A/N

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• MAKUA •

"And I thought I looked like a slut," Chiara all but yelled at the sight of me. She stood at the door to my apartment, a wide grin stuck on her red tinted lips. "I knew there was a side of you I hadn't seen yet!"

I tried but failed to mask the smile resulting in her outburst. I mean, maybe I took a little more time with my look today.

She was the one that suggested going all out, and my mind had gone to work immediately. I'd copped a black sleeveless corset top that cut off just at my midsection, giving a noticeable distance between it and the leather shorts that clung to my curves like a second skin.

Not to mention the auburn lace wig that I held up in an updo. It'd been a while since I hit the club, and I was in a mood tonight.

A pretty pissed one at that.

And it was all because of her brother.

"You are one to talk," I shot back, my gaze trailing over her the silk red dress that stopped a minute away from her panties. "You look like you're ready to take someone home tonight."

"And that, I will do." She laughed. "Are you ready?"

I picked my mini purse from it's place on my kitchen counter and rushed back with a smile, "Let's go!"

***

"Happy wedding anniversary!" Everyone yelled over the loud thumping of the speakers, blasting early 90's club songs, as per the request of Paige Bechlan, Chiara's best friend.

The woman in question was a beauty to marvel at with russet brown skin that glimmered despite the dim lighting in the club. She had a ponytail hairstyle done up with a tiara and sash placed around her, with the anniversary wish on it. And when she smiled? God, I wanted to come straight up to heaven and demand for the beauty that I might have missed out on when it was being shared.

And her husband? Robert Carlson was fighting for the spot of the hottest man I'd seen to date — okay, I'm just pissed but Damian still takes the cake — with his boyish grin and god, the way he looked at his wife? I had to force myself to look away from them as we all clinked our shot glasses and threw it back in one swoop.

The VIP booth had been cordoned for the event by the couple and with a small friend group present, it was easier to let loose without the fear of gawking fans or pointed cameras.

"Are you having fun?" Kaden leaned in, his voice barely audible over the loud music.

"Are you?" I countered, turning to look at him. It was a last minute decision, inviting him and I kind of felt bad for roping him into a possible tactic to annoy Damian — if he'd even pay attention.

He'd been gone for too long and though I wasn't technically alone, I'd gotten used to being around him, hearing his voice or even touching him.

I took a deep breathe and fought against the hollow feeling settling in my gut.

He was just busy. He'd reach out soon.

I wished I believed the words.

But, there was enough distraction for the night in the form of a bottle of whiskey.

Enough to enjoy myself tonight.

"I am," Kaden answered, eyes darting cautiously around. "I just wish I knew the caliber of people coming,"

"I told you, didn't I?"

"You said it was a small group of friends partying."

"It is," I replied, smiling at the warm feeling filling my tummy.

"That's Paige-freaking-Bechlan standing in the same space with us, that's far from small."

I giggled at his apparent distress. I mean, we were literally in the same section with NYC's hottest couple — Damian and I were ranked fifth — and they were rightfully so. Paige, for one, was the hottest female designer at the moment with so many investments and side businesses that made her husband's net worth almost laughable. Not to say that Robert Carlson wasn't loaded, He was the managing director and Michelin star chef of the Carlsons' restaurants.

We were basically standing next to the royalty of the NYC socialites, and I, personally, was struggling to not fan girl over them.

They stood at a noticeable distance, mingling and dancing against themselves, with Chiara dousing them with dollar bills as they did so.

"We should loosen up and try to pretend we're not z-listers among these people." I said, grabbing his hand and drawing him from the corner we'd shoved ourselves into. "Let's dance."

"Okay." His lips quirked up and he followed, dancing along to the beat. And in no time we were meshing with the rest, shouting out the lyrics to the songs and making goofy videos.

I was struggling to keep tabs on my alcohol consumption as I swayed to the beat, switching dancing partners until Chiara took the spot. "How do you feel?" She screamed over the beat.

"Amazing!" I yelled back, a smile forming on my lips as I gave into the rhythm of the songs, dancing and letting go.

Kaden joined us and we danced for what felt like hours.
Then a little commotion at the entrance to the section brought our attention to a familiar person. Someone I was sure to have met before, but couldn't remember.

Chiara seemed to know him as well cause she visibly paused, watching as the man made his way to Paige, who hugged him like her life depended on it.

"You came!" She yelled over the beat, continuing to speak in a lower tone that was drowned out by the music.

I followed Chiara's gaze to Robert, who was standing not too far from them, a frown etched at his lips. It didn't take a genius to know that he was displeased with the presence of the man.

"Who's that?" I asked.

Chiara drew her gaze from him and settled her now sober attention on me. "Mattia Santoro."

She didn't provide any further information but she didn't seem all too keen with him around. I tried to avoid looking his way as I caught a glimpse of a neck tattoo of an eye, detailed and fucking creepy.

"Gimme a sec," She excused herself and moved to a corner. I watched her through my progressively distorted vision, as she brought her phone to her ear and spoke.

I shrugged off the change in the atmosphere and reached for another bottle of vodka, filling my cup and swigging it down. By the time I moved back to my spot, Kaden was no where to be found.

And when I surveyed the space, the Mattia guy was missing as well.

Panic struck me at first and I reached Chiara just as she ended her call. "Kaden's missing, I can't find him and that guy is gone as well, do you think he took him?"

Her eyes widened, "Hold on," she walked over to Paige and whispered in her ear, they communicated for a while and when they were done, Paige waved us off.

Chiara grabbed her purse and took my hand in hers, leading us out.

"What's going on, is he in danger?"

"Who?"

"Kaden." I furrowed my brows, "Isn't that why we're leaving?"

"No," She deadpanned, pushing past the crowd and getting us through the doors and into the hallway. "Damian's around and in any second, he'll find us, and I don't want to deal with him right now."

Huh? "What do you mean he's around?"

"He just called, demanded to know where we are, and I kind of cut him off."

"Why didn't he call me first?"

She shrugged and paused at the restroom, particularly the male restroom. Then banged the door so hard, I was rattled from my drunken haze. "Get out of there, Kaden, we're leaving."

"How do you know he's—"

The door opened up and Kaden rushed out, flustered and disheveled, he struggled to tuck in his plaid shirt as another person walked out. A smug looking Mattia.

"Chiara, it's been a while." He mused, buttoning the fly of his pants.

Did I just... Okay, I needed to stay away from alcohol cause I might've started assuming some shit right now.

"Thankfully." She spat back, "You're still as shitty as I remember, I pray to God that you're staying away from my brother, he deserves better than this half assed bullshit."

Mattia narrowed his eyes at her but kept silent.

She turned to Kaden, "Let's go."

Kaden nodded but hesitated as we made our way out. I, on the other hand, was struggling to process what was going on — and my feet were heavy as hell to move.

But by some miracle, I ended up in Chiara's car, resting my head against Kaden's shoulder. Then at some point I was being guided up the stairwell of... oh wow, my apartment, I was home.

"Jesus, Makua." Kaden's voice felt like distant humming in my head. "How much did you have to drink?"

I wanted to answer — right after my brain had processed the words, but as I opened my mouth, all that came out was vomit.

***

"There there, I got you." Chiara's voice soothed my muddled mind. I held unto the only surface I could feel between my fingers, struggling to keep conscious as more vomit made it's way out into the toilet. "That's it, you should feel better in a bit."

She drew me from my spot on the floor, using a wash cloth to wipe me down by the sink then fitting me into an over-sized dress shirt, the familiar scent clearing my vision.

"I think she's back with us," Chiara said, settling me down on my bed and tucking me in. Kaden walked into the room, running a towel over his bare torso.

"Don't tell me... Did I?"

"Yup, guts and all." He said goodnaturedly, sitting at the foot of my bed beside Chiara.

I covered my face with my hands, sinking deep into the sheets as their laughter floated around my room. "I'm going to die of embarrassment."

"Do that after you've gotten more water in your system." Chiara handed a bottle to me, and jutted her head in his direction, "And find a shirt or something to put on."

Kaden laughed and moved out of the room while Chiara walked back into the restroom. I was left alone with my meandering thoughts of vomit, embarrassment and... Damian.

I sat up from the bed and attempted to search for my phone when the thought struck me;

He'd been gone for days, and here I was, almost eager to see if he'd called or sent a text. He'd ignored me and I'd stupidly got drunk in some bid to forget or let loose.

Fuck him.

Slamming my body back on the bed, I struggled to repress the anger bubbling up. I reached for the bottle and took a rather aggressive gulp before snuggling into the covers.

I would just sleep the frustration off and by morning everything would be okay.

Which would have been possible if the sound of crashing furniture and loud voices didn't rile me up from bed the next minute.

My movements were quick as I burst through the door leading to the living space to find none other than Damian standing at the threshold, face masked with anger and...

Oh, Kaden sprawled across the floor.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Chiara spoke first, coming up from behind and making her way to Kaden's side. "Are you okay?"

Kaden curled into himself as he held unto his face with one hand and gripped his torso with the other. If the anger from before had been much, I feared for the bubbling anger that consumed me now.

I closed the distance between us and got up in his face, "What the hell is this?"

He had the decency to look taken aback, eyes roaming over my body as if in search of something, before recognizing the shirt draped over my body. "You're wearing my shirt."

"You want me to take it off before answering my first question?"

He furrowed his brows and spared a quick glance at Kaden's wounded frame before meeting my gaze again. "I thought... I called, several times, tried to find you and got here only to see your apparent co-star half-naked, answering your door like he owns the fucking place, especially while I've been away, of course I made assumptions."

My mouth had fallen open without much thought, gaping at the audacity of his statement. "So you came over unannounced after being away for so long and the first thing you do is pummel my friend and base it off silly assumptions that I'm what? Screwing him?"

If Damian had ever been able to hide his emotions, now was the time his ability failed him. He shuffled on his feet and moved closer, bringing his hands to brush against my skin.

I did the honor of stepping away from him.

"I get that we haven't known ourselves long enough to establish trust but you're one to talk about assumptions." I spat back, not minding that the pitch of my voice was getting louder with each word.

"You left without a word or explanation and left everything to Renzo to relay like I'm some worker in your company and not your freaking girlfriend! What do you think I assumed? That maybe you had some family you were seeing or some girl worth responding to at every goddamn hour — I mean. I left you so many messages, it hurt my pride to even type out!"

He moved closer, his distress evident on his face. "I'm sorry, Makua, please. I swear, I don't have any other person in my life or some family I'm hiding somewhere, I had a task I needed to complete and I had to leave immediately the order was given—"

"It literally costs nothing to shoot a quick text if I really matter to you."

"You do, my god, you know you do."

'No, I don't." I took a deep breathe and brushed past him, reaching for the door and opening it. "You should go, I don't feel like talking to you right now."

"Makua—"

"Damian please, just go." The last word broke out as I fought the sob lodged in my throat, not caring that we had witnesses to what I could mark as our first fight.

"Dolcezza..." God, how long had it been since I heard him call me that? I turned away from him, thrusting the door wider and suppressing the urge to give into his plea. Maybe it was a good thing I drank, I had all the confidence I lacked, spiked through my system

I didn't pay attention to his look of defeat, standing my ground as he made his way out and closing the door after him.
I hadn't noticed when Chiara made her way over, "Are you okay?"

My head shook frantically as she wrapped me in a tight hug. And for the first time that night, I let my emotions pour out, crying into the crook of her shoulder as the feeling of loneliness settled at his absence.

"It's okay, I'm here." She ran a soothing hand over my back through my breakdown, until I was tucked back in my bed and finally gave into the exhaustion.