The morning light filtered through the windows like honey, soft and golden, casting long shadows across the sleek penthouse floors. Emilio stirred against the warm body behind him, his cheek resting on Matteo's bare chest. It was quiet, for once. No gunshots. No phones ringing. No threats looming in the air.
Just breath. And heartbeats.
Matteo's fingers traced slow, lazy circles on Emilio's back. Not possessive. Not commanding. Just… present.
"You're still here," Matteo murmured.
Emilio chuckled, nuzzling closer. "You say that like you expected me to run."
"I did."
"And yet you slept so soundly."
Matteo gave a quiet snort. "I don't sleep. I just… pretend better around you."
Emilio tilted his head to look up at him. "You're being soft."
"And you're being brave."
They fell into silence again, comfortable and strange all at once. For all the nights Emilio had spent wondering what it would feel like to be wrapped in Matteo's arms without fear gnawing at the edges this was it. This peace. This pause in the chaos. A rare breath between storms.
But it couldn't last.
It never did.
"Are you going to tell me what comes next?" Emilio asked, brushing his fingers along Matteo's jaw.
Matteo's gaze shifted to the ceiling, distant. "There are murmurs. That the hit on Lorenzo wasn't the end. Someone's still moving behind the scenes. Pulling strings. Eyeing territory that doesn't belong to them."
"And what does that mean for you?"
"It means I have to remind them why they shouldn't look in my direction."
Emilio's heart sank a little. The warmth between them felt suddenly cold.
"I'm not going to stop you," he said, voice quieter now. "But I'm not going to lie either. I hate that part of your world."
"I know."
"And I hate even more that I've started to understand it."
Matteo's hand stilled on his back. "Say it."
Emilio blinked. "Say what?"
"What you're afraid of."
"I'm afraid…" he hesitated, "...that one day I'll wake up to a knock on my door and it won't be you it'll be news of you. A bullet. A body. And I won't even be allowed to grieve because no one will know who I was to you."
Matteo turned then, cupping Emilio's face with a rare tenderness. "You're mine," he said, voice low. "You always will be. And if anything ever happens to me, they'll know exactly who you were. They'll know not to touch you. Or even look at you."
"That's not comfort," Emilio whispered. "That's a threat."
"Exactly."
Emilio let out a breathy laugh, part despair, part affection. "You're impossible."
"And you're irresistible."
Their lips met not with hunger this time, but with the weight of everything unsaid. The ache of love growing where it never should've taken root. The kiss was slow, deep, like Matteo was memorizing him in case the world ripped them apart again.
But the moment shattered when Matteo's phone vibrated on the nightstand.
He didn't move.
The buzzing stopped.
Then started again.
"Answer it," Emilio said softly.
Matteo let out a groan, rolled over, and picked up the phone. His face shifted from tired softness to sharp steel in seconds.
"What is it?" Emilio asked, already feeling the tension creep back in.
Matteo hung up without answering. Sat up. Stared out the window with a clenched jaw.
"Matteo?"
"They hit one of our safehouses."
Emilio sat up, sheet falling to his waist. "What?"
"No one dead. Just… a message. They torched the place. Sprayed my name in paint."
A chill ran through Emilio's veins. "You said you'd remind them."
Matteo stood, walking toward the closet, already pulling on a shirt. "I still will."
Emilio followed, grabbing his arm. "Let me come with you."
"No."
"I can help"
"No." Matteo's voice was like ice this time, hard and final. "You don't belong there."
"And yet I keep ending up in the middle of it."
Matteo leaned in, brushing his lips against Emilio's temple. "Because you belong here. In my bed. In my heart. Not in my war."
"But your war bleeds into everything."
"I know."
Emilio stared at him for a long moment, fingers tightening around Matteo's wrist. "Then promise me something."
"Anything."
"Come back."
Matteo's gaze softened, pain flickering through his eyes like a ghost. "I'll always come back to you."