Aliyah’s P.O.V

Ottavio led me to the car parked outside in silence, the cool night air brushing against my bare shoulders as I clutched my purse tightly. I climbed in, refusing to meet his gaze. My skin still crawled from Brown’s touch, and no amount of fresh air could erase the filth I felt inside.

He slid into the driver’s seat, wordless, his jaw set in that perpetual scowl of his. The car roared to life, and the city lights blurred past as we drove in silence.

The tension was suffocating. The sound of the tires humming against the asphalt was the only thing between us.

My fingers trembled as I reached for the bottle of water on the dashboard. Before I could even open it, his voice cut through the silence low, rough, and annoyingly calm.

“You might want to chug that down,” he said, eyes fixed on the road. “You look like you’re about to explode.”

I froze mid-motion, the cap still twisting under my fingers. The nerve of him.

My throat tightened as I let out a shaky breath. “Explode?” I repeated, my voice rising despite my best effort to hold it back. “You think what I just saw in there is something I can just drink water over?”

He said nothing.

I scoffed, anger bubbling inside me like lava ready to erupt. “You all sat there,laughing, cheering like it was entertainment while two people were being humiliated. That wasn’t pleasure, that was inhumane!”

Still, no response. Just his eyes on the road and his grip on the steering wheel tightening.

“Say something!” I snapped. “Or do you think that’s normal too? Do you enjoy that kind of show?”

His jaw ticked. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“Oh, really?” I bit out. “Then enlighten me, Ottavio. What part of what I saw was fine? The part where they were forcing her to moan, or the part where half the men in that room were jerking off to it?”

His voice dropped an octave, cold and sharp. “You’re out of your depth, Santiago. That’s how these people operate. You should’ve known before stepping into their world.”

“My world?” I scoffed. “You think I chose that? You think I knew I’d walk into a den full of perverts celebrating someone’s birthday with a live sex show?”

He shot me a look, brief but laced with irritation. “You didn’t have to stay.”

My blood boiled. “Oh, please. Like walking out was even an option. You saw what Brown is like. I can’t just storm out without consequences.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t be around people like him,” he countered harshly.

My head whipped toward him. “And what about you? You’re around him all the damn time. What’s your excuse?”

His knuckles flexed on the steering wheel. “My job.”

I laughed bitterly. “Your job? To guard a monster while he treats women like trash?”

His glare cut to me. “My job is to keep things under control, not play hero for people who walk into fire thinking they won’t get burned.”

That hit a nerve. “So I’m the problem now? You think I deserved what happened tonight?”

“That’s not what I said,” he snapped. “But you come in acting like you know everything, judging things you barely understand.”

“Oh, I understand plenty,” I shot back. “I understand that you all sit there pretending you’re men of power when all you really are is a bunch of cowards hiding behind it.”

He barked out a humorless laugh. “Cowards? You think courage is mouthing off to the wrong people in their own house? You’re lucky Brown even likes you. If he didn’t, you wouldn’t be breathing right now.”

“Wow,” I said, trembling with disgust. “So that’s it, huh? You just accept it all because it’s easier than doing the right thing?”

He exhaled sharply, nostrils flaring. “You think I don’t hate what I see in there? You think I enjoy working for scum like him? Grow up, princess. The world doesn’t run on morals,it runs on power.”

“Maybe that’s true for you,” I bit back. “But I refuse to believe everyone’s as numb and soulless as you are.”

He scoffed, a cruel smirk tugging at his lips. “You talk like you’re disgusted, but I saw your face in there. The flush on your cheek, the way your breath hitched when that man touched her.”

My eyes widened. “Excuse me?”

“I bet if I ran my hand through your pussy right now, you’d be soaking wet,” he said, his tone dark, mocking.

My breath caught heat shot through me so fast I forgot how to breathe. My thighs pressed together instinctively as a shameful wave rolled through my body. Damn him.

I turned my face toward the window, trying to compose myself, but my silence only made his smirk deepen.

For a long moment, the car was quiet except for the ragged sound of my own breathing. Then I found my voice again.

“You’re disgusting,” I muttered. “And arrogant.”

“Maybe,” he replied evenly. “But at least I don’t pretend to be pure while swimming in filth.”

That snapped something in me. “You think you know me? You don’t know shit about me. And maybe I’m not pure, but at least I still have a conscience. You…” my voice trembled as I looked at him, “you’re just another one of them. You say you hate what he does, but you still serve him. Tell me, Ottavio, what makes you any better than Brown?”

That did it. His hand slammed against the steering wheel, the loud crack echoing through the car. My heart jumped.

“Don’t you ever compare me to that bastard,” he growled, voice trembling with barely controlled rage.

I blinked, momentarily stunned. The car swerved slightly before he pulled it over to the side of the road and killed the engine. My pulse hammered in my ears.

“Get out,” he said flatly.

My mouth fell open. “What?”

“I said, get out.”

I stared at him in disbelief, my voice faltering. “You can’t just leave me here. It’s the middle of the night.”

He finally turned to look at me, his eyes burning into mine. “Your friend isn’t in trouble,” he said coldly. “You lied to get out of that hellhole. Smart move. But I’m not playing chauffeur to your tantrum.”

I swallowed hard, his words hitting me like a slap.

For a moment I considered apologizing, realizing I must have gone too far but I bit my tongue and got down from the car.

Then, without another word, he leaned back, started the car again, and drove off,leaving me standing on the quiet roadside, my heart pounding and shame burning hot in my chest.

I watched his taillights fade into the distance until all that was left was the night and my own uneven breathing.

He was right about two things. My friend wasn’t in trouble and I'm wet as fuck.

I turned to begin the search for a cab when I saw it, the familiar street, the familiar pavement and my favorite flower just down the road. Wait this is my street.

I almost yelped happily. He dropped me few steps away from my house. How could I not have noticed it. My heart warmed at him and for a moment I was sure I would give him a hug if I saw him again. Well not until panic crept into my chest.

I never gave him directions to my house.

The day he followed while I was jogging, I was far away from the house. This Mafia men definitely know everything. I have to be careful.

I half walked, half jogged to me doorstep and I smiled victoriously when I got there, I pressed the doorbell. I looked around the environment the streetlight as I heard footsteps shuffling inside. My eyes caught a small white box wrapped with a red ribbon half hidden in the flowers.

I walked towards it and pulled it out, just then the door opened and Eva stepped out. “Hey girl,” she said.

“Is this yours?” I asked, my eyes still fixed on the box.

“No, where'd you get it?”

“Here,” I pointed.

“Come in, let's see what's inside,” she said and I nodded. Walking in.

Now inside, I hung my coat, and carried the box to the dinning table with Eva following closely behind me. We both stared at the box for long, silence descended.

“Should I open it now?” I asked and she nodded softly.

“I just hope it's not a letter bomb,” I scoffed and chuckled.

I untied the red ribbon, my heart pounding repeated in my chest. I finished and glanced at Eva before I uncovered it. It was almost empty. Almost if not the picture in the box.

I picked it up and I almost threw the paper away in shock. In the picture is the mask I recognized too well, a mask I had worn yesterday.

“What's this?” Eva asked and I swallowed, trying to keep my expression neutral.

“I don't know.”

She hissed, “A waste of time,” she pushed off the chair and walked off.

I noticed a paper hanging at the corner of the paper and quickly picked it up, making sure Eva was not looking I hooked it beneath my bra and walked into my room with the picture in hand.

My heart, pounding.