Chris Evans as Lorenzo Vionci

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Stuck on You: Kapitel Zweiundzwanzig

I had managed to coerce Santiago into letting me go back to my penthouse for a few days. He had devoured me twelve times in less than twenty-four hours, and my body needed time to heal. I was so sore, so deliciously sore. My waist, my stomach, my legs, and my back hurt. Both of my holes throbbed excessively and I knew that I couldn't be around him.  He was always tempted to do something and I was too weak to his skills of seduction.

Sad.

I shifted on my couch, wincing as a flare of pain shot up my spine. He really meant it when he said he was going to make up for all that time we lost. We did it in so many positions, ones that I didn't even know existed. "That bastard," I growled out, staring at nothing in particular. He was smug as shit when I fell out of the bed the next morning and he wasn't even bothering to help me up. "It's nice to that I put it to work," He said with an evil grin on his face. When the soreness went away, I was going to get him for all he was worth. 

Ivory was with my father for the day. They hung out at his house, mainly watching movies and continuously healing. Santiago had a couple of men watching their house, inside and out, and I checked up on him every hour, just so I knew how they were doing. I took a sip of my pineapple juice, my phone buzzing from beneath me. I picked it up, wondering who texted me.

Milo Fernandez: Quick question, Brad.

I furrowed my brow at the text, fingers scrolling to open the text and reply. What did Milo want from me? I hoped it wasn't anything dangerous. Milo screamed crazy.

Brad Thorpe: please don't ask me how I want to be killed.

Milo Fernandez: What? It's nothing like that. Stop being a wuss. Anyway, I just wanted to ask about your cute friend.

I tilted my head, wondering who exactly he was talking about. He was going to have to be more specific because I had a lot of cute friends. It was weird, because Milo never seemed interested in any of the people that he met. He always curtly addressed them before moving on with his life.

Brad Thorpe: I need more details than that.

Milo Fernandez: The brunette who wore a leather jacket and a white shirt to the hospital three weeks ago. Had a chain on too. Took notes when you were talking.

I laid my head back, pondering the many people who came in the hospital. It was around the time that my father had gotten shot by Riocard and I went in once to see him. The only people that were there when I was, was Ivory, Milo and—

Brad Thorpe: are you talking about my partner from work?

Milo Fernandez: Yes.

My eyes widened as I took in the fact that Alex's fleeting glances did not go over this man's head. I was going to have fun with this. The brash and tsundere attitude of my partner could use some fixing and who better than Milo to ask?

Milo Fernandez: What's his name?

Brad Thorpe: Sergeant Alexandrov Cruz, at your service. 

Brad Thorpe: But he's straight though, as far as I can tell.

I chewed on my lip, knowing that would be a major problem. Alex had never taken any interest in guys until now, so I wasn't sure. 

Milo Fernandez: is he?

His words sounded mocking like he wasn't concerned in the slightest. I was going to let him handle that though. Alex was a bit of a puzzle that I didn't feel like trying to put together.

All of a sudden, there was a brash knock on the door. 

I threw my phone on the couch next to me. I slowly pulled myself off of the couch, drudgingly dragging myself over to my door. I had no idea who it could've been as everyone I knew was off doing things with their lives. I turned the knob on the door, pulling it open. "Oh! Hey babes!" I waved to the three of my friends, who stood in the door with blank looks on their faces and fire in their eyes. "...hello." Demetrios grunted out and I could immediately tell something was wrong. I tilted my head, opening the door wider. "What's wrong? Come on in." He, Derek and Micah walked in, the stark atmosphere of the room immediately tensing.

I closed the door behind them, walking to the center. 

"Don't think we haven't noticed how distant you've been these last couple of weeks," Derek whirled around on me, blue eyes glazing over and I tilted my head, pondering what he was talking about. "I had a lot to do this past couple of weeks. People getting shot and killed, my daughter getting injured, it was a lot to deal with and a lot of cases to close, but I'm sorry for neglecting you guys." I rubbed the back of my neck, wondering why they were glowering at me with so much ferocity in their eyes, identical down to the pupil.

Something was off here.

"Guys? What's the matter?" I asked and they sneered at me. Was this what I thought it was? "What's your real name, Brad?" Demetrios came straight out with it and I started to sweat. "Huh?" I muttered, throat feeling tight all of a sudden. "What are you talking about? It's Brad, short for Bradley." I shrugged playfully, wondering what he was getting at. "According to my files, you are one Anthony Bradley Thorpe," He opened his file, reading it off. My eyes widened. I had never actually told them my first name.

"But I don't go by my first name." I tried to play it off but they weren't done. "You said that you were from here when we first met," Demetrios held the file up. "But you were born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. You relocated here when you were twenty-one." I had no clue where to start or where to end. This was all coming down around me and I couldn't shield myself it. Memories of our friendship started to flood my mind as I stared at them, knowing exactly where this was headed. It made anxiety flood my brain as I looked between frantically, trying to find words to say. I chewed on my body lip as they began to bombard me with questions. It came down to this and I had no idea what to say.

I clapped in glee, snickering as we sat in Demetrios's room, preparing him for his sexy time with his sexy lover, John. "Welcome to our inner circle, Bottoms Up!" I cheered as they all looked at me, knowing that I inadvertently stated my sexuality.

"You said that you dated my stepsister," Demetrios spat coldly and I gulped, heart thudding in my chest as it all came together. "Said she was Ivory's mother and everything. Last time I checked, Zicara Kiloway's name was not on the birth certificate. You never mentioned anything about her until I asked her who Ivory's mother was," I started to sweat madly, shifting under his hard gaze. "You said you dated one person and that was a male and that male just happens to be Santiago Luzardi." Micah mentioned, his steely stare boring into my soul. I bit my lip, not knowing what to say, but they weren't done. 

"You said that Mr. Luzardi was nothing to you, but why it did it seem like his mother knew you a lot more than you let on? You said that it was just a short thing that you had a long time ago, just dating. But if I'm not mistaken, that man was hellbent on fixing the relationship you two had." Derek cornered me with his growls, his aura threatening and unstable as my legs sought to cave out under me. It didn't sound so bad at first listen but put together out there in the open, it made me sound as if I was a compulsive liar. 

"You told me that you had a custody battle to fight over Ivory. Was that even true?" Fuck.

"You said that Zicara and you dated for seven years, and she beat you and Ivory." Ouch.

"You said you took Ivory to visit her mother every single week but if I recall, Ivory asked me if I had any idea who her mother was." Shit. This was eating me alive. I felt like the walls were caving in around me, and that this was the end.

"I don't even care if you have a million scars on you!" I wiped my face, staring at my best friend as he looked up at me, tears in his eyes. I wasn't done by any means. That bitch could slow cook. I had only met Zicara once, but knowing the pain she caused my best friend, I had to make sure to keep her name out of wraps. "You're still my best friend and I think you're awesome as hell." I stated with a gleeful smirk, Derek and Micah turning to me with simultaneous glares of jealousy. "HEY!" They screeched at me and Demetrios shushed them, cheeks staining pink.

I knew how this made me look, like our friendship was all a lie. It was as if every single relationship I had with them came crumbling on the wobbly foundation of lies, piled up over time.

"Are you even really who you say you are?" Derek stared at me, eyes looking me up and down as if he didn't recognize the person in front of him anymore. This made me feel queasy and my stomach was tightening, threatening to unleash its contents all over the floor. I felt dizzy. I wanted to yell and say that I was the same person that I was when I first met them, but no amount of words would fix the crack and the holes in the wall that was our friendship. I lied, not just once, not even twice, damn sure not even thrice. 

"Where are you from Brad? You've got this southern thing going on," Micah asked as they all looked at me. I bit my lip, wondering how to get out of this. I didn't want to be connected to my past any longer. "Really?" I feigned ignorance as I took a sip of my tea. "I was born in Manhattan. You're probably thinking of my father, who was born somewhere in the south." It technically wasn't a lie because part of it was true.

A tear trickled down my cheek as they all stared at me, unease settling in their eyes as they took me in, not trusting me. If I had just told them from the start the whole entire truth, there would be no need for them to look at me like this. They would understand, wouldn't they? They had to. 

I continued to talk dreamily about John, knowing that Demetrios hid a lot of emotions regarding the right-hand male. I was only doing so to make him realize his true feelings. Micah didn't like it though as he slapped me on my arm and I pouted in pain. "Can't you see that you're upsetting Demi?" He asked incredulously and I looked at the blonde, noticing that he was frowning. Jackpot. I peered over from my side of the bed, our sleepover hitting the night as I leaned over him, smirking. "....you're a stone-cold liar, Demetrios Kanzaki." I grinned knowingly as Demetrios furrowed his brows. He wanted that man a lot more than he let on and I was going to help. 

"I-I," I stuttered, hands clenching. I didn't know how to say it, but I knew I had to. They already had so many wrong ideas about me. I had to just come out and say it like I should have from the start. It wasn't farfetched but it would answer all of the questions that Demi had asked me a long time ago. It would fill in all the blanks, make all of the connections and soon, they would understand. They had to. I didn't know what I would do if they didn't believe me. "I-I," I stuttered, my heart beating rapidly as I looked at them frantically, hands clammy and shaky. I took a deep breath, sensing the hostility in the air as I let it all out. "I'm an intersex male." I confessed, looking down, The room felt dark and grim and I was choking in the mad mass of silence. I fidgeted, unsure of what they were thinking. There. It was out now. 

"I wanted to tell you guys when I first met you, but I didn't know how to tell you guys that I was the father and the mother of Ivory, so when I met Zicara a few years ago at a pub, I decided to use her as a lie," I whispered, thinking back to that night. They all stared at me, teeth clenched and their hands squeezed into fists. It was the truth, and nothing but this time.

"Don't fucking lie to us, Brad!"

I shivered wildly, wanting Demetrios to hold me. "Why do you have to be like this, Demi?" I whined, shivering madly to make my point evident. I need your warmth." He was radiating delicious heat off of his torso and I was freezing cold. He was my best friend so I should get these privileges just like the rest of them.

Demetrios pointed a finger at me and I blinked, tears filling my eyes. They didn't believe me. I thought that they would, but they just looked at me as if they were tired of the games that I was playing. This time, I really was telling the truth. "Is this some sort of upscale deception in which you tell us that you been working with the enemy the whole time?" Demetrios's voice was dripping with hate and anger as he glared at me, his eyes stone hard. "You knew how much I despise that woman, how bad she treated me, and you go behind my back—"

I put my hands up, cutting him off. "Woah! Woah! Where did you get that idea from!? I'd never do you like that, Demetrios!" I spat, wondering where he was getting all of these wide ideas from. It really cracked me to the core that he thought of me like that. "And quite frankly, it hurts that you think that I would do something like that to you," I frowned a bit as he let out a breath. A tear left my eyes as he snatched his eyes away from me, gritting his teeth. I knew this was bad; it was very, very bad. This couldn't be happening.

"Yea well, I thought I knew you."

My eyes widened as I registered the finality in his voice. He let the file fall down the ground, papers flying everywhere. He shook his head at me, shrugging. "I'm leaving." His voice was hollow, his eyes stern and hard as he paid me no attention, heading for the door. My fingers reached out, wanting to grab him, but it was no use. He was too far gone. My eyes burned with the sting of tears as Micah and Derek looked at me, void of emotion. They said nothing as they slammed the door behind them, leaving me to wallow and sulk under the dirt of my lies and failure. "How did it come to this?" I whimpered, staggering as I clutched my chest. "Why didn't I just tell them!?" I wailed, staring at the ground.

I lost it all.

I wiped the tears from my eyes as my stomach soaked my heart in sadness, drowning it in the pit of sorrow. I dug this hole and now, I was left alone in it. It was my own fault that I didn't trust them to begin with and now, I was paying the price for it all. Because they knew, it changed everything. It changed how they looked at me, how they felt about me. I was a liar in their eyes, and nothing could fix that. I bit my lip, to keep myself from crying out, droplets crashing onto the floor.

I wept and I wept, wishing so hard that I told them everything when I had the chance. Now everything was ruined and I didn't know if there was any comeback from that. There were no certain amount of words or actions that could make them remove that hate and agitation from their angry eyes. I knew why they were mad and hurt; I didn't trust them. They had given me so much to have, so much trust and acceptance. Deep down, I had known they wouldn't treat me any different, but once you start a web of lies, it was hard to free yourself.

It was my fault and I would reap what I sow.

It was just sad that I lost the most beautiful friendships because of my own actions.

A sob broke free from my lips as I clenched my hands, wanting someone to hold me and tell me that everything was going to be okay, even if I knew it never would be. Sure, I had Santiago and I knew he would be there despite everything that could happen, but there was nothing like the joy of having best friends to kick it back with. I was the one who broke everything.

Then there was a knock on the door.

I didn't even bother wiping my eyes as I walked over, stomach churning as I opened the door. I didn't need it to be anyone else that would get on my case. I went to speak, greeting the person, but all of a sudden, a cloth filled with a sweet smell shoved up my nose. My vision was blurry as I fought like hell to get the cloth off of my nose. I inhaled, my brain feeling woozy and I fell to the ground with a crash, heeled boots stepping over me. I blinked back and forth, feeling sleep invading me as long brown hair and emerald green eyes fell into my eyes just before darkness consumed me.

"Did you miss me, my dear son?"