Deviant Prince [Romano Brotherhood, #2]

30 | Vivienne

Massimo's features are like ice. He doesn't speak, but there are about a hundred things scratching at the icy barrier between me and whatever's in his head. It's like when a river's frozen over, and you can squint through the thick slab of ice at the murky shapes of life existing beyond the impenetrable cold.

The life is there, you just need to look. And you can't mind the cold. 

Jealousy, frustration, annoyance—the man feels them, albeit not like the rest of us. But I don't have time to chip away at the ice block right now. 

We're facing an actual crisis. Which is not that Bryan and Massimo are breathing the same air—although that takes a close fucking second.

"Your apartment. Have you been in there?" I push past him, powering down the hallway. I hear both men following me. "There was someone in there. I didn't get a good look. All I saw was the material of their shirt. It was... shit, brightly colored and had some sort of pattern? Fuck. That's nothing to go off of!" Frustrated at myself, I quicken my pace. "I chased them but they got away." Changing my mind on a dime, I whirl on Massimo. "Where the hell were you?"

He doesn't answer immediately, his eyes shadowed and dark. I wait, noting the exhausted, careful lean to his body. It almost looks like I could knock him down with one shove.

"I needed to stretch my legs. Not good to be locked up for so long."

"Well while you were getting your steps in, someone broke into your apartment and probably left... something in there," I finish lamely, remembering we're not alone. 

Shit. Bryan.

My almost-hook up awkwardly clears his throat, and I force myself to take a deep breath and give him my attention. "Fuck. Sorry. I have to..." I trail off, hating myself for the look on his face. Understanding. If he were an asshole about this, I'd feel a whole lot better. "I need to deal with this, Bryan."

His eye contact is weirdly intense as I lead him several feet away. "Are you okay, Vivienne?"

"Yes, I'm totally fine. I just need to deal with... that. Him. He's going through something right now." 

We both look to Massimo, and Bryan's breath catches when he realizes Massimo is staring right at him. It wouldn't be so off-putting if he blinked every once in a while. But he doesn't even seem to breathe, and there's an inhuman sickliness in the whiteness of his face, the redness around his eyes, the glassiness of his pupils. 

Put simply, Massimo looks like a fucking skeleton. My mind reels for an excuse that will send Bryan on his way.

"I would love to believe you but instead I'm wondering if I need to call the police," Bryan says out of the side of his mouth. "Blink if you need help."

I widen my eyes. "I don't need you to—of course I'm going to blink now!"

He reaches for his phone, and I know that if he dials, he'll die. I learned my lesson on the uselessness of law enforcement when it comes to Massimo. Something I obviously can't explain to Bryan.

"I'm fine. I promise." I grab Bryan's hand, carefully removing it from the vicinity of his phone. "He's—well, I didn't want to tell you this, but a pair of hikers found him in the wilderness two and a half years ago. He was raised by wild bears so he hasn't really been socialized. He's currently part of a program that works on integrating low-IQ people into society."

Massimo's stare has now shifted to me, and I see the moment Bryan realizes this is way too much effort for a one night stand. He can't quite walk away fast enough, and I finally relax once he disappears around the corner.