44

I sat on the bed with my knee bent, took the medicine the nurse left on the nightstand, and, with a pounding heart, watched my father move around the room, lit only by the moonlight coming through the windows.

He had his hands in his pockets, studying the room as if he were seeing it for the first time. His silence was irritating and unpleasant; he knew about Matias, what we were to each other.

"Sincerely, I don't know what to say," he declared, turning toward me.

"This must be a miracle," I mocked, not holding back.

He smiled and pulled the desk chair close to the bed before sitting down.

"So, this has been happening since the day you left the reformatory?" he asked directly.

"Yes," I replied dryly, relaxing my back against the pillows and resting my arm on my knee. "What are you going to do?" I asked, curious.

"Your boyfriend asked me the same thing," he said without changing his tone of voice, as if we were talking about how the classes at the Academy went, not about my boyfriend Lily and the son of his greatest enemy. "Except his tone was much more threatening. You guys are so young, but still so stupid," he criticized, crossing his legs thoughtfully.

"Not that stupid," I retorted, making him smile.

"I'm not going to punish you if that's what you expect," he revealed, surprising me. "It doesn't make sense to punish my stupid son for falling in love with a Lily boy. You're just a teenager with no limits who gets off on danger," he explained, his gaze moving to the bandage covering my eye.

"I never said anything about Hebi, and neither did Matias about Lily. We tried to keep things separate, and to be honest, we spent more time fucking than talking about the gangs," I declared, trying to calm my heart.

"And how far did you expect to go with this, Ryuuji?" he asked, finally.

"What I expected?" I repeated.

My father got up and poured me some water when he heard my hoarse voice.

"How far are you willing to go for that boy?"

Caught in his intense gaze, I took a sip of the drink, wetting my dry throat. My father waited patiently for me to finish.

"And if I told you I was willing to go all the way for him, what would you say to me?" I asked confidently.

To my surprise, he tilted his head and smiled.

"I'd say you're more stupid than I thought, and I should reconsider who will take my place when I'm gone," he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. I didn’t pull away when I felt him brush a strand of hair from my forehead.

"Hebe belongs to me! I'll burn this whole mess if you dare take her from me," I warned sharply.

"You can't have everything, Ryuuji."

"No limits, excited by danger, and hungry for power. I can, and I have everything I want. Come on, Dad, try to take anything from me and see what I'm capable of. See how far I'm willing to go," I threatened, but his dark eyes didn’t hesitate, and I found myself swallowed by his darkness.

"Well, it's time to rest. Don't go wandering around," he warned softly, easing my tension a little. "This is yours," he took my phone from his pocket and tossed it toward me. "Take your medicine and focus on your recovery. The other Hebi need you," he asked, leaving the room calmly.

The door closed, and I looked at the phone in my hands. I knew all my messages had been read and the calls checked, but at that moment, I didn’t care at all. With the need twisting in my guts, I called Matias once again.

***

I watched the day break as the sky transformed from a deep blue to something light and soft. I spent most of the night talking to Matias about everything that had happened; he told me about the fights on Lily's side, the fires, and the destroyed warehouses. Gabriela was frantic, and everyone in Lily was at their breaking point. He also told me how Artemis and the others found the 3 guys who attacked me at the cinema, and how he just watched them being punished for what happened.

After he was forced to hang up, the room became a deafening void. I lay there, not wanting to sleep, watching the sun rise through the window. I was pulled out of my thoughts when someone entered my room, still in bed, I saw Kenji approach with my breakfast. Shin was right behind him.

"Good morning," I greeted them with no energy.

"Are you hungry?" Kenji asked, placing the food on the coffee table.

"Not much, the medicine kills my appetite," I replied, but I left the bed to look for apple juice and a cheese sandwich.

The twins chose to eat on the floor, around the coffee table, while I sat on the soft sofa. My attention shifted to Shin, his face seemed tired, and the red marks on his finger joints told me he was taking out all his anger on the outings with the Hebi.

"How long is this going to last?" I asked, staring at him.

"As long as I want," he retorted without even needing to look at me.

Kenji cleared his throat and focused on the food, not knowing what to do in the face of all the tension.

"Did you really have to tell my father?" I criticized, dividing my attention between the two.

"I had to," Kenji answered, furrowing his brows.

"Did you want us to keep your dirty little secret?" Shin teased.

"Anton hid it from Gabriela, I thought my best friends would do the same," I criticized firmly. Kenji seemed extremely embarrassed, and even Shin, trying hard, I saw the regret in his gaze. "It doesn't matter anymore. Are you guys going to the Academy?" I changed the subject, scratching the bandage on my temple, it was starting to get on my nerves.

"The classes were canceled for the rest of the week," Kenji answered, watching my fingers move over the bandage. "With everything that's going on, the principal is worried that the gangs will bring the fights to the campus," he explained, and stood up. I pulled my hand away from the bandage when he began to remove it.

"We would never do that," I muttered, feeling the bandage loosen.

"Maybe it's not a good idea," Shin commented, watching us.

"Go on," I asked, even knowing the doctor would be there soon.

Kenji carefully removed the bandages and then the gauze over my eye. I sighed in relief, still feeling a bit of pain, and opened my eye. My vision was blurry, and I blinked several times, feeling it tear up.

"Okay, I'm fine," I warned, sensing their concern.

"Can you see?" Shin asked.

"I still need to get used to it," I replied, resting my head on the sofa. "Is it really bad?" I stared at him, still blinking more than usual.

"It's not swollen, but you have a new scar near your mouth," he said, carefully evaluating my face.

"And am I still handsome?" I teased, my vision slowly becoming clearer, but the discomfort lingered.

Shin looked away and refused to answer, I smiled when I saw him eat the sandwich as if nothing had happened.

"Of course you are. Everyone knows scars make guys more attractive," Kenji joined the conversation, making me laugh.

"Sounds like you've been reading too many romance novels for little girls," I mocked, my heart fluttered when Shin laughed, and his brother blushed. I missed that.

"Go to hell," he murmured, embarrassed.