Submerge

M A R C O

M A R C O

7:30

The streets felt colder tonight, the usual warmth of the city replaced with an unsettling chill that I couldn't shake. My cigarette smoldered between my fingers as I leaned against the wall outside the club, watching the people passing by without really seeing them. My mind was elsewhere, fixated on a particular thought that had been gnawing at me for days now.

Mason hadn't called.

He hadn't texted.

Hell, he hadn't even shown up to get his usual supply. That kid used to be reliable, almost too reliable, but now... nothing. It was like he'd just disappeared off the face of the earth.

I took a long drag from my cigarette, the smoke filling my lungs and doing little to calm the irritation building inside me. Something had changed, and I didn't like it. Mason was mine. He owed me, and he knew it.

Tony, one of my boys, strolled over with that cocky grin plastered on his face, the one he always wore when he thought he had something juicy to share.

"Yo, Marco," he drawled, leaning casually against the wall like he owned the place. "Guess who's got himself a new boy toy?"

I barely glanced up, uninterested. "Why do I care, Tony?" I muttered, taking another drag, trying to let the nicotine calm the boredom creeping in.

Tony chuckled, his voice laced with something darker. "Mason."

The cigarette almost slipped from my lips.

My jaw clenched tight as I blew out a slow cloud of smoke, watching it swirl up and disappear into the night. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me," Tony said, the smirk never leaving his face. "Mason's got himself a boyfriend. Word is, he's been spending all his time with some dude named Ethan. They're getting cozy. Real cozy."

A boyfriend.

This little slut!

And just like that, jealousy burned through me, lighting me up from the inside. It wasn't the kind of jealousy that made you feel small. No, this was the kind that grabbed you by the throat and made you want to tear something apart. 

Mason was mine. 

He thought he could just slip away? Start over? Nah. That wasn't how this played out.

"So, the little shit thinks he can just get himself a boyfriend, huh?" I muttered, grinding the cigarette butt into the ground under my heel. My mind raced with a sharp edge of anger. The memories flashed behind my eyes—every time I'd had Mason in my grasp, every time he'd looked at me with that hollow, broken stare.

Now, he thought he could just walk away, pretend none of it ever happened?

Not a fucking chance.

Tony raised an eyebrow, sensing the shift in my mood. He knew me well enough to know when things were about to go south. "What do you wanna do about it?"

A slow grin spread across my face, but there was no humor in it. Just cold, calculated malice. "I'll tell you what we're gonna do," I said, my voice low, the venom dripping from every word. "We're gonna teach Mason a lesson remind him who he really belongs to.

Tony's eyes gleamed with that familiar hunger. The kind of look that always comes before something nasty. "You want me to get a few of the boys together?"

"Yeah," I said, my voice calm, too calm. "Make sure they find him tonight. I want them to hurt him. Nothing too crazy... just enough to remind him where he stands."

Tony grinned, his teeth flashing in the dim light as he nodded. "Consider it done."

As he turned and disappeared into the alley, I leaned back against the wall, taking a deep breath as the satisfaction of it all started to settle in. Mason could try to run. He could try to pretend like he wasn't mine anymore. But that's the thing with people like him. They never really get away. Not for long.