Unexpected Exposure
The hallway smelled like antiseptic and over-wiped vinyl. Gabriele and Adriano walked side by side, the dim evening light leaking through the tall hospital windows. Adriano’s steps were heavy and uneven—each one a stubborn act of defiance against the stabbing pain in his ribs. In his hand was a small paper bag with the prescribed medication, crumpled slightly from his grip.
“You wanna talk about it?” Gabriele asked without looking at him.
Adriano exhaled slowly, not in the mood. “Talk about what?”
Gabriele gave him a sidelong glance. “You know damn well what.”
“I don’t wanna talk about anything concerning Alessandro,” Adriano grumbled.
Gabriele didn’t respond right away. He wanted to press, but he could already hear Adriano’s fuse shortening. “Fine,” he muttered, letting it drop. For now.
They reached the parking lot. Gabriele unlocked the car with a beep and slid behind the wheel. Adriano moved slower, one hand subconsciously clutching his side as he got in.
For a while, they drove in silence. Just the hum of the engine and the occasional flick of a turn signal. Adriano stared out the window, then occasionally glanced over at Gabriele, who remained stone-faced, focused on the road.
Eventually, Adriano broke the silence.
“Why’d you come to the States?”
Gabriele didn’t even flinch. “Padré sent me to bring you back to Italy.”
Adriano turned his head, locking eyes with him. “And are you?”
“No,” Gabriele said without hesitation, keeping his eyes on the road.
Adriano’s brow furrowed. “Aren’t you worried about making him mad?”
Gabriele let out a dry chuckle. “Two of his sons are trying to kill each other. That’s a slightly bigger issue than making him mad.”
Adriano rolled his eyes and looked away, and the silence returned until they pulled into the driveway of Adriano’s villa.
The car came to a stop. Gabriele grabbed the bag of meds and handed it to him. “You good?”
Adriano nodded and opened the door.
“You want me to walk you inside?” Gabriele offered with a smirk.
“I can walk perfectly fine,” Adriano grunted, stepping out, wobbling just a little.
“Doesn’t really seem like it,” Gabriele teased.
Adriano raised his middle finger high. “Fuck off.”
Gabriele just grinned and peeled off down the driveway.
Inside, Adriano barely made it to the base of the stairs before he heard it.
“Adriano?”
He turned halfway, but before he could fully face her, Diamond had already launched herself at him. Her arms wrapped tightly around his sore torso, pulling a sharp groan from him as he shoved her off, wincing.
Diamond froze, blinking at him, clearly shaken. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“It’s nothing,” Adriano said, already turning away.
“The fuck it is!” she snapped, stepping in front of him. “You’ve been gone for two days, Adriano! I was losing my mind! I didn’t know if you were dead, or—look at you!”
Her voice cracked slightly. Her eyes flicked from the bandage on his head to the fading bruises on his face, down to the way he was barely walking straight.
“Tell me what happened,” she said.
“I DON’T WANNA TALK ABOUT IT, OKAY?!” he exploded, the anger spilling out before he could stop it.
Diamond flinched, genuinely startled. Adriano pushed past her, climbing the stairs slowly, each step a painful reminder of the last 48 hours. He reached his room, locked the door behind him, and tossed the meds onto the bed.
His reflection in the mirror stared back at him like a ghost. He peeled off his shirt, his jaw tightening at the sight of the mottled bruises across his chest and ribs. He dropped the shirt carelessly and walked to the bed, gently lowering himself down.
Now both his brothers were here.
And things were about to get a hell of a lot worse.
He stared at the ceiling, letting exhaustion creep over him. His eyes were just starting to drift closed when his phone rang.
Groaning, he grabbed it—ready to curse whoever dared to interrupt him—but paused when he saw the caller ID.
Luca.
Adriano sat up instantly, ignoring the fresh wave of pain.
“Luca? What the hell happened? Where are you? Are the others okay?”
“We’re fine,” Luca said on the other end, sounding tired but calm. “Alessandro’s men had us. Next thing we knew, they let us go. Just like that.”
Adriano narrowed his eyes, suspicious. “He let you go? Just like that?”
“Yeah,” Luca said. “No clue why. But I’ve got a feeling.”
Adriano rubbed his temple. “Lay low for now. All of you. I’ll call when I need you.”
“Copy that,” Luca said, and hung up.
Adriano lay back down on the bed, closing his eyes again. Then a notification rang from his phone. He slowly sat up and reached for his phone again to see it was a text.
Garbiele: You can thank me later.
Adriano sighed and let his body fall back onto the bed.
God, please just let this all be some twisted-ass dream.
—
The smell of eggs and sizzling butter drifted through the villa. Diamond stood in the kitchen, barefoot, wrapped in nothing but a fluffy white towel. Her damp hair hung over one shoulder, drops of water occasionally rolling down her neck.
She cracked another egg and dropped it into the pan, watching the whites bubble at the edges. The smell of butter and spice filled the air, and for a moment, she allowed herself to enjoy the quiet. She hadn't seen Adriano since last night—he’d locked himself in the bedroom and hadn’t made a sound since.
He was hurting.
And not just physically.
She could feel it in her bones. Whatever had happened—whoever had hurt him—it wasn’t just about fists and bruises. Something was broken in him. Something deep.
Diamond grabbed two glasses from the cupboard and carried them to the dining table. Then she returned for plates, utensils, napkins—moving quickly, focused. Maybe if she did something normal, it would fix things. Or at least give Adriano one fucking normal thing to hold on to.
She went back into the kitchen to get the orange juice from the fridge. As she grabbed it, her phone pinged from the kitchen counter. She grabbed it and unlocked it, scrolling through with the juice in her other hand as she made her way to the dining table.
And that’s when she bumped into someone.
A very solid, very male someone.
She stumbled, and instinctively, the figure reached out to catch her. Unfortunately, his hand caught her towel instead.
The towel slipped.
Diamond yelped, her eyes going wide as the fabric dropped to the floor. She slipped down with it, ending up completely naked.
Gabriele stood frozen, like his soul had just left his body.
Her eyes slowly met his, totally mortified.
He blinked.
Then blinked again.