𝐖𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐄 | 𝟏𝟖+

TWO: breaking and entering

VALENTINA

"I feel so ordinary, sad when you around me. Treat me like corduroy, wear me out. Arguments, you air me out."

. . .

"Are you ok-kay, Dante?"

"Are you?"

"I'm okay," I sigh and take out the food, placing it all on the table. I then walk to the kitchen and get us plates and utensils, before walking back to the living room.

I get down on my knees and situate myself on the carpet.

"Today was just a-annoying. Alessandro behaving like a child and causing my allergic reaction... I mean, who does that?"

Before he can say anything else, I continue. "School is stressing me out as well. And then I have my grandmother's birthday this weekend and I'll have to go see my family. Ugh, you know how much I hate those weekends. And how my mom gets when we're around other family members."

"You don't want to go?"

"You know I don't," I whisper, and feel my shoulders deflate as my mind takes me to some unwanted memories. "I don't want to be around my mother when she gets like that."

"You can always give it another shot, see how she is this time."

"That's like saying Alessandro will wake up one day and decide not to be a pain in the ass," I snort and roll my eyes.

It's silent for a few seconds before he continues. "Why do you think your mother won't change?"

"I just feel it," I murmur. "I remember that last time, I went into a corner of another room and started silently crying."

Mami always gets annoyed with me quicker than usual on these trips and doesn't hesitate to berate me in front of other family members or friends.

"That's fucked up, Valentina."

I hum in acknowledgment.

"Too bad I don't care."

My head snaps up at those words and a chill runs down my spine.

Dante leans into the light, and all the blood drains from my face when I realize it's not Dante at all.

Any other person wouldn't see the differences between the twins, but I do.

Just the way the moonlight falls across his angled features gives him away, that, and the slight difference in the shape of their eyes.

Dante's are just a tad rounder and filled with so much warmth and kindness like they're etched into his skin.

Alessandro, however, is pure evil.

They're fox-eyes. Their color like honey pools in the sun, but it's just a façade to his interior.

That, and Dante doesn't have this barely-there dimple when he smirks.

Alessandro, aka the devil, does.

"You," I breathe, and my face scrunches up in disgust.

I just ranted about my feelings to this... monster. The one person who seeks out my weaknesses.

I feel bile rising up my throat, and my face feels hot.

He's so... so... ugh!

"You're despicable," I spit out and stand up, my hunger having completely left my body.

"Look in the mirror," Alessandro replies dryly. I get distracted by the door opening, and Dante steps through.

Upon seeing the both of us, he frowns and pauses in what he's doing.