{TRIGGER WARNING! EXPLICIT CONTENT! DO NOT READ IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT, THANK YOU! Otherwise, enjoy!}



North follows me down the stairs, I can feel her eyes on my back as I open the first door.

'Please!' Brooke is still shouting.

As if that will ever get her out of here.

Nico is sitting on a chair in the corner of the room, using a knife to clean his nails.

'Took you long enough.' He complains, not even looking at me as he speaks.

I can see him listening to our footsteps, and notice the shock on his face when he realizes I'm not alone. And it's not Marco that came with me today.

'What the fuck is she doing here?' He asks, looking at me.

I know he wants to keep her out of this, so do I, but she'll never stop complaining.

'Don't ask and just tell me what she told you.' Nico sighs, jumps to his feet, and throws the knife close to Brooke's feet, making me roll my eyes.

One inch more to the right and it would've sliced straight through her toe.

'She hasn't said a single thing.' North stays by the door, frowning at us, while Brooke tries to break free again.

I honestly thought she would've caved in already.

I mean, she has been holding this shit up for six days straight.

'What is she doing here?' Fucking hell...

Nico and I both turn to North, but Nico is smiling playfully.

'What did I tell you before we went down here?' She takes a deep breath and looks at Brooke, before turning back to me. 'No questions. But why did you tie her to a chair?'

Why...

Why the fuck did I take her with me? Why the fuck does she ask so many questions. Why?

'Because she's going to run off if we don't.' I wonder where Nico gets the patience from because he answers most of her questions. Especially when Marco and Brandon aren't around.

'Where is she supposed to go if you keep her locked in this room?' Another question out of her fucking mouth.

'Listen North, do you want to go back upstairs so we can continue, or are you going to shut the fuck up?' I ask, feeling my phone buzz in my back pocket.

That better be Marco with news on Adrian.

'It just doesn't make any sense, because-' I look at her one more time, and she immediately goes quiet, stepping back to the side of the room, while I grab my phone.

It was indeed Marco.

𝚆𝚎'𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢

Good. 'I think they'll be here in ten.' Nico nods and smiles at Brooke, who takes a shaky breath before she starts screaming again.

'Is that all she has been doing?' I ask, looking at Nico again.

I feel like I'm staring at Hunter if I look at Brooke too long, and I don't want to kill her just yet.

'For the past two hours, yes.' Nico groans, rubbing his temples, before moving Brooke's chair to the middle of the room.

'Please, just let me go! I don't have any information on my brother!' I grab another chair and take a seat across from her, taking her all in.

'Please Rafael, I haven't talked to him in months! Please!' She looks at me with tears in her eyes, begging me to let her go.

But I can see the realization in her eyes. She knows she won't get out of here that easily.

And that doesn't stop her from trying.

'I found out something new today and I think you can help me with filling in the gaps, alright?'

She nods desperately, letting the tears escape. 'Anything!'

'You're here for a month, but where do you normally stay?' I can hear movement behind me, but keep my eyes on those hateful blue eyes of hers. 'I usually stay in England, but it wasn't safe so they told me to keep moving.'

They? 'Who is they?' Nico asks in my stead, moving a bit closer to us.

She looks at him, flinching at his hard tone, and looks back at me. I nod, letting her know that she's allowed to answer his question, and she nods as well.

'Who is they?' Nico repeats, a little harder this time. 'The council!' She shouts, shutting her eyes in fear of getting... Hit?

I don't remember telling Nico to hit her, and I don't think he did, but she seems absolutely terrified.

And I doubt that this is the first time something like this has happened to her.

But a council.

Hunter Steel has a council...

'Who's in the council?' I ask, leaning back a little. Her eyes slowly open again, focusing on me. 'Who's in the council Brooke?'

'A bunch of old men who helped my grandfather, I don't know their names. But we don't like them and they don't like us, but they know too much.'

My phone buzzes again, but I feel like I'll ruin the moment if I look at it right now. 'Go on.'

'They make most of the decisions, even though Hunter has been going against them for a while now and they want him off the throne.' Throne...

'So you're telling me that Adrian is officially down?' She shakes her head and turns to the commotion behind the door. It's them...

'He's still- Hunter wants him around.' I nod and take it all in, trying to see if she's lying. But she's too scared to lie.

'North, go upstairs and get Kai for me.' I can hear her groan, but she starts moving. 'How long has this council been existing?' I ask, making her think about it for a second. 'Before I was born when my father was the boss.'

'And how long has that been going on?' Nico asks, not knowing when. But I do.

'When Luciano and Lorenzo Curzio killed Garret Steel.' That motherfucker.

'After they killed Cicilio and Lucrecia.' I state, making her flinch again.

She shuts her eyes again, making me want to pry them open, but I don't want to touch her.

'You wanted to see me?' Kai's annoying voice makes me want to end it all.

Just shoot everyone in the room and get this shit over with. But no.

'There's a council?' Nico asks, making Kai turn to him for a second. 'Yes, but Hunter doesn't listen to them. He never has. But they somehow keep him in check, because he knows that he'll fall if he doesn't listen to them all the time.'

I nod and wait for him to continue, but he just stops.

'What about Adrian?' North moves back to the wall, leaning against it for support.

Should I tell her that he's coming over here as well?

'Adrian and the council? They adore him because he listened to them, and he seems to be the only one to really keep Hunter in check as well.' He continues, 'They hate each other though.'

'Who does?' Brooke starts shaking her head as she hears someone else screaming upstairs. Even North looks at the door for a second.

They're here.

But I need to know who hates who.

'He doesn't care for Hunter.' Neveah scoffs and steps away from the door a bit. 'They seemed pretty fond of each other when I was there.'

'They don't like each other.' Brooke says, making all of us look at her as the first door opens. 'Brooke is the only child he cares for.'

'Do you want me to feel bad for him because he never got fatherly love?' Nico jokes, laughing at his own joke, before shaking his head in disbelief. 'He's a monster.'

I still don't know what happened between him and the Steels.

Because there's something else. Something deeper which he hasn't told me about.

'Guess we'll find out how much he cares.' I say as the last door opens and Marco and Killian drag Adrian into the room.

North's eyes widen as she tries to crawl to the other side of the room, while the others tie Adrian to one of the chairs, making sure he's tied correctly so that there's no way he'll escape.

Brandon walks into the room as well and steps next to North, trying to see if she's okay when she's obviously not.

She wants to run the fuck out of here, but at the same time, she doesn't. She wants to kill Adrian.

'What- You piece of-' Killian throws his fist against Adrian's face and steps back, almost making him drop to the ground, but the chair keeps him in place. Somehow.

Blood spills out of his mouth as he quickly looks at his daughter on the other side of the room.

And panic fills their eyes.

'I swear to god! If you hurt her, I'll fucking kill you! You better not have touched her or I'll kill everyone you know!' I can't help but laugh at his threats.

He's tied to a chair, in my basement, with his daughter in the same room, and thinks he can threaten me?

'Please! Just let us go! We have nothing do to with-' 'Brooke, don't say a word!' Adrian sneers, making Nico laugh a little.

'She already told us some pretty interesting things.' I say, stepping closer.

Adrian looks at me and I bet that if he wasn't tied up, he would've lunged at me as well.

'Now you're going to tell me where Hunter is taking Cataleya Velez.' He rolls his eyes, leans back in his chair, and smiles, 'Why would I do that?' So he knows?

'Because I would just have to say the word and my friend Nico, will kill Brooke.'

She starts squirming again and Nico starts chuckling darkly, but Adrian knows I'm not playing around.

He just wants to see how far I'll take this.

'Marco, informami.' I watch as Nico drags Brooke's chair to the corner of the room again, leaving Adrian alone in the middle, while he sneers some threats and insults our way.

'We broke his hand because he almost stabbed me and shot Killian, and Killian hit him in the head a few times, but that's it.' So that's why he has blood on his face.

And now that I know what happened to his hand, it makes a lot more sense why it looks so messed up.

'My hand is perfectly fine! You're not that strong, Barsetti!' I roll my eyes and simply press on his right hand, making him scream out of pain, before pulling back. 'Are you sure about that?'

'Go to hell, you asshole!' He grunts, trying to catch his breath.

I think Killian broke his nose...

'Tell me where they are going.' I say, counting in my head, 'The longer you take, the more pain you'll be in later. So I suggest you hurry.'

'All empty threats.' Why am I not killing him yet?

This is the guy that killed my family, and yet I allow him to breathe.

Because I need answers first.

'You have some nerve talking like that.' His head turns to the side, facing Kai, and he starts laughing. 'You have some nerve doing this after everything we've given you.'

'Tell me where they are going.' I repeat once again.

I hate repeating questions, but I'll give him one more chance.

'Go. To. Hell.'

I look at Nico and nod, making Adrian watch as he pulls a knife and presses it against Brooke's neck.

'See, I wouldn't mind cutting her throat and making you watch as she bleeds to death.' I say, walking around him as he tries to break free, groaning because of the pain he's in, 'But I feel like you would mind... A lot.'

'You have no respect, killing innocent family!' Nico chuckles and pulls back his knife, cutting her just a little, making her wince.

This is the first time he actually hurt her.

'Stop touching her!' He shouts, anger clear in his voice. I feel like, if he wasn't tied up, he could've beat some of us up with that anger.

But I would've simply shot him.

'Do not talk about respect with me, Adrian.' He looks at me again and tries to spit at me, but it barely reaches my shoe.

I remember Luciano's anger when he found out Adrian killed my mother.

'I'm going to ask you one more time, where is Hunter taking her?' Adrian looks me in the eyes and takes a deep breath, looking at Brooke, before moving his gaze to something behind me.

More someone behind me.

'She'll probably end up like you, or worse.' I turn around, facing a furious North.

I still don't know what exactly happened to her while she was with the Steels, but I do know in what state she was in when she got back.

'He wouldn't dare.' She says, taking a step forward.

I can tell she's scared, but the anger she's feeling right now obliterates that fear within seconds.

'He's sick, of course he would.' Sick? North takes another step and shakes her head. 'He's not-' 'He is bipolar!'

Oh.

North stays put, right next to me, and keeps her eyes on Adrian, ready to fucking kill him.

'That explains a lot.' Brandon mumbles, before reaching for North. But she ignores him and keeps her focus on Adrian.

'Can't get enough of me, princess?' She cringes at the sound of his voice, her lips curling up slowly.

Maybe I should let her do her thing? Not because I want her to have this moment, but because it might help with her bullshit.

And that way, Adrian's death won't directly be on my hands. But I don't think it will get that far.

I shrug, step back, and look at North.

'Go all out.' I whisper in her ear, before heading to a chair in the corner of the room.

I nudge my head towards a table filled with all kinds of stuff to torture him with.

Nico thought it would be a good idea to use it to scare Brooke a little, but she didn't seem that fazed at all.

North makes her way to the table and looks at everything for a second, before turning back to me.

'Can I really-' 'Do it before I change my mind.' Maybe I should.

Because killing him, killing Adrian Steel would mean killing Hunter's family. And it might affect Valentina while she's still with him.

Meaning we have to get her the fuck out of there before word gets to him about all of this.

'Untie him.' What? North's words make everyone frown, but she simply nods and looks at Adrian. 'Untie him.'

Marco is the first to move and cuts the rope that's keeping Adrian in place, before kicking him to the ground. 'Don't even think about it.'

Adrian chuckles and looks up at North. Something lights up in him, and I think we all know what that something is.

Lust.

He wants her.

It's making me sick.

Not because it's her, but because he's old. And if he wasn't as beat up as he is right now, he might've forced himself on her.

And she wouldn't be able to stop him. She would try because she's persistent like that, but she would eventually cave in, she would eventually break.

'Tell them to let her go.' Adrian commands, almost making me laugh.

He thinks he has some control over North, but he's wrong. Terribly wrong.

Even if she tried to let Brooke go now, I would stop her.

'Please, just let us go! We have nothing to do with Hunter!' Brooke begs, making me roll my eyes.

She might not have anything to do with Hunter, but Adrian surely does.

'Pin him to the ground.' She says as she heads back to the table to grab something.

I can't tell what she's grabbing, because I'm too focused on Adrian who tries to grab her leg to pull her back.

Everyone notices and almost everyone lunges at him, but Nico simply steps on his arm and shakes his head, making Adrian scream out of pain.

I bet they broke more than just his hand.

'You heard her.' Nico chimes, pushing Adrian to the ground like it means nothing. Marco moves to his other arm and keeps him in place, smiling as he watches North.

I'm actually curious as to what she has in mind, what she's going to do to him. I'm curious to know how dark she can get.

I've seen her kill before, the whole Gabriel thing, but I'm just curious if she can do this. With him.

Because she knows the cost. She knows that Hunter might find out and kill Valentina in return.

And that's something we can't risk.

So if she's going to kill Adrian, we need to have a way out, a way without Hunter knowing we did this.

And I think I know something.

North finally turns around with a knife in her hand, seeing if it's sharp enough for whatever she has in mind.

It is.

'This doesn't seem fair, does it, princess?' Somehow Adrian finds the energy to be sarcastic about it.

Maybe because he wants to fuck her, he wants her to continue, but it's not going to end the way he thinks it is.

'It wasn't fair when you did it, was it?' She asks, hovering the knife above his crotch. He tries to move away, but the guys keep him in place. 'Answer the question.'

If he wasn't beat up, if the others weren't there to keep him in place, she would've had another one of those panic attacks, but she's safe.

She's safe with us.

And she knows that too.

'Should I burn a letter into your skin as well?' What? I frown but stay seated.

Marco told me that there was something on her skin, but a letter? Burned in her skin? I didn't think they would go that far.

'You wouldn't dare.' She tilts her head, slowly lowering the knife until it's right on his crotch. 'Are you sure about that?'

'Get that knife a-' 'It would certainly be a waste of time.' She says, grinning devilishly as she keeps enough pressure on the knife.

If Adrian wasn't groaning the way he was, you would've heard all the other guys in the room wince.

'Don't! Please don't!' Brooke begs again, but North has set her mind on this.

She's going to cut off his dick.

'Stop.' Adrian begs, trying to move away, only making it worse for himself in the end. Because she presses the knife deeper, definitely drawing blood.

'Stop it Neveah!' He sneers, trying to lunge at her again, but the guys are still keeping him pinned to the ground.

And he's moving too much.

Idiot.

'I said stop!' She presses the knife all the way through his flesh, making him scream out of pain as she cuts through his skin, indeed cutting off his dick.

Adrian screams and screams, but Neveah simply steps back and keeps her eyes on him.

I look at Nico and Marco, who let go of Adrian and step away as well, while Brooke tries to get to her father.

He rolls around, staining the floor with his blood, and slowly stops, looking at North.

'You used bitch!' Marco stops her from lunging at him and tries to calm her down, while Killian kicks Adrian a few times. 'Please stop!' Brooke shouts.

There's so much going on at once, Brooke screaming, Adrian bleeding and getting beat up, North trying to get her hands on Adrian, while Marco and now Brandon are keeping her away from him, and Nico who looks at Adrian as if he's ready to kill him as well.

It's too much, too close, too fast.

I barely realize that North is reaching for a gun on the table and aims it at Adrian.

Marco tries to stop her by standing in her way and looking at me. 'Stop her.'

North is dark, her rage is purer than ever before, and as much as I hate her. I don't want to stop her.

Because in some way she deserves this.

Adrian did some messed up things to her, he probably assaulted her and he burned a fucking letter in her skin.

'Let her.' Marco's eyes widen and he steps closer to me, allowing North a clear shot at Adrian.

And she doesn't hesitate.

She pulls the trigger and watches as Adrian's body drops to the ground.

She shot him straight through the head.

Blood pools around his head and waist, and someone starts screaming.

Brooke. Shit.

We should've taken her out of the room and- she would've still yelled or went to get help or something.

'We should just kill her.' Killian groans, rubbing his temples. It looks like he has a headache or something. 'I agree.'

Everyone turns to me because I have to make the final decision, while Brooke continues to shout at the top of her lungs.

Even if we let her go, she'll spread the word. She'll tell everyone.

As if something flips inside North, she looks at me with fear in her eyes.

I can already tell what she wants to say.

She's innocent...

But she knows too much.

And we can't risk letting Hunter know yet. 'You can't-'

'You monster! You killed him!' Brooke shouts, tears streaming down her face as she throws all her weight forwards, almost tipping the chair over.

North will break with Brooke. Since she's innocent.

But she insisted on coming with us and she killed Adrian, so here goes nothing.

'Do it.' Nico nods, grabs one of the guns from the table, the revolver, before loading it with three bullets.

Three...

North tries to lunge at him, but I keep her close to me. Nico shoots once, in her leg first, and she screams. Brooke screams at the top of her lungs, louder than ever before.

'Stop!' North turns to me, begging me to stop, but I won't. 'Tell him to stop!'

Nico shoots again, this time in her stomach. And he quickly shoots again. Straight through her head.

I let go of North and watch as she stumbles forward, looking at the dead bodies on the floor.

Even Marco seems shocked that we did this. But I wasn't going to stop North from killing Adrian. So we had to.

'Fai una foto, and send it to me.' I'll send it to him eventually... Marco nods and looks at the bodies, looking like he's ready to take care of them like a professional.

Everyone starts moving and I head up the stairs, with North trailing behind me once again.

When we get back to the main floor, she rushes in front of me and blocks my way to my room.

'She was innocent!'

I should just go up the stairs and leave her screaming like some maniac.

But I can't stand the fact that she keeps calling everyone innocent.

And it doesn't help that Brooke actually was the only innocent one.

'So was Manuela!' I shout at North, who steps back. The tears roll down her cheeks and I can tell that she wants to say something about it, but she swallows her words and simply keeps her eyes on me.

'So was Maria. And so was my mother.' Her eyes widen for a second before she stumbles back. 'Is that why you're afraid to love someone?'

My heart stops for a second.

She can never keep her mouth shut, can she?

She always has to fuck everything up and- 'You can't expect to get things without sacrifice, now get the fuck out of my face before I shoot you.'

North stays put, keeping her eyes on me, before realizing I'm not playing around.

She walks up the stairs, probably heading to her room, as I head to the kitchen.

I need a fucking drink.

So I head to the kitchen and grab a new bottle of whatever it is they bought, before bringing it to my lips.

Another problem.

This time it's slightly my fault. Because I wanted North to somewhat get her revenge on Adrian. And simply because I wanted Adrian dead.

Because he deserved to die.

He truly did.

'Rafael,' I didn't realize Vincent entered the room, but by the looks of it, he's been trying to get my attention for a while now, 'Tristan Gretina wants to talk to you tomorrow. Don't forget about your meeting with him and please don't kill him.'

I take another sip at the bottle and realize it's empty already. Shit. 'Why would I do that?'

'I saw the others dragging Brooke and Adrian Steel from the basement to the box, so I take it that went wrong.'

I shake my head and grab a new bottle and two glasses this time, before slumping back into my chair.

'It went great.' I take another sip and turn back to Vincent.

He looks at me in total disgust, making me roll my eyes. 'Tell me why I need to make Gretina like me again?'

'Because he can get us inside that party next month.'

'Didn't Nico say that he could get us in?' It's his uncle's party for fuck's sake. I doubt it would be that hard to get us inside.

'Nico would be our last resort.' Oh god. 'Fine, just talk to me about it tomorrow.' I jump to my feet and walk towards the stairs, so that I can go to my room, but Vincent pulls me back and smiles at me as he places me back in my seat.

I'm too exhausted to respond, especially after everything that happened today.

'Anything on Nadora?' Word goes that he wants Valentina as well. But no one really knows why.

And I could ask him, Nadora isn't really an enemy of mine, but it would draw too much attention.

Attention is the last thing we need right now.

'Nothing yet, someone is cleaning behind him.' Leaving no trace. I simply nod and place all this info into my messed-up head. All of this is too much for one day.

'Thank you, Vincent.' It's North.

Of course it's her.

Vincent and North seem to be getting along just fine.

Better than fine actually.

And it's annoying the fuck out of me.

'I'll go and tuck in little Victoria.' Vincent rushes out of the room, knowing that he's the first person I'll kill if this goes downhill again, and North heads to his spot.

'You're doing it again.'

Oh god. Here we go again. She's going to complain about how bad I treat her.

'Doing what?'

'You're shutting me out again.'

'No, I'm not-' 'Yes, you are. You didn't tell me that you were planning to kill Brooke.'

'Because it's doesn't matter to you and it wasn't planned.'

She takes a deep breath, trying to find the right words to use, to get to me.

But that won't be hard for her.

I know exactly what she has to say to anger me. And deep down, she knows it too.

'It does if it-' 'You were busy with Victoria, so I thought you didn't care.' Lies.

I don't want to tell her that I wanted her to get her revenge, because that would make her think that I care. And I don't.

She looks at me, finally looking into my eyes. 'You think you killing Adrian and Brooke Steel doesn't matter to me?' She asks.

I shrug and pour myself a drink.

'Technically you killed Adrian, and Nico killed Brooke.' She rolls her eyes and watches as I empty the glass, before filling it up again.

She grabs her own glass and fills it with the Hennessy Vincent bought yesterday, slowly taking a sip.

'I'm coming with you.' No.

I know I said that I needed her, and I do. So I'm not dragging her into this. She'll only ruin the meeting, just like she did last time.

Brooke Steel was pure collateral damage.

She had nothing to do with any of this, besides the part where she's related to the person I want.

So that's why. And North will never forgive me for it.

I know she won't.

But I don't need her to forgive me.

I need her to shut up and do as I say, so we can continue with our search.

'No.' She rolls her eyes and shoves the glass back onto the table.

It's a good thing Victoria is already in bed, otherwise, she would be shouting at me right now.

'I am.' I shake my head and grin at her. 'No, you're not.'

'You can't stop me.'

I raise a brow and look at her. She's determined.

Way to determined.

'Watch me.' She scoffs and jumps to her feet. 'Are you going to lock me in my room as well?'

What? I freeze, trying to think about what she just said. How does she even-

'Marco told me what happened.' Of course, he did...

'If you would've just taken her with you, none of this would've happened.' she mumbles, walking towards the door.

That's it. The thing she shouldn't have said.

The thing that would anger me more than anything.

Bullshit...

'It's your fault, not mine.' She slowly turns around and looks at me again. 'Goodnight, Curse.'

She turns back to the door and steps into the hall. But I run after her.

No way in hell is she getting away with this.

'It's your fault!'

'How?' She turns around and glares at me, waiting for me to explain, 'How is it my fault that Cataleya got taken away, by your enemy?!'

She's shouting, not caring about the time or the fact that people are sleeping. That Victoria is sleeping. Because she's angry.

'You are her friend, you didn't tell her about your past with us, and you made Leon fall in love with you, if he didn't love you, he would've never given her away.'

She shakes her head and starts laughing. But the amusement doesn't reach her eyes. 'There you go again.'

Again. I've always told her how I felt towards her, so it's nothing new.

Sure, some things changed, but not that part.

I blame her for making Leon fall for her and I blame her for introducing Valentina to us. And I always will.

Just like I blame Valentina for making me fall for her.

'You always blame me, but you're the one who couldn't say the words back to her! You're the one that hurt her because you were too afraid to say three simple words!'

'It's not like it was easy for you either.' I sneer, hoping to hit her right where it hurts.

Leon told me all about it. He felt sorry for her, her ex must've really messed her up, but I thought it was pathetic.

Not how she couldn't say it, but how he waited for her.

Because he did. He longed for her, begged for her to say it too.

Idiot.

He was too desperate and he always will be too desperate when it comes to North.

Always.

'I hope that we get her back.' North says, glaring at me. So we can be over with all of this. 'So do I.'

'You want to get Leya back so you can be with her, but I'll make sure she won't want you back. Because you don't deserve her and you never will.'

And with those words leaving her mouth, she runs to her room, running up the stairs and slamming the door behind her.

Fucking bitch...

I wonder how anyone can stand being around her longer than an hour.

She's too annoying, too self-centered, too dramatic, too emotional when it comes to stuff like this.

An absolute pain in the ass.

I take the bottle of Hennesy and head to my own room, closing the door behind me.

I need to fuck again...

Or kill. But that doesn't seem right after all the people that have died in the past month.

God.

I take another sip and quickly undress, before laying on the bed.

My mind drifts off to places I don't want it to be, but places I long for at the same time.

Valentina...

I remember her coming to my room one day.

The sun was about to set and I decided to paint because I needed to calm down.

Marcello told me he invited Luca, but he didn't know if he was actually coming.

And I didn't tell him what happened, because it would anger him too much, so I couldn't tell him to not invite Luca.

So I needed to stay calm before everything would go to shit because of me.

Everything went to shit, but at least not because of me.

I remember painting the view from my balcony, the sky that looked red because of the setting sun.

I remember hearing the door slowly open.

Normally I needed to check who it was, but for some reason, I could feel it was her.

Because the air changed, it smelled sweeter, filled my lungs more, made my body heat up, made my heart quicken.

Because I knew what she was here for.

She wanted me.

'Watching again?' I asked, trying not to sound too annoyed.

I remember being so tense about the party.

'I wanted to check on you since you didn't come to dinner, but since you're busy-' I turned on my chair, looking at her.

She was only wearing a shirt, it looked like one of mine, and probably some shorts, or maybe no shorts at all, and god, her legs.

I wanted to mark them as my own, time and time again, leaving marks for the whole world to see, but for no one to see at the same time.

The last thing I want is for people to look at her too long, even though her pictures leaked everywhere and everyone already knew who she was, that she was with me.

'What are you really doing here, Valentina?' She shuddered at the sound of her name, just like always. And I almost grinned because of it.

'I wanted to check up on you.' There was truth in her words, but I needed more. I needed more detail.

I needed to know how she was feeling, what was on her mind, and what she needed of me. I would give it to her, pleasure-wise.

But nothing more.

I didn't want to give in back then, I honestly doubt I want to give in now, but I want to be honest with her.

It was just for the pleasure.

That's what I kept repeating to myself.

'You seemed a bit tense after speaking to Marcello.' She said after realizing I needed more detail.

I shrugged it off, placed the brush on the little table to my right, and slowly got up, watching as her eyes roamed down my chest.

'I just wanted to talk to you about that, see if you're okay and all.' I remember being so shocked by that.

Because Marcello told me that Luca might come as well. And that unnerved me because everything was going just fine, but she noticed.

Of course, she did.

'And how did you plan on checking in on me?' I always teased her. I loved the effect my words had on her.

It felt like I always left her speechless, but in a good way.

'Talking.' She said, staying right by the door. 'You had way more confidence last time.'

'You told the others you didn't want to be bothered.' I just knew Leonardo told her that.

'Yet you're here.' It wasn't a question, because I knew why she was here.

And I needed it just as much as she did.

But I was still denying it.

She nodded and kept her eyes on mine, those fucking eyes that made me go insane at night when she wouldn't sleep in my bed.

'Come closer.' Air quickly filled her lungs as she slowly stepped closer, still out of arms reach. 'Closer, Valentina.'

She took the last step and looked up at me with those perfect eyes of hers.

I can still smell her scent, sweet and honey-like. Something I thought would make me nauseous, but now has me addicted like some junk.

'Close enough?' And her lips. God.

Just thinking about it, about her, is driving me insane.

'What do you think?' Those lips curled up and she leaned forward, pulling me down for a kiss.

Something rushed through me, something warm, just like every other kiss, but different in so many ways that it was driving me insane.

If she was my addiction, it wasn't a normal addiction. Because every time felt the same, but special because it was different in the best ways possible.

I lifted her up and carried her to the bed, quickly undressing her so that I could get closer.

I enjoyed tracing my fingers down her silky thighs, dragging my fingers down her waist and lower, watching her shiver in pleasure when I pressed on her clit.

She was ready for me, but I needed to know. I needed to hear her say it again.

'Tell me.' I lined myself up with her, waiting for her to respond. 'No feelings.'

It's the only reassurance I needed. Because I needed to feel that shit again. No feelings.

And that was all I needed. I slammed myself inside of her, burying myself as deep as I could, and listened to her moans, feeling her skin against mine, her legs around my waist as she looked at me with those perfect eyes.

Perfection.

Better than perfection.

Just indescribable perfection. Holy even.

I grunted and pushed deeper inside of her, listening to her breaths, whimpers, and moans as she rocked her body with mine.

I lowered my hands to her waist to get a better aim, to get deeper, and she exploded, panting desperately for me to continue, but I wasn't going to give it to her that easily.

'Take it.' I said when I realized she tried to crawl away a bit. 'I can't' She said that from time to time when the pain got a little too much for her.

But she was always able to take it.

'Take. It.' Her eyes rolled back and she gasped for air, wrapping her legs around me tightly. Fuck.

I slammed my hips until I was buried to the hilt, keeping the same pace as before while she moaned underneath me, making the most beautiful and addicting sounds I've ever heard.

'Pl- Fuck! Please Rio!' Her voice was making it hard for me not to explode right as she spoke, because damn. Her voice is just perfect.

She's perfect.

Fucking hell...

She arched her back, leaning up, and pressed her lips against mine, allowing me no time to think as she exploded, milking my dick in the best way possible.

I kept thrusting, kept moving my hips against hers, until I came as well.

And I buried myself inside of her, feeling how she felt around my dick, hearing her gasp for air as I pulled out and dropped next to her.

Her legs were shaking like crazy and I watched as she came down from her high, with me dripping out of her.

That shit was driving me insane.

She was driving me insane.

'Fuck.' She breathed, making me chuckle softly.

I open my eyes again, noticing that a certain area has gone a little tighter than before. Fuck...

Whenever I needed to fuck someone, I would just call someone and see if they were down, but now, right now, that just feels wrong.

So I guess I have to do it myself?

I lower my underwear and start stroking, gently.

If I want this to work, I have to imagine it's a girl.

The first girl that comes to my mind is her.

Fucking Valentina...

Her tiny and soft hand, around my dick. Fuck...

Just like that one time she made me come six times, right after she found out she graduated. She was so drunk and persistent, and... I couldn't keep myself from not touching her.

'Curse we need to- Oh my god!' I quickly pull my hand away and cover myself with the blanket, almost lunging at whoever stormed in.

When I realize it's North, I climb out of bed, wrapping the blanket around my waist like some towel.

'What the fuck- were you? In here?!' She shouts as I move closer to her. 'Ever heard of knocking?'

'It's not like you ever knock!' I pull her out of my room and head to the stairs so that I can drag her to her own room, listening to her ramble about how shocked she is about what she just saw, 'Wait!' She finally pulls her arm out of my grip and stops walking.

'You better be thinking of Leya when you do that shit!' What the fuck?!

'Are you drunk or something?' I ask, a little louder than I anticipated, waking someone up.

That someone is Brandon.

He rubs his eyes as he looks at us like we're insane. 'Can you guys- It's past midnight and we have a lot to do tomorrow, go to bed.'

'Fine. I wanted to tell you that I had some thought about what you said, and you're right.' North says as she turns back to me.

I frown at her statement and watch as Brandon leans against the frame of the door.

Marco and Brandon made a deal, to never leave us alone, because we'll end up killing each other.

'What?' She nods, clearly drunk, and chuckles. 'It's all my fault this is happening. It's all my fault that Leya is with Hunter right now and all of this mess happened because of me.'

Now Brandon frowns as she nods at me. 'But I thought you said that Leya dragged you to Italy?' He asks, a little confused.

I'm just happy that she finally admitted it.

'It's still my fault.' She says, almost falling over because she's pointing at him dramatically, 'Right Curse?'

She turns to me, leaning against the wall for support.

'It is.' I look at Brandon and nudge my head towards North. 'Prenditi cura di lei.' I'm going to fucking bed...

'That's not fair!' North shouts dramatically. I roll my eyes and head back to my room, locking the door this time, and drop on the bed.

The desire to do what I was going to do, just dissolved into thin air.

But at least I got something good out of this.

North finally admitted that all of this is her fault.

And it is.

----

A/N: Sooooo... Some smut from Rafael's side of the story... I wanted to put this in here because there's no smut for a few more chapters... So yeah!

Adrian and Brooke are dead... How will Hunter react?

Also, I got banned from tiktok until December 7th (or something) so I'll be posting the chapter thingy later!

Don't forget to vote and comment if you like the story!! Thank you for all the love so far!!

I'll see you in the next chapter, have a good day!