My introduction stumbles out, forced and brittle. "Um, Enzo, this is Liam Cavanaugh, my old... Acquaintance," I say, mentally chastising myself for using that stupid word.

Well, anyway, I couldn't think of anything better on the spot.

Then I turn to Liam next. "Liam, this is Enzo. Enzo Volpe. My... partner."

Liam's gaze gives away nothing on how he might feel on the inside, even if I'm positive he must be hurting. I hate it that it's me that is making him go through all that pain. 

But the more I hurt him now, the faster he will leave my life. Leave me to rebuilding it. 

The two shake hands, a silent power struggle playing out in the firm grip and unwavering stares.

Enzo's voice breaks the momentary tense silence as his baby blues scan my disheveled look. "Chiara."

Liam snorts, presumably at Enzo's use of my fake name, but Enzo carries on as if nothing has happened. "Are you alright, regina? Your friend and the other nurses in the trauma room mentioned you were a little shaken. That you couldn't assist during that man's surgery?" Enzo says, his eyes holding mine.

"I'm fine now, I promise," I assure him, a touch too quickly.

Before Enzo can respond, Liam speaks up. "And would ye perhaps be able to tell me how that man is, doctor? How's Patrick?" he asks, his voice clipped.

"Patrick is Liam's brother," I say.

A flicker of something unreadable crosses Enzo's face. "The gunshot wound was minor," he replies. "Surgery was routine. In and out in half an hour." He takes a deep breath. "As an immediate family, you can go see him now, signor Cavanaugh."

Liam nods, turns and strides down the hallway without another word, but not before casting a long, longing look at me.

When he finally leaves me alone with Enzo, I blurt out, my voice trembling.

"Can we take a day off?"

"A day off?"

"Yes, please. I... Today has been a whole lot. First Patrick arrives at the ER, wounded and then his brother Liam appears, after I haven't seen either of them for so long. It's just a... A bit much for me. I fear I won't be able to focus at work, Enzo. I need to disconnect. I need time to process everything that happened today."

He pulls me into a tender hug and a relief washes over me as I lean into him, seeking solace in his familiar warmth.

With a gentle nod, he offers, "Of course, Alex. Let's go home. I'll text Dr. Mancini."

Enzo Volpe always finds a way to look after me, to take care of my needs. He makes me feel better about everything, better about myself, and today is no different.

"Thank you." And I mean it. I need him and I appreciate him so much right now. I wouldn't be able to get through this shock if it weren't for Enzo.

A panicked thought invades my mind and I blurt out: "While you text Dr. Mancini, let me text Rigena. She must be so worried about that little stunt I pulled. In all these years we've been working together, I don't think she's seen me do anything quite like that."

"Of course." Enzo nods. "Whatever you need."

My fingers tremble as I pull out my phone, scrolling to Rigena's contact. I tap out a quick Whatsapp message.

"Hey. Just texting you to let you know I'm okay.

Had a good reason for leaving the trauma room. Tell you everything soon, but for now... I need a huge favor. Can Sofia stay with you for a few days?"

A bittersweet smile tugs at my lips as I add:

"Think of it as that playdate you've been begging for."

Almost instantly, my phone buzzes with Rigena's reply.

"Absolutely! Can't wait to spoil that little firecracker. And you'll have to spill the tea sooner or later, girl! When I see you next, I want all the details about what the hell happened in there!"

My stomach clenches at the thought of reliving the encounter with Liam. But the promise of a safe space for Sofia and the chance to unpack everything with Rigena makes hitting send a little easier.

"I swear. Pinkie promise. See you this afternoon. I'll bring Sofia to your place."

As Enzo and I walk out of the Policlinico, I instinctively lean closer to him.

His hand finds mine in a silent promise of support, and the guilt over what just happened with Liam in the storage supply cabinet is already dwindling.

***

Making the most use of the time and the fact that Sofia is still in scuola, we rush towards the master bedroom.

All I want, all I need at this moment is for Enzo's kisses to wash away Liam's. For his body to purify me from Liam's hard chest with his softness. To let out breathy cries as I climax against my partner.

To forget how much Liam appearing at my workplace shook me to the core.

My blood pounds in my ears, mimicking the summer rain that pitter patters on our window.

I bury my fingers in Enzo's soft light brown curls, and for a suspended moment, neither of us moves, as we stand opposite each other.

Enzo Volpe doesn't ask questions, he doesn't accuse me.

He just is. So soft, pliable and accepting.

It's incredibly easy to give myself away to his care.

Then a boom of thunder crashes in the distance, and the tension explodes with the force of a lit match in a barrel of gasoline.

My mouth crashes down on his, and his arms wrap around my neck, pulling me flush against him.

A low moan vibrates against Enzo's mouth when I roll on top of him, determined to take what is mine and to regain my sanity.

Raw bodily desire takes over, eradicating thoughts of anything except Enzo.

No Patrick. No Liam. Just the two of us, Enzo and I.

I stroke my tongue against the seam of his lips, tasting him, demanding entry. They part and the comforting taste of Enzo coats my tongue.

I cup the back of his neck and angle his head so I can deepen the kiss.

His hands sink into my hair; my palm sweeps over his stomach.

I kiss him as if I were drowning, and Enzo is my only source of oxygen.

Wild.

Frantic. Desperate.

And it still isn't enough.

I need more of it. More of him, if I'm to erase my treacherous reaction to Liam.

"Chiara." His soft cry when I cup his groin almost makes me come undone.

I kiss my way down his neck and chest, eager to map every inch of his body with my mouth. I close my hand around his balls, eliciting another moan of my name.

Approval rumbles in my chest. "That's a good boy."

I make my way down his stomach to his thighs, my journey languid despite the need raging through me.

Focusing on Enzo's pleasure will distract me from what just happened at Policlinico, I know it.

I sense his arousal before I tug his briefs down, and the sight of his cock, so hard and ready and fucking perfect, makes me gasp.

"Please." He pants, his grip strangling my hair when I nip the soft skin of his inner thigh.

His member pulses so hard, but I am still not touching it, or kissing it.

"Chiara..." Enzo's breathless once more.

"Tell me what you want me to do to you," I command.

I receive only a whimper in response.

"Please suck me off?" I taunt, my voice soft but the words rough.

With Enzo, I enjoy being in control. My mind, heart and body positively dominate him every second.

"Lick my shaft until I beg you to let me come?"

"Yes." The word is half plea, half demand. "I need your mouth on me. Chiara, please."

I push his thighs further apart and delve in like a woman starved. I focus on his head, licking and sucking it until his cries of pleasure crescendo.

Enzo writhes and bucks, begging me to stop one minute and to keep going the next. He's dripping all over my face, and I can't get enough.

I find solace in the taste of him, in the way he sounds when I swish my tongue around his shaft, and the way his back arch off the bed when he finally comes with a full-body shudder.

I wait for Enzo's trembles to die down before I touch my tongue to his sensitized dick again and give it a slow, leisurely lick, as if it were my favorite flavor of ice cream.

"No more," he pleads. "I can't... oh God. Dio Mio." His protest splits into another moan when my tongue invades his balls, slowly sucking first on one, then on the other. My hand works up and down his shaft, faster and faster, my mouth never leaving his sensitive testicles until his sharp cries fill the room again.

It feels so good to be in control. Controlling Enzo. Controlling myself.

My pussy throbs in time with my pulse as I push myself onto my knees.

Enzo stares up at me, his cheeks flushed and his chest heaving from the aftermath of his second orgasm. A light sheen of sweat mists his skin, and his baby face is so full of trust, affection and satiated pleasure it made my gut twist.

A cold trickle of reality of my storage room betrayal pierces my fog of lust.

I almost cheated on him mere minutes after seeing Liam again.

Was he just a placeholder for the ghost of Liam Cavanaugh?

I'm not supposed to still think of Liam. Still like Liam. Much less still desire Liam.

I wrap my arms around Enzo's neck and press my hips up against his, the message clear.

Fuck me senseless.

My hands fist on the mattress as I wait, my movements frantic, almost desperate, as I wait on him to take me and make me forget.

As Enzo looms above me, I am reminded that his body isn't sculpted with such perfection as Liam's. It's more lean and soft than muscly and there is no trace of chiseled abs.

But it's that softness and comfort that I crave now.

Bronzed skin and a faint dusting of black hair that tapers down to his member.

His cock, already hard again, juts out, huge and pulsating, and the mere idea of it inside me sends twin frissons of apprehension and anticipation spiraling through my stomach.

A molten flame drips down my spine when Enzo spins me around so his erection digs into my lower back.

He palms my breasts, gently squeezing them and rolling my nipples between his fingers until they stiffen.

Lust and hungry anticipation pool in my stomach.

"I am going to make you cum so hard, mia cara." Enzo's soft voice sends shivers over my skin a second before he pinches the sensitive peaks, hard.

I instinctively jerk at the jolt of pain and pleasure.

"Yess..." My reply melts into a breathy sigh when he dips a hand between my legs. My teeth dig into my bottom lip, and my hips buck as he presses his thumb against my clit.

"You're mine." His teeth graze my neck. "You sleep with me every night. You've come on my face and hand. You live in my head all the fucking time, even if I don't want you to... You're mine. Not his."

His palm slides to my hip, where his fingers dig grooves into my skin. "And God, I want to punish you for driving me so damn crazy. Every. Single. Day. But especially today. Especially. After. That Cavanaugh."

I don't get a chance to fully register his last sentence before he slams into me and tears a cry from my throat.

I am so wet he slides in without much resistance, but the sensation is so sudden and intense I clench without thinking.

He hisses out a breath, but he doesn't move until my body acclimates to his size and my whimpers of discomfort fades. Only then does Enzo pull out and push back in.

Slowly at first, then faster and deeper until he sets an angry rhythm that makes my knees buckle.

All thoughts vanish from my mind as he hammers into me so deep he hits spots I didn't know existed.

My eyes flutter closed, only to fly open again when an angry hand closes around my neck.

My breasts bounce with each thrust, and my eyes are glassy with lust and unshed tears as he wrings every ounce of pleasure and pain from me.

The pain and the punishment I deserve.

An endless stream of moans and whimpers pours from my half-open mouth.

The fucking is too intense, more intense than it has ever been but all I want is for Enzo to keep going.

To push me further and further until I crash and jump off the cliff that is Liam Cavanaugh.

"I'm the only one who gets to fuck you like this." His voice turns possessive. "You"-"thrust-"are "-thrust-"mine."

The force of his fucking increases with each word until the last plunge pitches me forward.

If not for his hold, I would've collapsed on the floor.

Enzo drags his cock out slowly, letting me feel every inch of him, before slamming it back in.

His pace slows, but the power in each thrust remains vicious. Still, his next words contain a shadow of vulnerability.

"You don't know what you do to me. What I felt when I saw you coming out of that stupid storage room with him. I imagine he was important to you in the past, but I... I want to banish him from your head, regina." The rawness of his voice matches the desire in his eyes, now so dark and fathomless and so visceral I feel it in my bones.

I come with a sharp cry, my body shuddering around Enzo's. He follows soon after, his cock pulsing inside me until we are both spent and gasping for air.

We hold on to each other, our breaths gradually evening in unison as we come down from our highs.

The exorcism of Liam Cavanaugh from my thoughts has, hopefully, been completed.

The very notion of him is blown away by my orgasmic explosion, and the explosion of Enzo's ire.

I pray he never comes back.