by Bethany-Kris
Alessio had never been privy to that, despite living with them for the last seven, almost eight, years. For all purposes, Cree and Dare kept the private parts of their life private. Even to Alessio. He only knew about it because someone made a comment once. He put two and two together about their relationship because of things he’d seen but overlooked, and at the time, he’d also been too young to really understand the complexities of a relationship like the one Dare and Cree shared. Eventually, he did outright ask Dare who confirmed that Cree was his partner in more than just the business.
That was the extent of the conversation.
Nothing else was on the table.
It had taught him that love was coveted here.
It was protected.
In their life, love was weakness. Love was a fucking target. It was something people could use to hurt you, and when you loved someone that much ... you did everything you could to keep it and safeguard it from whoever might try to take it from you. Even if that meant hurting the person you loved in the process, too. Because sometimes, one had to do what one had to do.
“I am sure I’ll be seeing you again, Alessio,” Gian said, dragging him from his thoughts.
Alessio frowned. “I doubt it.”
Gian grinned, and something shined in his gaze that Alessio didn’t recognize as the man looked him over again—a fondness, maybe? “I’m not so sure.”
“What does that mean?”
Did he know what happened between Alessio and his son in the gym? Had Cree run his fucking mouth about it? It wouldn’t be like Cree to do something like that, but Alessio couldn’t be sure, either.
Gian didn’t say one way or another, simply murmuring, “I guess we’ll see.”
And then the man was gone, heading down the hallway with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his three-piece Armani suit like he didn’t have a care in the world. Or, that’s what one might think by watching him, but Alessio saw something different. The way Gian kept his head tilted down, how his hands had been clenched a bit before he hid them away, and now, the fact that his shoulders seemed tense beneath his suit.
He was worried.
He should be.
This place broke men.
Repeatedly.
“Alessio!” Dare’s bark had Alessio jumping in place before he glared at the doorway. “Get in here, I know you’re out there spying like a little shit.”
“I was—”
“Don’t lie.”
Alessio scowled and turned to enter the office. He didn’t move further than inside the doorway, but he didn’t have to, either. Across the office, Dare sat behind his large desk. With his fingers steepled in front of him, he leaned back in the leather office chair, and watched Alessio with a pensive eye.
Like he was considering him.
God, he hated when Cree and Dare did that.
It meant they thought they knew something that he was hiding. And usually, they weren’t wrong.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing. Do you have anything you want to ask me?”
Alessio’s cheek twitched, because yes. Between Cree and Dare ... he didn’t get away with shit. Cree was the person who knew when Alessio was up to something, and constantly kept him on his toes because it felt like the man had insight to his mind that even he didn’t know. Dare, though?
Well, he was something else.
For all purposes, they were both family to Alessio. One might consider them his adoptive fathers, but he never called them that, and they never asked, either. Still ... in a way, Dare felt more like a father figure to him than anyone else ever had.
Cree, more like a brother.
He didn’t want to disappoint either of them.
“You’re the reason I can’t go out on an assignment until I turn eighteen?” Alessio asked quietly.
“Apparently so. I told you spying was a bad thing.”
“Cree says I’m ready.”
“And I want you here. Guess who gets the final say?”
“That’s unfair,” he pointed out.
He tried not to sound like a whiney fuck.
And probably failed.
Dare arched a brow, not bothering to indulge Alessio further because that’s also how this worked between them. If he said something, it was done. “And why were you spying?”
“I wasn’t—”
“You did.”
“I was coming to tell you that they’re not good choices for prospects here,” Alessio returned, “but Gian was in here, so I thought it would be rude to interrupt.”
“Or you took your chance to spy.”
Alessio gritted his teeth. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Dare smiled a little. “Is it that you don’t think they’re the right fit—because you follow Cree around too much and assume you can think the way he does—or because you like one of them? Corrado, I believe. I heard about how the gym was put into use this afternoon, yeah?”
Fuck.
So, Cree had told someone.
“It’s not about that,” Alessio muttered, annoyed.
Although, part of it was. Alessio had never felt such a strong attraction to another person who he would need to be around almost twenty-four-seven before. Not to mention, the fact that same person also managed to get under his skin in the worst of ways.
It was going to be a mess.
“Are you worried for him, Les?” Dare asked.
“Could you not do that?”
“Cree isn’t the only one who can see your shit for what it is.”
“Well, don’t.”
“Mmm,” Dare said, standing from his chair. “Them being here ... the contracts for them to begin training ... none of it is your choice, Les. If you want to help the young man be his best here, then do that, but don’t do it by attempting to sabotage him. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to call in the team to begin the training tonight. I assume you don’t want to be a part of this one, right?”
“I ...” He struggled to refuse, but knew it was for the best if he did exactly that. If he said he agreed to help the team, then he would need to take part in some of the training that would be most difficult for Corrado and his twin. He helped to train others; this one couldn’t be the same because Dare wasn’t wrong, and he did have some interest in Corrado. His feelings might come into play. Lamely, he muttered, “I don’t think I should.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Alessio glowered, but Dare couldn’t see it because he had already turned to leave the room. Clearly, this was going to get him nowhere and he didn’t want to sit here and bother with it any more than he already had.
He hated wasting time.
“Oh, and Les?”
Alessio tensed in the doorway of the office. “What now?”
“If you’re interested in Corrado Guzzi, my suggestion is instead of trying to pick a fight with him to get his attention, you might want to ... oh, I don’t know, talk to him?”
“Fuck you.”
Dare’s laughter chased him out of the office.
Asshole.
6.
Corrado
“How are they running power to this place?” Chris asked.
Gian tapped a finger to his ear. “Listen for it, fils.”
Corrado heard the humming in the distance—somewhere behind them, he thought. Maybe in the middle of the complex? When they’d first come up on it, in the light, he thought it was several buildings close together. After walking around a bit, he realized it was actually one building, but in varied sizes depending on location.
“Generators,” Corrado said.
“Oh,” Chris said.
At the driver’s side of the black Mercedes they’d arrived in, Gian turned to face his sons. Corrado stayed close to Chris, their equal six-foot-two height putting them pretty close to eye-level with their father. He couldn’t remember when that happened, really. A growth spurt came along, and suddenly, he was no longer looking up at his dad.
&
nbsp; He was staring him straight in the face.
“Corrado,” Gian murmured.
His gaze lifted to meet his father’s. “Yeah?”
“I know you’re looking for something here.”
“You think?”
Gian smiled faintly. “I hope you find it.”
A thickness tightened his throat, but he nodded and said, “Yeah, me too.”
Then, their father turned on Chris. “And you.”
Chris grinned. “What about me?”
“I hope you know what you just signed up for.”
“Not really.”
Gian released a slow breath. “This is not ... easy, Christopher.”
“I’m here until he isn’t.”
“You don’t have to look out for your twin every day of your life. That’s not why you were put on this earth. You understand that, don’t you?”
Chris only shrugged.
Corrado knew there was no point in his father trying to explain to Chris that he didn’t really have to be here with his brother if he didn’t want to be. Once they made up their minds, it was done—a Guzzi trait they took from their father, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
“All right,” Gian murmured, pulling the key fob for the car from his pocket. “You know the deal—very little contact for the first year of training, but we’ll see if the rules are bent. Believe it or not, but this wasn’t my intention when I brought you both here.”
Corrado smirked. “Not at all?”
Gian shook his head. “I thought it might give you a chance to see that there were other options in the business, if you were determined to stay in the life, but no, I did not assume it would be here. And now, I get to return home without both of you ... your mother will be pleased, I’m sure.”
Next to him, Chris made a noise under his breath. He didn’t even have to say anything for that one sound to speak volumes. Yes, their father was in for hell when he got back to their ma. Yes, they were going to miss their mother like no one would ever understand. It was just how they were raised—Cara Guzzi made their worlds go around, and now, where would she be?
Corrado stuffed his hands in his pockets, and eyed their surroundings now that it was dark. A lot of the cars from earlier were gone—the people had drifted out of the complex throughout the day, without much of a word to him. There were still a few scattered vehicles, but he didn’t know who they belonged to.
“Enough of this,” Gian said roughly, “I should get going. I love you. Both of you, huh? Be smart, Corrado.” Then, to Chris, their father said, “Don’t panic when it starts, okay? It only seems like you won’t get out, but I promise it’ll never go as far as you think it will.”
Chris’s brow furrowed. “What does that mean?”
Gian’s shoulders lifted with his stress. “Just remember what I said, son.”
“All right.”
Corrado figured his father would get in the car, and drive off after that, but Gian surprised them. Then again, their father had always been different than the other men around him—more in tune to his children, and he actually gave a fuck about what they wanted or needed at any given time. He also wasn’t sure when the physical affection started to lessen with his father, but as they grew older, the hugs and kisses slowed.
A part of him knew it was because of them—he didn’t need that shit to know his father gave a damn, and so, he stopped asking for it. Right then, though, Gian stepped forward, and embraced each of his sons one at a time, used his hand to pat the backs of their heads, and pressed a quick kiss to their foreheads before moving back just as fast.
Like it hadn’t happened at all.
“Wish me luck with your mother, hmm?”
“Good luck,” the twins echoed.
He was going to need it.
No doubt about that.
Gian was careful not to look over his shoulder as he slipped into the car, and turned the engine over. It wasn’t until Chris and Corrado could only see a very faint outline of the car’s taillights in the distance did they finally turn away from their disappearing father.
“What happens now?” Chris asked.
Corrado had no idea. “Something, I guess.”
“I don’t like not knowing things.”
“Yeah, you’re probably going to have to work on that, Chris.”
His twin made a disgusted noise, but Corrado didn’t reply because he wasn’t lying. Neither of them knew anything about what was going to happen to them now. Other than the small bag with a couple of changes of clothes, he didn’t even know where that shit would be coming from. No one thought to tell them because apparently, they didn’t need to know.
That’s what they had been told.
Next to going over a contract—that in all honesty, didn’t give them much to go on—which basically explained the next year of their lives would be essentially owned by The League, and what the company wanted to do with them ... that was all Corrado knew. Training, the contract said over and over again. Except nothing in the damn paperwork explained what exactly this training would include.
“You know,” Corrado said as the two of them headed back toward the black door with the camera overhead, “Papa was right.”
“That I don’t have to be here for you?”
“Yeah.”
Chris shook his head. “No, he wasn’t.”
Well, all right.
Who was Corrado to argue with what was basically his reflection?
He knew better.
• • •
Not that anything at The League’s complex made sense to him—something he thought was intentional on their part—but for whatever reason, the sleeping quarters that had been designated to Corrado were an entire wing away from the one that had been given to Chris. The two had broken off as they realized the hallway lights were starting to shut off or dim significantly, and headed to their own rooms.
Trailing his finger over a simple three-drawer dresser that looked like he could probably put his fist through the thin, pressed wood if he wanted to, Corrado eyed the rest of the space. It wasn’t much—fifteen feet by fifteen feet or so. A double bed rested along one wall with a stand beside it, and a very small window overtop.
Given his room was on the third floor of a certain area deep within the large complex, no one would even be able to see inside because they couldn’t possibly reach the window. There were no pieces of artwork on the bare, tan-colored walls to give it a comfortable feeling, and other than a small desk with nothing on top ... the room was basically empty. Clean, gleaming hardwood floors, white sheets on the bed, and very little else.
Welcome home for the next year, Corrado.
His mind was a special breed of hell when it wanted to be. This might have been made easier for him had he understood what was going to come next, but no. He had to be left in fucking suspense, which only made everything far worse.
The building itself, he’d realized as he walked through its hallways and sections earlier, was a fucking maze. It looked huge from the outside, but that didn’t begin to touch how large and confusing it truly was once you were inside the damn place.
“Bored?”
Corrado spun fast to find a familiar—and annoying—man leaning in his doorway. “What do you want, Alessio?”
“I still prefer Les.”
“Yeah, and how’s that mood of yours, anyway?”
Alessio grinned. “How’s that mouth of yours, huh?”
“Fair.”
He nodded, and then inched a bit into the room. Corrado thought to tell him to get the fuck out, but he didn’t bother. Besides, Alessio might be able to answer some of his questions, and he couldn’t pry information from the guy when he chased him off, right?
“How big is this complex?”
“In total?”
“Yeah.”
Alessio rocked back on his heels. “Around a hundred thousand square feet, give or take a few thousand. The main floorplan, back when they first planned to build it, c
overed a full acre of land. Some things changed as they moved forward, third floors were added, like here. What about it?”
“Curious.”
“You know, the less questions you ask here, the better it’ll be for you.”
Corrado passed him a look. “You know, humans are curious by nature, don’t you? It’s how we learn new things.”
Throwing those words back at Alessio didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest. If anything, that grin he sported simply grew a little deeper. Corrado might think it was sexy, even, if it didn’t fucking infuriate him so much. A part of him hated how Alessio could treat everything so flippantly—like it was a damn joke to him, and nothing more.
Even him.
Corrado didn’t want to be a joke to anybody.
“Don’t worry,” Alessio said quietly, “they’ll beat the curiosity, and almost everything else, right out of you by the time they’re done.”
He stilled on the spot, tension tightening his shoulders. “Is that what happens next?”
“Partly. You have to break before they can make you into something better. Some parts of you take longer to break than others, you know? That’s the hard part, though. Once you get through that, it’s mostly smooth sailing. It’s what they have to take from you first that just about kills you. Oh, and how they do it, I guess.”
“How do they do it?”
Alessio didn’t reply.
Corrado wasn’t one to accept a non-answer, so he moved a little closer to Alessio until the two of them were only a few inches apart. He fully intended to get an answer out of him, but it slipped his mind when he noticed the way Alessio’s gaze darted down to his lips, and then quickly back up to his eyes.
Like he was remembering.
That memory flooded Corrado’s mind, too.
Fuck.
Not what he needed right now.
“Was Cree right?” Corrado asked. “About you, I mean.”
“I don’t—”
“That you pick a fight to get attention.”
