Black Widow | 18+

11 | Secrets

"So, you love Leandro." He concluded, and I immediately shook my head. 

"No, Alvaro, I do not love Leo," I muttered

"Bullshit," Alvaro retorted, "you love him Arté, and you like Anton a lot. It's clear in the way that you speak about them." 

I shut my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, it was overwhelming to have all of these feelings that I deemed as useless only a month ago. "I don't want to fall in love with anyone Alvaro. I've gone through all the outcomes in my head, I leave Leandro and I'll be heartbroken, Leandro can leave me and it'll be even worse, or I stay with him and then we get found out and I could be killed. No outcome is good, and that's why I really just don't want to fall in love with him."

"I wish it was that simple Artemisia," Alvaro rasped, I looked over at him and he wore a pained look on his face, sad and remorseful. I knew something had happened in the past, but he never opened up about it; whenever the topic of relationships was brought up he got all awkward and did anything to get away from the group discussion. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Knowing you, you'll run, but even if you do that doesn't make the love leave, if anything it makes it get worse and you just want them more. Taking yourself out of the equation will probably be the most painful thing you could do." 

I let out a short, irritated breath, pursing my lips. "You got any experience?"

"That's a story for a different day, when we're done with this job and away from these people." He muttered, pulling up in front of Leo's place. 

I nodded and did our handshake before getting out the car and walking up the steps. I suddenly felt a macabre atmosphere, partly because of what my best friend was hiding from me, and partly because the door swung open revealing Clementina, but she didn't look at me with disgust or rage, she merely moved to the side and allowed me to come in. 

"Artemisia," Domenico said, his voice was rough and he looked somewhat disturbed as he nodded for me to follow him. I gave him a confused look but he turned and began walking up the stairs. 

I followed on and I took note of the statures of the guards, all on high alert with their hands over their rifles as they glanced around the corners of their posts. Something was wrong, and I was fucking hating it. 

I'd only been late by ten minutes, and I doubted too much could've happened in that amount of time. 

But, as time loved to tell me at the moment, I was wrong again. 

Manuel was sat back in an arm chair, and Leandro was sat opposite him, with Anton leaning back leisurely on the sofa and Luiz and David watching on from the wall behind Leo, and then there was Jacob leaning back on a wall next to the window. No one was standing behind him.

Fuck. 

I remained composed as the Mexican turned to look at me before he immediately stood up and took a step forwards, but Jacob was quick to react. 

"Don't get near her." He roughly spoke, his t-shirt showing his tensed arm as he balled his hand into a fist by his side. 

"Just wanted to give a proper hello to the woman my associate thought it would be so clever as to have sex with." He sneered 

"He did not have sex with me," I said calmly, "he raped me. Big fucking difference."

"It happened for the cause though I guess," Manuel shrugged and my mouth dropped open

"What did you just say?" This time it was Anton who spoke, uncrossing his legs and sitting forwards. 

"She let him, didn't want to blow her cover," Manuel mused, and for once I found myself getting genuinely upset.