Cataleya Valentina Velez:

'Veah?' I whisper as I open the door just a little. 'In here.' I peep around the door and notice that none of the curtains are opened.

It's pitch-black, making me wonder what the hell they're up to. 'Please tell me you're not naked!' I cover my eyes, just in case the two of them decided to go wild last night.

'What are you talking about?' Neveah laughs, making me look past my fingers. I can vaguely see her laying on the bed, buried underneath a bunch of covers.

'Leon please be dressed!' I shout jokingly, swiftly walking over to the bed. 'He's not here Ley.' What?

'Why are you sitting in the dark then?' I ask before pulling the covers down just enough to see her face.

'I don't know.' She groans, pulling the covers back. I climb underneath them as well and move closer to her. 'Where's Leon?'

'I don't know.' She repeats in the same wearied voice. 'What's going on with you, I thought that you two were going to talk last night?'

She nods and takes a deep breath. 'We did.'

'But?' I ask, waiting for her to explain why she looks like she's been crying herself to sleep again.

'He wants me to stay.' She whispers, before turning to me. Tears are forming in her eyes and it's obvious that she has been crying the entire night. 'It's not like we-' 'I don't want to stay Ley. I really don't.'

Neveah has always been bad at making good decisions. She probably thought about every worse outcome to ever exist and makes decisions on that. The worse case scenarios.

'Even after what happened?' She nods and takes a shaky breath. 'That's exactly why I think it's best if we go. Before it gets worse.'

She closes her eyes for a second and it looks as if she's finally able to rest now that it's off of her chest.

Those words have been destroying her since the phone call.

'Neveah it won't-' 'I promised myself to never care about someone like this, Ley. I promised.' She sighs deeply, before opening her eyes again. A single tear escapes and rolls down her cheek.

I know who she's referring to and I think it's unfair. How can she compare Leon to Drew?

'He's different.' Her lips curl up as she nods. Deep down she knows this is not the same as with Drew, yet she continues to look at them equally.

'I know. It just-' Her breath hitches in the back of her throat, making me grab onto her before she breaks down in tears.

I don't want her to cry. I don't want her to be in pain. I just want her to make me understand.

If I understand what's going on in her mind, I'm able to help. Maybe I'll be able to talk some sense into Leonardo.

'Drew ruined my perception of love.' She mumbles and all I can do is nod.

Drew Kane did ruin her perception of love. He really did. He ruined her life. He ruined her chance of finding love again.

That asshole fucked her up in ways I didn't know was possible. They got together a week after she got back from Italy. A week after her parent's death. A week after her heartbreak over Leon.

He used her, sometimes even abused her. Every time she came to us, crying, balling her eyes out just like she did yesterday. I wanted to kill him. I still do.

I want to kill him more than I want to kill Rio. He's on top of my list.

'Remember that one night, when we got into a fight and we had to rush to the hospital?' She asks, turning towards me again. I immediately remember that night, because it was one of the worst nights ever.

It was around midnight and she came to our house, absolutely hysterical. Tears streamed down her face, just like yesterday, and she had bruises all over her body.

She told us what happened, they got into a huge fight and he threatened to kill himself. I told her to calm down because he said that all the time. He knew what effect it had on her and wanted to see her in pain.

Somehow, this time was different. He did try to kill himself. Or so he said. He said that he jumped off a bridge, which broke his legs. She felt guilty, even though it was not her fault.

He did all kinds of stuff to her just to make her stay. Neveah was soft back then, way softer than she is now, and fell for all of it. Despite the warnings. She didn't listen.

Love makes people blind, I guess.

'That was the last time I ever said I love you to someone.' I raise an eyebrow at her because that's hard to believe. She had a bunch of boyfriends after him, but those relationships didn't last longer than a week.

'So you're telling me you never fell in love with any of them?' She nods and smiles sheepishly, a little ashamed about the fact that, out of all people, Drew was the last person she loved.

'I don't want to say it to anyone ever again, because it hurts too much. I feel too helpless.'

I hate that she feels this way about love. Especially with Leonardo around. He's different than Drew, way different. He treats her right, with respect and pure love.

'Leon is not like Drew, you know that right?' She takes a deep breath and shrugs before staring at the ceiling. 'What happened last night Veah?'

'He got mad because I couldn't say it.' She whispers, wiping the tears from her cheeks. 'Even though I practically did say it, but not in those direct words.'

'What did you say exactly?' I ask since all of this is becoming a little unclear. 'He asked me if I wanted to leave, I told him that I care about him and that I was terrified that he might die, but it wasn't enough. He wants me to stay, but I can't stay.'

'You know that we don't really have any other options right?' As much as I want to help her, this can't be changed. We both know that Rio won't let us go, no matter what we want.

'I know, it's just-' Her breath hitches again, making me gently nudge her to calm down.

I want her to talk to me, but she can take her time.

'I'm afraid Leya.' She admits, making me shift a little.

Neveah doesn't have many fears. To think that she's afraid of telling a person she loves, that she loves them, is rare. Really rare. 'Of what?'

'What if he turns out to be just like Drew?' There it is again, the comparison. 'Veah, there is no way that Leonardo is going to-' 'Last night it seemed a lot like it.' What?

'He-' I can tell that she doesn't want to tell me what happened, but if he touched her or lashed out at her after all she had to endure, I'm going to fucking kill him. 'He got angry because I kissed Gabriël that night.'

I mean, I kind of understand why. He wanted her ever since he saw her, maybe even before that.

'What did he do?' I ask, trying to keep myself composed for her sake. She doesn't need to know that I'm going to talk to him about this later. 'He didn't do anything. We both said some hurtful things and I probably deserved it.' 'Stop.'

She looks at me and sighs deeply. She's doing it again. She's blaming herself just like she did with Drew.

'Don't do that.' I mumble, wrapping my arms around her so that I can hug her. Words usually don't work with her, but I just pray to god that it does this time. 'Don't blame yourself for stuff like this.'

'I broke him...' No... I know she didn't. He got so excited last night. He really wanted to talk to her. But then Rio...

Rio wanted to talk to him and dragged him to his office to do so. I bet he said something to upset him. Typical...

'I'm really scared Cataleya. And I-' Her breath hitches again, making me pull her in as close as physically possible, 'I'm scared of what might happen to me if I keep going on like this. With him.'

So he scares her... I nod and look up, straight into her teary eyes, and smile softly. 'You should get some sleep.'

She looks down at me and shakes her head. I know she doesn't want to sleep right now, she's been in bed all day again, but it's obvious that she hasn't slept that great.

'Come on Neveah, you have to rest.' I groan as I slowly crawl out of bed. She huffs but doesn't object. She's too tired to do shit.

'I'll be back later with some food, okay?' I whisper as I walk back to the door. 'Mhm.'

As soon as the door shuts behind me, I turn to the hall. Where the fuck are they?

I run through the halls, hearing the echo of my feet clashing against the ground beaming through the empty halls.

'Leonardo!' I shout, not caring about a single soul right now.

The last time I saw him was last night, but I just know he's talking to Rio somewhere in the house. 'Leonardo where the fuck are you!?'

I hear people talking in Rio's office and almost burst through the doors. The last time I did that, it didn't end well, so this time I knock and wait for someone to respond. But no one does.

I knock again, no response.

So I decide to just walk in and hope for the best. Meaning: Rio won't kill me for storming into his office.

Rafael is seated in the big leather chair behind the desk, like always, as he takes a sip of his whiskey and glances at me. His eyes pierce through me, angry like always, as he slowly lowers his glass back onto the table.

'Could you stop screaming for me, little girl? I'm right here you-' Before Leon could even finish his sentence, I smack him across the face.

It hurts like shit, but I don't care about the pain I caused myself.

His eyes grow wide from shock as he slowly turns his head back to face me. I can hear Rio trying to contain himself from bursting into laughter and keep my eyes on Leon.

'You asshole!' I shout, making him flinch just a little. 'Did you just hit me?' 'I'll do it again if you won't tell me what the fuck is going on!'

He rolls his eyes and turns to Rio, forcing me to do the same. 'That was,' He laughs, making me raise an eyebrow at him, 'Wow. Okay- Uhm. Where were we?' He asks as if I'm not even standing in the room.

'Leonardo I swear to fucking god! If you won't tell me what the fuck is going on between Neveah and you, I will fucking kill you.' Rio's eyes widen as I turn back to his cousin. He's unable to keep in his laughter and chuckles softly.

'So you're telling me that you hit me because of something going on between me and Neveah?' I nod and wait for him to explain himself, but he doesn't. He simply stares at Rio as if he'll help with this.

The only problem is, Rio doesn't seem to give a single fuck. The only thing he cares about is the fact that I hit Leon. Just like I hit him that one time. God! I want to smack him across the face again!

'We need to talk.' Leon turns back to me and sighs deeply. He knows that there's no way I'm leaving without talking to him about what happened. 'So you,' I turn to Rio and cross my arms in front of my chest, 'Get out.'

His smirk immediately disappears and is replaced by a thin line. Don't ruin your lips like that...

'What did you just say Velez?' There he is again. I wondered when I would get those bothersome comments or hearing him calling me Velez again. 'I need to talk to Leon, so get out.'

Where my confidence is coming from is problematic, but I'm not backing down this time. Not even from Rio. I need to get to the bottom of this.

'Who are you talking to Velez?' I look around as if I'm looking for someone else. 'You obviously.'

Within seconds, Rio has me pinned against the wall. How the- He was just on the other side of the room!?

I can feel his breath against my skin and stare into his eyes. His grip around my wrists is driving me insane. It's exactly like I remember, I don't know why I thought it would've changed, but it's intense. It's too much, he's too close for comfort. I'm unable to focus if he's so close to me, especially after-

'Watch your tone, Velez.' His hands hold onto my wrists tightly, making it hurt like hell. 'Or what?' I sneer, waiting for him to fucking explode.

He takes a deep breath, opens his mouth, but stops as soon as Leon jumps up from his chair. 'Let her talk to me if she wants.'

The two men stare at each other for a second, having full-on conversations without actually saying a word.

'That's not the point.' Rio huffs, turning back to me. 'I don't know who the fuck you think you are, Velez. But remember your place.' His tone sends shivers down my spine as he leans in just a bit more, almost making our lips touch.

I lean back as far as I can, even though I really want to do the opposite, and try to keep my breathing steady.

'Adriano, let the little girl go.' Neither of us move until Leon comes closer and stares at his cousin. 'Let her go.'

It takes a few seconds until Rio actually lets me go, but he doesn't step back. He simply keeps his eyes on me and breathes, making me uncomfortable as fuck.

'Let's go for a walk little girl!' Leon exclaims, before heading through the door. I blink a few times before running after him, leaving Rio standing close to a wall.

Leon is already waiting at the door for me and smiles. I just hit him across the face, yet there he is, smiling at me like a little kid.

'Did you really just hit me?' He asks, chuckling before closing the door behind us. 'Yes, I did. And I just know you deserved it.'

He nods and starts walking to the right side of the house. I've never actually walked around the house.

'What happened between you and Neveah?' I ask as I try to keep up with him. Both Curzio men have long legs, it's irritating!

His smile immediately disappears, but he knew this was coming. It's the reason I wanted to talk to him in the first place.

'What do you mean?' He asks casually, making me want to hit him again. 'You know what I'm talking about.'

'No, I really don't.' I stop walking and stare at him. He continues to take a few steps but slowly turns back to me. 'What did you say to Neveah to make her cry again?'

'So she cried...' He mumbles softly. I nod and walk closer to him.

I need to look into his eyes. Maybe I'll see something she didn't see out of anger.

'Yes, and I want to know why.' 'Maybe you should ask her about it because-' I smack him again, making him groan as he looks at me in shock. 'Why do you keep doing that?!'

'I asked you a question, Leon!' I sneer, waiting for him to answer me. 'Well, what do you want me to say!'

'How about the truth?' He takes a deep breath and tries to walk away, but I pull him back and stand in his way, blocking any way out of here.

'She has been crying the whole night! So you better fucking tell me what the fuck happened!'

His eyes widen as he takes another deep breath. 'She doesn't love me.'

Leon lowers his gaze to the ground, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

'You're insane if you think that.' I state as I step away from him just a little. 'She still wants to leave Cataleya. She doesn't love me.'

'Don't say that! She does!' He shakes his head, strongly believing that she doesn't. 'She might not have said it, but she does love you, Leon.' 'No, she doesn't.'

Before I know it, my hand clashes onto his cheek again, making him groan once more. 'Could you stop hitting me!'

'Could you stop acting like an idiot and realize that you're wrong here!'

'How am I wrong? She still wants to leave!' He screams getting angrier by the second. 'Because she's afraid!'

My words startle him. He's probably thinking about the worst things right now, but it's not what he thinks it is. 'Afraid of what?'

'You should ask her... But let me tell you one thing, Leon.' He nods, eager for me to continue, 'She loves you.'

He wants to go against me but all I have to do is simply raise my hand and he swallows his words.

'I have never seen her this concerned about anyone, and trust me, I've seen her care for a lot of people!' He takes in my words again and I watch as his lips curl up into a soft smile.

'Do not hurt her because you're too blind to see, please?' I look at him and wait for him to respond, but he doesn't. He simply stares at me for a few seconds and keeps taking those stupid deep breaths as if he's about to have a fucking panic attack.

'What should I do?' Good... That's one difference. At least he wants to do something about it. At least he wants to fix this. 'Go talk to her!'

He nods, wraps his arms around me, and twirls me through the air, before dropping me and running inside. I follow him and can't stop smiling. They're finally going to fix things...

Just as he reaches her door, someone behind us dramatically clears his throat. Not just anyone. Rafael.

'Fratello, I need you to run some errands for me.' Leon stops just as he's about to grab the doorknob and slowly turns around to face his cousin. 'It can wait-' 'No, it can not.'

Remember that I said that Drew was on top of my wish-to-kill list. Well, Rio is coming awfully close to knocking him off his throne.

'What do you want me to do?' Leon groans, making me step back a little. He's picking his work over Neveah, simply because Rio won't let him go otherwise.

'I need you to go help Marco with the shipments coming in tonight.' Rio smirks victoriously. 'Now?' 'Yes, now. You need to prepare right?'

Leon mumbles something under his breath, obviously cursing at his cousin for ruining his moment, as he walks past me, back towards the front door.

I turn back to Rio and can't help but roll my eyes at him. 'What is it now, Velez?'

'You're the biggest, most inconsiderate, self-centered asshole ever.' I snap at him, only making his smirk grow. 'Keep the compliments coming, it's marvelous.'

Talking back to him will only make him want this more. He enjoys the reaction more than anything in his life.

'Oh so now you're going to be silent, Velez?' He asks as I stride back to my room. He grabs my arm and pulls me with him, into his office. The office where he just had me pinned against the wall.

I remember the first night we got to this house. Neveah and I joked about Rio sitting in his chair, drinking all the liquor from the shelves, and complaining about everything going wrong with shipments now and then.

Now that Rio is actually here, it's different. Realer.

'You keep pushing my buttons, Velez.' He groans, locking the door behind him. I freeze and stare at him, just so he can't catch me by surprise again.

Not that I'll be able to do anything since he's stronger and faster than I'll ever be. I won't give up without a fight.

'You sent him on purpose, didn't you?' I ask, wanting to change the conversation. I want, more than anything in this world, to get the fuck out of this room. But he won't let me go that easily.

'What gave it away?' He asks, smirking again. Rio slowly steps towards me, but I stay put. I'm done stepping away from him. He stops right in front of me, our bodies inches away from each other, and I feel his breath against my neck again.

'You're so annoying.' 'Likewise.' I breathe, looking up into his bewitching eyes again.

It's the eyes. It's those stupid, bewitching eyes. If I didn't look around that night at the club, if my eyes didn't connect to his, none of this would be happening. We would probably still be interning in that lame-ass hotel, but at least we would be safe.

'Good.' He mumbles, before taking the last step.

His arm slightly brushes against mine, making me look at the exact spot they meet.

Suddenly I'm feeling like I'm back to my dream. To the dream where I wanted him to touch me in places, I've never been touched before.

'You seem a little flushed, Velez?' He whispers, slightly leaning forward so that I can almost feel his lips against my neck. Shit..

I step back- or at least try to, but he pulls me back, making my chest clash against his. 'What is it, Velez? It's not like we haven't been this close before, right?'

His voice is deep and husky, just like in my dream, and it's driving me absolutely insane. 'Please..' I breathe, instantly feeling my cheeks flush red.

His perfect lips curl up into a smirk as he leans back to look into my eyes again. 'Please what, Velez?'

'Just don't-' He raises his hand to my chin, forcing me to look up at him, 'Ruin me.'

And with those words, still slipping out of my mouth, he presses his lips against mine. The heat of it all rushes through me like a wave of cold water. Except it's not cold. It's hot.

It's steaming hot.

His arms wrap around my waist and he picks me up, placing me on top of his filled desk. I can feel a bunch of shit underneath my ass, but it doesn't matter right now.

All that matters is that our lips feel so good against each other.

He forces himself in between my legs, almost making me wrap them around his waist as his tongue slowly slides into my mouth. No, wait!

I press my hands against his chest in an attempt to keep him at bay. He sighs deeply and tries to kiss me again, but I lean back.

'What is it now, Velez?' He groans annoyed again. His hands are on my waist, sending shivers down my spine as I feel his fingers almost dig into my skin. 'Why are you doing this?'

'Because I want to.' He leans in, almost letting our lips touch again, 'And because I can.'

Before I can even answer, he forces his tongue into my mouth. I let it slide, wanting to feel the warmth of him as much as possible.

I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I've been thinking about this ever since our first kiss.

His fingers rise to the edge of my pants, tugging at the waistband, driving me absolutely insane. He lifts me up before pulling my pants down, just enough for my ass and crotch to be exposed, as he places me on the desk again.

His eyes pierce through me like daggers, but my body doesn't feel with the fear it normally does. I feel something else. Heat..

'Stop doing that.' I mumble out of breath, making him chuckle before his fingers slither to the edge of my panties. I gasp for air at his sudden touch and try to push him away, but he's too strong.

Before I know it, his hand is pressing against my folds, making me gasp for air like never before. 'You've been waiting for this, haven't you, Velez?' I roll my eyes and bury my face against his chest as I feel him slide his fingers up and down my thigh.

He hasn't entered me yet, but damn this feels good.

I grasp onto his shirt and try to keep myself composed as much as possible. The last thing I want or need is for someone to hear whatever this is.

I feel his hand run up my back, to the back of my neck. He pulls my head back, forcing me to moan out loud as I'm unable to resist the sudden movement. 'Who said you were allowed to make a sound?'

He presses his lips against mine, silencing me as he presses his fingers against my, now soaking wet, panties. I don't get why he doesn't just move my panties to the side, but this feels absolutely amazing.

His finger feels like magic as he quickens, slows down, and quickening his pace again. He knows exactly what he's doing and it's sending me over the edge.

I feel lightheaded and try to muffle myself by kissing him back, harder than ever.

Just as I'm about to feel something build up in my stomach, he pulls back and grins like the devil he is. 'Tell me how bad you want it, Velez.' What?

If he's going to make me beg, just like in my dream, I'm going to fucking explode.

'Beg me for it.' A needy groan escapes my lips and just as he's about to kiss me, someone knocks on the door.

We stare at each other before he turns to the door, giving me nothing but five seconds to compose myself.

I feel like an absolute disgrace when he opens the door and I'm barely able to keep my breathing steady.

It's Marco. He's standing in the hall and smiles at us. 'Ciao, I came for the keys since you didn't give them to me yet.'

His gaze moves to me, making me force a smile on my face as if nothing just happened here.

'Everything okay in here?' Marco asks, a little doubtingly. I nod and wait for Rio to save us out of this one, but he simply throws the keys at Marco and turns back to me. 'Everything is perfectly fine, right Velez?'

I stare into his bewitching eyes and nod, unable to say anything about the situation.

'She was just leaving, right?' Fucking asshole...

First, he pulls me into his office, then he has the audacity to kiss me again, only to leave me like a complete mess afterward!

'Fuck you.' I groan as I brush past both of them and run to my room.

I slam the door behind me and try to catch my breath as I try to analyze what just happened.

Did I really just let him touch me?