Victoria smiles at me while I rub on one of Night's paws. We took the cat since Victoria is basically in love with her.

I am too if I'm being honest.

'Neveah!?' I don't even turn to the door as Brandon storms into my room, watching as Night is ready to run away from the bed.

I grab her and make sure she calms down again, before looking up at Brandon. 'Shouldn't you be sleeping?'

I playfully roll my eyes and look back at Night. 'How could I be sleeping, if you're bursting through the door and yelling my name?'

Brandon walks over to the bed and jumps on my legs, making me groan since I was laying so comfortably.

'You were up before that.' Victoria mumbles, looking at me with a frown. I sigh as I nod and keep my eyes on Night, feeling Brandon's eyes trying to drill through my skull.

'And why was she up already? Because last time I checked, Rio told her to take a nap.'

'Does it matter?' I wish I could lock myself up with this cute little kitty. 'She had a nightmare.'

Victoria... 'I did not.'

'You were scared when you woke up, that's what nightmares do, right?' Right...

'That is true.' Brandon chimes, smiling at her. 'I brought her Night so she wouldn't be so scared.'

'And that's why we were laying in bed in silence, it was amazing.' I say, looking at Brandon with a smile on my face. 'So instead of bombing me with questions, how about you let us hang in silence again?'

'Fuck no bitch, you're going to tell me about that dream.' He insists, basically pulling Night out of my hands. 'Victoria, can you give us a minute?'

She grabs Night and rushes out of the room as if she'll die otherwise.

'Brandon, I'm really not in-' He hugs me tightly and for a second I don't know what to do.

We haven't hugged in a while, but I definitely needed this.

'What did we say about keeping things bottled up?' I can't help but sigh as we both lie down on the bed. 'It's bad for your mental health, I know.'

He looks my way and smiles, silently pressuring me into telling him what that stupid dream was about.

I already told Victoria, but I doubt she could understand a thing, so I might as well tell Brandon, right?

'I dreamt that they send Leya's head to us on her birthday as some kind of sick joke or something.' I start, feeling nauseous again.

Brandon stays silent, his face as neutral as before.

'I decided to take myself out of the picture, since I won't be of use anymore, right?'

'I have no clue what you're talking about, but go on.' Despite wanting to sound confident and unfazed by my dream, I can hear the worry in his voice.

'After a day or two, I get a call from Celine.' I continue, trying to shake off the fear creeping back up.

It was just a dream, but it felt so real.

'She told me to watch my back and you screamed something about not letting anyone in the house from her side of the line.' I can't help but smile a little at the memory.

At least that way I'll be able to ignore the fear for just a few seconds.

'I kept asking why and you guys said you weren't even allowed to tell me, but you did anyway.' Brandon smiles at me and I can't help but smile back at him.

'And why would we possibly be that vague?'

'Rio wanted me dead and he put out a hunt for me.' This time, Brandon doesn't even try to conceal his reaction, as he frowns at me. 'What?'

'Tiago was dead and Rio blamed me.'

Brandon's frown only deepens as I keep adding to the story. 'I think you missed a few steps.'

'He killed himself because I left, Brandon.' I say, feeling like I'm stabbing myself in the heart as I say it out loud, 'and Rio blamed me so he wanted me gone as well.'

'Go on.' He mumbles, taking in everything I said so far. 'He chased me through my house and stabbed me to death, that's when I woke up.'

'You know that Leya is still alive right?'

'How do we know that though?' I sit up straight and look him dead in the eyes. 'The last time we heard a thing from her was hours ago, what if they killed her and-' 'Kai said that she's still alive, and we trust Kai.'

'Do we though?' I know he did his best to convince us, to show us that he's on our side. But he did that the last time as well. And look where that got us...

'We do. Remember you talked to Leya thanks to him.'

'She wouldn't have been with Hunter if it wasn't because of him.' He sighs deeply and sits up as well. 'He's really trying to make it up to us. Anything else about that fake dream of yours?'

'Tiago wouldn't kill himself if I left, right?'

Since Brandon stays silent, since he won't answer my question right away and tries to avoid my gaze, my heart starts pounding like crazy. 'Brandon?'

'I honestly wouldn't put it past him, he's too obsessed.' Oh god... No.

'Wouldn't he try and persuade me first?' I notice Brandon's lips curling up into a smirk. 'Do you want him to convince you to stay?'

'I want him to try rather than him killing himself.'

'Or you stay and nobody has to persuade anyone to stay or kill themselves?' I roll my eyes and climb out of bed. 'He won't kill himself so we should be fine.'

'Won't be so sure about that.' He mocks, following me down the hall.

My body works on autopilot nowadays.

'Where are you going?' Brandon asks as he tries to keep up with me. 'I need to know for sure.'

I open the door leading to Rio's little office and close the door behind me, locking it, before Brandon comes in as well.

He'll only make this harder by asking more questions.

'Tell me that Tiago won't kill himself if I leave.'

'What are you talking about?' He asks, looking at me with a raised brow. 'Tiago won't kill himself if I leave, tell me.'

'I wouldn't put it past him,' Shit... 'but where is this coming from?'

'I had a nightmare where Leya died, I left and Tiago killed himself and then you wanted to kill me and then you did actually kill me and it hurt and I know it's just a dream, but I just wanted to know.'

He rolls his eyes as he climbs out of his chair. 'She's still alive and you know he would rather stalk you for the rest of your live than kill himself.'

Relief washes over me as Rio heads for the door. 'He will follow you like a lost puppy, idiot.'

I follow him into the hall and don't say another word as he contninues, 'Seriously, I wonder how he's not tired of you yet.'

Rio's trying to get me to laugh or sneer something back at him, but I can't right now.

'It was just a dream, Veah.' Brandon chimes, tagging along.

Celine heads our way with little Leroy in her arms as well, handing him to me.

'If you say so.' I mumble, looking straight into those little bead eyes.

The front door opens and we all look at Rio with a frown. 'Were we expecting someone?'

Rio mumbles something under his breath as he strides to the front door, with all of us walking after him.

But I stop as soon as I catch a glimpse of him.

My heart swells and I hold onto Leroy a little tighter, afraid that I'll drop him if I don't.

He doesn't look at me and smiles before hugging Marco tightly, like old friends do.

And my heart feels like it's going to explode any second now.

'Leon?!' Celine and Brandon chime in unison, before running over there and hugging him as well. 'Brandon! Elle! God I've missed you so much!'

He's here.

No.

He's back.

No fucking way.

They hug for what seems like a lifetime, but I stay right where I am.

'I wondered when you were coming back?' Rio asks, moving over to my side, looking at everyone from a distance. 'What do you mean?' Brandon asks, looking at the Curzio's.

'I needed to clear my head before showing my face again.' What?

'Wait, when did you get back?' Celine asks a little confused just like everyone else. 'Last night.'

He doesn't look at me as he speaks, as if he's trying to avoid me at all costs.

'After he failed to get Valentina out apparently.' Rio adds, rolling his eyes before ending at me. 'But we'll talk more about that later, first you-'

'Neveah!' I feel Victoria's tiny hands around my legs, but keep my eyes on Tiago.

His eyes shoot to the baby in my arms and then to the little girl hanging on my legs, before turning to the people behind us.

'If it isn't the reckless Curzio himself?' Vincent and Killian brush past me to give Leon a hug as well, but Nikolai stays behind, probably looking at me.

'Since when did he get here?' He asks, keeping his eyes on Tiago.

Not with hatred, but not very loving either.

Not like the others.

'I think we should all sit around the table to talk about this.' Marco says, scratching the back of his neck.

'I was actually waiting for a meeting.' Tiago says, looking at Rio again. 'Fine with me.'

We all follow him to the dining room and take a seat at the table.

Vincent stands behind Celine, who takes a seat next to me, and Nico takes a seat on the other side of me, staying close.

A little too close.

'Nico.' Vincent says warningly, making everyone look at him. Everyone except me.

Because I can't take my eyes off of Tiago.

And he's not looking at Vince like the others. He's looking at Nico.

'Fratello, tell them what happened.' Rio says after a few seconds, drifting all the attention back to Tiago.

'I tried to get Leya out of Whitegate Manor last night and failed because of one of the guys there. We couldn't make it out and she told me to go.'

She didn't say anything about that yesterday... But maybe she didn't think it would matter?

'And you just left?' Nico asks, looking more annoyed than he should be. 'It's not like we took her at the party either.'

He slowly turns to me and I can see the anger melt in his eyes.

'Anyways, continue.' Brandon chimes, trying to bring the attention back to Tiago. 'I went alone so I would've gotten both of us killed if I tried.'

'Why didn't you get reinforcement?' Nico asks, ready to burn Tiago with a bunch of questions apparently.

'I wanted to be quick.' Tiago answers calmly, keeping his eyes on Nico.

It looks like they're having a staredown, while everyone else just waits for someone to say something.

Anything really.

'And foolish apparently.' 'Nico.' He looks back at me and sighs. 'I just think-' 'Nobody asked for your opinion, so shut up.' Vince says, giving his friend a smack against the back of his head.

'I'm afraid they're going to move again- if they haven't moved already, and I mentioned it to Adriano,' Tiago continues as if nothing has been said, 'but you didn't say anything about it yet.'

'We're going to get her back tonight.' Rio says, looking straight at Tiago. 'Before they move.'

'And on her birthday, great!' Brandon chimes, kicking me from underneath the table. I roll my eyes and turn back to Rio.

'What about the backup you wanted to wait on?' I'm excited to finally do things, to finally go through with our plan, but Rio said he needed to wait for backup before we could do anything.

And now this.

'Circumstances changed, we have to be quick before we lose them again.' He answers, taking a deep breath. 'And how did you plan on doing that?' Tiago asks.

He's the only one who doesn't really know about the plan.

'I'll explain it later, first this.' Rio says, looking at Marco who places the blueprint of the house on the table, 'Celine, Brandon, you will be taking Victoria to the hotel.' What?

'But I-' 'Barsetti, don't you fucking dare.' Brandon sighs deeply and looks at me for help. 'Since when was that a thing?'

'As I said, North, circumstances change. We have to change the plan.'

'And what about the others?' Nico asks a little impatiently. 'Vincent will stay on the boat, while we get her out of there.'

He didn't say my name just yet. Does that mean I'm going as well?

'What about Neveah?' My heart skips a beat when he says my name, and I can't help but look at him.

But once again, he's not looking at me.

'She's coming with us because the rest is still going to go as planned.' Rio answers, grinning from ear to ear.

He knows. He fucking knows how much I need Tiago to look at me, just once, and he also knows that this shit is going to be hard as fuck.

'Excuse me for a second.' Tiago says as he gets up from his seat. 'Where are you going? We have to explain-' 'I'm going to use the bathroom, give me five minutes.' He mumbles as he walks out of the room.

Everyone starts mumbling and just as the door closes, everyone starts questioning Rio for answers. Trying to see if he might change the plan even a little bit.

Nobody's focusing on me, so I hand Leroy back to Celine and slip out of there, rushing after Tiago.

I follow him into the bathroom. If he thought he could ignore me all day, he was wrong.

His dark eyes lock on mine in the mirror as I step closer to him.

He looks so good in the black suit he's wearing, making him sexier than the last time I saw him.

And then it hits. The fear. It's clear on his face as he opens his mouth. I cut him off by shaking my head and stepping closer so that I'm right by his side.

He knows I didn't follow him in here to mess around.

It's weird seeing him again, but fuck did I miss him.

I know I shouldn't be in here with him. At least not like this.

The last time we spoke was just before he left three months ago.

'Ciao cara.' He whispers, slowly turning towards me.

'Oh, so now you talk to me?'

He sighs deeply and leans on the sink in front of us. 'Did you follow me in here to argue with me?'

What?

I haven't seen him in three months and this is how he acts towards me?

'No, I...' Why did I follow him in here?

I guess because he hasn't said a word to me since he arrived. He barely looked at me at all.

And because he left in such a hurry.

'I don't know.' I admit, even though it feels like I'm lying.

I followed him in here because apparently, I'm a masochist, torturing myself by wanting to be around him again.

He's standing so close to me and I can't resist reaching out to touch him.

I watch as his eyes close for a second before he takes a deep breath.

I take it all in, his scent, his eyes, his nose, his lips, his chin, his cheeks, his brows. All of it.

He looks more handsome than ever.

Even after everything, I'm drawn to him like a fucking magnet. Like an addict.

But there's something else. Something gnawing at me.

'I missed you.' I admit softly, afraid of his reaction.

This is bad, all of it is bad. I shouldn't be touching him, I shouldn't have followed him in here.

Instead, I should've stayed with the others, talking about Leya's escape, about our mission.

The mission we've been working on for months now. The mission we killed for.

He slowly opens his eyes and stares down at me, making my heart skip a beat because of the look in his eyes.

Lust and fear fighting for dominance. It's pathetic.

But I have my own battle going on, not making myself any better than him.

See his battle is about lust and fear, mine is about anger, unwanted feelings, and something else. Something I can't put my finger on.

But the unwanted feelings annoy me the most.

Because I thought these feelings would've faded away already.

He's the reason all of this happened. He let it get this far.

And I hate him for it.

I lower my hand again and take a deep breath, before stepping back a little.

Following him in here was a bad idea.

'Neveah.' I stop on my way to the door and slowly turn back around.

He's looking at me through the mirror again, but I want him to stop.

His eyes pain me. They pain my soul. They hurt worse than the betrayal from before.

He slowly turns around and takes a deep breath. 'We should-' I start, but I stop when he inches closer, pulling me towards him before he presses his lips onto mine.

Everything melts, all the pain, all the stress, all the trauma. All of it melts away like ice in the sun.

All because of the heat rushing through my body. I didn't realize I missed him this much until now.

His arms wrap around me as he slowly lifts me up to place me onto the sink behind us. It all happens so suddenly, so quickly that I can barely process any of it.

And that undefinable feeling turns into something I can describe. Something I shouldn't be feeling right now.

Something I don't want to feel right now.

Fear.

But he stays close, pressing himself against me entirely, letting me know how much he needs this.

Now I know how addicted I am. How addicted I am to him. And it scares the hell out of me. But I don't ever want to sober up from him. Ever again.

I break the kiss but he stays close, not allowing me a way out. No way to escape.

I gently push him away, trying to keep myself together while we both try to catch our breaths.

'We should head back to the others.' I breathe against his lips, feeling the need to run out of here only grow.

He nods and leans back a little, keeping his eyes on my lips. He's driving me insane.

I climb down from the counter and watch as he steps back, far enough for me to slip through.

We head towards the door, awkwardly walking beside each other as if we weren't just about to rip each other's clothes off.

What the fuck was that?

The floor creaks underneath our weights, but it decreases the awkwardness a little.

Just as we reach the meeting room, he pulls me back before pinning me against the wall. 'Wait.'

I stare into his eyes, waiting for him to say what he wants to say before we head in.

Because the moment we enter the room, we're going to act like we're nothing to each other again. Like we hate each other.

Well, more like I hate him. And I do. Deep down I still hate him for doing what he did.

And I hate that I can't stop my heart from hurting. Because I'm scared.

But maybe it's for the best? Maybe it will make it easier to get the fuck out of here?

'Just...' He doesn't know how to say what he wants to say. He doesn't know what words to use, as if he's stupid or something. 'Tell me you're not going anymore.'

Oh fuck... I thought he would at least wait until later with this shit. At least until everyone else would've left. That way we could shout at each other as loud as we wanted. But no.

He really wants to have this conversation right now. In the middle of the hallway.

Now out of all moments.

'Tiago, I-' 'I know I messed up, but we're getting her back, right? There's no reason for you to leave if we get her back.' He rants, his voice desperate for me to stay.

But he's wrong. There are numerous reasons for me to leave. The biggest one hurts the most.

He promised me to never drag Cataleya into our shit again. And he did. He broke our promise and he knew the consequences.

'There is and you know it.' He opens his mouths, but nothing comes out. He knows I'm right.

He knows that I'm not going to stay. Not even after all of this.

Tiago broke our promise, but I'm not going to be the one breaking mine.

'Please...' I press my face against his chest and take a deep breath, trying to keep myself from breaking at his gentle touch on my arms, before stepping to the side. 'We should head inside.'

He turns towards me and shakes his head. 'Neveah, I-' 'We can talk about it later. First, we have to get Cataleya back.'

And with those words hanging in the air, I step back into the room, making everyone's heads turn to me.

I walk over to my spot, between Nico and Celine. Both of them keep their eyes on me, while the others look at Tiago who took his time returning to the room.

'Everything okay?' Celine whispers as she cradles her beautiful son. 'Mhm, can I hold him?'

She looks at me for another second, before nodding and handing me little Leroy.

'So everything's settled, you guys will go to the hotel and stay there until we give you a signal.' Marco says, basically summarizing what came out of the discussion not so long ago.

'Alright, can you hold him while I go and pack my bags?' Celine asks, looking at me. I nod and watch as Victoria walks over to me, hugging me, before following Celine out of the room.

Brandon and Killian head out as well, followed by Vincent who's going to pack his bags too.

'Now for the rest of the plan.' Rio starts, looking at me with a smile. 'North came up with the big idea to deceive them.'

Tiago frowns and slowly looks at me, before turning back to Rio after a while.

'We're going in three groups, two enter through the back, the others get in on the sides and distract the others.'

Rio explains the whole plan to Tiago, while I just sit back and observe everyone.

He did change a few things, but nothing too major.

'Any questions?' Everyone shakes their head and I think Rio dismisses them because they all start leaving.

'Okay, we're all done. See you guys in a few days.' Celine says, hugging me for a long time, before taking Leroy and heading to the door.

I give Brandon, Vincent, and Victoria a hug, but it all feels like a dream.

'So how did your little reunion go?' Rio asks when everyone left to go work on what he demanded of them. 'What do you mean?' Tiago asks in return.

'Nothing happened, and I hope you better have a great birthday gift for Leya when she gets back.'

Rio scoffs and looks at me, 'As if saving her isn't enough.'

'Technically she's in this mess because of our doings in the first place, so we're just taking it back.' I reply, trying to pressure him a little. 'What's going on between you two?'

We both look at Tiago and turn back to each other with a frown.

I mean sure, we changed, but we didn't change that much, right?

'Out of all the things you could be asking, you ask her this?' Rio asks, mocking his cousin a little.

I see those two are buddies again.

'He's trying to ignore me.' I say, keeping my eyes on Rio. 'I am not ignoring you, cara. Trust me.'

'I said you were trying to ignore me. There's a difference.'

'Ask her your question.' Rio says, apparently seeing something that I'm missing.

Because I don't see anything when I look at Tiago. No curiosity whatsoever.

Just anger.

'Non adesso.' Tiago states, staring at his cousin, silently wishing he would keep his mouth shut. 'Ora, Leonardo, or I will.'

'Oh for fuck's sake...' Tiago groans, before looking at me again. 'Whose child is it?' What?

'You mean Victoria?' He nods and moves to the edge of his seat, eager to know the answer. 'She's a girl we took in after killing her family, it's a long story.'

A sigh of relief escapes his lips and it's making me frown.

'But why is that the first thing you want to know?'

He looks at me again and stays silent for a while, before shrugging, 'I don't know. I just thought-' 'You thought she was mine?'

'I mean, I think I can speak for everyone else as well, she's yours by choice.' Rio adds, enjoying this a little too much for my liking.

'I did.' Tiago answers honestly, completely ignoring Rio. 'You think I wouldn't tell you if I had a kid before?'

'I don't know what to believe anymore.' What the fuck?

'Are you kidding me?' I ask as I get up from my seat. 'North.' 'You think that low of me?'

'I honestly don't have time for this, what else do you need from me?' Tiago asks, looking at his cousin at the end of the table.

'What's going on with you?' Rio asks, frowning at Tiago. 'Nothing, I just don't see the point in fighting with her.'

'Fuck you.' He turns back to me and grins. 'First, you ignore me, then you kiss me, and now you're being a piece of shit?'

'You're the one who keeps saying I'm going to leave as soon as we get her back, even though we both know you won't, so why should I even try and argue with you about it now?' He mocks, standing up as well.

'Oh, did I hurt your feelings?' I ask, fighting the urge to just walk around this table and smack the shit out of him. 'Do you want the truth?'

'I honestly don't give a shit anymore! I'm leaving anyway!'

'You are not, cara, and you know it. You're just mad now, but we'll talk about it later. Anything else?' Tiago has the audacity to turn back to Rio, instead of facing me and talking about this now.

I can hear Rio sigh deeply and try not to throw a chair at Tiago. 'I am leaving and I'm taking Leya with me.'

'Valentina is not leaving.' I roll my eyes as I turn to Rio, who's now standing as well. 'You said that you would let her decide.'

'And I will, but I can't live without her North.' Fucking hell...

Rafael Adriano Curzio, the man who never showed any emotions before, turned into the biggest softie ever. All because of Cataleya.

'If she decides to leave, we are. And neither of you are stopping us.'

Tiago lowers his gaze, slowly turning towards Rio as well. 'And I will do anything in my power to keep her here.'

There it is. The Rio that will make sure she stays.

His words send a wave of fear through me.

I mean, I already knew he was going to try his best to keep her here, but he never actually said it. He never said the words.

And now that he did, now that I heard him say it, I doubt any of this will go according to plan. 'Now go get ready, we leave in less than an hour.'

'Fuck both of you.' I say as I head out of the room, walking back to my own room to get ready.

I hate men...

Especially the Curzio men.

'Fucking hell.' I mumble as I close the door behind me. 'Everything okay?'

I instantly turn around and search for that dark voice somewhere in the room.

Nico is sitting on the edge of my bed, with his arms on his knees for support, as he looks at me. 'Are you trying to give me a fucking heart attack?'

He frowns and follows me through the room with his eyes, keeping track of my every move. 'What are you doing here, Nikolai?'

'I just wanted to check up on you,' He says, getting up from the bed, 'you know, see how you were doing with the Leon thing and all.'

'Well, you don't have to and you probably shouldn't.' I reply, grabbing a set of black clothing to wear after my quick shower. 'Why is that?'

'You know exactly why.' He doesn't respond to that and simply keeps his eyes on me as I grab a few things around the room. 'And why did you act so snappy towards him?'

'I don't like the way he's acting towards you, Neveah.' I sigh deeply as I turn to him completely now, looking into those gorgeous blue eyes. 'Nico, it's not your place to care.'

'But I do.' He admits, making this so much harder again. 'Please don't do this.'

'I don't get how he doesn't even reach for or hug you or look at you.'

Why is he doing this right now... 'Nico, please don't do this.'

'Neveah, he didn't even say anything to you after such a long time.'

'He did.' After forty minutes. 'He said some shit that pissed me off and now I'm here.'

I'm not going to lie to him because he doesn't deserve it. 'Now could you please just let me shower in peace before we go?'

He sighs and takes a step forward, lifting my chin up to meet his gaze again. 'Don't let him break you, zayka, you're stronger than that.'

I can't help but smile a little as I brush his hand away.

'I won't, now leave so I can shower.' He smiles back at me and heads out of the room, closing it behind him, and I go and take a shower.

This is going to be harder than I thought it would be...

----

A/N: I know this chapter was short, but I didn't know what to put in here since it will be leading up to the point we've all been waiting for...

They're going to see each other again!

I hope you enjoyed this short chapter! Don't forget to vote and let me know what you think in the comments!

See you guys in the next chapter! Have a great day/night!