“Where is he?” Arianna demanded, walking over to the room’s entrance where Luca stood guard.
“It’s best if you leave him alone for now,” Luca said, stopping her from entering.
However, Arianna was not listening, Victor was not just her friend, he was Mimi’s boyfriend and Marcel’s cousin, she had to know what was wrong with him.
Hence, Arianna lifted her leg to kick him on the kneel, and Luca, recognizing the move, dodged it, only to discover that it was merely a trick move, and the instant he deflected, she pushed him out of the way and opened the door, going in.
“Victor -” Arianna was about to call out his name only to see a figure on the bed with the sheet covering his entire frame.
Luca stepped towards her and grabbed her elbow gently, whispering to her as if he didn’t want Victor to notice their presence, “After episodes like this, a feeling of embarrassment is expected. It’s best if you leave him alone. ”
“I don’t know what exactly is wrong with him or how you all went about it, but leaving Victor alone is the worst option right now. He needs the feeling of acceptance and the fact he’s loved by his family no matter what.” Arianna told him, pulling her arm out of his grip and stepping towards Victor.
Luca couldn’t stop her and watched instead as she gently climbed into the bed and called his name, but Victor wouldn’t answer. However, that didn’t deter Arianna who instead slowly and carefully wrapped her arms around him, comforting him as he cried harder.
Luca did not move an inch from the room, he stood at that spot watching until the soft falling and rising of Victor’s chest, only then did he relax. Marcel was away so they couldn’t report the incident to him else he abandons everything and return for the sake of his cousin.
.....
There was no more time, they had to be prepared for the mission on Friday which was merely two days away. Victor was calm now and they would only have to worry about his mood the next day.
His attention moved to Arianna who carefully pulled out of his embrace after Victor fell asleep. The both of them didn’t say a word until they were out of Victor’s and Arianna’s head whipped to him, “Care to tell me what’s going on?”
“You’d have to ask the boss about that. It’s not my place to release such sensitive information,” Luca told him and Arianna felt like throttling him.
“What’s with this place and their confidentiality agreement?! Fine, answer this then,” She managed to calm down, hands akimbo, and asked, “How sick is he?”
“His condition is not severe enough to significantly interfere with his social or work functioning and there’s no need for hospitalization,” Luca pointed out in case she was beginning to have doubts about his mental health.
“Alright.” Arianna was not worried he was crazy. She has seen crazy people and Victor was not one of them – although his level of excitement was concerning at times.
“Then what about that asshole?”
“What asshole?”
“The one that caused all of this? Where did he come from?”
“His name is Julius. His family owns a liquor business and he’s acquitted with the boss and Victor because they grew up together at one point. Most importantly, he’s a wannabe boss,” Luca explained to her.
“What?”
“He likes to imitate boss Marcel in everything and I’m not sure you want to hear this, but Julius went as far as making it his life mission to go after every woman the boss was with.”
“What?!”
Arianna thought over it and it sounded utterly ridiculous. She pointed to her chest, “So he was right in thinking I was one of Marcel’s whores and wanted to come after me as well?” She was dumbfounded.
“Yes,” Luca answered.
Arianna burst into laughter. Why were some men just worthless scum? She wanted to give that asshole a piece of her mind, so he’d know that not all women are cheap
“And you let him go?” She couldn’t believe it.
“Whether I let him go or not, Boss Marcel would still find him and deal with him appropriately when he hears the news of what happened. The least I can do is keep him alive till the boss returns and finishes him off,” Luca stated.
Arianna gasped in astonishment. She stared at Luca, here she was thinking that Luca was the least lethal of them all, who knew he was the most evil?
“It’s late already, I should go to bed.”
The fun was over and Arianna felt exhaustion slowly taking over her. She patted Luca on his broad chest, “See you tomorrow, huge man,”
With that done, Arianna returned to her room, changed into her nightwear, and went to bed. It would have been a long night without Marcel by her side, but she was tired already, and sleep took her.
Arianna stirred the next day with a groan. Her head was pounding and she didn’t need anyone to tell her that it was a hangover even though she had drunk a little last night. Alcohol was really not her cup of tea.
But the instant she opened her eyes, a scream tore from her throat until she recognized who was seated in her room with her.
“Morning,” Marcel waved at her sweetly.
“Jesus Christ,” Arianna sat up, her hand on her chest. She was going to die from a heart attack at this place one day.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, but you were sleeping so peacefully, you looked ethereal,” Marcel apologized.
“Yeah, so you decided to stare at me like a creep?”
His nonchalant shrug answered it all, he was not remorseful at all.
Arianna shook her head and ignored him. She pushed the sheet away and began to stretch her arm. But her nightgown rode up in the process, showing off her toned thighs and Marcel’s intense gaze followed the movement, causing her to lower her arm immediately, a blush on her cheeks.
Marcel forcibly tore his gaze and cleared his throat. He then announced to her, “You should get dressed, we’re going out today.”