Alessandro |18+|

33

ARIA

"Sandro...you know I can't live in your penthouse forever, right?" I said, playing with his fingers. We were still awake, having a conversation in the dark. It was peaceful, and the rain had finally settled down to a slight drizzle.

Our voices were barely above a whisper when we spoke, and there were a few times when Sandro had to press a pillow into my face because he made me laugh so hard.

I felt Sandro still, and then he heaved a sigh. "I know. I just...I have to tell you something—fuck."

My brows scrunched together, but I didn't think too much about it. "Okay. I'm listening."

"Bellissima," he said. "I didn't want to stress you. You have to understand that, okay?" he said, and he didn't want me to be mad at him but how could I? He had been helping me from the very beginning.

"Speak, Sandro."

There was a moment of silence before he spoke again, "The man in the security footage. You didn't recognise his face, but you might have remembered if you saw him in person,"

"I know him?" I asked, a little confused. I might have known him—but the pictures were too grainy to tell, or I had a terrible memory.

"You don't know him. But you have seen him before. That night in the club, your friend left with someone," he explained, and I thought about it, recollecting the vast memories I had of that night. Stumbling into the bathroom – Tammy making out with a man and leaving with him.

"Wait. Are you saying that he's the one in the picture? That guy? How?" I was asking too many questions, but I was confused and needed clarity. Was he the one who broke my lock?

"When you came to the club, did you and Tammy come from your apartment?" he asked, giving me a massage on my shoulder—it was his way of calming down the approaching anxiety and I was grateful for it.

A dark feeling twisted in my chest, and I had to take a few seconds to register what Sandro had asked. There was no fucking way. It didn't make sense.

"Yes, we did," I said hesitantly.

"I'm going to tell you something else, bellissima. And I don't want you to think you're a terrible friend—"

I paused, "What do you mean?"

"Tammy left with that man, but she changed her mind when she got to the car. She didn't want to leave you, but Ryan had other plans," Sandro explained, and I felt my heart sink.

I raised my head off his chest, sitting up straight because laying down suddenly felt too overwhelming. I looked at Sandro with worry etched all over my face. Tammy...

"Stop," he said, grabbing my hands to kiss my knuckles. "Nothing happened to her. Elijah, her ex, had gone to the club looking for her and found the both of them in the parking lot," he murmured, and I let him pepper kisses all along my skin. It was comfortable, and I liked it.

"There was a little altercation and Elijah's took his anger out on Ryan. That's the bruise you saw on his face in the picture," Sandro explained, and I tightened my lips together because I couldn't comprehend it yet.

My gaze wandered away from Sandro, and I took a moment to think about it. Why wouldn't she tell me? I should have known that something was wrong when I asked her if it was worth it, and her answer was 'not at all'.

I looked down at my hands, trying to make sense of the many thoughts in my head. Surely I could have tried harder to make her stay. I needed to talk to her.