Ever. You don’t talk about it, but you bought me, Mario. That’s how this started. You didn’t pick me because I was special. I was a deal."He blinked. Once. Twice. Then slowly shook hi