Vermillion

32

'"Shit" Raffaele cursed as he rushed out of the room, his hand holding onto Circe's upper arm tightly, not wanting to lose her in the commotion.

Her feet burned in pain as she ran along side him to the main part of the club.

A few bodies lay scattered, but other than that, everyone had cleared out, away from the danger.

The shooters had gotten away.

"Candy?" Circe gasped, pulling out of Raffaele's grip and stumbling over to the performer who was sprawled across the stage, blood oozing from a wound in her head.

"I'm sorry" Circe told her with her head down.

She wished she had been there to protect her, maybe she would have been if she wasn't so preoccupied with the Italian man who was standing behind her.

"We have to leave Circe" Ilaria said cautiously from behind her.

Circe nodded and stood up, following Ilaria out of the club from a back entrance.

The drive back to the house was silent. They didn't need to question who the culprits were, they knew it was the Russians.

:｡･:*:･ﾟ'★,｡･:*:･ﾟ'☆

"Where are you hauling me off to next?" Circe asked, sitting in the plush chair in front of Raff's desk in his office.

"What?" he asked, leaning against the front of the table, so Circe had to look up at him.

"Another club, maybe a casino or working as a barman in one of your hotels?" she questioned "Where are you sending me next?"

"You're staying here" he replied flatly.

"What?" she asked.

"Need I repeat myself?" he asked her.

She rolled her eyes and stood up to leave. She was stopped by Raffaele's arms wrapping around her waist from behind, and his chin resting on her shoulder.

She immediately stiffened up, unsure of what to do.

When he realised she had frozen, he released her, letting her leave the room in confusion.

What the fuck was that?

Circe made her way up to Ilaria's room, the feeling of Raffaele's arms wrapped around her waist lingering for a while.

Being held the way he had held her was comforting. She was used to hugging Ilaria, who was smaller than her, so having someone larger than her hug her made her feel protected, it made her feel safe.

"Heya" Ilaria greeted her when she entered her room.

"Hi" Circe sighed. Exhausted after the days events. She pulled a cigarette out and placed it between her lips, lighting it and inhaling it deeply.

She had only started smoking recently, after trying one of Ilarias. If he had ever caught her smoking she would have been heavily punished, but now she was away from him, but a part of her did feel unsettled by the thought of being caught.

Her hands stopped shaking half way through her cigarette. Feeling more calm, her nerves settling as the nicotine took its toll on her body.

"How are you feeling?" Ilaria asked her, turning to face her on the bed.

"I'm fine" Circe told her, putting her cig out on the ashtray next to her.

"Don't lie to me" she scolded.

"I'm fine Lar, just tired is all" she lied.

Ilaria rolled her eyes, knowing her friend was lying but not wanting to push too much, knowing that if Circe really needed to talk about it, she would.

She felt bad for lying to Ilaria, but she didn't want to worry her, and even if she were to open up, she herself didn't know what was going on, so how could she form it into the words to talk about it?

"Night" Circe said as she stood up from Ilarias bed, leaving her alone.

Ilaria hummed in response, only half awake.

Circe wandered the halls of the house, not quite tired yet.

Her whole life had been a rollercoaster, but these past few weeks especially.

Her whole body ached, but she wasn't injured. She was in a constant state of exhaustion, but had gotten plenty of sleep. She was never hungry, even if she hadn't eaten in days.

She was restless, always having to do something, while also wanting to stay in bed all day. She didn't know what was wrong. She didn't know what to do.

She felt lost.

She felt large hand grab hers from behind her. She didn't do anything to fight it, she was too tired. If she was about to be murdered, then so be it. At least she got to talk to Ilaria beforehand.

She was pulled into a dark room.

"Circe what's wrong?" she was asked by a familiar voice.

Raffaele flicked the light in his room on, casting his eyes down on the girl in front of him.

"What?" she asked.

"You didn't fight back, or even flinch when I grabbed you" he said.

"I knew it was you" she lied.

He nodded, not believing her but deciding to go along with it anyway.

"Why did you bring me in here?" she asked, leaning back against the wall tiredly.

"No reason" he said, not wanting to tell her the truth, which was that he missed her company.

"Okay then can I leave?" she asked.

"No" he replied simply. He bent down, resting his head on her shoulder.

She stood completely still, again, not knowing what to do.

She felt overwhelmed for some reason. Maybe it was because of how affectionate his action had seemed to be, or because of how close he was to her, or maybe it was because she could feel his warm breath fanning her collarbone.

A single warm tear made its way down her cheek, falling from her face onto Raffaele's neck.

He raised his head, looking into her teary eyes.

His eyes held a look of understanding which made her tear up even more.

He gently took her hand, leading her to his bed.

He climbed in first, lifting up the duvet for her to climb in after him.

She obeyed, climbing in and letting him wrap is strong arms around her, becoming a shield around her small body.

Her body shook with quiet sobs she tried her best to keep in. She didn't know why she was crying, but she couldn't stop.

She hadn't even thought about the fact that she was in Raffaele's bed right now. Or that it was him that was making her feel better. She was so caught up in her own emotions she hadn't even had the time to take in the room surrounding  her.

It felt like the world was caving in on her after so long of pushing all of her feelings away.

"You're okay" he whispered into her ear "I'm here" he told her.

"I'm here"

A/N: hey lol this is my first update in a month and a day😟😟

so much has been going on it's crazy.

i'm finally finished my school year, so i have the summer off but i have a job now so very busy.

sorry i haven't updated in a while. i haven't been doing the best (when am i ever?)

i nearly died again two weeks ago so there's that lol oops xoxo

i hope all of you guys are good, and i'm sorry for the shitty chapter.

<3