UNDERCOVER LOVE (English Version, Gay Romance, Mafia)

CHAPTER 1

"Sometimes, I hate every single stupid word you say

Sometimes, I wanna slap you in your whole face

There's no one quite like you, you push all my buttons down

I know life would suck without you" (Lyrics: True Love by Pink)

"Have you finished?" I heard my fake husband calling to me from outside and I opened the bathroom door, rolling my eyes.

"Yes... don't always rush me like that!" I replied and I was about to slam the door shut again when he dryly mumbled to me: "It's a simple barbecue with our neighbors, Lucas... not an opera gala..."

"Haha, very funny...", I said to my personal bodyguard as I walked out of our small bathroom a few minutes later in a smart shirt and with my hair styled. I was still crying a little after my half-length hair, which had been radically shortened as part of my makeover for the witness protection program.

Fortunately, however, a professional had been at work and not some clumsy layman who, if I had been lucky, would have given me an indefinable military haircut with the help of a razor. It was a bit of a cliché, but my hair had always been very important to me.

"And you're sure you want to go like this?" I asked Ryan with raised eyebrows as I surveyed his outfit, smirking at the fact that my would-be husband always dressed like he was about to be rung out of bed for a sudden deployment. Or as if he was about to go on a crocodile hunting tour in Australia in his beige cargo pants and boots.

"What's wrong with that?" my counterpart went on the attack and I immediately raised my hands in the air defensively: "No, I just meant.... You could have dressed a little nicer..."

"I'm just not like you, Lucas..." he mumbled in response and now I got a little curious: "What are you implying?"

"Well... the way you act... the way you always gesticulate wildly with your hands when you talk.... And your neat style of dress..." my fake husband now muttered, avoiding looking me in the eye as much as possible.

I looked Ryan directly in the bright eyes, challenging him, and I replied: "What aren't you? Are you a faggot like me?"

At least I stood up for myself and my sexuality instead of the ex-Navy Seal who had probably hidden it in the farthest corner of his personality.

I immediately regretted my hasty reaction because my counterpart flinched at the mere mention of the word and I whispered apologetically the next moment: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that..."

"It's okay, Lucas... are you coming now? We're already a bit late anyway...", Ryan said after taking a quick glance at his watch and reaching for the six-pack of beer we wanted to bring as a gift for the barbecue organized by our neighbors.

We left the house together and luckily Sarah and John Millers' house was right next door, so we were at their door within two minutes and rang the bell.

"Lucas... Ryan... how nice that you managed to come too...", the slim, young woman with the blonde wavy curls greeted us and immediately pulled first me and then my fake husband into a fleeting hug. Our neighbor was wearing a summery flowered dress and a light blue cardigan, while she smiled at us and invited us in with typical southern friendliness.

"Come in... you can go straight through to the back... most of the other guests are already here..."

I exchanged a cursory glance with Ryan and flinched a little when the muscular ex-Navy Seal suddenly grabbed my right hand carefully and clasped it with his. He gave me a small, insecure smile, which made him look a bit like a shy schoolboy despite his massive frame, and I had to smile a little. But that was probably all to disguise ourselves... after all, we had to pretend to the people at the barbecue that we were a married couple who had just fallen in love.