Silent love

Chapter 45

On the previous chapter...

His eyes darkened, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"Watch it". He warned, his hand slipping lower, landing with a firm smack against my backside. "You're staying with me a little longer, right?"

I didn't answer immediately, lost in the way he made everything feel simple in his arms. And as much as I had every intention of leaving to help Divine, I wasn't in any rush anymore.

"Maybe".

"Stay". He said, almost a whisper.

I didn't move away. Didn't think. I just shifted closer, my body molding to his without hesitation.

"I'm not going anywhere". I said, having the feeling that this conversation is going somewhere else now.

He lifted his hand between us, pinky extended, a ghost of a smirk playing at his mouth. I stared for a second, a little stunned, then hooked my pinky with his. His skin was warm.

It felt stupid and small and completely serious all at once.

"No running".

"No hiding".

We locked pinkies tight, a silent vow stitched into the dark between us.

ʚ FEDERICO'S POV ɞ

"What happened to him?"

Chrysanthe's voice cracked through the thick, heavy air, sharp with fear she didn't bother to hide.

Silvio didn't even look at her. He stood there, shoulders tense, jaw grinding, eyes locked on the bloodied figure slumped in the dirt ahead of us.

"The same thing that's going to happen to us". He muttered darkly.

Then he turned slow, deliberate and pinned me with a look that hit harder than a bullet.

"If you don't take action now, Rico, we're dead men walking".

My fists curled at my sides, nails digging into my palms to keep myself grounded. The man lying in front of us wasn't just anyone. He was one of ours. One of mine, mangled and broken, dumped here like a warning.

A message from Valerio.

Message received.

The others shifted uneasily behind me, waiting for my move. Waiting for their leader to be the leader.

My mind was already moving a hundred miles an hour, calculating, planning, shoving away the burning rage that threatened to take over.

I stepped forward, crouching near the body, forcing myself to look. Not to flinch. His eyes were still open, glassy and lifeless, a cruel contrast to the raw pain still etched into his face. His hands were bound. His mouth bloodied.

Torture.

Prolonged, deliberate, and personal.

I rose slowly, my muscles coiled tight under my skin, every inch of me buzzing with the need to move, to strike.

The hunger for blood was becoming more and more tempting.

Chrysanthe took a shaky step forward, her voice trembling. "Rico... what do we do?"

I turned my head slightly, scanning the perimeter out of instinct. Making sure Valerio's men weren't still lurking nearby, waiting to pick us off like flies.