He exchanged more thug small talk about loyalty and scared boys even as he settled with David, Luis, and a few other men around a table in a bar within the surveillance-free zone of the house. It looked much less polished than the other rooms in the villa, but the chairs covered by worn leather and the dark green walls would make for a cozy space if they didn’t feel like a coffin. Even the whisky in Seth’s glass smelled of rot, but he drank it anyway.
With the other men often drifting off into speaking in Spanish, zoning out wouldn’t be considered rude, so Seth took the liberty of it whenever he judged it appropriate. He thought about Domenico somewhere out there on a job for Toro, content without Seth’s company that he’d considered a nuisance. About the Morenos arriving soon, and how all three of them would have to up their acting game for that.
He only noticed that something was off when his companions quieted down, and his head snapped up. Mark stood close to the table, eyeing him as if he wasn’t sure whether he was allowed to approach.
Seth took the liberty of gesturing for him to come over, and he couldn’t help but feel disgust at some of the smirks targeted at Mark. Those men would have treated Seth no differently if they knew the truth. “What’s up? How’s your job going?”
Mark licked his lips, squeezing his hand on the beer he must have gotten by the bar. “Feeling kind of lonely. You have a few moments?”
Seth looked over at David with the silent question, but David nodded at him, so Seth stood up, eager to chat with Mark, the one person who actually wanted him around and who Seth felt completely at ease with.
Mark led the way, as he knew the maze of rooms and corridors better. Seth patted him on the back reassuringly, but he hoped that it was loneliness not some deep shit that Seth was about to learn about. It was only when they approached a doorway with a large lock on the outside that reality sank into Seth’s flesh. Was this the girl’s cell?
Mark opened the door with two keys from a bundle and let Seth into the most bizarre bedroom he’d ever seen. It was divided in two with metal bars, and each side had a bed, as if the prisoner and their guard were fucking roomies.
Seth couldn’t help it, he glanced beyond the bars, and there she was. Pretty, blue-eyed, sitting on the bed with a book that she dropped the moment she saw Seth.
“Christ, Mark… What is it?” Seth asked. Like this day hadn’t been bad enough already, now he had to look at the evidence of his cruel choices once more.
Mark swallowed and waved at her. “Don’t worry, Charlotte. He’s safe. We just, uh, needed a place to talk,” he said before showing Seth a freaking sofa, complete with a tiny coffee table and a set of glasses in the middle.
Seth dropped to it with a scowl, avoiding the girl’s gaze at all costs. “Talk then.”
Mark shifted his weight before pulling close a wooden chair and turning it in a very Domenico-like gesture, to sit on it backwards, with his arms laid on the backrest. Seeing it made Seth stall.
“Yeah. We haven’t spoken in a while,” Mark said in Italian.
The familiar language was like a flare going off in Seth’s head even if Mark’s accent was shit. “Because you’re stuck here with her.” He struggled to not point at the girl. “How are you doing? At least you’re safe, Mark. I tell you, the shit going on out there…”
Mark rubbed his face, and his gaze kept straying from Seth’s face. “I-uh, have a request. Just act normal, okay? It’s embarrassing.”
Seth sighed deeply. Embarrassing was much better than horrific. “Go on.”
Mark cleared his throat. “Well, she was telling me that it’s been two weeks now since she’s here. So it will be her time soon,” he said, glancing into Seth’s gaze.
Seth felt like hit by a truck. Seriously? Seriously?! He had to witness murder and now Mark expected him to deal with some girl’s period on top of that? “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Why don’t you ask one of the maids to bring her… something?”
Mark winced. “They can’t know about her being here, and I can’t leave and go into town, and I can’t ask any of Toro’s men either, because that would be even worse than asking you. They’d joke about it, or tell me to piss off altogether.”
Seth rubbed his forehead. “When is she due to get it? The Morenos are coming in a day or two. Maybe they can deal with it.”
Mark blinked, going so pale he looked like he might tip over and faint. “I— uh... Seth—”
“Bastian!” Seth corrected him right away. They couldn’t allow themselves any fuckups like this.
Mark shuddered and combed his fingers through his hair. “What’s gonna happen to her when they arrive? Gian said we could get her out of here somehow.”
Seth frowned and forced down the horrible, burning guilt that pooled in his chest. “He said nothing like that. You and I know what’s going to happen, and it won’t be pretty. Please don’t tell me you got attached to her. What Gian says is that family matters over everything else.”
Mark clutched at the backrest and evaded Seth’s gaze. “Please, stay calm, okay?”
That was not what Seth wanted to hear. “What did you do?”
“Just promise me to stay calm. She can’t see you getting all jumpy.” He took a deep breath. “She thinks I’m an undercover cop.”
Seth froze, screaming on the inside and asking God where him and Dom had gone wrong with Mark. “You’ve got to be shitting me. Where the fuck would she have gotten that bright idea?” he said through clenched teeth.
Mark licked his lips very slowly. “She... well, she was very scared of me so... I told her that,” he finished flatly.
Seth watched Mark shifting about in his chair, not channeling a Domenico-vibe anymore. Red in the face, he wouldn’t meet Seth’s gaze. There was something else going on, and he was hiding it. “Well, we both know it’s not true, so what now? What if she told that to someone? Have you thought about that? They could have tortured you and shot you. Mark.”
Mark took a shuddery breath and looked straight into Seth’s eyes. “I think I love her.”
Seth stilled. “Excuse me?” he choked out. What the fuck has been going on here?
Mark squirmed in the chair, hugging it even tighter. His face had a look of determination that oddly made Mark look more like a child than the young man he was. “We’re in love. I need to save her.”
“But… you’re gay.”
Mark’s nostrils flared. “I never said that. You just assumed I was, and then Gian said those horrible things about women, and I didn’t want to make him angry, so... I never told you. But I’m into both.”
Seth ran his fingers through his hair, stunned by this revelation. This was bad. So bad. Not the bisexuality. It was a surprise, but Dom would have to suck it up. But if Mark was into both and claimed he was in love with this girl after just a few weeks… Seth looked up at Mark. “Have you fucked her? Have you fucked your prisoner?” Seth’s nostrils flared at the implications of it all.
The dark flush that bloomed on Mark’s face said it all. “She’s not my prisoner. I’m going to help her out of here,” he said, confrontational in the way he glared at Seth.
Seth couldn’t help his gestures going frantic and he pointed to the girl. “Of course you will. Because she opened her legs for you, and now you’re in love. Do you even hear yourself?—”
Mark shot to his feet, rage burning in his brown eyes. “Don’t talk like this about her! She’s innocent in all this!”
“I thought you’ve learned something by now. Put yourself in her position, Mark. How many dicks would you have sucked to get out of here?”
Mark stared at him, wide-eyed and so still Seth could almost hear his heartbeat. “She wouldn’t. She’s not like that. And she likes me. We spend a lot of time together. And we have so much in common!”
“You spend a lot of time together, because she can’t leave.” Seth squinted at Mark, still disbelieving the kind of shitstorm that he was now facing.
Mark licked his lips, and the
sadness was replaced by a sneer. “Are you saying I’m not good enough for a girl like her to actually like me?”
Seth cocked his head to the side. “I didn’t say that. Why would you think so? Can you not see how wrong this is?”
Mark swallowed and tightened his hands on the backrest. “I didn’t make her do anything. She started it. I was just being nice.”
“...and politely offered your dick.”
Mark sat down. “We can ask her what she thinks. I’m gonna save her, even if neither of you want to help me.”
Seth counted to ten in his mind. As the adult, he needed to somehow deal with this mess. Panic never helped anyone. “One step at a time, okay? First, I’ll get her the tampons or whatever, then we’ll talk to Gian, and only then we can make any other plans, okay?”
Mark’s eyes opened wider, and at once he looked like a kid again. “No, please. You can’t tell Dom. He’s gonna do something to her!”
How could Seth be expected to keep this ticking time bomb of a secret from Dom? The risk was massive and affected them all. If Raul Moreno found out Mark’d been fucking his supposedly virginal gift, he’d most likely cut Mark’s dick off. And then make them all eat it raw.
Seth took a deep breath and licked his lips. “Okay, I’ll wait, and you’ll tell him yourself, but you have to promise me to not do anything risky. It will need to come out at some point if you want to save her, but you can’t put all our heads on the line like that.”
Mark slouched and gave a slow nod, watching Seth as if he expected to be tricked. “I really love her, you know. I’m not leaving her here.”
It broke Seth’s heart to hear it, and he wanted to give Mark hope, but it was such a lost cause. “We’ll do what we can, but we’re not miracle workers.” He got up, so tired with this conversation his limbs felt like lead. He didn’t even have the energy to be angry with Mark.
“I’ll do what needs to be done,” declared Mark. “Thank you.”
Seth patted Mark’s arm and stole a glance at the girl, who sat on the bed wide-eyed and as quiet as a mouse. With the security in Toro’s house and the fact that their stay here depended on delivering her to Raul Moreno or his son, Seth gave her a 20% survival chance. Tops.
*
Seth came back out into the world of smiling maids, even more smiley women hiding from the darkening clouds in the kitchen, and gleaming surfaces. Back to the resort where people partied all day long, coming and going in between their gory, cruel assignments as if nothing happened. It didn’t make his mood any better. At least his mind was a bit fuzzy from all the alcohol he’d drunk, and it made breathing that little bit easier.
Just as he wanted to walk out into the damp air stiff with the upcoming rain, the first few droplets fell on the terrace, and then an onslaught followed, stopping Seth at the threshold. His head was pounding with the newfound knowledge, and the memory of the bleach-soaked cellar.
He walked the corridors like a wounded lion trying to prove that he could in fact still be a threat. Shoulders straight when all they wanted to do was sag, face expressionless when he was so desperate to talk to someone about his feelings.
He stopped by one of the floor-length windows that offered a great view on the pool area, but something was out of place in the drizzle, someone Seth would recognize even through the wall of rain.
Domenico stood close to the pool. His long hair stuck to his neck, appearing darker and longer than usual, and his shirt clung to his chest and back as he watched the water, completely alone now that everyone fled inside. He shifted his weight and pushed back his hair, hands entangling at his nape, as if he were lost in thoughts.
He looked so utterly alone it pulled on all the strings within Seth’s heart despite the earlier rejection.
Seth took a deep breath and opened the window-door, rushing outside, as quickly as he could without risking that he’d slip and fall on the wet grass. Domenico made a sudden turn, stopping halfway through the twist he must have intended, his gaze fixed on Seth. The burn of it made Seth slow down with a painful tightness developing in his stomach.
Right. Dom had suggested he was tired of Seth’s need for attention. That Seth was a liability to him and to their plans here. That Seth needed to man up and keep up the act. Seth took a step back, unsure how to proceed and painfully aware that in this house where every step was constantly watched, there likely was someone witnessing his hesitation. There was always someone watching. Did Domenico still need time for himself?
His husband raised his hand and waved, as if nothing had happened.
Now, it would have been even more suspicious to turn around, so Seth walked up to Dom, ignoring the warm rain soaking through all his clothes and drizzling down his nose. If only they were in this house alone, he could have pulled off the fabric clinging to Dom’s body and just be with him. Was that so much to ask? He was starving for Domenico’s soothing touch, needy kisses, and feeling the long black hair against his face.
Relief flooded his chest when he looked up and saw the same longing reflected on Dom’s face. For a moment, they stood in the rain, accepting that there was no salvation, and they’d have to change all clothes once they got to their bedrooms.
Water was dripping down Dom’s chin when he smiled and presented Seth with a plastic bag. “I thought you’d enjoy what’s inside,” he said and slowly started toward their quarters.
Seth didn’t dare look at it, but followed, staying behind to admire his partner’s firm yet not bulky figure. From the sway of his shoulders, to the way he walked, Domenico’s every move seemed to have purpose. Domenico wasn’t stumbling from side to side like Seth sometimes did, unsure where to move next.
“Is it an ear?” Seth mumbled grimly.
Domenico smirked, and looked around, as if to make sure they were sufficiently far from anything that could be bugged. “Why? Were you meeting up with someone behind my back?”
Seth wished he wasn’t drawn to Domenico the way he was, but that battle was pretty hopeless, as any time Domenico’s gaze slid over him, it felt like a lick. “I’ve done many things when you weren’t here.” He dared look down at the plastic bag and couldn’t help a warm tingle in his chest at the sight of lemon-flavored biscuits.
That comment made Dom’s clear amber eyes gain more focus. “What kind of things?”
Seth grabbed a cookie and stuffed it in his mouth before it could get soggy from the rain. Were the biscuits some form of apology? Domenico was a man who rarely used the word sorry. “Bad things.”
The smile was gone from Domenico’s face. “What did you do?”
Seth walked up closer, so they were shoulder to shoulder. And yet, even with rain muting out their voices, the cameras were ever-present, and he wouldn’t get to steal a kiss or even grab Domenico’s hand the way he needed to. He hadn’t realized how greedy for Domenico’s touch he was until he had to endure living without it.
“I watched a boy get shot.”
“Do you know what for?”
“He wanted to get out of Toro’s organization. They must trust me if they had me come with them.” It didn’t give Seth even a glimmer of happiness.
“Or they wanted to test you. That’s good,” said Domenico as they walked through the muddy lawn. It was pleasant to be so alone for once, even if there were eyes—both real and mechanical—everywhere.
Seth passed a cookie to Dom, hoping that they’d get to brush fingers. What a pathetic excuse for touch would that be. “I guess.”
Domenico must have had the same idea, because he trailed his fingertips over the middle of Seth’s palm, and the charge or arousal his touch carried was so immense Seth shuddered.
“It’s gonna be fine, Seth. Everything is going according to plan,” Dom said as they approached the house.
Was it? Seth was not so sure about that. And now he was carrying Mark’s secret on top of all else, since he promised not to tell Domenico about Charlotte just yet. “I miss you so much. I’m sorry if I was being too clingy
.” He brushed his fingers over his own palm where Domenico had touched him.
Domenico’s breath shuddered, but he didn’t look at Seth. “I shouldn’t have exploded like that. It’s all because I miss you so damn much, and I don’t want to risk that we’ll get carried away. It’s damned difficult.”
Seth glanced at him, surprised by the sort-of-apology. Those didn’t happen very often with Domenico. “I thought you were able to perfectly control all your actions.”
“Not with you,” whispered Domenico as they came closer to the house. The need to break up their conversation soon was already a heavy weight on Seth’s heart.
“The nights are the worst. I don’t sleep well. I don’t know if you’re still there.” What would he give to slide his hand into Dom’s hair and pull him close for a kiss in the rain.
“I will always stay where you are. Don’t worry,” Dom said, but the exhale that followed told Seth a different story. “But I understand. I got so used to sleeping with you that I keep waking up to an empty bed, and for a moment I don’t understand why.”
Seth slowed down to extend the time left until they were in their rooms as brothers. Gian and Bastian. “Whenever I can’t sleep, or I wake up at night, I’ll text you a dot. Just that. And you’ll know I’m fine. You do the same, and when I wake up, I’ll know the last time when you told me you were safe.”
Domenico smiled. “I really... I love you,” he said, looking at his feet and adjusting his hair.
Seth wanted to say it too, but it was too late. They arrived at the door to their small house. “Thanks for the cookies,” he said with a resigned sigh once they entered the empty corridor.
Domenico kicked off his shoes and put his bare feet on the marble floor, hissing softly. “You’re welcome. Those are gonna fuck up your macros more than our housekeeper had,” Dom said, returning to their cover story.
Seth shrugged and pushed his sandals off. “You only live once, right?” Not being able to talk as himself was like having another door between them slammed shut. There might be no physical bars between them like between Mark and Charlotte, but Seth was acutely aware of their presence.
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