“No,” Levi shook his head. Ethan frowned and opened his mouth to ask him why, when Levi held him by his shoulder and lifted him. He put a very confused Ethan on the bed and crawled over him. Ethan watched Levi with his eyebrows drawn. He wondered why this man wasn’t letting him suck him off. Whenever he offered it to his other sexual partners, they would agree in a second. Many times they wouldn’t even have sex with him. They would just let him suck them off, and that’s all. Ethan usually had to take care of himself afterward. This happened with Dante as well. Ethan was confused about why Levi didn’t want him to fuck his mouth. Was Levi disgusted with him? All his worries and uneasiness flew away when Levi placed a soft kiss on his forehead. Ethan closed his eyes and Levi kissed each of his eyelids, “I don’t want to fuck you in any way,” Levi’s words made Ethan open his eyes. Before Ethan could panic, Levi continued, “I am not into this just for sex. Maybe when we have sex the other
Piper watched Faith as she threw punch after punch at the punching bag. Piper sipped her iced coffee as she watched Faith snarling and throwing punches while she was completely drenched in sweat. Her hair was tied in a ponytail which was now all wet. Faith also got a haircut recently and experimented with bangs, which suit her. Her bangs stick to her forehead as she huffs and groans after each punch she throws. Piper was not saying anything. For the past twenty minutes, she had been watching Faith punch and kick that poor bag. She squinted her eyes when she saw that Faith was now struggling to continue, but that girl was being stubborn and was not ready to give up. Piper decided to jump in. “Okay, I think you had enough. Stop it, Faith, or else your arms are going to fall out.” She said as she placed the half-empty cup of iced coffee down and moved to pull Faith away from the punching bag. Faith could barely breathe. She groaned and shook her head, “No. I need to take all this anger
“Mateo, I saw him as well. Aldo is dead.” Levi firmly confirmed it to Mateo, who sat behind his desk with his knuckles under his chin. He had just told his friend about his plan. They were going to visit the island again this week. They will be returning to it after almost a year. “I need to see it myself, Levi,” Mateo replied. Levi chuckled and shook his head. He believed that his friend was being unreasonable, “You can’t just do this because you doubt he is still around. You have a lot of enemies, Mateo. It could be anyone. Let’s not forget that we did end the alliance and killed many of its members. It could be one of them. It doesn’t have to be him.” Levi tried to explain it to his friend. Mateo heaved a sigh, “Even if he is dead, I want to see him.” Mateo sternly replied. Levi rolled his tongue against his inner cheek, “It has been over seven months since he died. Do you think you can just dig up his grave and recognize him now?” Levi asked. “DNA testing, Levi. I am going to
If a year ago, Faith had come out of the bathroom after taking a shower and saw someone, and by someone she means, Mateo, she would have screamed and maybe attacked him with something for being there without her permission, but she had now gotten to the point where when she saw him sitting on her bed, waiting for her – she just rolled her eyes and ignored him. She was only wrapped in a towel, but there was nothing Mateo hadn’t seen before. Faith walked into her closet and pulled out the clothes she wanted to wear. She didn’t change in the closet, instead, she walked out to find Mateo still sitting on the bed. He has his legs spread and his elbows resting on his knees. His eyes were on her. She frowned and looked around the room, making Mateo follow her gaze with his eyebrows knitted. Faith hummed, “Where is he?” She asked. Mateo frowned and looked around the room, “Where is who?” He asked confusingly. “Your bodyguard?” She asked. “Why would I have my bodyguard in your room, Faith?
“This is not a vacation, Piper,” Mateo commented as he watched Piper sipping beer from a can as all of them were on a yacht. She was relaxing on the only sunlounger on the yacht. They were supposed to take different speed boats to the island, but bad weather forced them to ditch the original plan and now all of them were traveling together on Kai’s yacht. Piper chuckled and shook her head, “This is the closest thing to vacation for me. I will treat it like one.” She chuckled, “I don’t work for you or Kai anymore, so I am a free bird for the next week.” She smiled and finished the entire can of beer. Mateo shook his head and folded his arms. Faith walked to Mateo and Piper with a smile on her face. She overheard their conversation and chuckled, “Let her be, Mateo.” She said. “You heard about your girlfriend, Mateo. Let me be.” Piper smirked teasingly at him. Mateo sternly looked down at Piper before he heaved a sigh. He softly kissed Faith’s cheek before he walked away without anot
They reached the island a couple of hours later. Everyone got off the yacht except for Kai. He stood by the edge, looking vacantly around the island. He gulped uncomfortably and let out a shaky breath. He hasn’t been there since Zeta’s funeral. His eyes roamed around the port. There were Mateo and his people around – guarding them as they all walked towards the signed cars that would take them to the resort where they all would be staying. Piper was walking on the dock. She was the last one in the line. Kai was supposed to follow Piper out, but she felt he was not following behind, so she halted and turned to look at him stuck at the exit. She sighed and watched him as Kai struggled to step out of the yacht. He put his foot forward and backward. She smashed her lips and turned the other way to see Benji walking forward with Levi. She knows her brother is safe with Levi. Mateo was already in the car when he saw Kai still on the yacht. He looked at Faith, “Hey, Levi and Noel are going
Kai and Mateo sat silently in the yacht that was anchored in front of the dock. Both men were sitting beside each other for the past twenty minutes, and neither of them was talking. Kai’s eyes were fixed on the dock, while Mateo was looking around. “It is weird to be back, no?” Mateo asked Kai. Kai heaved a sigh and look at his friend. They both had their eyes squinted under the sun, but the heat didn’t feel so bad as the winter was approaching. “I vowed that I will never come back here,” Kai replied. “It doesn’t feel right to be back,” he told Mateo.The last time Kai was here, he watched Zeta being lowered to the ground. He still remembers that day like it was yesterday. All the way he was coming here, he couldn’t bring himself to feel relaxed. He couldn’t shake the memories away. Mateo could tell that Kai was feeling extremely uneasy when they were on their way to the island, this is why he spent more time in the cabin along with Benji and Kai.Mateo sniggered, “I have been here s
Mateo pressed the phone to his ear as the bell rang on the other side. His eyes were on his girlfriend, who was walking around their room while munching on chips and cookies. She was wearing high-waist shorts with a loose shirt over them. The shirt was Mateo’s old one. It was so long that it covered her shorts underneath it. Mateo narrowed his eyes at her upper body and sighed when he noticed that she was not wearing a bra. She had her AirPods in her ear. She was listening to some music while swaying her hips to the beat. Mateo was sitting on the armchair. He changed into a white button-up shirt and black pants. His shirt wasn’t tugged under his pants, and a couple of the buttons of his shirt were also undone. He freshly took a shower, so his hair was wet. He tapped his finger on the arm of the chair as he waited for the person on the other side of the phone to pick up his call while his eyes were fixed on the beauty swaying her hips in front of him. Faith wasn’t even noticing how M
A good day came months after. The people of the village finally got their freedom. When that happened, week-long celebrations were held at the village, and all of them were invited, especially, Faith, Mateo, and Kai. It was a joyous occasion. Even when everyone was dreading back where they all spend the worst days of their lives, of course, they went anyway. Hesitant at first, everyone had a great time. Faith had never seen the people of the village have such a festive spirit. It was truly a beautiful week. Faith spends most of her time with her grandmother, Kami, and his family. Benji didn’t want to go with them, but when Kami asked – he couldn’t say no. Lora (Kami’s sister) was there to welcome everyone. Everyone could see how excited Benji got when he saw her. Piper and Kai exchanged a knowing glance. Benji has a crush on Lora. He had it since he came here for the first time. After he returned to the city, he kept in contact with her in one way or another. Faith was happy to see
(One Year Later)Even today when Faith closes her eyes and thinks about her recent past, she can’t truly process it. She can’t believe that so much changed in the past couple of years. From losing her entire family to almost getting killed to find a new family – a new purpose – everything in her life was nothing less than a lesson – a brutal and painful lesson. Currently, she was sitting in a meeting along with Kai and Mateo – but they weren’t the only ones there. The three of them were hosts, while the other distant members of the Ricci and Bianchi clan, a few mafia leaders, and a couple of correspondents from the village were in the room. The debate was on – whether the village/island should be given its independence or not.Faith was sitting in between Kai and Mateo. She averted her gaze to the other side of the room where Kami sat along with a few young faces representing the village. Faith could tell that the young boy was nervous. She shoots him an assuring smile. Kami smiled ba
Kai didn’t say anything in return. He just impassively stared at Mateo before they were interrupted by Faith and Piper’s loud laughter. Both looked at the girls to find that Ethan had managed to pull Levi into the pool. He grabbed Levi’s ankle and pulled him in, making the water splash around and the girls laugh. Mateo heaved a sigh and shook his head as he watched his friend emerge from under the water, not looking much impressed. Noel was standing behind Levi when Ethan pulled him in, he was now watching them two. Ethan laughed and splashed some water towards him with his hand, “What are you doing up there loser? Get in!” Noel shook his head, “No, and you need to come out too.” He looks at all of them, “You all do. It is chilly and the water is cold,” he added. “It is not that cold,” Piper replied. It was because Kai switch on the heater to warm up the water, but that’s mean it was okay to be in a pool on a chilly night under the sky. Just at that moment, Piper sneezed. That was i
Faith and Piper were wasted. If having one drink after another wasn’t enough, they were now drinking straight out of the bottle. “We should go swimming,” Faith slurred a suggestion to which Piper enthusiastically nodded her head, agreeing to it. Before anyone could stop them, an equally drunk Ethan got on his feet and threw his fist in the air, “Hell yeah! Let’s go!!” he yelled out and hooted. Everyone else was so concerned about Faith and Piper that they didn’t even notice just how much Ethan was drinking. These three were completely wasted. Noel was slightly tipsy. Where else, Levi, Mateo, and Kai only had a single drink so they weren’t drunk at all. They decided to stay sober to keep an eye on girls, and well – now Ethan as well. “Excellent,” Levi muttered under his breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. He moved to Ethan, who was swinging from one side to another with a bottle of one of the most expensive whiskeys in his hand. Kai glanced at the bottle in his hand. He didn’t
Faith was in her room, changing with there was a knock on her door. Her room was now filled with done and undone boxes. She will be moving out tomorrow and there is so much left to do. But currently, she wasn’t focused on it. She is certain that she will be able to pack before the movers arrive. She was concerned about the dinner party they were having tonight. Faith had already invited everyone and now she was changing for the night. By the knock on the door, she was certain that Mateo has arrived. She quickly picked up the clothes she threw on the floor and put them on the bed before she spoke, “Yes?” The door opened and indeed it was Mateo. He looked good. Fresh and well-rested. It took everyone over a month to get over what happened on the island. The exhaustion and trauma (for some) didn’t leave for days. Mateo was looking like he did when Faith first met him. The difference between then and now is that then he had a hard scowl on his face, and now he was smiling. Then he threw
“Are you all packed up?” Piper asked Faith who came to her room to visit. Faith looked at Piper and smiled. “Yes, almost. Just a few things are remaining to be packed,” she replied. In two days, Faith is moving in with Mateo. For the past week, she has been very busy. She didn’t realize how comfortable she has gotten at Kai’s place, that now that she was winding everything up here, she feels sad to be leaving. When she started packing, she was excited. For her, moving in with Mateo is like a new chapter of her life, but as she proceeded, she realized how uncomfortable yet relieving it is to end this brief, daunting, and challenging chapter of her life. Piper was sitting on the bed, reading, when Faith knocked on her door. She exhaled and smiled broadly at her, “So, are you excited?” She asked. Faith chuckled and sat on the bed beside her, “I am.” She nodded her head, “But I am also nervous. There are so many ifs and buts in my head that I can hardly sleep at night,” she replied hon
“Thank you,” Piper hugged and thanked Faith, before she looked at Mateo, “Thank you both of you. I don’t know what would have happened if it wasn’t for you two. I would have been living on the streets,” she added. “Hey!” “What the hell?” Levi and Kai spoke at the same time. Piper pulled her eyebrows together and looked at both of them. Kai was frowning while Levi stepped forward, “What do you mean you would have been on the streets? Are you kidding me? I would have never let you be on street. Damn, I thought you thought of me as a friend, but boy was I wrong.” Levi scoffed. Where Kai just watched her dumbfounded. She softly chuckled at Levi. “Oh, I would have never bothered you. You already got your hands full,” she told him bobbing her head towards Benji’s room. The door of Benji’s room was open and inside everyone can see Benji and Ethan playing video games. They were so engrossed by what they were playing that they didn’t even notice the people outside looking at them. Ethan and
Kai squinted his eyes. When he was coming out of Piper’s room, he did not expect Faith, Mateo, and Benji right outside – watching him walk out of the room. Their curious gazes made him feel like he was sneaking out of her room after a one-night stand. Mateo was shamelessly smirking at him. Faith was curiously watching him, and Benji had his eyes narrowed at him. Kai cleared his throat and ignored Mateo’s comment and Faith’s question. He was about to tell them that they shouldn’t be so nosy when the doorbell rang. Faith and Mateo pulled their eyebrows together and looked at each other, “Who is here so early in the morning?” She muttered and watched as one of the helpers opened the door. It was Levi and Ethan. “What are you two doing here so early?” Mateo asked with his eyebrows knitted together. Levi didn’t look good. He looked like he didn’t sleep all night. Ethan looked tired as well, but not as exhausted as Levi. Levi glared at Ethan at Mateo’s question. Levi heaved a sigh. His sh
Kai has been inside Piper’s room for an hour. He was now sitting on the floor while she was sitting on the floor as well but she sat by the window. She was watching outside the window while her knees pressed to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. While her eyes were fixed outside, Kai’s eyes were fixed on her. They have been talking for the last hour. No yelling or name was calling. There were no accusations, nor did they completely patch up – they were just talking, which was due for some time now. They fight. They have had sex. They have done everything, but they never get the chance to sit and just talk about themselves. About their insecurities, about their feelings, about everything they bring to each other. Piper last put forward a very interesting point, “Aren’t we toxic for each other? There is just too much we don’t agree on.” She had muttered. Her point was quite simple. She told him that even if Jeremy hadn’t attacked her or anyone else, and even if he was just try