Song: Beach Weather - sex, drugs, etc (slowed + reverb)
𝔚𝔚𝔚
Flores Duarte Alvarez was what they called an unlucky soul.
Born the only daughter of two hardworking farmers, on a coconut plantation in the northern parts of the Samanà peninsula. Little Flora - would grow up with parents that on a good day, would earn the equivalent of one US dollar in todays day and age.
Poor was an generous understatement.
But that was merely the beginning of the misfortunate tale that was her life.
She was ten when the universe had delivered its first of many gifts - this one a sickness that killed half the plantation, her mother included.
And from then on, the gifts varied. Whether it be older reckless friends at eleven, male attention at twelve, drunken nights at thirteen, black out days at fourteen, or a baby at fifteen.
And by the time she'd turned sixteen, she was alone, tired of using her body in exchange of love or comfort and on the brink of throwing it all away - her baby boy included.
Until she met el gringo.
The older man.
He promised her a better life in America. A life where she'd live free of poverty - a life where the men there would take care of her and her baby.
And like the naive little girl she was, she took his offer and ran.
Only it's not the hardship and deceit she'd been put through when she got to America that makes this tale so unfortunate.
It's what happened to her baby boy.
He made it to America but much like his mother, he was an unlucky soul.
Only his life was doomed from the start, because unlike his mother, his luck- or lack there of - wasn't a concequce of his own actions, it was her actions.
And it could have all been avoided had little Flora never met el gringo because when things got bad and little flora got desperate, he showed up and gave her an offer she couldn't refuse.
The older man.
Arturo Moretto.
𝔚𝔚𝔚
Nico
I was starting to think there was something wrong with me.
My ego was big - not as big as my dick of course- but it was big enough to the point where I had trouble taking orders.
Which I now realise isn't good for my obsessive personality because it makes taking orders to leave my obsession alone - from said obsession, nearly impossible.
It'd been twenty seven hours, thirty seven minutes and fifteen seconds since she'd kicked me out.
This was bad.
Although Nico's world somewhat revolved around her, Rosso's didn't.
I had responsibilities, and arrangements to uphold. Rosso ran an empire, he had associates he dealt with but right now, I couldn't be bothered to care.
I didn't give a shit if I was ignoring my prior business arrangements, or if I was blowing off deals with the Italians - more so Alessio Galanti - to sit here, in my chair, dwindling the tin container filled with that blissful white powder in my hand, while watching a live feed of the GPS I'd had engraved into Bambi's phone.
There was nothing more I wanted than to drown myself in a good high but I couldn't in fear of leaving her vulnerable.
I was giving her space. Which meant, making her think Id leave her alone.
There was no way I'd actually do it.
I was in love, not a dumbass - although the more I thought about those two words, the more they felt like synonyms of each other.
But the fact of the matter is that I'd be a fool to leave the safety of someone so important in the hands of a washed up golden retriever and human chopstick with one functioning arm.
She had a target on her back.
Rosso's necklace was a warning to those who knew better than to touch something that belonged to him, but I wasn't going to be taking my chances.
I'd slaughter the family of anyone who thought to touch her.
I stare at the computer screen as the little dot begins to show its first sight of movement.
The GPS is accurate, so accurate that I'd know if she'd gotten up and walked to her bathroom with her phone which means that right now, she's walking towards the elevator.
I sit up in my chair.
The faint sound of the elevator groaning as it moving up floats down the hall, through my office door and the sound of the wonky sounding machine has something weird happening in my chest.
I straighten out, slip the tin in my pocket and check my phone one last time.
I'd caved and sent her three simple texts over the past twenty seven hours, forty minutes and twelve seconds.
Come back.
Everything's yours.
I still owe you 80k.
But all I got was nothing.
I make it to the elevator, and force nonchalance in my posture.
The doors open, only instead of soft brown eyes and a face pretty enough to make my my chest ache, I'm greeted by her grinning sidekick. "Hello."
I keep the fury out of my voice as I asses the girl from head to toe. She had Bambi's key card and her phone. I reach forward and snatch Josie's phone from Shakespeare hands. "Why the fuck do you have this?"
"Josie's given me her cellular telephone." She smiles at me, there's a duffle bag in her hand and I eye it, "And she told me you were letting us move back in here. She isn't coming, but she said I could come back."
I stare at her.
The invitation was for Bambi and Bambi only.
There was no fucking way I was rooming with a girl who referred to my penthouse as the top of the world and genuinely believed it.
I'd rather drown in the loneliness of this place, than share the space with her. "No."
Her face drops, "But there's barely any room for me down there."
I turn around and make a move to walk away.
It wasn't my fucking problem.
"Josie and I barely fit on the bed." I hear her mumble from behind me. I would've ignored her annoying sulking had I not been so hyper focused on Bambi's name.
I slowly turn around and narrow my eyes at the short, stubby girl. "You sleep in the same bed." I state tensely. She'd already kissed my girl, now she was sleeping in the same bed as her?
Fuck no.
But it's like Shakespeare takes my threatening tone as a questioning one. "I try to sleep." Her shoulders slump and she looks up at me,. "But it's hard to when my best friend is quietly crying herself to sleep next to me, thinking I can't hear her."
The way my chest suddenly burns so hard that I physically feel sick makes me think that it might be something deeper than heartburn.
Something that tells me I want her back, really fucking badly.
So badly that I was going to do something I'd never normally do. "You can stay. But I don't want you getting in my way."
My intentions were far from righteous. I was scheming, holding on to the fact that Bambi might, on the off chance come back.
I was grasping for straws.
Shakespeare's face lights up, "Thank you. I believe that your intentions are not to be kind and to attempt to court my best friend, who doesn't wish to be in your presence. But you are very kind." She manages out in one breath.
And the way she's already annoying me make me stop and think about my actions.
I went through this shit once, I wasn't going to do it again. "I'm changing my mind in two seconds if you don't leave-"
She hurries off, like a little mouse into the hallway and I turn around, disappointment settling deep in my gut when I realize that I'd been hopeful, too fucking hopeful that Josie was standing in the elevator.
I run a hand down my face and stare out of the large windows out onto the skyline.
This wasn't me.
I had shit to do.
An entire list of names to get through, deals with important people to uphold. I'd worked my way to the top by getting shit done. Not spending my days in a messy penthouse, moping after a girl.
But she wasn't just any girl. She was mine and I felt... I don't fucking know- incomplete without her.
The longer I went without her, the more minuscule that need to hate her felt.
She betrayed me, made my trust issues worse, did things I'd never forgive someone for. Yet I'd drop to my knees in a heartbeat if she asked me to.
I didn't know what emotion that was called, nor did I want another mental reminder of just how weak I was for letting such irrelevant emotions cloud my judgement.
In hind sight, she was nothing but a red flag.
But red just happened to be my favourite color.
Josie
"I quit."
Silence stretches across the counter. The bell chimes behind me.
"Not surprised." my now ex-manager takes my uniform from my hands and spins around to walk into the back, "You were a lousy waitress."
Her statement doesn't phase me all that much. I merely turn around and make a move to walk out of the diner while a faintly familiar voice calls my name.
I look up and catch the sparking blue eyes of the girl who I'd met once before and taken advice from.
Giana beams at me, looking more relieved than anything as she blows out a breath. "Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you."
"Uh-" I glance from side to side to make sure she's talking to me."I've been sick."
"I can see that." She observers, eyeing me up and down before glancing behind me. "Your Grim Reaper asshole isn't around is he?" She seems nervous but I don't care to pay attention.
The mere mention of him makes me want to shrivel into a ball and die.
I'd finally managed to get myself up and out of bed, but now I was regretting the choice.
I didn't want to speak to anyone.
"No." I shake my head and side step her before walking out of the doors of the diner and moving onto the street.
The clicking of her heeled shoes sounds as she falls into step next to me. It's now December and while it hasn't started snowing, it's cold, too cold for her to be wearing a skirt. "What's with the curt response?"
I side eye her. "We-uh-broke up."
"Tragic." She responds but there's no sympathy in her dry tone. "Anyways, I was thinking we could... you know... do something that requires us to move in this direction?" She takes my arm and steers us away from my normal route home and towards a random side street.
My brows furrow and I look back "I need to go that way."
She laugh nervously and despite my protests, continues to move us in the direction that doesn't lead to where I need to go, "I'm sure we can take a detour?"
I pull my arm out of hers. "I'm really not in the best mental state to be doing that."
"Not even a little small walk in the other direction?" Her voice increases in pitch. "For like..." she looks down at her watch. "Another twenty minutes?"
I stop and rub at my temples. I've had the worst headache and this was not making it any better. "What is it you want with me?"
Aside from blinking at me innocently, she doesn't respond, at least not until I stare at her until she cracks.
"Okay... don't panic, but Nico's been pissing everyone off these past few days." My face tightens at the mention of him. "Alessio included."
I swallow thickly. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Well because... he believes that you can help him grab Nico's attention." I frown at her as the cold December breeze runs through the material of my thin sweatshirt.
"I'm not speaking to Nico so I can't be of help." I don't give her any time to respond before I turn around and speed walk towards home- through my usual path.
Giana's footsteps echo behind me.
"That's the thing...I'm not here to get you to help Alessio." I round a corner and she blocks my path, "I came here to warn you and tell you to r-"
She's interrupted by a loud, masculine accented voice. "Giana."
"'Run..." she finishes her sentence, her voice weak and her face scrunched up as she faces me with her back to the seething man.
I peek behind her. The man stands tall outside a parked suv on the curb and the alarm bells instant begin to go off at the sight of the man that'd once held a gun to my head.
"Che cazzo stai facendo?" The man seethes lowly as he glares at the back of her head. (Italian| what the fuck are you doing?)
Her shoulders drop as she heaves a small, defeated sigh before she turns and walks towards the man.
Meanwhile I'm standing in the middle of the side walk, on a cold winter evening, with nothing but a thin sweatshirt and jeans to shield me from the cold.
But that's not what I'm concerned about. It's the dark determined glint in Alessio's eyes as he glances up towards me. Giana suddenly says something to him and he turns his attention to her.
I take the opportunity to ever so slowly begin to back away.
But just as I do so, two men step out form either side of the side walk, with their eyes on me. As if warning me not to run.
My pulse spikes, triggering the dread that courses through my veins.
Not only was I on the brink of freezing, but I didn't have a phone - I'd given it to Ella in my attempt to rid all traces of Nico. Yet it seems like my attempt was backfiring, terribly.
The men take another step forward, and I look towards the bickering couple just in time to see Giana angrily get into the passenger side of the car.
Alessio however, moves to hold open the back door before staring at me. "Get in."
His eyes are so hard and dead set that it terrifies me. There's no compassion, nor do I feel like the man likes me all that much. But I muster all my strength to refuse. "No."
He doesn't seem fazed.
"Nico puts up with your disobedience because he cares about your well being." Giana's protests come from somewhere inside the car, but Alessio ignores them as he raises a brow at me. "I- however, don't."
I stare at the man who looks like he wouldn't bat an eye if I dropped dead right now. He's right and so, after a long moment of hesitation, I get into the car.
Giana sits in the passenger seats, glaring at Alessio as he gets in the drivers seat and shuts the door.
I stare at them, before opening my mouth to speak but a bright flash has me flinching back and by the clicking sound, I know someone's just taken a picture of me.
"Seriously?" Giana bites as Alessio turns around and begins to type away at his phone. "What was that for?"
"He's been ignoring me." Alessio briskly responds, turning his phone off and tossing it into the console.
His hand then reach up to turn the car on, but just as his fingers graze the button, a large dead weight flies onto the hood of the car.
I gasp, Giana screams and Alessio curses.
A second dead weight is thrown onto the car, this time onto the windshield and when I look up, my eyes widen at the sight of the two men who had just been helping Alessio corner me.
Only now they're... unconscious.
But just as quick, my attention is moved to the door closest to me as it's yanked open.
I don't need to look up to see who it is.
I can tell by looking at the man's exposed skin and tracing the familiar ink with my eyes that it's the man who's been wracking havoc in my mind these past days.
He's got a hand on the door frame, it's flexed so hard that the veins are threatening to pop, and the way his chest is heaving in anger or like he's trying to catch his breath after running, tells me that I've had somewhat of the same affect on him.
"Get out." His voice is rough, faintly breathless which tells me he must have ran here.
I avert my eyes and silently make my way out of the car. Nico doesn't speak, but he also doesn't move out of my way as I get out, which makes it ten times harder to avoid physical contact, but I manage.
Th only thing I can't manage to avoid is his gaze.
But I can feel it, burning a trail across my skin as he sweeps his gaze over me. I have all his attention, and when he speaks, his voice is low, almost rough and slightly out of breath. "Estas bien?"
(you good?)
I don't offer any response, I merely wrap my arms around myself and make a step to bypass him but a hand on my shoulder stops me.
I tense and when I look up, I'm forced to stare at Nico's face for the first time in days. Dark tan skin, long lashes, sharp cheekbones, chiseled jaw and dark eyes that pierce right into my soul.
An inexplainable wave of tension wracks through the air. Nico's eyes slowly move from my face, to Alessio's hand on my shoulder and then up to the Italian man.
"Giù le mani." Nico's voice is smooth, almost relaxed, but everything about his posture and that glint in his eyes screams dangerous.
(Italian| Hands off)
Alessio doesn't shy away from Nico's ability to unnerve others. He straightens out and sends Nico a reprimanding glance. "This spiral of yours is affecting my business, so I thought to take matters into my own hands." Alessio's gaze briefly moves towards me. "Don't make me use what little power I have over you."
Nico tilts his head and peeks into the car, his gaze moving to the girl in the passenger seat, "I don't respond well to threats, Alessio." He murmurs, still staring at her as she shifts uncomfortably. There's a much darker glint in Nico's eyes when he looks at her, before he drags his eyes back to Alessio. "Don't make me retaliate."
My stomach turns.
His fascination with Giana was unnerving.
I wanted to know what was so special about her to him.
No- I don't care.
Alessio steps to the side, blocking Nico's view of Giana. "Not a threat, just some friendly advice." The weight of his hand is removed from my shoulder, as his cryptic words and gaze is directed at Nico. "Fix the mess you made."
That doesn't ease the tension. In fact, Nico's eyes narrow and his entire form tenses. Instinctively, I take a step towards his side and when I do, his body instinctively relaxes.
It makes my insides tingle.
No- dangerous.
And like a bucket of ice cold water, I realize that I shouldn't be doing that. I cut through the tension, quite literally by waking right through both men and head towards the building. This mess was Nico's to fix, I had no part in it.
I move fast, not letting the little voice of doubt inside my head to kick in and make me do something I'd later regret, like turn and run into his arms.
I shake myself out of it. I just needed to get back home.
I'm able to walk nearly two meters before heavy footfall sounds behind me. I ignore it and round a corner, and another until they get closer to me and I can't help but peek over my shoulder at the man who's presence is suffocatingly large.
The larger part of me thought he'd stay and handle whatever business he had with Alessio, and that smaller part - the one that was weak when he was around, felt important.
"Stop following me." I breathe, increasing my pace and hugging my arms tighter around myself as yet another cold breeze wafts through the air. The wind picks up sending my hair flying behind me.
"I'm not." His response is brisk, neutral. "I'm merely walking home."
I don't look over at him. I glare ahead as my face begins to feel numb from the cold. "Fine." I turn the opposite direction and walk towards Central Park.
There was a good chance I'd freeze to death, but I didn't want to be near him. My teeth chatter and the tips of my ears freeze over. Only my teeth clamp together when I glance over my shoulder to see the man trailing behind me, once again.
His hands are buried in his pockets, the streetlights cast a shadow across his face, but I can see his eyes that are glued to my backside.
"Now I know you're not walking home." I say tensely, a frustrated noise escaping the back of my throat.
He falls into step next to me and I catch sight of his broad shoulders as he shrugs, his face remaining impassive. "I'm taking the long way."
I glare at the insufferable man, before picking up my pace.
I had no idea what I was doing. I was waking away from where I needed to go and the temperature was only dropping, my light sweater wouldn't bring me anymore warmth.
But I'd rather slit my throat than turn around and walk home because then that meant letting him win whatever little competition this was.
Silence settles between us and i can feel him staring at me, but I ignore it, until he curses under his breath. "Jesus, you're too stubborn for your own good." He exhales a harsh breath as he speaks, his voice hard but laced with a hint of annoyance. "You're gonna freeze your ass off."
With a huff, I stop and spin around to yell at hum, but the stop is so sudden that I'm unexpectedly standing in front of Nico, closer then anticipated.
We're chest to chest and when he tilts his head down to look at me, the visible air from his parted lips floats down into mine.
I forget what I'm about to say and for a brief moment everything is stripped away until we're just two people, staring into each other's eyes, with so many mixed emotions and unspoken words between us.
He slowly, almost hesitantly lifts a hand to touch my face but then thinks better of it as he moves it back down.
"I really fucked up, baby." His voice is a heartbreaking mix of raw yet soft as his eyes lift to meet mine, they hold so much that I can't even begin to unpack. "Tell me what to do to get you to come back home."
Home.
That snaps me out of it. "That's not my home," I shake my head and clear my throat. "it's yours- you made that abundantly clear." My teeth begin to chatter as I step away. "I don't want anything to do with it anymore."
He stays silent, his cheeks are flushed from the cold and his breath escapes in a steady stream, but I can tell he's thinking. "With it or me?" He grits.
I look up at him. "Both." And with that, I put my pride aside and turn around to begin walking back towards the building.
Nico still trails after me, at a safer distance, yet he's still close enough for me to feel his gaze.
By the time I get into the elevator, my hands are shaking and red, my teeth are chattering and I can't stop the chills wracking through my body.
But I suppress them as Nico steps into the elevator after me and scans his key card before hitting the button for the highest floor. It takes me a moment to realize that we're not together, which means we're not going to the same floor. And when I do, I reach forward and hit the button for the seventeenth floor.
An awkward, heavy silence fills the space and I stare at the buttons as the elevator begins to move up.
14...15...16-
A loud clank, followed by the sound of stalling startles me, and before I can do anything, the lights go out completely.
We're engulfed in darkness.
My heart starts beating erratically in my chest as I try to search for any source of light, but I can't.
I snap my eyes shut as I try not to think about the fact that I'm submerged in darkness, in a small space without a means to get out.
Yet despite my attempts, my heart pounds, as the cold chills transform into ones of pure terror and my body tenses up in the worst mix of fear and discomfort.
"It's really fucking dark." Comes Nico's voice after a moment. "You okay?" It's calm, low and a complete contrast to the way my insides are turning.
"I'm not scared."My chin wobbles, I hated this feeling. Not only did I feel helpless, but I felt more alone than ever. "It's just the cold that's all, -leave me alone."
There's a beat of silence, followed by shuffling.
I take a deep breath in, and focus my frustration on the movement coming from behind me "W...what are you doing?"
His voice sounds from somewhere around me, deep and somewhat echoing off the walls. "Taking my shirt off."
That catches me off guard and works as the perfect distraction. "What? Why?"
"Do you trust me?" His voice is closer, and when I feel something skim the hem of my shirt, I know it's his fingers.
Yes.
"No."
He stays silent a moment, before he ignores my response. "Take off your shirt."
"What?!" I snap. "Do you seriously think you have the right to ask me to-"
"The powers out." His voice doesn't sound angry. It's calm and cool as he takes a step towards me. "There's no heat in here," Another step, impossibly closer. "So unless you want to freeze your ass off, I suggest you let me take your shirt off."
His voice somehow calms my nerves to the point where I feel almost safe, and when my fear starts to slowly but surely dissipate, I'm left to process my surroundings, process him.
The way he's so close, the way his fingers dance along the hem of my shirt, the way his breath tickles my ear, the way his body heat begins to warm my back.
"Fine." I finally grit, my voice a complete contrast to the way my breath hitches when I feel his hands slide beneath the hem of my shirt, onto my skin as he slowly lifts my shirt over my head and turns me around so that I'm facing him.
I can't see him, nor can he see me but I start to feel lightheaded and I can't tell if it's because of his proximity, my anxiety or I'm just that cold.
He steps impossibly closer, the tips of my breasts beneath my thin bralette brush his chest, his large rough hands slide up my sides, sending goosebumps all through my body as they travel up to my shoulders before moving down to grip each of my hands.
He guides them up his chest, "what are you doing." My voice wavers as he places my hands on his shoulder.
He's close, so close that we're chest to chest. His strong arms come around me, and wrap around my waist so comfortably. "Warning you up." He breathes.
Instinctively, my lips part to protest, to tell him to get off me, but then the warmth of his body slowly starts to tingle into mine and I can't help but relax into him.
I need this.
I shut my eyes and give in, just for a moment.
"This doesn't mean anything." I mumble into the skin of his chest after I've buried my face in it.
His arms tighten around me in response. "I mean it."
He dips his head buries it into the side of my neck, his soft hair tickling my skin. "We can't be together."
He finally speaks, and it's muffled by the skin of my shoulder. "I disagree."
"Too bad." I respond, my voice even. "I'm leaving when the power comes back on."
A small sigh escapes him and his breath fans onto the scar on my neck. "Then please just let me have this moment." He murmurs. "Lo necesito. Te necesito."
(Spanish|I need it. I need you.)
And even though I remain strong and don't say anything, a small part of me fears that maybe I too need him.
❤︎𓆪
Btw she hasn't forgiven him
Just to clear things up:
You'll learn more about Nico's past. You don't need to read Hideaway and Arturo Moretto isn't related to Nico in any way.
Also thank you sm for staying up late to read these updates. <33