Mag-log inSunlight trickled through the curtains, the birds chirping outside the window, dancing on the balcony's ledge while they sang their morning tunes, slowly drawing Liviana out of her slumber. The raven sucked in a deep breath, shifting against the sheets with a sleepy yawn, only to pause when she felt an unfamiliar weight blanketing her. She blinked her eyes open, her lashes fluttering softly against her cheeks with the effort, and she peeked down to see Blaze's arm slung across her midsection, still holding her tight, keeping her close. She smiled at the sight, at the way he felt lying next to her, a solid wall of warm, comforting muscle, and she couldn't help but stare when her eyes traveled up the length of his arm to his face, taking a second to admire him in all his sleepy glory. He was sprawled out on his stomach, one arm thrown over her waist and the other draped across his pillow, clutching at the silk case. His hair, usually pushed back and tame, was splayed around his head i
The door shut behind them with a decisive click, followed by the sound of the lock sliding into place, loud and final, ringing in their ears like an alarm bell.Blaze lingered by the door, watching as his wife trailed away with a heavy sigh."Liv-""Sorry, sorry, sorry," she hushed out apology after apology, keeping her back to him as she began to cry. "God, I'm so sorry! I don't know what's wrong with me..." she muttered, utterly humiliated, cursing herself for the scene.As if her mother hadn't done enough already, here she was making it worse..."Fuck, I'm sorry. I-" she hiccupped, clutching at her chest, crying harder once she realized she couldn't stop the tears. "Fuck..."Blaze frowned, watching as her shoulders shook with each heartbreaking sob."No, love, it's fine. You're fine," he swore, taking a single step closer, as if to convince her. "You've got nothing to apologize for. Alright? There's nothing wrong with you."Naturally, she couldn't help but disagree."But there is!
The ride was quiet, almost awkward, for all of ten minutes before the man caved - a record, he was sure.“Are you okay?” Blaze finally asked, turning her way after what felt like an eternity’s worth of silence.When Livi offered a simple hum in response, nothing more, he sighed.“Are you sure?” he went on, fingers tapping nervously on his legs, drumming the tune of some distant song. “You’re not... upset with me?” He lowered his voice with the question, as if he were scared to ask, scared to know what she would say.She swallowed hard, eyes slowly tearing themselves away from the scenery outside, forcing them to meet his eyes. “I-“ she started, the word ‘yes’ on the tip of her tongue.But one look at his face, all hopeful and heartbroken and beautifully torn, and she couldn’t bring herself to do it.“No,” she answered after a second thought, voice softening as she took the time to take him in. Her eyes trailed over the blood, the bruises, the shame that brewed in his eyes with somethi
“You really don’t know what happened?”“No,” Leona answered, voice flat as she stared down at her phone screen.“You’re sure they didn’t mention anything?” Violet continued, practically interrogating the woman, who couldn’t be less interested. “Anything at all?”“Nope. Nothing.”“Really?” Violet pressed her. “Nothing?”Leo sighed, confirming again that no, they didn’t tell her a damn thing. “If they had, I would’ve told you by now,” she swore.The disbelief is written across Violet’s face and evident in the way she rolled her eyes. “Sure, you would,” she muttered, turning away from the woman with another heavy sigh, knowing that their history said otherwise.Leona scoffed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”The blonde shook her head, answering, “Nothing...”“No, what was that?” Leona demanded. “You don’t believe me?”“I never said that.”“But you implied it,” Leo shot back, lifting a brow as she asked, “Why? Do you not trust me anymore?”Another sigh. “Leo, please. Don’t start.”The woma
“Can we help you with something?”The sound of Armani’s voice, sharp and straight to the point, cut in from his left, and Blaze sighed at the sound.“Mani-“ he tried to step in, tried to tell him not to bother, that it wasn’t worth it, but he wouldn’t listen.“No,” Armani held his hand up to silence him, his eyes trained on the temperamental man behind them. He took quick notice of the white powder dusted across the side of his nostril, but didn’t let it deter him. “The man obviously has a problem with us, and I want to know what it is.”Blaze scoffed and shoved his hand away. “Well, I don’t, so-““So go,” Armani waved him off. “I want to hear what he has to say. What’s the problem?” He turned in his seat, leaning back onto the bar as he took the man in, and the small group that lingered behind him. The sight had him laughing before he could think better of it. “Aw, and he even brought his emotional support friends!” he joked, nudging his brother before he paused, sighed, and added, “
The time flew by inside the pub, with drinks and music and endless rounds of pool to help the Castelli brothers pass the time. And once they started, once they stepped back into their dangerous little routine that had the drinks pouring and their minds racing, they couldn’t stop. They drank more, played more, and cared even less about the consequences than they had before.Blaze didn’t bother to track his drinks and dropped his brother’s tally too, trading in his old worries for new ones. He lost himself somewhere around his third or fourth drink when he got louder, sloppier, reckless in the way he spoke and carried himself.And maybe he didn’t realize that or maybe he didn’t care, but it only got worse as time went on, and by midnight Blaze would have half the bars attention on him, flicking over every so often to check in or glare when he’d make too much noise.Blaze paid them no mind and kept his attention glued to himself, his brother, and their evening. He completely missed how o
One night. Ten hours. Six hundred minutes.The amount of time left before Liviana would be walking down the aisle and into the arms of her new life, when she would say “I do” and kiss the lips of the stranger she would spend her life with, building a life together for nothing more than their parents’
Dinner ended soon after that, when Elara brought up the possibility of Liviana becoming the next mafia queen.Conversation died down and as soon as their dishes were empty, everyone rushed off in desperation of getting away from the tension that just kept getting thicker with each passing second, s
The two families sat at the large dining table together, Liviana placed between Leona and Tino, sitting across from Blaze, who still refused to acknowledge her existence. Silence surrounded them and so far, no one dared to break it. Liviana sat nervously in her seat, lip pulled between her teeth
"He's here." The words Liviana Santora had been anticipating all week, ever since she made the deal of marrying Blaze in place of her sister, just so Emilia could be free. Livi had spent the past seven days preparing for this moment, the moment she would meet the man she was to spend the rest of







