Chapter 23 Rocco
I gave myself five seconds. Five to breathe, swallow the storm, and close the door on the desire to go after her and finish what we'd started.
I came out, and she was beside the car, waiting for me. Her face was calm, but her fingers twisted the strap of her small black purse. One nervous giveaway. That was enough to make my lips twist.
I opened the car door, and she slipped into the passenger seat, quiet.
The roar of the engine roared to life, but between us in the car lay a heavy, tense silence.
The tension was so tight around me that I could feel it hum between us, charged, dangerous.
I cinched my hands on the steering wheel tighter than necessary as we pulled out of the drive.
The night was calm, the streets almost deserted. But in this car, there was trouble fermenting.
I didn't speak. I couldn't. Words felt pointless.
She didn't either. She stared out the window, her reflection wavering on the glass. Her face was unreadable, but I noticed the way her throat contracted when she swallowed.
I had to say something.
I had to ask her if she sensed it too, this pull, this madness building between us.
Instead, I focused on the road, every turn a lesson in control.
Halfway through, she shifted subtly in her seat.
"I didn't see that coming," she whispered softly, her voice low, quite reluctant.
I gazed at her. "Neither did I."
She smiled humourlessly. "You don't seem the impulsive sort."
"I'm not," I admitted. My tone became harsher than I intended it to be. "At least you didn’t push me away this time."
She didn't respond, just chuckled . But I could feel her staring at me now, scrutinising me as if I were some other weapon to be assessed.
The rest of the drive was thick with things we both didn't speak.
Every brush of her leg against mine when I changed gears, every breath she took sounded louder than the tires on the pavement.
I pulled up in front of her mansion gates.
She reached for the door handle, then hesitated.
Her hand dropped to her lap.
"Rocco."
I turned to her entirely.
"This is dangerous," she said.
"Yeah," I breathed. "It is."
She looked at me for a long time. Her eyes were sharp, keen, unblinking.
"I don't play games I don't intend to win."
I let out a breathless laugh.
"Neither do I."
She nodded once, slowly, as if we'd just shaken on something neither of us really understood.
Then she got out of the car and walked towards the gate.
I waited there until the guard buzzed her through and doors slammed shut behind her.
I waited there for a beat, engine idling, heart still racing.
Then I swore and put the car in gear.
The drive back was longer.
The air heavier.
By the time I pulled up into the estate, the tension had wound its way into something else.
I wanted her.
But more than that — I wanted to disentangle her.
To know how far that flame reached.
To know whether she flamed as wild behind doors as she flamed in commerce and carnage.
And worse, I knew this was no longer desire.
I'd never met a woman who could outsmart me like she could.
It wasn't just attraction. It was battle.
And I wasn't sure who would win.
When I went into the house, Riccardo was sitting in the living room, having a glass of whiskey.
He looked up. "You good?"
I got myself a drink.
"Not even close."
He smiled.
"She's got under your skin, huh?"
I didn't say anything.
But he already knew.
I sat down, staring into the fire.
This was going to be more than dangerous.
It was going to be anarchy.
And for the first time in a long, long time, I was impatient to dive in.
"You know what I'm going to say," Riccardo started. His voice was softer than I was accustomed to, but no less firm.
I glared at the fire, my teeth gritted.
"I don't need a lecture."
"I think you do," he retorted, his voice getting harder. "Because I recognize that look in your eyes."
I didn't respond.
He took a slow sip. “I’ve seen it before. In Rafael. Before Rosalia.”
My throat tightened.
Riccardo leaned forward, elbows on his knees, his eyes boring into me. “I can’t lose another brother to love.”
I snapped my gaze to him, something dark curling in my chest. “You didn’t lose Rafael.”
He gave a bitter laugh. “Didn’t I?”
He leaned back once more, his head shaking. "He's different now. More dangerous in some ways. But weaker in others. Love does that. It makes you hesitate. Makes you bleed where you were once invulnerable.".
Riccardo's expression gentled, but steel lay beneath it. "You're my brother, Rocco. You — above anyone — are the one I've always counted on to stay cold. To stay ruthless. You keep us balanced."
I stared back at the fire, racing heart.
"Don't let her take that from you," Riccardo breathed.
"Not her."
I drew out a slow, controlled breath, but hidden beneath, my blood roared.
"You kissed her." Rafael observed.
It wasn't a question.
I met his gaze. "Yeah."
Rafael's expression didn't change.
He just breathed slowly, running a hand down his face.
"I need you to be careful, Rocco."
"I am."
"No." His voice cut. "Careful isn't second nature when it comes to women like her. It's a discipline."
I set my glass down with a quiet clink.
"I know what I'm doing."
Rafael's eyes went dark. "Do you?"
I rose to my feet.
The air between us crackled, but he didn't move.
"Think I'm dumb enough to let lust fog over strategy?" I growled.
Rafael's jaw tightened.
"No. But I think you're angry enough. And angry men do stupid things."
I balled my fists in my sides.
Rafael moved closer. His voice gentled, but sliced even deeper.
"She's flame, Rocco. The kind that doesn't just heat you. It burns."
I pushed away.
He placed a hand on my shoulder. "I've been there."
A pause.
"And I wouldn't give up what I have with Rosalia for anything in the world. But it came at a price. One I'm still paying."
I breathed slowly.
"Be smart," he said. "Don't fall unless you're willing to burn."
Riccardo drained his glass, standing too. He clapped my shoulder harder, more forceful. “I’m serious, Rocco. If she’s already under your skin, pull her out now. Before she burrows deeper. Before it’s too late.”
They left me alone in that room, the fire crackling, shadows dancing along the walls, and the weight of their words pressing down on my chest like stone.
I knew they were right.
Both of them.
But I knew something they didn't too.
It was already too late.
I didn't want to drown.
I wanted to sink.
And I wanted to know how deep we could drown before we both stopped breathing.