ADRIAN "He picked Dare!" Someone yelled from across the room, even before I could get to announce what was inside the paper I had picked. I sighed, glancing at Carlos next to me, slowly raised my brow as if to ask, should we bail out on the dare? Carlos shook his head, grinning hard at me. Ever since that one time in high school someone dared me to post on the school page that I was in a relationship with our statistics teacher —which I wasn't— I had been avoiding anything truth and dare. I knew I should stop them and walk out of this room, even before they get to dare me, but I couldn't. Carlos seemed to be having fun here, and I would be an asshole to ruin it for him. "Are ya ready for the dare, baby?!" The over hyperactive voice of a girl I had just got to know to be Lisa, yelled out and I simply rolled my eyes. "Do your worst," I said to her, making the room erupted in a fit of giggles. I looked around the room, searching for who was in charge of my fate here, relief washed
GIOVANNI After waiting for another thirty minutes in my car, waiting for Adrian's call and I didn't get any, I decided to go look for him at that lousy bar he worked at."That little fucker!" I cursed angrily, gripping the wheel a little too tight.I had no idea why I was so mad that Adrian didn't call me as I had ordered him to. My brows dipped. Was I truly fixated on the fed's son already? Had he grabbed so much of my attention before I knew it?"That's a lame joke." I scoffed, chuckling angrily as I took the route that led to the bar. "That little shit is not my type."I kept repeating the words in my head, as if it would become real if I keep saying it. Honestly, Adrian wasn't my type. I loved my men rough, tall and build. Nothing about Adrian fascinated me... Or maybe it did."Fuck!" I groaned out, slamming my hands on the steering wheel. I shouldn't be like this, not when I just killed a man that was literally like a father to me, for seven fucking years.My eyes landed on Tony
ADRIANI filled a glass with water and walked out of my kitchen, and into the living room. Carlos was sitting on the floor, he was patting the little cat we rescued on our way back on its head when I walked over to them."Here," I said, handing the cup over to him. Carlos took the glass, tilted his head and pressed the glass between his lips. He took a light sip before setting the cup down. Carlos kept playing with the cat, not uttering a word.Taking my seat beside him on the floor, I took his hand, the one that wasn't on the cat, and asked. "Are you okay, Carl?"Carlos shuddered, he stayed like that for a few seconds before shrugging off his shoulders. "I'm fine. Why do you think I'm not?"There we go again. Something told me he wasn't okay, but I didn't want to push. He would tell me whatever was going on with him at his own pace."Nah. You just look..." I waved a hand in the general direction of his face. "You look a little down.""Well, it might be because I feel bad for the poo
GIOVANNI "I'm disturbing his beauty sleep?" I repeated the words over and over again like a mantra, glaring hard at his name on my call history. "I'm disturbing his beauty sleep, or beauty fuck?" I chuckled angrily, tightening my grip on my phone and I knew if I didn't relax my grip, the phone will break. But I didn't give a fuck about my phone right now. I was too mad to care. Anger ignited fury inside of me and I could feel my body heated up at how angry I was right now. How dare him? How dare that little shit to ignore me because he was fucking some boy? "Fucking dammit!" I grunted, my shoulders trembling as I put the car to motion and drove out of his street. Adrian was fucking some boy in that stupid tiny apartment of his, and he didn't give a shit that I drove all the way down there to see him? He fucking shut me out because he was getting a quick fuck from some boy he had picked from the street? "Hah!" I let out a humourless laugh as I speed down the street, ignor
ADRIAN Waking up to an empty space beside me on the bed each morning, after Carlos had come over to my place, was no longer a new thing. But I didn't know why I was feeling a pang of sadness within me this morning when I woke up to find Carlos gone.Last night, before we went to bed Carlos had told me he was sick and tired of his father and that he would love to move in with me, just for a short term. Even though he wouldn't tell me why he wanted to move out of his father's house all of a sudden when he had refused to leave all this while made me wonder just how bad things were for him at home.I was indebted to Carlos, for everything he had done for me when I had newly sent out from home. So, I had decided to help him in every way I could, and if moving in with me was only way I could help, then I had no reason why to deny him that grace.I could do with a roommate, and what made it even sound more appealing was my roommate would be none other than my best friend."I hope he's okay
GIOVANNI All I had to do today was boring clerical shit. Sitting behind an office desk, staring at the monitor and going through report and documents and accounts and... Shit!I hated work that didn't require violence. That was why I always pushed office work to one side until I couldn't ignore them no more.Before, I would have taken my time, using half of the day glaring at the system before I get to actual work, but today was different.As soon as I clocked in after dropping Adrian off at the smoothie shop, all I wanted to do was to get today's work over with. I didn't waste any second before I got to work and worked on the files like a fucking pro.My hand unconsciously flew to my lips and I bit down on my lower lip, grinning as I shook my head. I didn't believe I actually kissed Adrian, right in the open in front of his work place."Okay, I have gut." I chuckled, dragging my bottom lip into my mouth and sucked on it.The way Adrian rushed into the shop and he forced himself out
ADRIAN Two things I loved the most today, if you take out the surprise kiss I got from Giovanni Marino earlier, what I loved was that we were having a good business today, and most of the customers were those who knew nothing about makeup. I loved helping new people get familiar with the colorful world of makeup. I always loved the delightful look they always pulled on whenever I showed them that there were more to makeup than just mascara and lipstick. This guy that was with me right now, Dave, came here to get makeup for his girlfriend as a gift and he knew little to nothing about makeup. He had been following me around the store for the past thirty minutes as I showed him different things he could get for his girlfriend and she would love it. Dave seemed to have loved everything I showed to him, but he didn't know his girlfriend's skin type which I found it cute. "Believe me, I know she's very cute and adorable but I knew nothing about colour type, skin number and all the rest
GIOVANNIWaking up to the sound of my alarm blaring angrily into my ears like a bitch. I groaned, picked the source of the noise and I was about to throw it away when I realized it was my phone."Fuck!" I groaned, gripping the phone tightly and I was afraid I might actually break it if I didn't let go."Why the fuck did I even set the alarm!" I barked angrily as I tossed on the bed. I now laid on my back, eyes glaring up at the white ceiling.I moved my phone up to my face to see that the time was just 5:30 in the morning."That bastard!" I hissed, tossing my phone to one side before getting off the bed. I had almost forgotten that I had set up alarm to wake me up every morning just in time to get ready to pick Adrian up for work."What am I? His personal chauffeur?" I sneered angrily, picked up my pants and threw them on.I walked over to the window and parted the curtains, letting the morning ray cascading down into my bedroom.Staring down at the city from my window, I couldn't hel
GIOVANNI I hate coming here. But what I hate most is driving Adrian here. Dad must not know about him, but what can I do when that bastard keeps finding every opportunity to run away? I could have dropped him off at my apartment first, but what if he had already left before I got back from Dad's?I tightened my grip on the briefcase's handle as I walked over to the elevator and pushed the button. It felt as if an invisible thread had been tied around my neck, cutting off my airflow as I entered the elevator and watched the doors close.Today, I'm going to meet my brother after he's been imprisoned for the past year and some months. He's going to be freed, and I wonder how he'll feel when he sees me. As for me, I'm kind of nervous, and I couldn't help but stretch my neck to help me stay focused.I had done something outrageous for Dad, just to get my brother out of prison, and I wondered if he would even keep his end of the bargain in the end. That old geezer was a damn sly bastard; h
ADRIAN I was in my fucking head.The entire drive I felt agitation flowing through my body. Every flicker of Giovanni's gaze that came my way, every little smirk he pulled, felt like he was holding some inside joke that I was on the outside of. The sleek leather seat of his car was cool, and it was the only thing that prevented me from melting into a goddamn puddle.I wished I had the courage to talk to him because we had a lot to talk about. I wanted to know exactly what I was to him. He needed to define our relationship so I wouldn't mistake it for another.I needed to know why he got so angry when I said he wasn't even my boyfriend. Did he want me like I wanted him?Was he under the impression that he was my boyfriend, and did he wish it to be true, just like I did?Fuck!I am so confused!Taking a quick glance at Giovanni, I felt my breath catch in my throat when I saw the fire in his eyes. Fuck, it turned me on even more.The rush, the danger, and not to mention the hot as fuck
ADRIAN In my head, I knew I was exactly where I didn't want to be. An hour earlier, I would have jumped at the chance to follow Giovanni wherever he led me, because that was how much I missed having him around. But now my heart was set on being somewhere else entirely. The only place I wanted to be right now was in the comfort of my apartment, with Carlos by my side. I felt a pang of guilt for not being there to support him through his withdrawal. He was counting on me, and I hated that I had abandoned him when he needed me most. This was the one time I was supposed to repay him for all he had done for me in the past, but instead, I had left him to face his struggles alone. I could tell Giovanni was furious seeing me like that, I would too if the situation was reversed. But if I'm being honest, I wouldn't change a thing even if I could turn back the clock. Given the chance to relive the past ten minutes, I would make the same choices all over again. I would still choose t
GIOVANNI "That little shit." I chuckled, dropping the phone next to me on the couch after ending the call with Adrian.My erection pressing roughly against the zipper of my pants. I still couldn't believe he had actually dressed up just for me.Or maybe he hadn't gone through all that trouble just for me, but my flawed, egotistical self refused to accept that it was merely a coincidence."Fuck! I need to see Adrian. I can't stay another second without having him in my arms." I said, groaning out in pain as I tried sitting up on the couch but it was damn near impossible.I looked down at the ugly looking bandage on my stomach. So far, it was clean. No more bleeding through the white shirt. Thankfully, the damage the bullet had done on my stomach hadn’t been deep, but it still ached. I was on my third ibuprofen, and the pain was still there like it was part of me. Maybe it was all in my head, maybe it was all psychological throbbing instead of actual, physical pain.No one in the fami
ADRIAN The taxi came to a stop in front of a modest house thirty minutes later. I let out a deep breath, double-checking the address Lizzy had sent me to confirm I was at the right location. I had envisioned Lizzy's home to be more like everyone of us, but this one seemed surprisingly shocking.This should be the biggest house in Nexus Point. It reminded me of Dad's house in Solaris, but then I shook my head gently.Not today. I'm not going to think about dad today.Walking over to the front door, I placed a light knock on the door. I knew I should have just called Lizzy, but my brain wasn't functioning well at the moment.After the third knock, the door opened from the inside and Lizzy's face came into view. A warm smile spread across her face the moment she saw me."Hi, Adrian." She said, waving awkwardly at me."Hi, Lizzy." I greeted back, waving at her. Didn't know exactly what to say or what do do."You're here early." She said, smiling, opening the door wide for me to enter."
ADRIAN"Hey, Gracie. I have to go." I called out, walking out of the kitchen, wiping my hands with a small towel I had picked up from the counter.I had offered to do the dishes after everyone else had done eating. Honestly, I actually offered to do it just to escape Marcelo and his heated gaze at me.Grace walked over to me and handed me a hand cream. "Told you to let me do the dishes. You're just too stubborn.""It's alright. Since I didn't help out with the cooking the least I could do is help with the dishes." I smiled, applying the hand cream that smelled just like honey and was smooth on my skin like a butter.I handed Grace the small towel and the hand cream. She opened her mouth to talk but closed it back when we heard giggles from the living room."Are you sure that guy is not into you? I swear he likes you." Grace smirked, looking in the direction of where Marcelo and Tobi were playing video game in the living room.Marcelo was winning, and he wouldn't stop giving Tobi shit
ADRIAN My feet hurt so damn bad I wanted to cut them off and toss them into the nearest dumpster. I trudged up the walk to Grace's apartment from the food court where I had stopped to get us some cupcakes, brownies, ice cream sundaes, nachos and wings. For our gossip Sunday breakfast.If I had known five minutes walk on a Sunday morning would make me feel like an expired chicken, I wouldn't have dropped out of Marcelo's car to get desserts.Speaking of Marcelo, I heard a car honk right next to me and I almost jumped out of my skin."Fucking hell? Dude!" I grunted, glaring at the familiar car I had come to recognise against my own will.The car window rolled down, and Marcelo poked his head out, staring at the desserts bag in my hand. "Is it edible?"He gazed up at me with an irresistibly innocent expression that was just too cute to resist, his slow blink making me want to hand over the entire dessert bag to him.But no. This bastard is far from being innocent and cute, and he doesn'
ADRIAN "Hey, are you coming over for breakfast? Tobias is already here, we are waiting for you." Grace asked, the sound of plates hitting against kitchen counter was so loud in the background that I almost didn't hear what she said."Jesus, G. I'm just waking up now." I groaned, rubbing my eyes as I tossed and turned on my bed, stretching my arm."That doesn't answer my question, baby D." She huffed, and I imagined her rolling her eyes. "Are you coming? Or what?"Of course Grace would be the first person to call me on a Sunday morning. Both Grace and Tobi always have breakfast together every Sunday and they always wanted me there."I'm not sure." I grumbled, sitting up on my bed and tossed the blanket away. It landed on the floor. "I'm tired."Looking around my room, it was a little messy in here and I wondered what Giovanni would say about the situation of my room if he should be here. That neat freak.The thought brought a warm smile to my face that I almost forgot about Grace who
GIOVANNI"Do you think you will be able to get inside the main building just by killing me?" The bastard coughed out blood, looking up at me with his messed up face.I shrugged, pulling out my gloves and put them on. "That's my problem to worry about."I hadn't really expected it to be this easy to sneaked into Volkov Bratva's mansion, but his guys were unexpectedly sloppy.I would have easily made my way into the main building where the blueprint was kept, if it didn't require I used a fucking thumbprint to enter.Only three people has access to the main building. Volkov Bratva, his right hand man and his dear cousin.I wouldn't have resorted to killing Volkov Bratva's right hand man if the bastard had just given me his fucking thumb without putting up a fight."Fuck!" The bastard coughed again, spitting out blood on the marble floor. "You are so going to regret this. Volkov won't let it slide if you kill me.""You think I give a shit about that?" I scoffed, crouching to his level an