➼ Chap. 07 ⭑

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L U C I A N O

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L U C I A N O

Work's been a shitshow today, and now Cielo —my sister's spoiled cat—is doing his best to make things worse. The damn furball has attached himself to Paris like she's made of catnip. He's all over her, soaking up every ounce of her attention and getting way too comfortable with her, especially with my—her breasts.

I know it's ridiculous to be jealous of a cat, but it pisses me off and I can't help feeling possessive. It's like he's flaunting the closeness I secretly crave but can't have.

"There you go, sweetie." Paris croons, setting Cielo down as we step into Val's apartment.

I hang back, watching her wander around like she owns the place, touching random trinkets on shelves, poking her head into rooms. She's got that wide-eyed curiosity that makes her even cuter than she already is and it drives me insane for reasons I won't say out loud.

Meanwhile, Cielo, of course, decides to snuggle up against my leg, purring and acting like he doesn't give a fuck that he's making my shitty mood even worse. I nudge him away gently, trying not to let my mood affect how I handle him because Val would have my head if I so much as looked at him wrong.

I head for the kitchen. Val also asked me to deal with her leaky faucet, and right now, I'm hoping tightening a few bolts will distract me from how fucking ridiculous I'm being.

"Help yourself if you're hungry." I call over my shoulder, crouching to pull the tools from under the sink.

Of course, her footsteps approach anyway.

"What are you doing?" She asks, leaning against the counter like she's here to supervise.

"Fixing the faucet." I respond, rolling my sleeves after locating the leak.

It's a simple problem, just needs some tightening. Her eyes follow the motion, and I swear her lips twitch like she's holding back a comment.

"Need help?"

"No, I got it."

Naturally, she ignores that and crouches beside me. Her shoulder brushes mine and the space under the sink feels twice as cramped.

"You're in the splash zone." I mutter, tightening my grip on the pliers.

"I can handle it." She says, pretending to study the pipes like she's my apprentice.

Her perfume is light but distracting, enough that I have to blink and refocus.

"Paris."

My voice comes out low, a warning meant to create some breathing room. She just smiles like she's daring me to move her.

"Just trying to help." She says innocently, which somehow sounds anything but.

I exhale through my nose and keep working.

𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗟𝗬 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗦 ✔️ (𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀)Where stories live. Discover now