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



Heavy footsteps sound down the hall, making all our heads turn towards the door.

Rafael enters the room, followed by the man who introduced himself as Vincenzo Garcia.

'Barsetti, I need you to go back to Spain and talk with the police department. Take your brother with you.' Rafael's hard voice beams, making my skin burn up.

I haven't heard his voice in a few days. As if he's been staying quiet around me on purpose, depriving me of everything that's him.

Because he has been avoiding me as well.

Marco and Brandon look at me, wondering if I know anything about any of this, but I know absolutely nothing.

'I'll text you the details once you get there. Make sure they know who they're working with.' Rio continues as he tries to get them to leave.

'What's going on?' I ask curiously, hoping that he'll finally look at me again.

Hoping that he'll let me in again.

Because ever since he found out about the kiss a few days ago, he has been shutting me out again.

More than ever before.

'Nothing.' He replies coldly, not even looking at me as he reaches for his phone.

I get up from the couch, making sure that Celine is holding her son before I make my way over to Rafael.

'Why do they have to talk to the police department in Spain?' He inhales slowly before turning his whole body towards me.

But he's not looking at me.

He's looking at everyone else instead.

As if they asked the question.

'They need to deal with them.' He says and nothing more.

'What's going on?' I ask curiously, waiting for him to look at me.

'Everything's fine, don't worry.' He replies as he brushes past me, 'I'll be in my office.' Like always...

I keep my eyes on him, wishing to catch a glimpse of him looking at me. But he doesn't.

Of course he doesn't.

'Give him time.' Celine says, patting the place I was sitting in a few seconds ago, 'He has a lot to deal with right now.'

'He has been avoiding her for over a week though...' Veah says as she plays with a cooing Leroy. 'And I still have not been able to tell him what happened.' Because he won't let me explain...

They both look at me with pitiful looks in their eyes and I don't know how to feel about it.

'Go and talk to him.' Veah says when we all go quiet for a while.

'He won't listen.' 'Make him.' Celine chimes in, suddenly ready to push me to talk to him before it's too late.

Because she told me to give him time for the past few days.

And now she wants me to talk to him?

'You're his wife, you can make him do anything.' Neveah says jokingly, but with confidence, I know all too well.

She wants me to do this, she wants me to talk to him and make him see that what I did had to be done in order to protect Leonardo.

But was it?

Because ever since Rio confronted me with it, I've been doubting if it really was the only way I could distract Hunter.

'Don't overthink it.' She continues, handing Leroy back to Celine, before turning back to me, 'You had no other choice.'

Despite my stomach turning at the thought of having to put him through all of this shit again, I know we have to talk about it at some point.

So I get up and force myself to walk over to his office.

I softly knock on the door, waiting for him to reply, so when he doesn't, I slightly open the door and peek inside.

He's sitting behind his desk, staring at a picture frame in his hand.

He has three frames in his office.

One of two little boys, probably him and Leon, one of a big family that looked happier than ever, and one of an elderly couple, probably his grandparents.

And I don't see the one with the two little boys anywhere in here, so I know he's holding it in his hand.

'Can I help you?' He asks, finally looking at me.

My blood heats up, but something feels off.

He has been ignoring me for a week straight, avoiding me whenever I tried talking to him, but is acting as if nothing ever happened right now.

'What- okay look.' I start as I walk over to him and take a seat in front of him, 'Will you let me talk?'

'You're talking now,' He asks, his tone cold and distant, 'are you not?'

I watch as he places the picture frame on the exact plank it's supposed to be on, and wait for him to turn to me again.

Which takes longer than it should.

'Well, will you let me explain then?' He thinks about it for a second, making his way back to the chair across from me. 'Explain what exactly?'

I almost roll my eyes. And I know that if I didn't need him to forgive me, I would.

But he's my husband.

I married him and I don't want our marriage to go on like this.

I want us to fix our issues and move on because we're a team.

'I want to explain about the kiss.' I state, trying to keep my voice as emotionless as his.

But I know he can hear the hint of annoyance in my voice.

Because his lips curl up just a little.

'Which one?' He asks as he leans back in his chair and looks at me, 'The one with Marco or the one with my enemy?'

'I didn't want to kiss Hunter.' I admit, not wanting to make this any harder than it already is.

He stills for a second, looking right at me. But his eyes don't warm me, they don't make me heat up like they always do, they make me run cold.

Because there's no heat in his eyes.

There's no fire.

As if it's extinguished and won't be able to ever rekindle again.

'Then why did you do it?'

'It happened the night Leon came to get me.' I think about my next words, wondering if this is even worth it.

I don't want to remind myself of anything that happened in that house.

I want it all to be a blank memory of absolutely nothing.

Talking about it will only make it real and I don't want that.

'Leon climbed out of the window and Hunter was heading towards it, he wouldn't listen when I talked to him and almost looked out of the window.' He looks at me, with no change of emotion on his face.

Just this hard and cold expression.

As if we're closing a business deal. As if I am a threat to him and everything he worked for.

'I panicked because he threatened to kill Leon before and I didn't want him to die- I still don't want him to die.'

Flashes of those dark times come back into my head, the party in Russia, the pain of getting stabbed there, the way he manipulated me into staying, the nights Isabelle would come to my room in fear of something happening again, Hunter killing Jade...

'I thought- I mean, I didn't really have time to think so I did what felt right.' He slightly raises his brow, the only change so far. 'Not right! But- I mean, I didn't want Leon to die but I didn't want to kiss Hunter either.'

'So was it the right thing to do?' He asks with no change in his tone.

No curiosity, no fear, no pain. Just anger.

'To safe Leon, yes, because it distracted him, but I did not enjoy any second of it and it barely lasted three seconds.'

An unamused chuckle leaves his lips, sending shivers down my spine, but I won't show any of it to him.

I wait for him to shout at me again. Anything but this distant act he's holding up right now.

'Okay.' What? I frown at him, wondering why he seems so calm about it. 'Let's move on then.'

What? There's no way he just- He gets up and walks over to me, giving me a quick kiss, before he heads for the door.

'I have to go and handle some stuff, stay at home.' Without giving me any time to respond, he's out of my sight.

And I'm too stunned to move.

Because I've been trying for days, almost a week straight, and he just brushed it off like this?

I get up to go after him but hear the front door shut just as I make it into the main hall.

'He told me to keep my eyes on you, so what is it you want to do?' Enzo asks, staying on the other side of the hall.

'Where are the others?' I ask instead, wanting to talk to them about everything that just happened.

I can't be the only one who doesn't buy any of this.

'Isabelle Norman is still in her room, Kai Davis is training, Neveah North and Celine Dufort decided to go for a walk around the grounds.' He reports as if this is some official meeting.

I nod and make my way to the kitchen, wondering how long it will take them to get back inside. Because this place is huge. So it may take a while.

'Enzo, can I ask you something?' The man follows me into the kitchen and stays on the opposite side of the room.

As if he's ordered to do so.

'Anything, Cataleya.' He says as he leans on the counter.

He knew my name before I ever introduced myself to him.

'How long have you been working for Rafael?' I ask as I pour myself a glass of strawberry juice and look up at him, wondering if he wants some as well.

'No thank you,' He shakes his head and smiles at me, before following me to the hall again, 'but I've been working for him my entire life.'

His entire life...

Enzo looks around the same age as Rafael, maybe leaning more towards Marco and Leon's age, but not any older than any of the other men.

I walk over to Rio's office and take a seat, staring at the picture of the two little boys.

'Why haven't I met you before?' I ask when I see him in the doorway. 'You haven't met a lot of people that work for the Curzios, Cataleya.'

'Oh trust me, I know.' He smiles as he walks over to the seat I was just sitting in, 'Oh right, the wedding must've been packed.'

'I didn't even get to meet everyone.' I joke as he chuckles softly. 'I heard it was the most romantic thing everyone ever saw.'

'Before it all went down to shit.' I mutter, finally looking up at him, 'You weren't invited?'

'I was, but sadly I couldn't make it.' He says, staring right back at me, 'What other families do you know so far?'

'Just the Barsetti's.' He frowns at my answer, making me feel ashamed for some reason. 'Just the Barsetti's?'

I nod and watch as he stares at me in confusion. 'How many families should I know about by now?'

I can't help but be curious about it. Are we talking about two other families or over ten?

'A lot more than just the Barsetti's.' I didn't really have anything to talk about with Enzo.

He would usually just follow us- me around the house and go back to Rio when necessary. But we never spoke more than three sentences towards each other.

'Tell me about them.' He instantly shakes his head and retaliates, not wanting to cross a line. 'It's not a bad thing you don't know about them, trust me.'

'I feel like it is.' I state, 'I should know more about the people my husband is working with, don't you agree?'

Rio won't tell me, he will say that it's not important and that it shouldn't concern me. He would keep Marco and maybe even Brandon away from me as much as he can, just because he doesn't want me to find out.

So right now Enzo is my only hope.

'You should talk to Rafael about this.' He answers, determined to keep his mouth shut.

'I'm not asking you to list his enemies so I can go after them.' I know I won't stand a chance against his enemies. Not on my own at least, 'I'm asking you to tell me more about our allies.'

Something in my words intrigues him, making him lean forward, 'You truly are as they say you are.'

I almost frown as I cross my legs over one another and keep my eyes on his, 'I hope that that's a good thing.'

'Determined and convincing.' I can't help but feel something wash over me. It's something between pride and joy.

'So I've convinced you to tell me more about our allies?' He smiles at me and shakes his head to himself. 'If you can convince your husband not to kill me when he finds out about me telling you.'

'He won't find out.' I instantly reply.

I won't bring any of this to Rio. It doesn't matter anyway.

He tilts his head as he looks at me, hesitating if he should open his mouth and speak or just get up and leave.

And I kind of wait for him to cave, hoping that he'll tell me more, that he'll teach me more, because I need to know more.

'The Curzio's have been friends with a lot of families that have been dealing with this business for decades.' I smile as he starts talking, moving to the edge of my seat.

'Moretti, Garcia, Marcello, Barsetti. The four biggest and oldest families from Italy.'

'You're a Garcia.' I state, making him nod. 'It's a Spanish name.' He nods again.

'My family's name started in Spain, but at some point, we moved to Italy. I've been born and raised there too.'

I nod and store all of this information in my head as if it's something I need to remember for an upcoming test.

'Moretti wanted to marry one of their daughters to Cecilio, Rafael's grandfather. They were supposed to get married, but he fell in love with Lucrecia Garcia.' Moretti... Garcia... Curzio...

'The Moretti's weren't pleased about it, but they married into the Marcello family instead.' Marcello... As in Marcello? 'They moved some of their business over to America when the fifth generation started and expanded their domain there.'

'Marcello, Garcia, and Curzio have been friends since the beginning, always had each other's back.'

'Later on, Luciano went and married one of the Moretti girls, without thinking about their past. Not that it mattered anyway, because everything was set.'

'How did the Barsetti's get involved?' When I asked Brandon or Marco these types of questions, they would always answer with something useless.

I don't know... It has been like this ever since I was born.

'The Barsetti's used to be a small family in one of the villages nearby Barletta.' Enzo continues, smiling at my excitement, 'They saved the Curzio's from a housefire that was supposed to kill them all, and ever since then they have been loyal to one another.'

Moretti didn't get to marry into the family until they kind of did. The Marcello's and Garcia's have always been friends with the Curzio's. And the Barsetti's saved them at some point, so that's where it all started with them.

'And what do they do for us?'

'All kinds of things.' He answers vaguely, still keeping something from me. 'Rafael, your husband is at the top. The boss most people fear more than death itself.' A shiver runs down my spine at the way he talks about my husband.

Rafael Adriano Curzio, someone people fear more than death itself.

'He has a right hand, Leonardo- his cousin. He deals with jewels and guns and paintings and cars- all the fancy stuff. He's good at selling even the shittiest stuff for a good price.' I didn't know Leon did all of that.

But apparently, there's a lot I don't know about all of this.

'Leon has two important people underneath him, each handling different things for him, Cecilia who handles the fancy business stuff- the paintings, jewels, and cars.' He lists, making me wonder why I have never met her before, 'And Quinten, who deals with the guns, weapons, and compounds.'

I nod and wonder if I've ever met them before. Maybe at some party or some meeting or- just anything.

But I don't remember their names.

'Marco deals with the darker stuff.' Enzo starts, 'He has an assistant- or had an assistant because apparently, she was sleeping with someone connected to the Steels.' Something else I didn't know...

'He also has two main people, Mirello, who deals with the drugs and narcotics, and Blanco, who takes care of the money flow and medication needed in certain areas.'

My head is starting to spin with all this information, but I feel like I need to remember all of this.

'And what about you?' I ask when I haven't heard Enzo's name at all.

'We have a few other people that work in separate teams, which my team is one of.' He replies proudly, 'Archer, he takes care of the runners.'

Archer... I met an Archer before. I think... He's the guy we met up with in Spain. The one where Rio cut someone's finger off for pointing at me or something.

'The runners make sure everything is distributed discretely. They work with everyone else I named before, but mostly Blanco since he has a lot to do with the money.' He continues as my heart starts racing at the thought of that meeting with Archer.

'Amara, a beautiful woman that has a crew of over a thousand men and women, the seducers. We use them to seduce our targets if needed.' I nod and keep my eyes on him. 'Nicole, who has a bunch of hackers working for her. She's almost as good as the Zuzu.'

I know that one too... Never met them before, but I know they are the best to ever exist and only work for the highest bidder. And they say whoever Zuzu is is a woman.

'And then we have my crew, which exists of over a thousand men as well. We're... Like guards, but also kind of part of the runners.' I nod and let it all sink in as I lean back in the chair.

They each have their own section, and all of their work will determine how much money comes and goes.

And I've never met them before.

I feel like I'm failing at the simplest things by not knowing anything about this. 'To think that he didn't tell me.' I mumble more to myself than at him. 'He just wants to keep you safe.'

'Being left in the dark can get you killed, Enzo.' He takes a deep breath, before shaking his head. 'He would rather get himself killed before he would let something happen to you.'

'Or he could just tell me so I could be up to date with everything.' I don't get why I'm laying all of this on him. I shouldn't.

'I'm sorry, I-'

'You have this hold on him.' He says, his eyes softening for a second, 'I've known him my entire life, seen what grief did to him. What losing the people he cared about did to him.'

Little Rio, barely a teen, losing everyone he loves. Fucking hell.

My heart shatters at the thought of that and I wish I could go back in time and hug him and tell him that everything will work out in the end.

'I've never seen him this way with anyone.' He continues, making me look at him strangely.

Because so far he has only seen us fight day and night. He has only seen my husband ignoring me.

Yet it's something special to him.

'He has never acted this mindless with anyone else.'

'And that's a good thing?' I feel like mindless actions are bad in this field of work. It will get you killed.

And when Enzo shakes his head, I only get more and more confused.

'He loves you so much that he would risk everything and anything to keep you safe, despite being angry with you.' He loves me...

My body tingles at his words, warming every cell in my body as if it was ice-cold before.

'And so would all of his loyal men.' He adds, 'We would all die for you, because of your title.'

'Because I'm the boss's wife.' I mumble, making him shake his head. 'The day you married him, Cataleya, you didn't just become his wife. You became our boss.'

My heart swells at his words.

Boss... Me?

None of the workers have called me boss so far. Miss Curzio or Lady Curzio, but not boss.

It feels strange. Foreign almost.

Because I don't feel like their boss. I barely know any of them, how can I be their boss?

I mean, I didn't even know half of these people existed, so how am I supposed to be their boss?

And what does this mean? Do they see me as Rio's equal?

Does he see me as his equal?

The door swings open and Rafael storms in, a bruise running up his face, stopping my train of thought immediately.

'What happened-' 'Grab your stuff and tell the others to pack as well. We're leaving for Spain.' He says, his voice deep and cold again.

I wonder if it's because of his anger or if it's because nothing changed, but before I can reply, I'm being shoved out of the office, the door slamming right in my face.

I stay in the hall, staring at the door as if it would magically disappear when I stare at it long enough.

But when nothing happens, when I don't even hear his voice beaming from the other side, I step back and head up the stairs.

Once everyone's done packing their bags and loading them into the cars outside, we all get into the cars.

The entire drive and flight to Spain go by slowly.

Every minute feels like an hour, every hour like a day, and every day like a year.

But when we arrive at the house time seems to go buy quickly again.

I stay in my room for the rest of the day, unable to go to sleep before I talk to Rio about whatever it is that's going on between us.

And when the door finally opens, I almost run over and jump into his arms.

Rio walks into the room and stops when he sees me.

'I thought you were asleep already.' He mumbles.

I shake my head and keep my eyes on him because he looks like he's ready to run out of the room again.

And I think we should talk.

'What's going on?' I ask, moving to the edge of my seat. He raises a brow and stays by the door. 'What do you mean?'

He said that everything was fine, he said that we would leave everything behind, yet he's... acting differently.

'You're distant.'

He shakes his head and sighs deeply, before reaching for the doorknob. 'I'm not. You should rest.'

'Rio don't do this.' He stops but doesn't turn back to me. 'Don't do what?'

'What's going on? I thought you said we would leave it behind and move on?'

I apologized and he said he would drop it. So why is he still acting like this?

'I'm not ignoring you, I'm talking to you right now, aren't I?'

'Yes, but you're still distant. More than ever before.' He slowly turns around and I try blinking the tears away.

I don't want to cry about something this stupid.

We should be acting like adults and talk about our problems.

But it fucking hurts to be so close yet so far away from him.

Because he locked me out. He doesn't want me by his side anymore and I thought I could fix it by explaining myself, but I was wrong.

He makes me so emotional in ways that make me want to hurt him more than anything.

But he's also the only one who can make me the happiest I've ever been.

And he's hurting already. He's hurt by what I did and I get that, but he wouldn't let me explain.

'I'm not.' He chuckles, but the joy doesn't reach his eyes. 'You are.'

'Valentina, I don't understand why you're doing this now. Nothing is going on, get some sleep.' He turns back to the door and almost steps out.

But I jump to my feet and that catches his attention.

'Don't do this.' He sighs deeply, before turning back to me. 'I'm not doing anything.'

'Yes, you are.'

'Valentina, I don't understand what you-'

I shut him off by taking a step forward, making him look directly at me.

'Earlier you said that everything would go back to normal, that you were tired of fighting.' I say, slowly taking another step.

I don't want him to feel cornered.

'We're not fighting.' We will soon... 'Talk to me.'

'There's nothing to talk about, I need to handle something.'

'You're still angry about what happened, and I get that, but I need you to talk to me about it.' He inhales slowly, before turning his whole body towards me. 'I don't think I can.'

Something in his eyes is different.

He always had a hint of heat in his eyes when he looked at me, even when he threatened me time and time again, even if he said he hated me more than anything in the world, even when I annoyed the shit out of him.

There was always that hint of warmth- something like fire.

It's gone.

As if his love for me faded when he found out what happened between Hunter and I.

A kiss.

A stupid sickening kiss.

'Do you love me?'

He looks at me with a look, a look that's a mix of a bunch of emotions, mostly fear, annoyance and shock. But all without the heat.

'What?' I nod and blink again, afraid that if I close my eyes for too long, he'll be gone again. 'Are you seriously asking me this right now?'

I nod again and take a deep breath.

'After everything I did to get you back, you're asking me if I love you?' He asks, raising his voice a little, 'Has all of that not been enough for you?'

'It has, but you haven't said it yet.' I know he doesn't need to say it.

He has proven to me that he loves me. A lot.

But I need him to show me again. I need him to show me that the heat is still there. That he's still the fire that warms every cell in my body when I look at him or hear him talking.

I need to know that he'll stay this time. That he'll talk to me if he's annoyed by anything I did. That he'll let me in again.

Not just... leave.

'I didn't think I needed to after all I did to get you back, Valentina.'

'You've been ignoring me for over a week-' He shakes his head, as if he hasn't. As if he hasn't been avoiding me ever since he found out. 'Ever since...' I trail off, watching as his eyes shoot to mine, telling me to pick my next words wisely.

'Don't-' 'Ever since you found out that I kissed Hunter, you've been ignoring me.' I state, keeping my eyes on him.

Just in case he tries to run, just like he did when he first found out.

'I said don't.' He sneers, stepping to the window, away from the door.

He looks like he's ready to smash the windows. All of them.

'I wanted to be honest with you about that-'

Rio turns around, clear anger in his eyes. But there's something else.

Pain.

He's in pain.

'I didn't need you to be honest about that.' He sneers, striding to the door, 'Now go to bed.'

I rush to the door and slam it shut before he can open it any further. 'Move out of my way Valentina.'

I stay at the door, my back facing him, and take a deep breath. 'You wanted me to lie?'

'No.' He steps away, kicking something in the room, making other things fall onto the ground, and takes a deep breath.

'I wanted you to think!' He shouts, making me slowly turn around. 'What?'

'You touched him.' He groans as if the words cost him all his strength and he's ready to drop to his knees.

'I didn't touch him, we just kissed!' He's probably thinking I had sex with Hunter too, but it never came to that.

It would never come to that.

'Your lips touched his.'

'And yours touched Molly's, so don't even-' He moves over to me and slams me against the door, keeping his hands on my wrists to keep me in place. 'Do not pull her into this.'

'Why, because she's too precious to you?' Neveah said she was out of the picture, she said he killed her as soon as he got back to the house the night I went with Hunter, but he doesn't like it when I bring her up.

Neither do I, because it burns.

It's a painful reminder of the hurtful things he did to me.

'Because it's way different than what you did.' He sneers, putting more and more pressure on my wrists, so much that it's starting to hurt.

But he doesn't care.

And neither do I.

'How?' I sneer, trying to break free. But I don't know why I keep trying.

I've been trying to escape from him every time, but it never worked, so why would it work now?

'It just is.' He lets go of me, realizing that he's hurting me, and I blink away the tears and push him away with all my strength.

He barely flinches but steps back, turning to the windows again.

'How is that different? You slept with her!'

'Because she was nobody! She didn't matter!' He shouts, kicking the chair I was sitting in just a few seconds ago.

I tried moving it, but it was very heavy for me to carry.

For me.

But not for him.

He kicks it to the other side, against the little desk in the corner of the room.

'You kissed the man that tortured Neveah, the man that killed her family to get to us, the same guy that took you as ransom to get to me, the same man that killed my entire family! Out of all people, you kissed Hunter Steel.'

The tears escape and he tries calming down, but nothing's helping.

'You kissed my enemy. And I need time to process it.' He looks at the ground and tries to control his anger, but nothing's helping.

No breathing, no staring at a certain point. Nothing.

'I'm sorry.' I whisper, trying to stop myself from breaking even further.

He scoffs and turns back to the windows, looking at the night sky.

I slowly step closer, reaching out to him. But I'm afraid that if I touch him, he'll simply push me away.

He warned me of that last time too.

But I can't help it.

I want to comfort him. I want to take his pain. I want to reverse time and take it all back. I want him to forgive me.

'I'm sorry Rafael. I truly am.'

'Get out.' What? He turns around and steps back, in shock that I'm standing this close, before repeating himself: 'Get out.'

I stare at him for a second, processing what he just said, before staring into his eyes.

No matter how long I wait for that spark of heat to return, it doesn't.

'You don't-' 'I do.' He sneers, moving past me, to the bed.

He unbuttons his blouse and throws it to the side, before undoing his belt and pulling down his pants.

'Rio, I-' 'Get the fuck out, Valentina.' I shake my head and step closer to the bed, moving to my side.

'Valentina, I'm warning you.' I nod and climb onto the bed, ignoring his warnings.

I'm not leaving him. Especially after I found out the truth.

He hates me for kissing Hunter, because of their past, but I did it to protect Leon and that's it.

'Valentina-' 'I'm sorry.' He rolls his eyes, pulls away the sheets, and climbs on top of me.

'Stop lying.' He's hovering over me and all I want to do is pull his body on mine.

I want to pull him on top of me and just hold him, hoping that it will calm him down, but it probably won't.

'I'm not.' He leans down, pinning my wrists into the mattress. 'You are.'

He flips me over, ripping the shirt I'm wearing, and keeping my hands above my head, making my heart race harder than ever before.

We should talk. We should work on whatever state we're in right now.

We shouldn't be doing whatever it is I see in his eyes, we shouldn't be touching each other like this.

But I don't want to stop him.

I don't want to push him away when he pulls me close.

And this is the way he pulls me close. This is the way he lets me back in.

It's the way he did it the first time too.

'You liked the way he felt, didn't you?' What is he- 'Answer me.'

I don't want to lie to him. But I feel like talking to him about Hunter, will only anger him more.

It will push him away again.

'Valentina.' He pulls my head back, by pulling on my hair and waits for me to answer.

Maybe that's exactly what I want.

'No.' I moan, unable to answer him with more words.

He tuts and pushes me back into the mattress. 'Don't lie to me, Valentina.'

He lets go of my hair and pulls down my panties, leaving me naked and exposed for him to use.

God...

'I'm not.' I breathe, waiting for him to continue, but he doesn't.

'Tell me who's touch is better.' He slowly trails his finger over my shoulders, before trailing them down my back, to my ass.

'Who's lips are better.' He kisses my back and moves one of his hands to my stomach.

He pushes down his boxers and presses his tip near my entrance.

'Who do you want more?' He asks, pressing himself harder into me, but not fully just yet.

I push myself back onto him even more, hoping that it will make our bodies whole again.

But he pulls my head back even more and makes sure I stop moving entirely. 'Don't you fucking dare.'

'What-' He pulls me closer, shoving himself inside of me as if he wants to hurt me.

And it does. A sharp pain burns through my legs, going up my stomach and slowly reaching my heart, but god does it feel good.

'Who's better?' He asks again, making my body jolt as he pounds me as hard as he can.

'You.' I mutter, fighting the pain that's taking over my body as he pounds again.

I press my hands against his chest in an attempt to keep him from going this hard on me, but he simply tuts. 'Don't you fucking dare.'

'It hurts.' He presses himself deep inside of me and pulls my body up so that my back is pressed against his chest. 'You can take it.'

He shoves me back down and slowly lets go of my hair, just to grip it even tighter.

If he keeps that tight grip, my scalp will hurt for a week.

'You.' Another pound, making me arch my back a little. 'Could've.' Skin against skin, sweaty, but perfect.

'Picked anyone.' He bellows, before pounding himself into me again. Fuck.

'But you-' Another one, making me hold onto the sheets for dear life. 'You picked.'

I'm almost there, almost going up in flames, when he pulls my head back harshly, making me moan out.

'Him.' He presses his lips against my neck and sucks hard, making me bite my lip before I scream and wake everyone up.

I know this place is big, but it's not that big.

'Tell me who's better.' He grunts, pounding in and out of me in the hardest way ever. 'Fuck, you're good.'

I want my face to be back on the bed again, at least that way I could hold onto something. 'I-Fuck! Shit-'

'Tell me.' He groans, pulling my face back a little harder. 'You!' I shout, begging him to finish this.

To finish me.

'You!' I shout, ignoring the fact that everyone else could hear me, 'You and just you!'

He chuckles and pushes me back on the bed, before getting out himself.

I turn my head and frown at him. 'What are you-'

'You shouldn't have kissed him.' Is he fucking kidding me?

'I know that, but-' 'Yet you did it. All while we were trying to get you out of there.' He continues, not even letting me finish whatever it is I have to say.

'Listen to me, I-' 'No, you listen to me.' He states, firmly grabbing my face as he steps closer again, 'You kissed him and I hate you for it.'

My cheeks are starting to hurt and I wonder what happened after our talk earlier.

He didn't look this spiteful. He didn't seem this tense. He didn't hate me this much.

'Fuck you!' I shout at him, pulling myself together so that I can walk out of this room.

We're probably the only ones awake in the house, and I honestly don't care if anyone sees me naked right now.

I just want to get the fuck out of here because I'm done.

He can come to me when he's done with his stupid little tantrums.

'Don't you fucking dare.'

I don't think I have ever heard his voice this angry before.

He follows me through the room and pulls me back, against his chest.

I use every ounce of energy I have left and use it to push him off of me.

The only problem is his grip on me.

He's too firm. As if he's trying to burn his hands onto my skin.

So I fall on top of him, his hard muscles against my skin.

'You're a piece of shit.' His eyes lock with mine and my words only seem to encourage him.

He flips us over and pins me to the floor, taking my wrists in one hand, while pressing my face on the floor with the other.

'You want to be a fucking bitch?' Did he just-

His pressure on me only increases as he almost squishes me with his entire body.

'I will fuck you like a bitch.'

I shouldn't like him calling me a bitch, I shouldn't like him taking me like this on the floor, I shouldn't like any of this.

But I can't help it.

'I will fucking kill you.' I sneer, trying to turn around and get my hands on him.

I want to strangle him, to hurt him as much as he has hurt me, but I can't.

It's impossible.

He pushes his dick into me again, pressing himself all the way inside of me.

My knees scrape over the floor and I just pray to god that I don't get any burns, even though I probably will.

He rams himself inside of me, my body jerking with each thrust.

My body hurts, but I can't find it in me to tell him to stop.

I don't want him to stop.

It has been fucked up between us ever since he found out about everything that happened and I'm glad we're at least kind of on talking terms again.

It doesn't take long for the tension to build up again and I just hope that he won't pull back as I almost reach my orgasm again.

After a few more thrusts we both explode, ending on the ground wrapped in a warm blanket of euphoria.

It takes me some time to come back to my senses and I slowly turn to face him, noticing him looking at me with a pained look in his eyes.

'No more lies.' I open my mouth and almost tell him that I didn't lie about anything, but that would not be completely true either.

I didn't tell him about the kiss because I didn't want to be reminded of the moment and because I thought it didn't really matter because it shouldn't.

'No more secrets.' I reply instead, crawling over to his chest.

My knees hurt. My arms hurt. My head hurts.

My entire body screams at me for letting him use me like this. But I have never been this happy in my life.

I feel like we needed this to get through it.

It's fucked up, but it's the truth.

Rio starts moving again, making me wonder if he's going to leave again now that he got that out of his system.

But instead of leaving, he lifts me up and gently lays me down on the bed, before climbing in next to me.

'Valentina.' He whispers as I wrap my arms around his shoulders and lay my head on his chest, his heart beating pretty fast. 'Mhm?'

'I'm sorry.' I lift my head up and look at him, noticing the shame on his face. 'I know you despise him too.'

'I should've told you.' I say as I slowly close my eyes and try to get even more comfortable, 'I'm sorry.'

'Go sleep, you must be tired.' I chuckle and look up again, 'Says you?'

He shakes his head and stares at me while he massages the back of my head, slowly falling asleep as I lay on his chest.

After some time of watching him sleep, I decide to go and grab something to drink.

When I make it to the kitchen, I notice Celine preparing a bottle for Leroy.

'Why are you up so early?' Early? I haven't looked at the time ever since we got to this house, which was around four in the afternoon.

'What time is it?' I ask as I head to the fridge. 'Four in the morning.' She answers as she looks at me strangely.

Great... 'I needed to... deal with my husband.' I can't help but feel my cheeks heat up.

I open up the bottle of water and take a sip, watching as she closes another bottle filled with breastmilk and puts it in the fridge.

'How are you holding up with everything else?' She asks when we both stay silent for a few minutes. 'I just miss Leon.'

It's obvious we all do and it feels wrong.

'I do too, but I have to attend a meeting with the cops about his location, so we might be close to finding him.' What?

'What do you mean?' 'The cops said that they'll be willing to give us his location if we helped them with some local criminals, so Rio send me to ask them a bit more about it since he won't be able to keep his cool.' She explains, making me wonder when all of this happened.

Because Enzo didn't tell me about any of it. 'What else do you have to do that you're up so early?'

'Operate three people.' Of course...

'And how have you been with everything?' I ask, wondering why I haven't asked her already.

She takes a deep breath and looks directly at me. The pain in her eyes is there and it's clear she doesn't want to be reminded of all of this again. 'I'm back with Kai.'

'I noticed.' I say, making her frown for a split second. 'Don't tell me Brandon talked to you.'

He did. He only told us that she was seeing Kai again and he thinks that she's moving too fast, which might be true, but that's all he said.

'You latched yourself onto Kai after Vincent died.' I state, making her frown again. 'He said that?'

I shake my head and take another sip, 'I think that.'

She shakes her head and gets up to leave the room. 'Well, you're wrong.'

'Celine, I'm not-' 'He's the father of my child, I was going to end up with him one way or the other.' She states, slowly turning back to me with tears in her eyes.

I didn't mean to hurt her. I didn't mean to insult her. I didn't mean to make her remind her of anything that happened.

But I wish she would talk to us about this shit. Because it's killing her on the inside. 'Just because you two have a kid together, does not mean that you have to end up with him.'

'It's what's best for our child.' She replies as if she's been using it as an excuse to convince herself.

'And what about you?' I ask since it wouldn't be fair not to include her own wishes in her relationship with Kai.

'What do you mean?' She asks as she continues to frown.

'Do you want to be with Kai?' She takes a step back, bumping into the counter on the other side of the kitchen. 'Of course- Cataleya, why are you asking me this?'

'I'm just concerned, that's all.'

'There's no need.' She states with a hard tone.

As if we should drop the matter and never talk about it again.

'So you want to be with Kai and it's not just because of your son?'

'Kai makes me feel alive, so yes. I want to be with him because, after all of this, he's the only one that makes me feel something.' She states, taking a shaky breath, 'Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to work and go by the police station to see what's up with them.'

She leaves the room and doesn't even look back at me as she does, making my heart hurt for her.

I feel bad for crossing her boundaries, I feel bad if I insulted her. But I just want her to be safe.

I make my way back to the bedroom and sleep in Rio's arms, until I wake up cold, realizing he's not in bed anymore.

After eating brunch with Veah, Kai, and Leroy, we end up watching a movie. Leroy slowly falls asleep as all our phones chime at the same time.

It's Celine:

𝙸'𝚖 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎

Neveah almost lights up, wanting to run and get the others as if they didn't get the exact same text.

'I'll put Leroy to bed.' Kai says as he gets up from the couch and takes his son to their room, leaving me with a stressed-out Veah.

Lorenzo walks into the living room and looks at us when he finds us on the couch.

'Cataleya and Neveah, Rio wants you to meet him in the dining room.' He states, all official and stern again.

Veah gets up and pulls on my arm, making my heart race as well.

Whatever Celine has found out today, has something to do with Leon.

Our Leon.

Leonardo Tiago Curzio.

The only family- No.

He's somewhere. They have him. Or at least they know where he is.

We just have to get him.

I pull Veah towards the dining room, finding Rio seated at the head of the table. 'Did you get the text?'

I nod and make my over to him, noticing the tension around him as well.

'I can't wait to see him again.' Veah chimes exiditely, almost rushing over to one of the chairs.

Rio chuckles and slowly turns his head towards her, 'Just so you can crush his heart and leave again?'

'I was leaving anyway.' She mutters as she stares at the table between them. 'So it shouldn't matter if you see him or not, should it?'

'Enough,' I say, giving him a nudge as I take a seat in the chair between them, 'We just need to wait until Celine comes back.'

And just like yesterday, minutes seem to feel like days, days seem to feel like years, and years seem to feel like infinity.

But when the front door finally opens and we hear footsteps nearing the dining room, we all stare in anticipation.

Celine looks at us, barely able to move, to breathe, as she looks at all of us for barely two seconds.

Her eyes land on Rio and she starts shaking her head.

What- 'They found this.' We all look at the plastic bag in Celine's hand.

She's shaking so much that the bag almost drops out of her hands, so she throws it onto the table and sighs deeply.

The bag holds a shiny golden ring with a sapphire stone in the middle.

Now I don't know much about the rules of death in this lifestyle, but I do know that jewelry, just jewelry indicates death.

And I know who bought that ring because she was so scared to give it to him in the first place.

That ring belongs to one person and one person only.

It's Leon's ring.

It hits me like a truck, making me gasp for air.

My lungs painfully fill with what feels like the last bit of air that's left, and a wave of pain rushes through the room.

Because everyone knows who the ring belongs to.

We all look at Neveah, who suddenly has a smile on her face. 'Neveah-' She shakes her head and takes a step back.

Just now I realize the tears in her eyes. In all our eyes.

All except Rio.

He's simply staring at the ring, no emotions in his eyes. As if he's frozen in time.

'That doesn't mean anything, right?' Veah's voice breaks and I think she knows that it does. Leon is dead...

'Neveah please-' She shakes her head, not willing to accept the truth. The hard painful truth.

We've been telling her that he'll return, that he will come back for her and that he will have an explanation as to why he couldn't come back sooner.

But he won't come back at all.

He's... Gone...

'No.' Neveah mumbles before stepping towards the door. 'He's gone North.'

'No. No, he's not.' 'Veah-' she ignores me and leaves the room, all of us rushing after her. Into the entrance hall.

'He is Neveah, Leon is fucking dead!' Rio shouts at her and I want to smack his already beat-up face.

Because there's no way he just shouted that at her right now.

But if Leon's dead, then...

'No. No. No. No.' Neveah repeats, more to herself than us.

'He's not dead!' I take a step towards her but stop when I notice how scared she is.

She's shaking, looking like she's going to collapse any second.

'Neveah, please-' 'You're lying, I'm going to bed. Tomorrow morning he'll be walking through the fucking door,' she points at the door and smiles as tears stream down her face. 'And everything will be just fine...' she takes a shaky breath, unable to believe any word she said herself.

'Goodnight!' And with those words hanging in the air, she rushes to her room.

I want to follow her, but Celine stops me. She pulls me back by my arm and shakes her head. 'She needs me.'

'Give her some time.' She trembles as she looks at the doorway leading to the dining room.

Rafael.

This is breaking him too. The only family he had left, died. 'Rio...'

'Celine,' he ignores me and turns towards Celine, 'tell Marco to get back here. We need to make sure every last Steel is located by the end of the day.' Shit...

All Celine does is nod, she's unable to say anything. Stunned and in pain. She walks up the staird like a zombie, before breaking up th stairs.

'What are you doing?' Rio steps away from me, to go to his office, and I follow him. 'You know that will only make them angrier, you'll start another war.'

A deep emotionless chuckle rumbles out of him, making him turn into the heartless man from a few hours ago.

'They started it when they took Neveah. I'll only be ending it for them.'

I sigh deeply, trying not to break down myself since everyone in this house is going crazy already.

'It won't bring him back.' He nods, pouring himself a drink before gulping it down in two seconds. The empty glass flies through the room, shattering against the wall behind him.

'Don't you think I fucking know that Cataleya?!' He shouts at me, cornering me between him and his desk. 'Leonardo is fucking dead.'

I thought I broke Rafael Adriano Curzio after he found out I kissed his enemy, but nothing- and I mean nothing breaks him more than this.

After all the searching, after all the fighting, after all the murders, after all the attempts to get Leonardo back.

This is what he gets in return.

'He's fucking dead.'

----

A/N: I did say only a few characters would get their happy ending...

This chapter was a whole ass rollercoaster but it will make sense later on!

What do you think will happen next now that Leon is dead?

I hope you somewhat enjoyed this chapter... I love you guys even though I hurt you guys a lot lately and please don't hate me for it (thank you)

Have an amazing day/night my loves, I'll see you in the next chapter <3