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
ADRIANCall me stupid because I think I deserved it.Even though I had cursed at Giovanni and told him off never to come see me again, I still half expected to see him leaning against his car when I walk out of my door this morning.The disappointment I felt when I walked out of my apartment this morning and there was no Giovanni Marino waiting for me made. That made me wish I hadn't yelled at him like that.Maybe I was really stupid for feeling disappointed when Giovanni had clearly done exactly what I had asked of him.Throughout my shift at the Berry Hour, I was looking out of the door every time someone walked in, hoping it would be Giovanni Marino.But he never came, same thing when I was working my shift at the Queen's. If I had known I wouldn't lose me job at the cosmetic shop, maybe I wouldn't have reacted that way towards Giovanni.I groaned, hissing as I restocked the beer. "He didn't even put up a fight. He just stopped coming as if he had been wanting to stop coming."Idio
GIOVANNI Standing under the shower, I let water poured down on my head and it rolled down my body, washing away any traces of blood that might still be sticking onto my hair.My shoulders tensed, feeling restless as I washed up. I stepped out of the shower, throwing a washed towel over my waist."Clothes." I said, snapping my fingers at Dominic who came running over to give me the clothes he had brought for me to change into.I took the clothes from him and quickly changed into them. I watched my brother through my peripheral as he stepped beside me, grumbling as he put on his clothes."Are you okay?" He asked, making me snapped my neck in his direction to look at him.Frowning, I said. "I'm okay. Why did you ask?"Marcelo shrugged, rolling his shoulders. "You look kind of stressed."Of course I was fucking stressed out. My mind was a fucking mess and it felt like my head was going to blow up any moment from now."I'm good. Thank you." I said shortly, working the buttons on my shirt.
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
ADRIAN "Oh!" The sales lady said suddenly, turning around to face us. "I have something for you gentlemen."I stood still, staring between the cart full of sex toys, and the sales lady who seemed to be overly too happy to introduce us to another sex toy.I didn't understand, just how many more toys did she intended to make Marcelo buy?"Does it work okay?" Marcelo asked, his grip tightening around the cart. For some reason he seemed nervous about this.Maybe because this was his first time in a sex shop, or because he was shopping for toys he was going to use on another man.Whichever was the reason for his awkwardness, he has to deal with it on his own. He wanted this."Honey, it does so much more than okay." The lady beamed, walking over to us with a shiny purple box and handed it to Marcelo with a wink. "Be sure to be gentle on him." She added, glancing my way."I will be." Marcelo grinned, dropping the box in the cart."You don't look like it, but okay." The lady smiled, stealing
ADRIAN Fire burned my lungs as I took one step forward and another step and then another.Each steps I took towards Marcelo Marino felt like I was walking towards my death, but I couldn't stop walking towards him. I had to. I needed to know what he was doing in front of my apartment this late at night.It would have been better if Giovanni was still in New York, but so bad he wasn't here. Maybe Marcelo wanted to use the opportunity of the absence of his brother to get rid of me?No one would save me from him now. I would be as good as dead before Giovanni gets back to the city. In this moment, I wanted to do a lot of things. To appreciate the good people who had always been there for me.I wanted to call Carlos and tell him how grateful I was for having him in my life. Without his help, life would have been much more harder for me. It was all because of him I had a roof over my head, and a job that keeps me from going to bed hungry.I wanted to call both Tobi and Grace, to appreciate
ADRIAN When the taxi finally pulled to a stop in a touristy street that I had never been to before in my life, we stepped out of the car and stared at the shop in front of us.I let out a deep breath, glaring at the shop that was lit up in neon. Noah must have noticed the way I stared at the tattoo shop.That definitely was the tattoo shop. This was something I decided on doing but didn't know why I was feeling this nervous."Are you having a second thought? We could go back if you're not sure about this." He said, touching my shoulder.I shrugged, I had come a long way from Nexus Point to just turn back now. "Not gonna happen. I'm not going back home until I get my body inked.""You sounds so confident for a guy who is visibly shaking." Noah teased, but I didn't have the luxury to argue back.My first thought was Dad and Mom would fucking kill me if I got ink on my skin, but fuck that. I couldn't care less about what they say anymore.They never for once saw the light in me anyways,
GIOVANNI "Everything is ready, Dad. I'll report back to you tomorrow at nineteen hundred hours." I grumbled, grounding my teeth as I watched Volkov Bratva guys trooping into the mansion through the binocular. "I know you can do this, kid. Make me proud." Dad said, I could picture the sly grin on his wrinkled face before the call went dead. "Fucking asshole." I hissed, moved the binocular down from my face and threw it on the table next to the window. "This is not going to be easy but I'm definitely going to see it through." I groaned, pushing my fingers through my hair. Volkov had his guys stationed everywhere in his mansion, they were all heavily armed. Breaking into the mansion was already out of the options. I had moved into the hotel that was much more closer to Volkov Bratva's mansion earlier today, and I had thought this would make my mission a lot more easier. But I was wrong. The more I thought this was getting easier, the harder it gets. "Fucking shit!" I growled
ADRIAN "How is this donut going to get you a boyfriend?" I asked, frowning. I looked down at the donut box and moved my gaze back up to stare at Gabe. Blinking nervously.Didn't want to believe he was actually talking about me or if I was being paranoid. Just like Giovanni said, was I that too easy that people would think they could win me over with a piece of donut.I would hate to have to tell him he was right.Gabe searched my face, and I saw the way his eyebrows drew together. The concern on his face made me shift in my seat. I really hoped I was wrong because I was starting to like this guy.Gabe chuckled softly, running his finger over his nose."Am I making you feel uncomfortable?" He asked with a raised eyebrow."Of course not. You're not making me feel uncomfortable in any way." I lied through my teeth, letting out a shaky laugh."Good." He said, pressing his lips together. "Well, to answer your question I would say..." He trailed off, searching my eyes as if to give him per
ADRIAN "I never knew you saw me that day." I said, truthfully. Following after Gabe as he walked me to a table. "Well," he chuckled, plunging into a seat. "I did saw you and to be fair, I couldn't stop looking at your beautiful face." "That's not fair." I groaned out, dropping the box of donut the woman had given to me on the table before taking the seat right across from Gabe. "You shouldn't have seen that." Sitting across from Gabe, I felt an overwhelming urge to bury my face in my hands. Knowing he had seen me took a cock in my mouth not too long ago made my cheeks burn with embarrassment. "Trust me, you don't have to be embarrassed about it. I mean, I've been there before. So it's all cool." He grinned, rubbing the short hair at the back of his head. "You mean, you've been caught while going at it before? In public?" I asked, a small smile crept up my face as I tried to imagine Gabe, this super sexy firefighter being caught having intimate moment in public. "Whatever
ADRIAN "So, you asked her to marry you?" I asked, warmth spread across my neck as I stared at Dave who was busy grinning from ear to ear.He rubbed his hands together and nodded his head, smiling warmly at me. "Yeah. Well, my parents have been bugging me to get married for a while now. I'm just happy Jessica also wanted the same thing. It makes me feel whole knowing the woman I love also loves me back and is willing to spend the rest of her life with me."That was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard a straight man said before. Dave's face lit up with a bright smile each time he talked about his soon-to-be wife and I had never been this happy for two strangers like this before."I'm so happy for you, Dave. I truly am." I said, staring down at the invitation card he had came over to drop for me.I still couldn't believe Dave would come back to Queen's to look for me after Giovanni had beaten him up the other day. He didn't really seemed bothered about it, but I was. It still haun
ADRIAN I paced back and forth in my living room, with my phone pressed gently against my ear. I bit down hard on my lower lip, my fingers trembling as I dialed Carlos for the hundredth time, but the call just wouldn't connect.My heart fluttered, and I absentmindedly rubbed at my chest. "For the love of God, Carlos, where the fuck are you?"I groaned out, pulled my phone down from my ear and clenched it tightly in my hand. Frustration wouldn't be enough to describe how I was feeling right now.I had thought my biggest worry was Carlos not talking to me, nothing would have prepared me for the fact that Carlos would disappear on me after our shift ended at Great Fisher last night. I had thought I would meet him home but he was nowhere to be found.His stuff were still here, so that meant he didn't come home at all. I had been calling him since last night to no avail. Waking up this morning, after getting ready for work I had been trying to reach him again but it was the same story."J