Page 58 of Vicious Behaviors
“She did. She knows you’re hiding something from her. And now I think you’re hiding something from me, too.”
“I’m not hiding anything, because there is nothing to hide. Open book, remember?”
By the way Stella flashes her teeth at her brother, she’s definitely hiding something.
Marcello stares into her eyes, and then he slowly steps back away. “You’re lying. You never lied to me before.”
She opens her mouth to defend herself against his accusation, then shuts it just as quickly. Her jaw tightens. “You know what?” she snaps. “You’re so not my favorite person right now.”
With that, she spins on her heel and storms toward me, duffel bag bouncing against her hip.
“Sorry, Izzie,” she mutters. “I’m not feeling up to it today after all. Raincheck?”
“Of course,” I nod. “Are you okay?”
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?” she huffs out.
I shake my head. “Only child, I’m afraid.”
“Consider yourself lucky. They’re nothing but a pain in the ass most days.”
With that, she waves me off, Rico already standing by with her leather jacket in hand.
Well, that went well. How am I supposed to build a friendship with Stella if Marcello is always getting in my way?
Pissed at him for ruining my plans, I make the mistake of locking eyes with him. He doesn’t smile. Doesn’t so much as frown. He just glares. He then lifts his chin, his eyes never leaving mine, and curls a finger in that slow, deliberate way that orders me to follow him. And damn it, I do.
I place my clipboard on the counter and glance around the gym, pretending to stretch out a sore shoulder, but my feet are already obeying Marcello. He turns his back, walking out the door and down the stairs. He doesn’t check to see if I’m following. He knows I will.
My heart kicks into high gear as I push through the same door thirty seconds later, his scent still lingering in the stairway. Clean sweat. Soap. Something darker I can’t name.
I step onto the empty street only to see Marcello’s shadow disappear into the narrow alley behind DeLuca’s Gym. I follow him and find a rusted dumpster sitting to the left, an old fire escape to the right, and Marcello in the middle, his back still turned. Until it’s not. He spins slowly, as if counting the seconds it would take me to get here.
I shouldn’t have followed him. Scratch that—I should have. That’s the job. But standing here now, in this abandoned alley while Marcello stalks me as if he were the goddamn devil himself, I suddenly question every choice that has led me to this moment.
“I told you to stay away from my family,” he growls, his voice a low, dangerous rumble that makes my spine tingle in a way it absolutely should not. It’s humiliating how quickly my skin reacts to his voice alone.
I cross my arms, keeping my back straight and my head held high. “Is it my fault that your sister wants to train with me?”
His eyes narrow, sharp enough to cut glass. “Yes. It is.”
“This power trip you got going is getting old. You don’t get to dictate who I speak to, Marcello.”
He stops just inches from me, making the alley feel smaller. Hotter. My skin prickles with awareness I try to ignore.
“I do when that someone is you,” he says. “And when you show up in places you don’t belong.”
“And yet, here I am. I’m not going away. Deal with it.”
A beat passes between us. He doesn’t move, and neither do I. It’s a silent war, and none of us wants to blink first.
“That sounds like a challenge.”
“Take it however you want. You can’t intimidate me,” I quip back.
“Can’t I? I’m sure I can find a way,” he adds, his gaze dipping to my lips, feeling like a match dragging across my skin.
Then it happens. The air between us shifts. As if something invisible is coiling tight, waiting to snap. I can feel it in my chest, my stomach… lower.
