So there were three families as I may have mentioned a couple million times before. The Abandonatos, the DeLucas and the Castellinos.

I had already encountered the DeLucas and the Abandonatos and though it was nice of Castellino to make his presence known, I hoped that he'd go away.

We require each other's assistance.

Did he expect me to betray Adrian? But it was a possibility. I had no reason to trust him. Suddenly I realized that something was most definitely up.

See, Adrian was a Mafia Boss. A powerful one at that. A Mafia didn't run on only five people. I was willing to bet he had hundreds or maybe more working for him. He was an insanely smart man. He probably also had contacts in the CIA and other departments via Damien or his father.

Yet there were just the five of us, on a mission to find a man that can easily be found by the intelligence. This wasn't rational. It was personal. And when you let your feelings play you, things get bad.

I memorised the number and flushed the paper down. I didn't need anyone catching me. I had already made one fool's deal with one Mafia. I don't want to add on to that until I absolutely have no choice. It would only build a Jenga tower of stupid decisions that will collapse on me.

I took a deep breath, splashed some water on my face and stepped out.

Adrian was half asleep. He blinked at me lazily from his curled up position on the bed. His body wasn't designed for strength, it was built for agility. Almost cat-like in its grace. Even when lounging on the bed, he gave off an impression of power. Like a tiger that was taking a short nap.

"You woke me up." He said. His usual velvet voice was hoarse from sleep. Just the kind of voice I would like waking up next to and just the kind of personality I wanted to avoid.

"Why did you punch a window?" I asked, glancing at the cuts on his slender fingers.

"I was mad." He mumbled into the pillow. He was mad. Normally I would agree, but now I felt guilty.

I spied a first-aid kit on one of the shelves of the bedroom and brought it down.

I walked up to his side.

"Give me your hand." I said.

He opened an eye and looked at me skeptically.

"Why?"

"Because open wounds may get infected? And you're the one who did a stint in medical school."

Truthfully, it wasn't just guilt. I didn't want to be a bitch to him. But there were no emotional attachments, yet.

He extended his hand towards me. I sighed with relief. There were no deep cuts and no shards of glass stuck in. It was more like a really bad scrape. I nervously took his hand in mine. Was it okay? Was I allowed to? He didn't pull back and I let loose a breath that I didn't realize I'd been holding.

I poured the antiseptic on the cotton and gently dabbed at his wounds. He hissed. I knew basic first aid. I applied some antibacterial cream on his wounds and bandaged it up.

I was 200% sure Adrian could have done a better job but I was a programmer, not a doctor.

I looked up. Adrian was now completely awake and his features lost the softness of sleep.

He frowned at my attempt at bandaging his wrists.

I frowned at him and tossed the first aid kit back onto the shelf.

"Thanks." He said grudgingly.

"This doesn't mean I like you." I warned him.

"Wouldn't dream of it. And I figured it out from the way you've bandaged my hand." He shot back.

"Atleast I did it!" This wasn't going well. Being nice to him was freaking difficult.

He got up from the bed and walked out of the room. I stayed back and fell on the bed. I hadn't had a proper nights sleep in ages. After my last nightmare, I thought the sheets would reek of blood of the man I saw die. They didn't. As I lay down, instead, I could smell the light fragrance Adrian's Cologne. For some reason I found it comforting and instead of the monster I saw that day, I was reminded of a boy sleeping peacefully, a boy whose hair I had stroked.

I fell into the clutches of a deep, dreamless sleep.

I think I was beginning to develop feelings for Adrian.

He's still a monster Chevie, and to him, you're just the means to an end.

✴✴✴

Damien woke me up. I nearly kicked him in the face for it.

I never remembered my dreams, but I woke up feeling completely refreshed and rested, with a lingering sense of comfort.

"What?" I asked him sleepily.

"Wake up, sleepy head! We're landing!"

Damien led my sleep addled self to the living room of the aircraft and helped me get strapped in. I think he tried to give me instructions and I did nothing but blink slowly at him, trying to figure out what he was saying. Adrian had chosen the seat farthest from me.

"Hey, Chevron..." Antonio whispered from next to me.

"Chevie." I said.

"Okay, Chevie, why did Adrian let you fix up his hand?"

"Whaddaya mean?" I mumbled, yawning loudly.

"He chased everyone away, I'm just surprised he let someone with the least Medical training of all people fix him up."

"Next time catch him half asleep." I mumbled into Antonio's shoulder. He was also wearing a suit and smelled amazing like DeMentia but in a different way. Antonio was safe. Antonio was nice.

But what's life without some spice?

Hey, that rhymed!

I buried my head in his shoulder and Antonio awkwardly patted my head. I nearly fell asleep again before the plane lurched. I crushed my nose into his shoulder.

"Oww!" I said, rubbing my nose.

I looked up. Isaac and Damien had already strapped themselves next to Adrian, who was staring at me with those piercing grey eyes. I looked away.

"Let's get that bastard." I said.

"He's not here. He left a day back. But he may have left some clues." Adrian said.

"He-he's not here!?" I spluttered.

Adrian was really irritated now. "Wasn't that what I just said?"

I looked away.

Within mere minutes we were at the Fiumincio Airport in Rome, Italy.