All Chapters of Between Desire and Ruin: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Dante stood at the end of the long table, sleeves rolled, tablet in hand. The studio lights were dimmed to evening mode, the city outside reduced to a scatter of gold and white. Ethan sat opposite him with his notebook open, pencil poised, spine straight in the way it got when he was bracing for impact.Dante swiped through the drawings.Your load distribution here is inefficient, he said, voice even. You’ve overcorrected.Ethan nodded. I thought compensating for the cantileverYou thought wrong.The words landed harder than intended. Dante felt it immediately, a faint jolt in his chest, but he didn’t stop.This junction is sloppy, he continued, tapping the screen. And the material transition lacks discipline. You’re letting aesthetics override logic.Ethan’s pencil stilled. I was trying to balance both.That’s the excuse people use when they don’t commit to either.Silence rippled outward.Across the table, Ethan inhaled quietly. Understood.Dante frowned at the screen, at the lines

The rumors didn’t arrive loudly. They seeped in through side glances and half finished sentences, through conversations that stopped when Ethan entered the room and resumed once he left. They threaded themselves into the quiet spaces between emails, into the way people suddenly became careful with their words around him.By Wednesday, the studio felt different.Ethan noticed it first in the break room. Two associates fell silent as soon as he reached for a mug. One of them offered a smile that didn’t quite land.Hey, she said. Long week, huh?Feels like it, Ethan replied.They left moments later, coffee untouched.At his desk, Ethan put his headphones on without turning anything on. It was easier than pretending he didn’t hear the whispers drifting between drafting tables.They don’t even talk anymore. I heard Dante iced him out after the council presentation.No, I heard Ethan tried to jump ship and got caught.The words dissolved into the hum of printers and keyboard clicks, but th

The next morning an invitation arrived for Ethan, Coffee? No strings attached. He stared at the message longer than necessary, thumb hovering over the screen. Leo Vale’s name glowed back at him, as if it knew he would eventually look.He told himself it was professional. That clarity was overdue, that staying confused helped no one—least of all him.Still, guilt threaded through the thought, sharp and unwelcome.Dante’s face rose unbidden in his mind: the shuttered expression, the distance worn like armor, the way his voice had tightened when Luca’s name entered the room.Ethan exhaled slowly and typed a reply.Coffee sounds fine.The response came almost immediately.Tomorrow morning?Ethan agreed before he could second guess himself.The cafe was warm and understated, all pale wood and soft light, the kind of place designed to feel neutral and safe. Leo Vale was already there when Ethan arrived, standing as if he’d just stepped aside moments ago rather than waiting.Ethan, Leo sai

City Hall had never felt so unforgiving. The chamber was all stone and symmetry, built to amplify authority and expose weakness in equal measure. Light filtered in through tall windows, pale and cool, settling over the long table where the council members sat in quiet judgment. Their expressions were polite, unreadable—professionally neutral in the way that made every pause feel deliberate.Dante stood at the podium.Ethan sat several feet behind him, hands clasped loosely in his lap, heart beating a little too fast. He told himself it was just nerves by proximity, residual tension from everything unsaid between them. He told himself Dante didn’t need him. Dante never needed anyone.The presentation began smoothly enough. Dante’s voice was steady, measured, familiar. He guided them through the opening slides with practiced ease—context, scope, intent. The words were precise, confident.Then came the questions.A councilwoman leaned forward slightly. Can you elaborate on how the revis

Dante took a deep breath. His chest ached with the weight of everything he wanted to say. He had promised himself he wouldn’t do this, that he wouldn’t cross the line, but here he was, standing on the edge of something irreversible.“You matter to me,” Dante said. More than you probably realize. When you walk into a room, everything shifts. You make things better just by being there. And I…. His voice wavered. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about anyone before.Ethan’s eyes widened slightly. “Dante…”Dante lifted a hand, as if to stop him. Let me finish. Please. I’m not asking for anything. I just need you to know that what we have—it’s not just professional for me. It hasn’t been for a long time.Silence fell between them, thick and heavy. Ethan stared at Dante as if he were seeing him for the first time, as if the carefully constructed walls between them had cracked just enough to reveal something vulnerable underneath.Dante felt panic flare. He was going too far. He was ab