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(edited)

It's been almost 4 hours since Silvio left and my nerves are slowly but surely usurping themselves.

I have eaten like 10% of my lips' skin, too, because of the anxiety.

"Where are they? They should've been back by now." mum suddenly voices my thoughts. She lets her head fall into her hands as she sighs. Just then, the door opens and dad walks in with his arm around a beaten up and bloodied Jade, giving her support.

My lips stretch into a smile as I wait for mum to acknowledge them first and hug them to death.

"Mum?" Jade croaks out, her eyes already filled with tears threatening to fall. Mum looks up and the second she notices them jumps up from the bed and launches herself into them.

Dad steps back and leaves Jade's side to allow mum to hug her daughter properly.

"Oh, my baby." she whispers and wraps her arms around Jade as tight as she can without hurting her. Jade's head falls tiredly on mum's shoulder as they both hug like there's no tomorrow. Mum takes a step back to take another look at her. She inspects her face carefully and curses the men who did this to her baby before bringing her in for another hug.

I look behind the hugging duo and see Gio standing there by dad. Silvio and Lazzaro nowhere in sight, though.

Confused, I furrow my eyebrows at Gio, who understands what I'm referring to, and nods assuringly.

"They're cleaning up in their rooms don't worry." Once he says this, the panic that was appearing inside me disappears. I smile at him as a gratification action.

When mum's had enough of Jade, she turned to dad to give him the same deadly hugs, and I allowed myself to embrace my twin, too, after all the shit we've been through.

"I'm glad you're okay, sis." She whispers and breaks the hug after a while with a smile on her face.

"I'm glad you're alive." I say to her back and copy the same smile she has.

God, how I missed her.

After the reunion, mum and dad fell back into their room as did Gio and Jade. We were all tired as hell, but them most of all. We agreed on cleaning up, getting some sleep and continuing in the morning about what should our next step be.

Before going back to my room, I wanted to see Lazz and Silvio. Lazzaro's door was first so that's where I knocked first.

Lazz opens the door and my eyes widen as soon as I take notice of his beaten up condition. There are specks and drops of dark blood on his shirt, probably from his busted lip and his nose.

"Before you say anything," Lazz begins, a lazy grin embracing his features, "don't worry. It looks way worse than it is." he tells me and closes the door behind me as I walk inside without a word, still slightly panicked about his physique.

"You're hurt, Lazz. How can I not worry?" I ask him and step closer to inspect his lip. It's not bleeding anymore, he's cleaned the cuts, but it's still swollen and red. He chuckles and takes a hold of my hips, bringing me closer to him. His hands, then, travel to my face, gingerly cupping my cheeks, and my face flushes red as always when I'm that close to an attractive male.

Get a grip on yourself, dude.

"I assure you, tiger, I'm fine." he smiles. "I'm more worried about you though. How's the wound? Has it been hurting?"

How can this man think about my well being when he looks like he's been to war?

"I took some more painkillers earlier so it's all good."

"Good." he repeats and kisses my forehead. If he wasn't holding me, my body would've formed into jello and sunk into the ground from the affection he's giving me. My arms instinctively wrap around his torso and we stay there for a while before he says my name questioningly.

"Hmm?"

"Let me take you out." he says and breaks the hug to look at my reaction.

And my reaction? An utter confusion.

"Like with a sniper or something or..." Is he playing with me?

Lazz chuckles and adjusts his grip on me, his thumb now tracing soft lines on my cheek. The look he's giving me is seriously starting to mess with my stomach routine. Where did the damn butterflies come from?

"On a date. Go on a date with me." when those words leave his lips, I replace my confusion with surprise and an aggressive blushing.

A date? He wants to freaking date me?

"On a date?" I repeat after him, but I do it to get rid of the confusion that's fogging my rational thinking.

He nods and smiles, his eyes sparkling with excitement and a tad of nervousness.

Before I give him an honest answer, I think about Silvio.

I can't do this to him, not after what we did and now when I know how he feels about me. I like Lazz. He's sweet and a total opposite of his brother. He shows that he's caring and he hasn't hurt me. I can actually see myself having cute dates with Lazz in the future, unlike with Silvio.

I want to say no, and I very well know we can't go on like this with Silvio. What does the future hold if it's always danger and guns and mafia?

It sounds like a badly written mafia trope, for crying out loud.

Lazz is simple, on the other hand. He wants nothing to do with that world and he's a university professor. It's a simple life. When has being a professor been a dangerous job?

I sigh, after giving everything a quick thought. "Lazz, isn't it kind of  a bad time to go on dates right now? I mean with everything that's been going on and-"

"I know, tiger, but I was thinking when we get back to DC and when most of it is sorted out." he explains. He's thought this through, hasn't he?

I don't say anything. It's just silence the first couple of seconds as I ponder what to do. Lazz seems to notice my lack of answer as I mull over his question again, and says,

"You don't have to answer right away. Take your time until we leave for DC. I'll wait."

Kind of relieved to hear him say that, I smile and nod, but not wanting the next moments to transform them into an awkward silence, I decide on leaving.

"I should probably go now." I take a step back, noticing how Lazz is watching me carefully. "We should get up early tomorrow and all that, you know."

"Okay, tiger." he smirks for the first time tonight. "Sweet dreams."

I blush once again under his (unfortunately) cute gaze, and open the door. I utter a quick good night before closing it behind me and speed walking to my room.

Why am I like this? Why do I succumb to every hot man's gaze and words? I'm weak. I'm a disgrace to all the vagina-owners around the world.

Just as I'm about to open my door with the hotel card, I hear a surprising crash and a set of curses leaving Silvio's room at the end of the hallway, three doors away from my own. Before I can decide if it's a good or a bad idea to see him, my legs are already leading me there and I find myself knocking on his door not a few seconds later.

"Chi è?" An italian response comes from inside a couple seconds before the door swings open. A soft gasp leaves my lips when I spot a painful looking bruise marking his chest, or more specifically just right above his heart.

"Jesus, what happened to you?" I ask him as he rolls his eyes and walks inside the bathroom without a reply. I follow. "Silvio?"

"What do you want?" He says surprisingly harshly and turns around.

Why is he like this all of a sudden?

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I ask him, but he just stares at me blankly and then proceeds to turn on the shower.

"No." a two-letter response comes out of him and nothing more as he undoes his belt and puts it on the counter top. This irritates me so I huff, annoyed.

"Then what is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this?"

When he doesn't reply at all this time, I call out his name again, in a slightly raised tone.

"I saw you with Lazzaro inside his room. You went running to him hours after we fucked, Willa." he tells, but doesn't turn around.

"What?" confused, I ask him to elaborate further but he doesn't. instead, he turns around and stares at me so painfully as if he never loved me at all.

"We should stop," his sentence surprises me more than his stern voice. He can mean many things by that but I instantly got it. I know what he's referring to.

"I don't want to lead this thing we have going any longer because we both know how it's going to end; you running to my brother in the end after seeing how bad I am for you, " he continues with the same cold voice. "When we land in DC it's better if we pretend we don't know each other at all."

His words feel like a sharp stab in my chest. I knew something like this could happen, but I wasn't counting on his icy way of saying it. Or that he'd use Lazzaro. Hearing him talk like I don't matter at all, even after last night, is beyond painful. Even more when I know I love him.

I stare at him for what seems the longest time with eyes collecting tears.

Don't cry in front of him. Don't.

"I agree." I nearly choke on my words. "Loving you was a huge mistake." I say quickly before I let myself cry in front of him, and hurry out the door without even seeing his reaction.