That was why, when he had a hundred other places to hide away and stay under the radar, he came here.
The voice coming out of the speaker of his phone dragged him from his thoughts at the same time he heard footsteps approaching him from behind. He didn’t bother to end the conversation because he wasn’t ready to.
“And I suppose I owe you something, don’t I?”
“What’s that?” Alessio asked.
“A happy birthday,” Dare said.
Alessio almost smiled, but pain was a fucking bitch. Twenty-three years old today, and he’d forgotten. Someone else had to remind him. Appropriate for it to be Dare. At the darkest points in his life, Dare always remembered his birthday for whatever reason.
“Is it, though?” he asked.
“What?”
“A happy day.”
Dare made a noise under his breath as Gian Guzzi came to sit next to Alessio in the wicker chair beside his. Corrado’s father said nothing, dressed in his night clothes with a black robe tightened at his middle, he stared over the back property, and rested his hand along his jaw as he waited for Alessio to finish his conversation. It was late for the man to still be awake.
“Les.”
“Ignore me,” he muttered. “Thinking out loud.”
But also not a lie.
This wasn’t a happy day.
And tomorrow didn’t look good, either.
Welcome to his life, lately.
“Why don’t you take a break, come back here for a bit, and reset—”
“That’s Alessio?”
Cree.
In the call's background, Dare confirmed what Cree asked. A shuffle of the phone sounded before more movement echoed through the speakers. Alessio heard the slam of a door before Cree came onto the phone.
“Where are you?” Cree demanded.
Alessio arched a brow over at Gian. The man didn’t even glance his way. “Away.”
“Doing what?”
“Thinking.”
Cree let out a harsh sound. “You don’t call people?”
“I’m a grown man, I can—”
“Tell the people who give a fuck that you’re safe, Les.”
His throat jumped as he swallowed back a biting retort that would have only saved his pride but hurt someone else. “I’m safe.”
A second passed. Cree sighed. “Good.” Then, after a brief pause, he added, “Corrado called two days ago looking for you. You should at least tell him where you are, Les. You don’t have to go back—I understand things are going on that hurt you, but he’s worried.”
Good for him.
Because he hadn’t given a shit about Alessio before.
As fast as the seed of doubt drifted through his mind, the pain following behind just as fast, Alessio tipped his head down, and shook it away. It wasn’t true, and a huge part of why this happened was because Corrado hadn’t wanted to hurt him.
Yet, here they stood.
The same result.
Alessio didn’t do well with pain, and especially not if someone he loved caused it. He had a handle on this shit—this thing between them. He assumed they were comfortable, but this had taught him he had been lying to himself.
Complacent.
It took nothing to be ruined.
Nothing but a woman.
“I’m not calling him,” Alessio said, “there’s nothing for me to say.”
Hadn’t he said enough when he showed up to the penthouse over a week ago? He believed so. His words had cut with each one said—landing like knives against the man he loved to the ends of the earth and back. Alessio didn’t need Corrado to tell him how much he hurt him with the things he said. He was aware.
But that was good, too.
Partly.
Why should Alessio be the only one to hurt?
He wouldn’t be alone.
He needed to get his shit figured out before he went back for a second round. He didn’t want to keep cutting into Corrado. As much as he hurt, it wasn’t fair he continued hurting Corrado, too.
Because he loved.
He gave a shit.
He would have never done this to Corrado.
Ever.
“You tell him you’re safe,” Cree said, “so he doesn’t do something fucking stupid, and make a scene.”
“He knows, and he won’t do anything. Relax.”
“No, he—”
“He knows—shit he doesn’t understand is what bothers him. That’s Corrado, and it sounds like something he should deal with because I can’t fix it.”
A lot about this thing between him and Corrado couldn’t be fixed by him. Too much shit had been left unsaid for years, and other things they shoved under a rug, ignoring while they pretended to be fine with the things between them.
All lies.
White lies didn’t stay white when they became dirty with time.
“Les—”
Typically, he had more patience, especially with Cree or Dare, and yet he only wanted to hang up the phone. So, he did, not even bothering to say goodbye before he reached over and hit the End Call button on the lit up screen, ending the conversation whether Cree wanted that or not. He would pay for the decision later, but ... worth it.
With the phone call finished, and the conversation over, Gian turned in his chair to give Alessio his attention. Respectful, always. Never imposing or intruding unless they gave him no other choice.
“How much longer do you want to stay here?” Gian asked.
Alessio shrugged. “Not sure.”
The answer didn’t seem to bother Gian when he only nodded. “All right, you’re more than welcome.”
“Thanks. Shouldn’t you be sleeping? Doesn’t your wife get prickly when you walk the halls at night.”
Gian grinned. “I have things on my mind.”
“Me, too.”
“Probably similar things.”
Alessio scoffed and looked away from the man. “Doubtful.”
“Don’t. I have always worried about the two of you. I wouldn’t be a good father otherwise.”
“You’re not my father.”
Gian cleared his throat, but Alessio refused to take his gaze off the line of trees in the distance. “And yet, that never made a difference, Les.”
Yeah, he knew.
“I’m mad.”
“Mmhmm,” Gian murmured.
“I really want to just do something.”
Something horrible and bad.
Something that would make Corrado get it.
“Strike out, act out ... hurt.”
Alessio grunted under his breath. “But I can’t ... so, I’m here instead.”
Gian let out a sigh, and the wicker creaked before the man came to stand in front of Alessio. He stared up at Corrado’s father, but Gian looked off into the distance where the moon shone high and bright against the black backdrop of the sky.
“You are always welcome here, even if what you’re here for is to hide, Alessio. But if he calls and asks me where you are—”
“You’ll tell him the truth.”
But that was the thing.
Corrado wouldn’t call here.
He’d never think this was a haven for Les because he never told him. There was a lot of that between them. Secrets, and things left unsaid. And usually, when they were saying things, it was the wrong shit.