Undercover

Look At It This Way

OLIVIA'S POV:

"I shouldn't be here" I said, as we stepped into Mariano's bedroom. He closed the door, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm not letting you go home all by yourself, it's so late" he said, taking off his shirt. I glanced down at his perfectly toned abs and if Mar wasn't hot before, he definitely checked that box right now.

"Come on, I wanna sleep" he said, getting into bed. I looked at my phone and saw it was coming up to 1am. Reluctantly, I unclipped my bra off, and slid it off through my T-shirt.

"Oh shit, I forgot" said Mar, getting out of bed. I watched as he opened the wardrobe "they're all my hoodies, choose whichever to sleep in, I don't want you to be uncomfortable, you know?"

He yawned and got back into bed, pulling the sheets over his face.

"I'm not looking, don't worry" he said. I smiled, going over to his hoodies. A warm feeling set off in my heart, he was so different to Hector, so much more kinder and loving. I looked through the hoodies, but as I pushed one back, something fell and hit the ground. I reached down and picked up a small gun, which was luckily empty.

"What're you..."

Mar stood up and came over to me, quickly snatching the gun out of my hands when he saw it. He put it safely in a drawer and ran a hand through his hair. I took a step closer to him.

"Mar, you've killed someone before, haven't you?" I whispered. He held his breath as I saw the muscles in his back tense up.

"Please don't"

"But Mar, you don't have to be like them, you're different, I know you are" I said. I gently rested a hand on his back, but he reached around and grabbed my wrist, pulling me in front of him.

"Don't ever try to get in my fucking head" he snarled, slamming me up against the wall. For several heartbeats, we stayed like that. Our breathing heavy, and his grip crushing my wrist. Minutes later, his deep brown eyes softened, and he loosened his grip on me.

"It's too dark for you" he sighed, walking back to the bed. Without saying anything else, I threw on a red hoodie and quickly got into bed. We had our backs to each other, an ugly silence filling the room. I felt myself finally drifting to sleep, when I heard a sniffle from the other side of the bed. I slowly turned around, just in time to catch Mar wiping his face.

"Mar?" I said, propping myself up on my elbows. He stayed silent, probably wanting me to believe he was asleep. But, I reached over and turned on the lamp. His eyes were a sore red and slightly puffy.

"Oh my god" I said, and before he could push me away, I reached over to him with both arms, pulling him close to my chest. His body tensed up at first, but I held him tightly indicating I wasn't planning on letting go.

"I'm sorry" he said, as I felt his cold tears on my skin. His body sunk onto mine and I rested one hand on the back of his head.

"Shh, just calm down Mar, you're okay" I said softly.

"You were right, I don't fucking belong here" he wept, sitting up a little bit. I wiped away his tears, and rested my hand on his hand.

"Then why are you" I said impatiently, feeling more and more sorry for him. He shrugged as his eyes filled with more tears.

"What fucking choice do I have?" he said as his voice cracked. I wiped his tears quickly, and we sat in silence. He was right. He didn't have a choice, this life was chosen for him.

His voice was silenced in the midst of it all.

"I always knew I shouldn't be involved with this Cartel, and now if I leave, I'll probably get killed" he frowned. I stared at him and saw the worry lines appearing on his forehead. We were only in our 20's. We had our whole lives ahead of us. Yet he was stuck doing this shit.

"Anyway, lets go to sleep, I'll drop you off at home in the morning" he said, pulling the sheets over his body. I turned the lamp off and tucked myself in. This time we were both facing each other, with the orange streetlight shining onto our skin.

"So when did you realise you were in love with Mattia?"

I looked at Mar, slightly startled that he'd ask such a hefty question.

"Uh, I guess when we shared a kiss"

I saw him frown a little, and desperately wished I could take back what I'd just said.

"He's a lucky guy" he said quietly. I thought back to that night in the forest and how perfect it was. I'd give anything to go back to that moment.

"I'm sure he wants nothing to do with me anymore" I said, letting out a nervous laugh.

"Nah, I've seen the way he looks at you"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. Mar smiled at me, closing his eyes.

"Mattia Polibio is the coldest person after my bitchass brother, but when he saw you tied up earlier, it was like his whole world had collapsed. The way he wanted to help you, to touch you, to be near you. I've never seen Mattia act like that before. Trust me, he's not getting over you anytime soon"

My heart was doing backflips with each word Mar spoke. Mattia was still and always would be my first priority, but I had to get him out of that damn house before Hector's soldier could do anything.