Levi
Bad things always come in threes.
Life was going so well. I thought about it last night when we were sleeping together, with Matteo on one side of me and Vi on the other.
I had spent so many years in a constant state of worry that I hadn’t realized how much I had been carrying on my shoulders until now.
I should have known; nothing good lasts forever.
“Why aren’t they answering?” I snapped, pacing the front of the building where we had our meeting.
“Ru has probably gone dark since he is with his agent, but I don’t know about Vi,” he said, typing away on his phone. “Maybe her reception sucks at the Acropolis?”
I pressed call on Vi’s number, even though I just tried calling five minutes ago. It went straight to voicemail and my heart broke a little again.
“Let’s head back to the house and wait for everyone there,” Matteo said, grabbing my hand. “We can regroup there and figure out what to do.”
“What if she doesn’t come back?” I hated how small my voice sounded. “What if this scares her and what if Ru doesn’t handle this well.”
“Hey, we don’t know how anyone is going to react. Ru might suffer the most out of all of us, and we just must be there for him,” he said, leading me to the metro.
“And Violeta?” I asked, making sure we were on the same page with her.
“Violeta will handle this better than you think,” he said, squeezing my hand. “She’s amazing and everything that has happened she has taken in stride. I wouldn’t be surprised if she is already thinking ahead and has a plan.”
Matteo was too confident about our situation at hand. He was usually the pessimist in the group while I was more level-headed, but it seemed Matteo had no worries so maybe I was the one overreacting. Not hearing from Vi had me thinking a ton of bad things, though.
“So, our plan is to go home and wait?” I sighed.
Matteo said nothing as we went down into the subway, scanning our cards and looking for the platform that would take us home. I was ready to snap at him for not answering my question when we were waiting for the subway.
“I need you to chill, Levi,” he said, cupping my face.
“We need to regroup. The most logical place would be the rental house. Once everyone gets home we can plan what happens next. Ru's agent will probably be doing damage control and then we can figure out what we are doing. Worst-case scenario is we go to Paris or Lake Como to hide out until this all blows over. I won’t let this situation separate us, ok?”
I nodded, my throat tightening with emotion. “I don’t want to lose what we have.”
“I won’t let that happen,” he said, kissing my forehead, holding me close.
I took a deep breath. “Ok, I’m sorry, but I’m scared.”
“I know, it’s ok, Cuore Mio.” He hugged me tighter as the line we needed to take arrived.
We got on, staying silent on the ten-minute ride.
I checked my phone constantly, willing it to ring, needing to hear from either of them.
The walk to our rental was quick and the moment we rounded the corner we saw the mob of reporters.
Matteo pulled me back quickly before they saw us.
We peeked around the corner to see how we could get in without being seen, but there were too many of them.
“Shit, I wonder if Vi or Ru are in the house,” I said, running my hand through my hair.
“Ru wouldn’t be in there and I’d like to think Violeta wouldn’t attempt to go through that,” Matteo sighed. “What I want to know is how the hell they knew Ru was staying here if the rental is under my name.”
“Something is not right,” I said, grabbing my phone to call Ru, but that went unanswered again.
My phone rang with an unknown number and I answered it immediately.
“Hello?”
“Levi, where are you?” Ru asked frantically.
“Oh my god, why the hell aren’t you answering your phone?” I snapped, relieved.
“Minsu brought me to a hotel, but he’s told me not to talk to anyone, threatening to drop me as a client,” he said quickly and in a low voice. “Are you with Violeta?”
“He did what?” I growled. “We haven’t seen her and she’s not answering her phone.”
“Shit, that's not good,” Ru said. “I’m leaving and going back to the house.”
“Ru, that might not be a good idea,” Matteo said.
“I don’t care, I’m worried about Vi,” he said. “Her face is most visible in the photos and I just don’t want her to get spotted and something happens to her.”
“Maybe we should go to the Acropolis?” Matteo suggested.
“She left this morning, do you think she’s still there?” I asked.
“She might have gone to the other archeological sites,” Ru said, as the door closed. “Shit, I gotta go, but I will meet you at the house, if not I'll call you.”
The line cut off.
“Matty, this sounds awful, but what if—”
“No what-if’s,” he said, with a look of determination. “Let’s go see if we can find her at the Acropolis and then we will figure it out, but first, I’m going to see if I can get these assholes cleared out.”
Matteo pulled out his phone as I tried Vi one more time. I felt better that we had a plan, but I still worried it might not be enough.
We spent the rest of the day looking for Vi until Matteo and I were exhausted.
The urge to cry was overwhelming as we walked down the street to the rental that was now cleared of paparazzi.
There was a car parked between houses that made me nervous, but it seemed the person waiting inside wasn’t here for us.
It was quiet and dark as we entered. My hope that she was here vanished when she didn’t respond to her name and all the pent-up emotion I had been ignoring rose to the surface.
The first tear rolled down my cheek as we took off our shoes. Matteo led me to the kitchen to grab some water.
“Shower?” he asked, wiping the second tear that spilled down my face.
“Quickly? I don’t want her to arrive and we aren’t out here.
“Ok, come on. Let's shower and I’ll order some food,” Matteo said, putting our glasses down.
He led me down the hall, opening my room as I heard crying. I rushed to the bathroom, the door was slightly ajar with light streaming out.
“Vi?” I opened the door to see her sitting on the floor with her make-up bag in her lap, breathing quickly and crying.
“Hey,” I said, rushing to kneel by her.
She looked up at me with her big eyes, breathing so quickly I thought she might be hyperventilating.
“I…can’t...breathe,” she uttered.
“Panic attack,” Matteo stated, before leaving us.
“Hey, Beautiful. Take a deep breath with me,” I said, cupping her face. “One, two, three, four, five.”
She attempted to inhale with me. It was choppy as she inhaled and her exhale was smoother.
“That’s it. One more,” I said, breathing with her. “Now tell me five things you see.”
“You…sink…toilet…shower and glasses,” she said, her words breathy.
“Good,” I cooed. “Now, four things you hear.”
A door slammed shut, making Violeta jump from the sound. “Door…my crying… you…footsteps and…and a car honking.”
“Vi?!” Ru yelled.
“Hey, look who arrived,” I said, wiping her face.
Ru walked to the bathroom, pausing to take in the scene before picking her up and taking her to the room to sit on the bed.
“That’s good. Nice and even,” he said, holding her close and glancing at me as I walked to them as Matteo entered the room with a glass of water. “Give me one more good deep breath.”
She took a deep shuddering breath, crawling onto Ru’s lap, holding onto him tightly.
“Hey, what happened here?” I pointed to her ankle that had a wrap on it, along with several cuts and some bruising.
“I fell at the Acropolis,” she sniffled.
I inspected the rest of her body for any other injuries, seeing her hand with a big Band-Aid.
“Shit.” Matteo came to us, giving her a glass of water. “Are you ok? Do we need to go to the hospital?”
She shook her head as her lip trembled. “I’m…ok.”
“Vi, I think we should get an x-ray,” I said, seeing how swollen her hand and ankle were.
“I’m sorry,” she cried, shaking her head.
“You don’t need to apologize,” Ru said, holding onto her tightly. “We better get you checked out, just in case.”
“No, I’m fine,” she hiccuped. “I’m sorry about the photos.”
Ru froze, looking forward. “You sent the photos?”
“No, but it’s my fault, I—”
Ru stood up, putting her on the bed gently. “I trusted you. I told you my fears and…and this is how you treat me? Selling our photos to a source and what? Asking to not be blurred out? What the fuck, Vi?”
“I didn’t want this to happen. It was him. I didn’t know he was having me followed,” she cried, standing up. “He’s been—”
The front door slammed shut, cutting Violeta off.
“No, fuck,” she cried, wincing as she stood up, limping into the bathroom grabbing her make-up, coming out quickly, grabbing her bag. “I’m sorry, but this is the only way.”
“Violeta,” Matteo said, trying to grab her arm.
She yanked her arm out of his grasp, about to leave, when a man tried coming in, running into Vi.
“Vámonos, Lorenzo,” she said, quickly pushing the man back, but he didn’t move.
He was dressed in a suit, slicked back hair and a smirk I instantly hated.
“Ay no, Violeta. Quiero conocer tus amigos,” he said, pushing her back, coming into the room as he looked at all of us.
“No,” she said firmly. “Obtuviste lo que querías, vámonos.”
He grabbed her by the arm as she tried to leave.
“I see you’ve been having fun before we got married,” he said. “Not what I had in mind when you left, but I guess you had to get it out of your system.”
What the fuck? I looked at Vi, who had her head down.
“Fucking liar,” Matteo snarled. “She left you—”
“Oh, is that what you are telling everyone?” he laughed. “My future wife had a little bit of cold feet and she’s feeling a little shy. She knows getting married is inevitable.”
“Shy? You mean coerced,” Matteo snapped, walking to Vi. “You don’t have to leave with him. He can’t make you marry him.”
Matteo grabbed her hand, pulling her towards us, but she didn’t follow, shaking her head no.
“I…I…” Her lips trembled as she stared down at her feet. “I had a lot of fun. Thanks for giving me great memories I will never forget.”
A tear fell down her face as she breathed quickly again. I glanced between Lorenzo and Violeta. He was smiling like a maniac, as if he enjoyed her pain.
“You don’t have to leave,” I said in French, stepping towards her. “Stay here with us and we can figure something out.”
“We can’t,” she replied in French. “If I don’t leave, he will release more photos and not blurry ones, but of us all together intimately.”
“What?” I snarled.
“Don’t,” she said, standing in front of me. “I can’t do this to you guys. The photos are…well they are indecent and they would ruin Ruwon. It’s ok.”
I glanced at Lorenzo, a stupid smirk on his face like he knew what was going on.
“You fucking asshole.”
“No, they won’t.”
Matteo and I growled in English.
“What the fuck is going on?” Ru snapped, looking between all of us.
“Well, I think it’s time we leave,” Lorenzo smiled, grabbing Vi. “It’s been a pleasure. Let’s go, Violeta.”
The smug asshole pulled her away from us as she winced, limping quickly after him.
“Watch it asshole, she’s hurt,” I snarled.
My heart was pounding loud and unsteadily, my mind not computing that she was leaving us.
Ru grabbed her hand, “What’s going on? You don’t have to leave.”
Violeta spoke in Korean quickly as Lorenzo pulled her out of the room. I picked up a few words about her leaving so he didn’t release photos. She apologized profusely. Ru stopped at the doorway, stunned.
“I’m sorry,” she cried out.
“We can’t let him take her,” I said, pushing Ru out of the way.
“Lee,” Matteo said sternly. “If she stays—”
“He’s bluffing,” I said, interrupting him. “I don’t believe she was going to marry him. Something is wrong.”
The front door slammed shut just as I was about to run after her, Ru grabbed my hand.
“Levi,” he said softly. “If he releases those pictures, it’s—”
“It’s what?” I snapped, seeing Ru’s resolve. “We can deal with the pictures. It’s an invasion of privacy and—”
“They are going to hurt Ru,” Matteo sighed. “He would be in PR hell.”
“For loving a woman with his best friends?” I laughed darkly, hoping they knew how dumb that sounded.
“Hearing I shared a girl with my best friends is a fucking field day for them,” Ru snapped. “I’m just coming back, and if this gets out and they confirm it is me, no one will want to hire me.”
“You don’t know that,” I said, walking away, tired of them not wanting to fight for her.
“And what happens when they out all of us?” Matteo said, making me stop.
No one wanted to be out like this. Ru found out he was bisexual when he was young, like me, keeping it under wraps because Korea still had dated views on sexuality.
“Ru and I aren’t out to the world yet, and I think we deserve to do that in our own time,” he said, walking up to me.
“So, she’s the sacrifice for that?” I snapped bitterly. “Letting her marry that asshole is ok with you guys as long as—”
“Levi,” Matteo snapped. “You would let us be outed and Ru to face a backlash from his fans just so we can have the girl, for what, maybe a few months or who knows, she could have left tomorrow.”
I looked between them, seeing their decision all over their faces.
Vi was on her own.
“I just don’t think that is the only solution,” I said, my head hurting from indecision. “I think we could have figured out something that didn’t involve her going back to America to marry that asshole. What he’s doing is illegal.”
“I’m sorry, Levi,” Ru said, defeated in his features. “I can’t take that chance.”
“It’s not fair for us to ask that of him,” Matteo said, walking to me.
I shook my head. “No. I—” My throat tightened with despair.
The first tear fell as I turned around to get outside the four walls of the living room, feeling too small for all the emotions that were hitting me.
I felt trapped.
“Gomdori.”
“Cuore Mio.”
They said it together, but I needed space.
If this was my new reality, I needed to get away before I said or did something I couldn’t come back from.
I just needed a few hours of wallowing before I thought of what I could do next.
They might be throwing in the towel, but I needed to know there was no other way to go about this. I was not done with Violeta yet.