The Truth Hurts: Part Two: The Twisted Betrayal Duet

Chapter 1

Safe . That’s what I feel with Levi as he holds me to his chest. It’s a level of certainty; of unequivocal loyalty that I’ve never really felt before. Ever since Sera was taken four days ago, he’s been there for me—even when I’ve been an intolerable asshole. But who can blame me? We’re without a leader, without our fierce, beautiful Sera. I feel lost. Even though I have Levi, nothing feels right without her. I feel incomplete.

The house is unbearably quiet too, empty in a way that nobody can attempt to replace. It’s that unsettling silence that’s been keeping me awake most nights this week. That and the thought of our girl somewhere, alone, hurt, or worse.

It’s almost four in the morning. The rain seems to have stopped now, but I’ve yet to fall asleep. After our moment by the pool earlier, I thought I’d be able to finally let my mind rest.

It’s not happening.

While Levi’s chest rises and falls steadily, I’m still buried deep in my thoughts. Fear over Sera’s safety. Anger over Giovanni’s ability to protect our leader. Just some of the many things that have been keeping me up at night.

I roll onto my side, staring into the vast darkness of Sera’s office. It still smells of her; the perfume she always wears along with the shampoo she lathers in her hair. But what was once so intoxicatingly perfect is now tarnished by her absence. Marred with hollow grievance.

“Sleep,” Levi growls in my ear. “Your storm is keeping me awake.”

Rolling my eyes, I go to push up from the couch, but Levi bands his arm around my waist and tugs me in closer to his warm chest so that I can feel his heart beating against my back. It’s rhythmic, calming, the only constant right now. His breaths are certain, deep and relaxing.

“I can’t sleep,” I grumble my admission.

“Tell me what I can do,” he sighs. His words are sincere, desperate with the weight of trying to comfort me. I don’t know how he does it, though. How he can keep his shit together right now while I’m falling apart. He was the closest to Sera out of all of us, yet he’s the strongest.

‘Bring Sera back,’is what I want to say, but I know that’s asking for the impossible.

Raf is still frantically searching through security footage. He’s exhausted every avenue when it comes to finding any information that might point us in the direction of Sera’s location or the Verdi’s compound.

Marco and Matteo have been staying with us. Though I want to believe it’s for logistical reasons, I sense they also feel lost without their leader. In a way, we all feel like we’ve failed Sera, yet we’re all holding out hope that we find her.

The Vultures can’t even dig up dirt on the streets. Zeke, no matter how many times he apologizes, just can’t get a hint of a lead. He can’t even get a hold of the Verdis. It’s like they’ve dropped off the face of the earth. In any other situation I’d be glad about that, but they’re the fucking reason Sera’s missing in the first place. They’re the ones who took her and every minute she’s absent only brings me more worry.

There’s nothing any of us can do, and that fucks with me the most. We’re all sitting ducks just waiting for the inevitable, the moment we’re told that our leader has been killed.

My fists clench as more of my morbid thoughts fill my mind. All I can think about is her; about her last thoughts, her last words. Did she scream? Did she cry? Did she put up a fight?

Of course she did. I know Serafina. I know my leader. I know she’d fight tooth and nail to survive because she’s a survivor. She’s an angel wrapped up in devil’s clothing and I know she’d fight until the end.

So why isn’t she here?

“Luca—”

“I have to do something!” I swipe the blanket off my body, moving to stand up when Levi grabs my wrist to stop me. I spin around, the shadows of the room veiling the majority of Levi’s features, but I can still make out the pleading look in his gorgeous, dark eyes.

“There’s nothing you can do,” he whispers. He stands up to press his bare chest against mine. “There’s nothing either of us can do.”

“No!” I push Levi away. I refuse to accept his words. “There has to be something. Something we missed! It’s been four days, Levi!”

He clutches my face between his palms, defiance flaming in his eyes. “I know!” His eyes dart back and forth between mine. “Fuck! Luca, I know! But it’s the middle of the night, and you’re no good to her, to me, or anyone else if you don’t sleep.”

“How am I supposed to sleep when she could be—”

Levi shoves me backwards, my body staggering as I fight for balance. “Don’t you dare fucking say it!”

“What?” Wide eyed, I get my balance back and square up to him. “I’m only saying what we’re all—”

Suddenly my head shoots sideways, pain radiating across my jaw and cheek. I stumble, catching myself against the wall and trying to see past the stars, but Levi throws a hard punch that I swear knocks a tooth loose.

“Fuck you!” Levi screams, shaking his hand.

“Fuck you!” I lunge for him, tackling him to the couch and pinning him beneath my weight with my knees on either side of his hips. My fist connects with his face, a new, darker shadow forming on his already bruised eye. I throw another fist at the other side. He doesn’t even fight me, and I know the asshole always has a fight in him. “Fight me!”

“No!”

“Fucking. Fight. Me!” I punctuate each word with a punch to his face. It’s nowhere near as hard as my first, but I can tell by the way Levi winces that it still hurts. Blood coats his bottom lip, a split forming in the middle.

I lean down and grip his throat, my rage so hot and violent that I can’t think straight. “Please.”

Levi’s dark eyes lock with mine, his brown strands framing his face. They’re curlier from the rain, forming loose ringlets that only show off his boyish charm. In an instant, all the pent up anger and doubt dissipates.

I slam my lips onto his urgently. Our tongues and bodies collide, grinding desperately as I seek some kind of solace in his embrace.

“Fuck!” he rasps against my lips. Levi grips my hips, our cocks hardening between us. Our movements are rushed, chaotic yet in sync. This is what I need. I need our connection. I need the stability of Levi to keep me focused. I need to be close to the one person who is feeling as untethered as I am right now; the one person I can rely on to help me through my storm of emotions.

My hands slide over his body, reaching between us to fist his throbbing cock. I kiss his neck, his lips, his chest. His hot skin is my remedy, his kiss is the clarity I seek. I pump his shaft just the way he likes it; slow and firm, running my thumb over the tip and spreading his pre-cum over the head.

Without warning, I’m shoved to the floor. My ass hits it with a harsh thud, pain radiating up my spine. “What the—”

“What is your problem, Fontana!?” Levi props himself up on the couch, running his hands through his thick hair.

Realization weighs me down like a goddamn blanket, smothering me, suffocating me. I stare at the floor, knowing I just tried to use Levi to drown out my thoughts, to ease the pain I’m suffering. It’s unfair of me and totally out of character because I respect him a hell of a lot more than that. I can’t even answer his question because deep down, I don’t have a fucking clue how to. Just like every fucked up situation, I seem to make things worse. First my father, then Sera, now Levi.

It’s mentally exhausting battling my own thoughts, trying to figure out how to temper my anger, but the truth is, I don’t know if I can. “I can’t fucking do this.”

“Me neither,” Levi mumbles. He grabs a blanket and wraps it around his waist. “Sort your shit out yourself, Fontana, because I’m not your punching bag.” Standing up, he gives me one last glare through the shadows before storming out of the den.

“Levi!” I call after him, but his footsteps pound away as he heads upstairs, leaving me with my turbulent thoughts once again.

I card my fingers through the mess on my head. Cazzo. He’s right. I need to sort my shit out. I thought after earlier by the pool that I could cling onto the hope Levi was offering me, but it’s so hard to grasp uncertainty. How can you hope for something when doubt is overwhelming you?

“Fuck this.” I push myself up off the floor, grabbing the second blanket before following behind Levi. I’ve already lost Sera, there’s no way I can bear to lose Levi, too. Next to Sera, he’s the best thing that’s fucking happened to me, and yeah, that might make me a sappy fuck, but it’s true. I remember what Sera said about all of us. We all bring out something in each other, and Levi is the one who makes me feel like I don’t need to protect all the time. Sometimes it’s okay for me to need that protection myself. It’s what Levi has always done for me.

Voices rumble above my head as I approach the living room. My brows furrow as I follow the sound because the only other people here are the twins and it doesn’t sound like them, it sounds like… Levi?

The shadows cover up everything as I mount the staircase, but there are two distinct voices coming from outside Sera’s room.

Blood pounds in my ears, but I can’t tell if it’s with intrigue or apprehension.

“Levi?” My voice barely comes out as a whisper. My heart races as I squint to get a look at who else might be up at this time.

“The fuck?” Levi’s strained voice sounds out. “Is this some kind of sick joke?”

“Put the gun down, Marchese. Let me fucking explain.”

“Did you do this?”

“No!”

I advance closer. I recognize the voice, but I’m certain I’m hearing things. It’s too distinct, too gruff, too deep. I’m hearing the voice of a ghost.

I freeze in my tracks, blinking twice to make sure I’m not hallucinating as a labyrinth of emotions fight to break free.

Because it is a fucking ghost.

Enzo LaRosa.

My jaw goes slack, a whispered, “What the fuck?” escaping my lips as I stare at him wide-eyed, my brain struggling to process what I’m seeing.

Enzo’s dead. It can’t be him.

Did I actually fall asleep? Am I dreaming right now?

My knees weaken, the floorboards creaking beneath my weight as I slap a hand up against the wall to anchor myself. Two heads snap sideways to face me. Two pairs of brown eyes, so similar, so familiar, lock with mine as I stand there, still frozen in a state of suspended shock.

“Enzo?” The name scrapes along my tongue. The unfairness of everything that has happened rushes through me. It’s like the moment steals my soul, my entire being.

“Luca,” Levi breathes, rushing towards me, but I’m lost in the sea of confusion, of acceptance. My eyes refuse to focus on him. I’m locked in a staring contest with a ghost, still struggling to comprehend how the hell he’s here right now.

Levi’s hands land on either side of my face, turning my head and forcing me to look at him. “It’s Sera! She’s alive.”

I blink at him for a moment, his words settling over me. Then it’s like I come back into my body, shoving him away as I roar out for our leader.

Footsteps pound further down the hall as Levi’s tries to hold me in place. Marco and Matteo come out of their rooms ahead of us, while Levi tries to talk me down. But it’s pointless. I can’t make out what he’s saying over the sound of blood rushing to my ears, my heart pounding chaotically as I fight against him.

“What’s going… on?” Marco pauses his footsteps, his gun cocked at the back of Enzo’s head. I have no doubt the guy would pull the trigger given the chance, but Marco isn’t one to take someone down without looking the fucker in the face first.

“You all need to calm the fuck down.” Enzo raises his hands in the air like he’s surrendering to all of us.

“How the fuck do you expect us to be calm right now?!” I fire back incredulously.

“LaRosa?” Matteo steps forward, forcing his brother to drop his aim.

“Yes!” Enzo blows out a slow breath.

We’re all wearing the same look on our faces. Even in the low light traveling from Sera’s room, the shadows aren’t dark enough to conceal our shock and confusion.

I shake my head. “No. You were shot, you’re…”

“Not dead,” he finishes for me, folding his thick forearms over his chest and leveling me with a stern stare.

“Where’s Sera?” I interject, shrugging out of Levi’s grip. “Is she here? I need to see her!”

“Sera needs to rest,” Enzo says flatly, blocking her door with his broad form. “She’s been through hell.”

It’s then that I notice the blood. It coats his hands, his neck.

“I want to see Sera!” I growl out, squaring up to the fucker who was supposed to have perished in the same incident as my father. Nothing makes sense right now, but she’s here. Sera is here and I need to see her.

“Back the fuck up, Fontana, and I’ll explain everything,” Enzo says evenly, advancing closer. He presses a hand to my chest, gently forcing distance between us. “And maybe get fucking dressed.”