'Valentina?' I almost rub my eyes but stop when I feel a stinging pain rush through my entire body because of Marco's failed attempt at stitching my wounds.

'What happened?' She breathes as she slowly moves closer to the bed I'm stuck in.

'Nothing-' I move myself up as much as I can, 'What are you doing here?'

She removes the blanket Marco tried to put over me, and stares at the other wounds on my legs.

'Nothing,' She whispers as her entire body trembles, 'This is not nothing, Rafael.'

'You shouldn't be here.' She moves even closer, taking a seat on the edge of my bed. 'You need to leave.'

'And leave you like this? Are you insane?' She brushes her hand across my forehead, my skin warming up immediately, 'What the hell happened?'

I can't believe she's actually here.

She's here in this room, touching my face, looking at me.

And I have to send her away again.

'Valentina, you need to leave, it's not safe.'

She shakes her head and takes a shaky breath, before looking into my eyes again, 'I'm not going anywhere.'

'Valentina-' 'I am your wife. And whatever happened could've killed you, but you want to send me away?' God... I missed her voice so much.

'Tell me what happened, right now.' I sigh deeply and lean back, knowing that I'll pull her closer if I don't.

She waits for me to answer, but I can't give her more reasons to stay.

'Rio, tell me.' The desperation in her voice is killing me.

'Just go.' Please...

'Okay.' She mutters as she gets back up and walks toward the door.

My heart starts racing as I watch her walk away, but it's what's best.

It hurts to see her walk away and I have to fight the urge to go and find Marco who was supposed to go and look for some pills.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to control the pain rushing through my body. But it doesn't help at all.

It seems to only make it worse.

Why didn't I feel it before... Celine told me that adrenaline has a lot to do with how much you feel at first, but I didn't expect it to hurt this much.

The door swings open and I immediately open my eyes, groaning at loud noise bursting through my ears.

Valentina, a small woman, shoves Marco into the room and slams the door behind her.

'One of you better talk, right now.' Fucking hell...

Marco rubs his arm, groaning because she grabbed him right on his wound.

And I know that if she would know he was hurting that badly, she would feel bad. But all she can focus on is getting answers from both of us.

Marco looks at me, wondering if he should talk or not, and I painfully shake my head at him, before turning back to my fuming wife.

'Marco,' She turns to him instead, 'tell me what happened.'

'Don't.' I warn, trying to sit up a bit more.

'Tell me.' She demands as she crosses her arms and stands in front of the door.

He could easily go past her if he really wanted to, but he wouldn't have listened to me if I was anyone else.

'Marco, you better talk right now.' She says, her annoyance rising by the second. 'Cataleya, I don't know if I should-'

'Dillo a lei e ti ucciderò.' He turns to me with wide eyes, 'Cosa?'

'What did you just tell him?' She asks, turning to me again.

'Nothing.' I say and she rolls her eyes, before turning back to Marco. 'Who did this to you guys?'

Fucking hell... I need to get him out of here because he'll tell her if she keeps this up.

I can see the hesitation in his eyes and wonder if he's actually going to do it.

She doesn't need to know who did this to us, because we dealt with them already.

They're dead.

We just got hurt in the process of killing them, but none of that matters right now because she needs to leave.

'They're-' 'Non ti pagherò.' I intervene before he finishes his sentence.

Valentina strides over to my bed and grabs my face before turning it to her.

'Déjalo hablar o te mato.' Shit...

Her touch sets me ablaze again, for a second getting rid of the pain rushing through me, and I just want to kiss her.

'Now tell me.' Everything comes trembling down and I groan as I get out of her grip. 'Valentina you need to leave.'

'I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what happened.'

'We dealt with them already, now go.' She looks back at me and frowns, her mouth opening for the next question, 'I don't have time to deal with all of this right now and I need you safe, so go.'

Something flashes in her eyes.

Something that resembles some kind of pain.

Betrayal...

She takes a step back and keeps her eyes on mine, that pained- betrayed look in her eyes.

'Marco,' Her voice is hard, yet hesitant, but Marco looks at her in anticipation, 'Can you give us a minute.'

Marco turns to me instead, making her sigh deeply, 'Leave. Us.'

Her voice makes my blood run cold and my chest expand.

Marco nods and walks out, not once looking back at me to see if I'll allow him to leave.

I want him to take her and hope that he won't say a word to her, but knowing Marco, he will.

She steps back to the edge of the bed and takes a seat facing the wall.

There's a moment of silence between us. One where I debate if I should say or do anything to help with whatever it is that's going through her mind right now.

But I need her to get out of here before anyone tracks us down and attacks and-

'Husband and wife,' She starts, our eyes locking again, 'we're a team now.'

'Valentina, I need you to be protected.' I say as I try to reach for her hand. She chuckles unamused and looks at my wounds, 'What about you?'

'I don't need protection.' She shoves my hand away and steps away from me again.

'You clearly do.' I watch as she points at all the wounds and almost chuckle at her concern. 'I'll be fine.'

'You could've died.' She breathes, a sudden fearful tone in her voice. 'But I didn't.'

'That's not the point.' Her fast reply cuts through me like a knife.

'Stop making a big deal out of this, I'm fine.' I lost a lot of blood, but I just need some pain medication and I should be up in ten minutes.

'You don't get it, do you?' She asks as she takes me all in.

I know she has seen blood before, she killed someone before, but it's like she has a sudden fear of it.

The red liquid staining the bed and the pieces of cloth scares her.

'What is there not to get, you're overreacting and-' A sudden gasp escapes her lips and she looks back into my eyes.

'I'm overreacting?' She asks angrier than ever before, 'You could've died.'

I could die at any moment... I fight the urge to talk back to her because it will only anger her more.

And as much as I like her a little riled up, I don't want her to go insane about something so stupid.

'I'm going to survive just fine.' Even though Marco stabbed me a million times while trying to stitch me up.

'We just got married and barely had any time together and you just-'

She stops herself from spiraling and takes a deep breath, before turning back to me, 'I'm not going anywhere and that's final.'

'No, you're going.' She tilts her head a little, smiling as she rushes out of the door and into the hall, 'Valentina!'

She stays in the frame of the door and looks at me, 'Stay in bed.'

I move to the side of the bed, fighting the pain that's almost forcing me to stop moving entirely, and place my feet on the ground.

Before I can even process what she's doing, she shuts the door, locking it on the outside. You have to be fucking kidding me.

I force myself to stumble to the door and pull on the handle, hoping that she's just joking around.

But she's not.

The door is locked and no matter how hard I pull, it doesn't budge.

'Valentina,' I wait for a sound on the other side of the door, but it stays silent, 'If you don't open this door right now...'

I'm going to fucking kill her...

'You're not going to do shit.' She chimes proudly even though there's no reason to be.

Because I will get out of this room and make her leave.

'I wouldn't be so sure of that, Valentina.' I hear her footsteps fade away and wonder what she's going to do now.

My legs start to hurt more the longer I stand and I decide to lay back down on the bed.

The pain is tiring and since I haven't had any medication for it yet, I kind of blackout. Or at least, I must've.

Because when I open my eyes, it's dark outside. And someone's sitting on the small couch in the corner of the room.

'You finally woke up.' I groan when I hear her annoying voice, making her smile a little. 'What the fuck are you doing here?'

North gets up from the couch and looks at the little table to her right, before throwing something at me, 'Take those.'

I barely catch the little bottle of pills in time, before frowning at her. 'I won't ask you again.'

'They put me on watch duty, now take those and eat the food over there,' She points at a plate covered by some tinfoil, before dropping back down on the couch, diving into a random book, 'there's water on your left.'

'Get out.' I don't need a babysitter and I definitely don't need North here. 'I can't, they locked me in here until Celine comes over.' What?

'She's coming back?' She lowers her book and frowns at me as she nods. 'Why?'

'Because you're hurt and none of us can really take care of your stubborn ass.' I push myself up, ready to strangle her, but my body hurts too much.

Pills... I open the bottle and take four out, before reaching for the water bottle on the left side of the bed.

'What did you say to Leya?' She asks as I quickly swallow the pills away with some water. 'Nothing, now make them open the door so that you can leave.'

'They won't.' She mutters, slowly reaching for her book again. 'Why not?' 'Because I'm driving them insane with questions.' Like always...

'Who said that?' I know Valentina would never word it that way, especially not to North herself. So it must've been someone else. 'Isabelle and Brandon.' Typical.

'So what happened.' I sigh as I put the plate on my lap and look at her as I reach for the spoon on the side.

Someone made soup. Chicken soup.

'You might as well tell me, I won't be able to run to Leya and tell and I think Marco might have told her already.'

I inhale slowly as I try to find the patience to deal with her right now, inhaling the amazing scent of the soup on my lap.

'Or you could just shut up and let me eat.' She stays seated and keeps her eyes on me, silently forcing me to talk once again.

I needed this when I didn't know what to do with Valentina, but right now I want her to choke to death.

'Someone attacked but they're dead now.' I answer before I start eating. 'Good, who was it.'

I roll my eyes and take a deep breath to control my anger, 'Doesn't matter.'

She keeps looking at me, making me more and more annoyed by the second. 'Can you let me eat in peace?'

'Do you think I want to be here?' She asks as she throws her book to the side again, 'Trust me, I would much rather ask the others questions about any progress, but they locked me in here with you.' So jump out of the fucking window...

'I've been freaking out the entire time and I know you have been freaking out as well, but at least you know more than I do and- Why am I even explaining it to you, you don't give a single fuck.'

'Why does it matter if he's dead or alive?' She frowns at me, wondering why I'm asking her this question instead of responding to anything she just said, 'You were leaving anyway, so why would it matter?'

Her eyes start to water in less than a second and I turn the other way as I continue to eat my soup.

'There's a big difference between leaving with him alive and leaving with him dead.' He's not dead.

'Leaving is leaving.' I state, glancing at her for a second, 'there's no need to sugarcoat it, North.'

She stays silent for a while, clearly hurt by what I just said, but it's the truth.

She claims she's leaving as soon as we find out he's alive, so why should it matter?

'What happened?' She asks after a while, pointing at my wounds. 'They attacked.'

'Why?' North and her stupid questions... 'Doesn't matter.'

'People don't just attack, Rio.' I take the last bite and almost throw the empty bowl at her face.

'His wife and children died at the wedding so he wanted revenge.' She frowns at me as she slowly reaches for her book again.

'How is that your fault?' I shrug and turn to place the bowl on the nightstand. 'Pain drives people mad sometimes.'

It happened with Luciano and my uncle and the Steels.

And to me.

'So how did you deal with him?' She asks curiously. 'I killed him and his men.'

'Because they blamed you for killing his family?'

I shake my head and look into her eyes, 'I killed them because they said that they would go after you guys.'

No one threatens my family, and definitely not my wife.

'So you killed them because they threatened Leya?'

'Pain isn't the only thing that drives people mad.' I say as I look at the door leading to the hallway.

Because I hear footsteps down the hall.

'What are they doing?' I ask when the footsteps stop. 'Trying to hunt down Hunter.'

For fuck's sake...

'How exactly?'

'I'm in this room with you, how am I supposed to know?'

'North, you should be glad I can barely move because I really want to kill you right now.' She looks me dead in the eyes and shakes her head.

The door unlocks and slowly opens, revealing the woman I sent away two times by now.

'Celine!' North rushes over to her and hugs her tightly, before whispering a few things into her ear.

Valentina enters the room as well, followed by Marco who's standing really close to her.

And the look in his eyes says it all. He's guilty...

He told her. And she's not looking happy about it.

'What are you doing here?' I ask as I push myself up again, trying to keep in the groans of pain.

'Leya called me.' She replies as she moves over to the bed.

She lifts up the sheets and a wave of cold air brushes against my barely closed wounds.

I hiss in pain and notice her smiling a little. 'You shouldn't be here.'

'You're injured.' Celine says as if it's enough reason to be here.

'Can I leave now?' North asks, looking at Marco and Valentina. 'Only if you stop asking questions.'

'Fine.' She walks out of the room, leaving me with Celine, Marco, and an annoyed wife.

'You don't have to be here, Celine.' She nods and turns to Marco, who's holding a bag.

Marco hands it to her and leaves the room just as quickly as he came.

Now I'm left with just Celine and my annoyed wife.

'You should be more careful next time.' Valentina says, looking directly at me while Celine looks at the stitches on my leg. 'They said that they knew where you were.'

I stop when I feel Celine's hand on my leg, and stare at her for a second. She's really here...

'You are badly injured Rio, if Marco wasn't there with you-' A soft groan escapes my lips as Celine throws her bag on the bed, right on my foot.

'You could've died, Rafael.' She steps closer, not paying any attention to Celine who's attending to my wounds already. 'I don't want to lose you.'

'You won't lose me.' I'll give my life to keep her safe and happy. But I'm not going anywhere yet.

'Good.' She says as a warm smile forms on her face, 'I'll go help with everything else, you need to rest.'

I want to go against her, I want her to leave again, but I know she won't. And she's out of the room before I can even say anything.

Celine looks up at me for a split second, before cutting the stitches Marco tried to leave.

'You didn't have to come back just for this, Celine.' She looks straight at me, almost cutting the wound even more open than it was before. 'If I don't take care of your wounds correctly, you will die.'

'I know but-' 'Did you really think you could just let me go?' I wince when she rips out the last piece of threat that was holding one of the wounds together. 'Did you really think that I was just leaving?'

She reaches for her bag, grabbing the things she needs to clean the wound again.

'Isn't that what you wanted?' I ask through gritted teeth. She sighs and presses a cotton ball on the wound, her hand resting there as she looks at my face as if I'm stupid.

'What I wanted was peace.' She sneers, before continuing to clean my wounds, 'I wanted a break from death... Happiness...'

She inhales slowly as if she needs to calm herself down, and starts cutting the next stitch running up my leg.

'Rafael, you're my family.' She mutters, her eyes on the blood dripping from the wound, 'I don't abandon family, remember?'

I remember telling her that once. When we first met.

She thought we were going to take her to those sick fucks and sell her, just to get the money they were willing to offer.

But I felt sorry for her. I still do sometimes.

She's been through hell and back, yet she's here.

'I just thought-' 'Next time, let me think for myself before you shut me out, okay?' I want to reply, but groan when she starts cleaning the wound again.

'Glad we're on the same page on that, any news on Leon?' I grab onto the sheets, almost ripping them, when she removes the last stitches.

Marco went too deep, almost making me bleed to death, and she won't stop complaining about how badly he did.

'Not- Really-' I lean forward and grab her arm, making her stop for a second.

My vision is starting to get a bit blurry.

'And how the fuck did you get hurt this badly? You rarely get hurt this much?'

'I acted out on anger.' I answer honestly, slowly letting go of her again. 'Typical.'

'It was different this time,' She chuckles and throws away the balls of cotton she used, before returning to the side of the bed, 'I didn't feel anything until we were at the house.'

'Adrenaline rush.' I nod at her conclusion and watch as she stitches up my wounds again, correctly this time.

It doesn't hurt as much, but that might be because she's doing it right.

'How was the pain afterward?' She asks as she lifts my leg off the bed and onto her lap. 'I think I fainted at some point.'

She turns to me and frowns, cutting the thread until it's the right length. 'How much did you eat today?'

'I ate some... Soup.' We had the meeting in the morning and we've been driving ever since.

'Soup?' She asks as she finishes the last stitch and places my leg back on the bed, 'Just soup?'

'Yes.' She rolls her eyes and walks closer to my face, before grabbing it and looking at my eyes. 'How long did you sleep last night?'

'I didn't, I needed to-' 'The past weeks?' She interferes, getting a little annoyed.

I know what she's going to say when I answer, but I kind of missed it. 'Barely.'

You need to take better care of yourself. Nutrition and sleep are the most important things to good health!

'How many times do I have to tell you?! You need to take better care of yourself. Nutrition and sleep are the most important things to good health!' I wasn't that far off...

I nod and lean back, feeling the pills kick in once I get comfortable.

Normally I won't stay in bed if it wasn't necessary, but Celine won't let me get out of bed like this. Plus, I could use some more hours of sleep.

But Leon...

He's out there and he'll come back to us.

'What pills did they give you?' I point at the bottle North gave me and watch as Celine looks at it for a second.

'Okay good, when did you take it and how much did you take?'

'Twenty minutes ago, I took four.' Her eyes slightly widen, before she mutters something under her breath.

'What now?' 'Did they kick in yet?' The pain is still there, just not as bad as it was before. 'A little.'

She nods and rumbles through her bag, before handing me another bottle of pills, 'Take two of those.'

I roll my eyes, but do as she says, and reach for the water bottle on the nightstand again.

'When you wake up, you need to eat some more.' She says, making me frown. I quickly swallow the pills and look at her.

'I had enough rest, I need to get back to work on-' Just as I climb out of bed, she pushes me back, making my body hurt again. 'You're not going anywhere.'

Something washes over me as she puts the pill bottles away. Something that makes me dizzy.

'I knew you would want to work straight away, so I did my part. Now you just have to do yours by sleeping for a while.' She chimes as she closes the blinds, leaving the room almost pitch black, 'Trust us.'

'You just drugged me.' I state as my vision starts to blur, 'I don't need rest.'

'You never do.' She mutters as she covers me with a thin sheet and turns off the light as she heads to the door.

It's either that or the pills kicked in.

When I wake up the next morning, the pain is almost completely gone.

I climb out of bed and stumble towards the bathroom, quickly freshening myself up, before heading down the hall.

Everyone else is up as well, meaning it must be past ten already because nobody in this house wakes up earlier willingly.

'You're out of bed?' North asks, making everyone turn to me. 'I can strangle you for last night.'

'No strangling anyone.' Valentina says as she walks over to me, giving me a quick kiss, before handing me a cup of something that looks like tea. 'Celine said you needed to drink this.'

She wraps her tiny hand around my arm and leads me to the dining table, across from Marco and Brandon, before grabbing a plate with food and placing it in front of me. 'Eat up.'

'At what time are you leaving?' Brandon asks, trying not to look at me.

I should kill him.

I told him not to contact them in any way, and he brought them here.

'Where are you going?' I ask as I smell the cup of tea.

It smells like she just mixed a bunch of spices together. But when I take a small sip, it tastes sweet.

'Veah, Celine, Leroy, and I are going to do some groceries in the town nearby.' Valentina replies as she takes a bite out of her own omelet. 'You can send someone to do groceries, you're not going out in the open.'

She's fully dressed, wearing a creme-colored dress with thin straps and a high cut on both sides of her legs, ready to go out and get some groceries, but I don't want them to go.

'Valentina, it's not safe.' North looks at her as if my statement just proved her point. 'It will be quick, and we'll take protection.'

'I'll come with you.' She shakes her head and finishes her food. 'Celine said you needed to rest.' North fills in instead, making my blood boil.

'You're not go-' 'We'll take Enzo with us.' He's still here?

'He said he wanted to stay until you're fully healed.' Marco says when he notices my frown, and I quickly look back at my wife. 'Does he want to go?'

She nods and carries her plate to the sink, before turning back to me. 'To be fair, I shouldn't even be telling you because you should've been sleeping until we returned.'

'Just go and get back quick.' I say as I take her all in as she starts smiling, and pulls North out of the room.

I can hear another set of footsteps and something rolling down the hall. It's probably Celine and Leroy, but where are Kai and Norman?

'Who else is up?' I ask as I start the breakfast that was made for me. 'Kai is out running, trying to get back into shape he said, and Isa is sleeping.' Isa...

They said some nasty things about her yesterday.

Things that could easily be true, because we took her in.

She used to be on Steel's side. Like Kai.

And Kai betrayed us too. So I need to have a talk with Miss Norman...

Because I will not let something happen to any of us again. I just can't.

'I should kill you both for what you did.' They stare at me with a slight bit of fear in their eyes.

It stays silent as I head for the liquor cabinet and grab a bottle of whiskey and a glass.

They watch my every move as I take a seat back in my chair and wonder if they should say something about my habit.

But they know that if they even open their mouths, I'll break the bottle on their heads and shove the glass down their throats.

'She looked miserable,' Brandon starts as if it's changes anything, 'I thought-' 'I told you not to.'

He nods shamefully, looking at his brother as he waits for him to say something. 'You knew the risk.'

'There will always be a risk.' He mutters, making me want to strangle him too.

'You know that everyone in the area is up our ass about the wedding, so why bring her here?' I sneer, almost reaching over to grab him by his shirt.

'I'm sorry.' He says, looking at his feet, 'I'll take them to Tortona if you want.'

'It's no use, they won't go.' I sigh and turn to Marco, waiting for him to say something. 'So what now?'

Valentina is too stubborn to leave. North will not leave her, at least not now, because she wants to know where Leon is as well. Celine said she just needed a break, but she's persistent.

They won't go.

I fill my glass, keeping my eyes on it until it's filled.

'How far would you go for me, Barsetti?' His eyes widen a slight bit, but he doesn't look away. 'What do you mean?'

'You keep breaking my trust by going against me,' I pour myself a glass of whiskey, before turning back to him, 'So how far would you go for me?'

'You're my family,' He says, making me raise a brow as I lift the glass to my lips, 'Cataleya is your wife, so she's my family as well. Not only that, she's my boss now too, so I couldn't lie to her.'

'So you would do anything for me?' He nods without hesitation, making me grin as I turn to Brandon. 'Go get Norman to come to the basement.'

Brandon looks at his brother, before rushing out of the room. And Marco walks closer to me. 'What are you doing?'

'You'll see,' I say as I chug the glass away, heading to the door, 'If you betray me here, I'm sending you off.'

He stares as I walk out of the room, quickly following me down the stairs to the basement.

I open the big doors and can feel him breathing in my neck, his curiosity getting the best of him. 'What are you planning?'

I walk over to the room that silences him completely.

It's not a pretty room, like all the others, it's a dark and twisted room.

A room we use to get information out of people. The truth, so to say.

The torture room.

'I want you to scare Norman.' His eyes widen and he finally takes a step back, finally allowing me to breathe.

'Did Hugo's words get to you?' He asks instead, making me smile. 'If you can't do it, I will.'

I step into the room and turn on the light, looking at everything in the room.

Two chairs, one with some dirty bloodstains on it, while the other one is completely clean.

'Why me?' He asks, still standing in the small hallway outside of the room, 'Because I need to know whose side you're on.' I say as I take a seat on the clean chair, feeling a sharp pain rush through my legs.

'I'm on your-' 'Prove it.' I say as I wait for him to step into the room, 'Scare her into telling us the truth.'

'Which is?' He asks, gritting his teeth.

'You've tortured people before,' I say as I lean back and stare around the room, 'You'll know.'

I hear a door open down the hall and tilt my head at Marco. 'Tell me what it will be, Barsetti?'

He takes a deep breath, debating if he should or shouldn't, but I know he will.

So when he takes a step into the room, I'm not surprised.

'You wanted to see me?' I almost roll my eyes at her naïve tone and watch as she looks into the room.

I can see the fear in her eyes when she notices all the knives and clamps on the table.

'Yes,' She looks at Marco, who's waiting by the door, before locking eyes with me again, 'Sit down.'

I point at the chair across from me and wait for her to take a seat.

'I'm not asking again, Norman.' She shakes her head and stays in the hall. 'We can talk like this.'

I glance at Marco, who's going insane already, and smile a little. 'Marco?'

His eyes shoot to mine and I wonder if he's actually going to do it.

Because he clearly cares. Maybe a bit too much.

'Isa, just sit down.' She looks at him and frowns, before shaking her head again. 'We can talk like this.' She repeats.

'Barsetti.' He nods and sighs deeply as he inches closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist, before lifting her up and over to the chair.

She tries to fight back, but she barely hits him and glares at me while Marco ties her to the chair.

'So, where were we?' I ask as I lean on my knees, feeling the stinging pain again, 'Oh right. We need to talk.'

'Fuck you.' She sneers, looking the other way like the spoiled little brat she is.

'I honestly don't get why you're still alive.' I state, making her turn to me almost immediately.

She had a gleam of protest in her eyes, but it's completely gone now.

'You should be dead.'

'Why?' She asks with a hard tone, trying to make it seem like she isn't scared at all.

I nudge my head towards the table and wait for Marco to grab a knife and walk over to her, making her inhale sharply when he holds it up to the side of her face.

'Your friend took my wife.' Marco moves this knife a bit closer, shaking more than I've ever seen him do before, 'He ruined my wedding.'

'That's all your doing-' Marco cuts her slightly, making her groan out and look at him with wide eyes.

I can barely believe it myself.

A drop of blood rolls down her cheek, right onto her blue shirt.

'Did you have anything to do with that, Norman?' She frowns before she smiles at me.

'Is that what this is about?' She asks suddenly confident about all of this.

As if she's the one holding a knife next to my face.

'Did you?' Marco asks as he moves the knife to her neck.

She turns to him, ignoring the blade at her neck, and shakes her head.

'But if you want someone to blame, look ahead.' She says, nudging her head at me, 'You're just scared that I'll betray you like Kai did, but trust me, you would've been dead already-'

'I could easily slit your throat right now, so watch your words, Norman.'

My aunt cuts out tongues because of the way people talk to her, maybe I should do the same?

'But you won't.' She states convinced of her words. 'What makes you think I won't?'

'Because Leya would kill you.'

I have a hard time concealing my laugh at her statement and smile at her instead, 'You think I care about your relationship with my wife?'

'You should-' She inhales when Marco puts more pressure on the knife, 'I was there when she trained with Hunter. I was there when she ate at their table. I was there when he tattooed her!'

He did what? My heart stops for a long second, and I can see the shock in Marco's eyes as well.

He didn't know it either.

'What tattoo?' He asks as he lowers the knife a bit, giving her a little space to move. 'She didn't tell you for a reason, but you must've seen it.'

The only one she didn't have before she got here...

I don't know why I thought she would have another tattoo if I've seen her body a million times already.

But if Hunter did put that on her then... 'You're lying.'

She would've told me. She wouldn't keep something like that from me, would she?

'Right. Of course I am!' I don't even have to say anything, because Marco instantly presses the knife back against her throat. 'Stop fucking around.'

'How about you stop playing with me!' She shouts back at him, 'This is ridiculous!'

'If I find out you're lying, Norman, I will cut you into pieces myself.'

She smiles at me and shakes her head. 'You weren't there, so she moved on. Get over it.'

Moved on?

'Explain.'

If it is what I think it is, if she's hinting at what I think she's hinting at, I will lose my mind.

'She did a lot more with Hunter than you would like, but that's all in the past so just move on!'

'Kill her.' Marco pulls out his gun and points it at Norman's head, not a second of hesitation.

And despite her realizing that Marco would never betray me for her, she looks shocked.

I can barely see her face because of the red dots appearing in my vision.

The anger that creates some dark part of me.

She didn't expect him to pull a gun on her whenever I would command him to.

'You two can suck each other's dick in hell!' I shake my head with a smile and get up from the chair, her fear rising with every step I take forward.

I grab a knife and press it against her leg, almost cutting through her clothes.

'After we kill you,' I lift her chin up, hearing her groan at the sudden movement, 'I will make him fuck your dead body until you're bruised more than you already are, do you understand?'

An empty promise.

I would never make him do such vile things, but she doesn't need to know that.

I want her to fear me before she dies. I want her to hurt before she dies.

So I press the knife into her leg, her screams calming the hatred a little.

Just as I'm about to press the knife all the way in, I am pushed to the side.

I can faintly hear Brandon shout at Marco, but enjoy the echoes of her screams while they last.

Because as soon as everything comes back, as soon as the blur decreases, as soon as I can hear their voices clearer, I shove Brandon to the side and turn back to Norman.

But she's running to the hall, ready to run away from us.

'Get her.' I say, making Marco run after immediately. Brandon looks at me, his eyes lingering on my hand, before looking at my face in disgust.

'I knew I shouldn't have let her go down alone, I was- What the fuck is wrong with you!?'

'If you ever pull something like that again, I will kill you. Do you understand Barsetti?' I brush past him and follow the trail of blood leading up the stairs.

'Do you ever use your brain and think or do you just use anger!?' He asks as he shoves me up the stairs.

I stumble forward, my wounds scraping against the next step on the stairs, and I quickly push myself off the stairs and glare at Brandon.

'I get that you're skeptical, but this is insane.' I shove him to the side and head up the stairs, trying to follow Norman and Marco.

'What the fuck is this?' I can hear the concern in Celine's voice and turn to the right.

Marco's holding Norman, who looks unconscious, and Celine is already all over her.

She slowly turns to me, her eyes lingering at my hand as well, before putting two and two together.

'What the fuck did you do?' I walk past them, up the stairs.

Because if Celine's here, Valentina is here as well.

My heart is racing as I take in what Norman just said.

Hunter gave her that tattoo.

It feels like I'm falling, surrounded by all the possible ways this could've happened.

I burst through all the rooms, distantly hearing them yell my name, but I ignore them.

When I make it to the smaller bedroom across the hall, Valentina is heading for the door, probably trying to see why everyone's screaming for me.

'You kissed Hunter?' I ask, feeling something burn in the back of my throat.

It's as if I'm about to throw up.

And that feeling only grows when I see the panic in her eyes and she barely has the courage to look me in the eyes.

'Look at me and tell me the truth.'

Tell me, dear god, please tell me that she's lying.

'I kissed him to distract him from Leonardo.'

Everything comes crashing down and I've never felt so disgusted in my entire life.

She kissed him... Norman was right.

'You kissed him.' I fume at her, feeling the need to create some distance between us.

I don't want to hurt her, but I can't control myself at this point.

'You fucked Molly so don't go there with me.'

Everything starts flashing red again, suffocating me just like it did all those years ago.

I can only make up her face and the painful truth in her eyes. She kissed him.

Is she really- 'Who is Molly to you?'

A frown appears on her face and it's almost making me chuckle.

'What's the difference, Valentina?' I ask almost sarcastically.

But she genuinely looks confused.

'What are you-' 'Did she kill your mom?' All my anger rises to a new level, making me want to strangle her too.

I've always been annoyed by her, but not like this. This is something new. Something I don't want to feel towards her.

'Did she murder your family over a stupid lie?' I can't help but watch as she flinches at my hard tone.

'Did she torture your best friend for fuck's sake, did she torture you?' She shakes her head, quickly realizing that she's only pissing me off more by doing so. 'No-' 'That's the fucking difference.'

'I was just trying to protect Leonardo.'

'By kissing Hunter?' I ask, not allowing that filthy image its way into my head.

Because once it's there, I won't be able to get rid of it at all.

And I don't want that.

I want Valentina to be mine and mine alone, not with my enemy or with anyone else.

Because I gave myself to her. I married her.

I gave my everything to get her back, just for her to kiss her captor.

'Please, just let me explain.' She mutters, trembling as she places her hand on my shoulder. 'I-' 'Don't touch me.'

'Just listen and-' 'Cataleya, if you don't get your hands off me right now, I'm going to hurt you.' I warn, watching as she takes a step back.

It's as if she's creating a river between us.

'Let me explain, please?'

I look at her, the woman I married lied to me. She kissed the man that ruined my life.

The man that killed my family. The man that tortured her best friend. The man she has nightmares about.

'Why didn't you tell me?' I ask as the bile rises in my throat.

Out of all the things, I didn't expect this from her.

'I didn't think it mattered and I-' I cut her off by walking to the door, feeling her hands around my arm again, but I pull away and turn around, making her step back again.

I don't like the fear in her eyes, I don't like the tears threatening to escape her gorgeous eyes, but I don't like the way she's making me feel right now either.

'So why should I let you explain?' She shakes her head and walks after me as I head downstairs, trying to convince me to let her explain.

I make my way outside and quickly get in the car, locking it before she can even reach the door, and take a deep breath.

I need to clear my head.

So I drive off, watching as she slowly disappears in the rearview mirror.

----

A/N: A little darker side of Rio...

Now DON'T GO HATE ON RIO FOR DOING THAT TO ISA BECAUSE HE'S JUST TRYING TO PROTECT THE ONES HE CARES ABOUT (he doesn't know how to do that differently)

I love you guys so much and can't wait to see you guys in the next chapter!

HAVE AN AMAZING DAY/NIGHT BABES <3