Don't Touch

-25-

A/N: I swear I'm not trying to be annoying with all these updates. There's a part I'm trying to post before 2021 because I don't wanna keep y'all waiting on this scene since I'll probably slow down the updates when the new year hits and I'm busy adulting again. (I know it's a slow burner, but this is my first time writing something like this, so bare w me.) 😭

+++

More than a month had passed since the kidnapping attempt and Syd was getting accustomed to additional changes in her life. She had security that would keep watch on her from a distance around the clock and Sean designated sessions for them every week for her to practice shooting and self-defense. Growing up, Sean and Syd would have those sessions as part of their training to take over the family business, but when Syd left, she didn't keep up with any of it. Sean wanted to get her to a level where she could truly fend for herself if a kidnapping attempt were to happen again.

The Davidsons' conflict continued with Dmitry, though he hadn't tried anything as bold as the kidnapping, especially after the Davidsons destroyed three of the Ivanov warehouses, forcing them to reallocate more resources to keep business alive. When Luca saved Syd, he killed two of Dmitry's men, but was wise enough to leave his cousin Viktor alive to avoid further escalating the conflict.

"I'll take over from here, ragazzi!" Emiliano leaned into the window of the car with two of his men. They were finishing their shift as Syd's security watch and Emiliano was set to accompany Syd and Sean to meetings for the rest of the day.

"Thanks, capo." One of them said before driving off and Emiliano returned to his car to watch Syd.

She and Hector were standing outside the gym and Emiliano couldn't help but notice the dejected expression on Syd's face as Hector spoke to her and gestured at her body. It didn't exactly look like they were arguing, but the conversation didn't look friendly either. Emiliano's hand tightened into a fist when he saw Hector pinch Syd's stomach and she pushed him away. Syd spoke, gesturing with her arms at herself, then to him, then toward the gym. Hector rolled his eyes and nodded sarcastically as if he was barely listening to her until she stopped speaking. Syd's arms were crossed when Hector reached for her face and said something to her with a warm smile before he pecked her lips and walked away. Emiliano watched as Syd looked down at her stomach before letting out a breath, straightening herself up, and then walking to the sidewalk.

Before she could notice that he was already there, Emiliano circled the block and pulled up in front of the gym so it looked like he'd just arrived to pick her up. When Syd got into the car, Emiliano watched her more attentively than he'd normally show her, his eyes lingering on her form before coming back up to look at her face.

Syd tensed her brows in confusion at the way he looked at her - it wasn't lust-driven the way it had been in the past. "What?" She asked.

Emiliano looked into her eyes, holding her gaze for several moments before he spoke. "You're perfect, you know that?"

She immediately choked at his words, feeling the sincerity behind them and seeing it in his eyes. Her lips turned to a smile and she reached out to place her hand on his cheek, feeling the way it warmed to her touch. "Thank you, but..."

"But nothing," he interrupted. "Don't tell me that perfection doesn't exist..." He put his hand on hers and turned his face to kiss her palm. "A person can be perfect to another."

Syd tried to swallow back the lump that grew in her throat and she knew that tears were quickly approaching her face. It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her. And although Emiliano had always been warm to her, she'd never heard him speak quite like that. She got in the car feeling hallow after Hector told her he was disappointed that her body barely changed after months of dieting and working out. Syd knew he loved her and he mostly seemed attracted to her, but she didn't understand why Hector couldn't seem to appreciate her the way Emiliano did. At the same time, Syd figured that Emiliano was only about sex and that he couldn't give her a long term relationship as Hector had. Either way, Emiliano's words made her day much better already.