Falling for Deceit || WATTYS 2017

47 PART II

A/N: Jeez it's been long. I wish that I could say that I haven't had time, but that would be a lie. I've simply encountered one of the biggest cases of writer's block yet and a shot of pure laziness, which is pretty normal after two weeks of suntanning on holiday. But hopefully, you can appreciate the struggle that went into putting my ideas into this. 

PLEASE SHOW YOUR SUPPORT BY VOTING AND SHARING <3 A comment of your thoughts would be deeply appreciated as well! 

What do you think will happen next? 

Until the next!

-xoxo, Sophia

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The pants in the room mingled until they became one, and all I could think about as Marco's weight came down on top of me and his head rested in the crook of my neck was how my stomach wound hadn't just split right open again after that. But instead of voicing that, my hands came up of their own accord and laced into Marco's ruffled hair, playing with the soft strands as my eyes became mesmerized by the dark ceiling. A smile broke out instinctively on my face as I felt the rumble of Marco's laughter on my skin, and then heard the beautiful sound of it as he pressed himself up on his elbows and gazed down at me with a heart-splitting grin. 

"What's so funny?" I asked with amusement. 

"The doctor's a pure-bred Catholic." I grinned wider. 

"He must be condemning us both to hell right now." 

Wrong thing to say. Marco's smile dropped, and when I looked at him with confusion he rolled off of me and lay on his back, staring away from me with a suddenly harsh expression on his face. "Marco?" I pressed, rolling up onto my side and placing a hand on his muscular arm. His jaw tightened as he tilted his face towards me. The haunted darkness swirling in those ambers that had just been blazing with primal heat took my breath away, and a chill soared over my skin. I pulled the sheet up over me discreetly. "Did I do something?" 

"You didn't do anything, but I thank you for reminding me."

"Reminding you...?" His hand came over to take mine, and he studied our fingers as he interlaced them together. My heart picked up in speed at that simple gesture, but the obscurity lining his handsome features sharpened my focus. 

"That I'm already in hell," he said simply. My eyes widened and hurt lanced into my heart like a spear. 

"Well," I said, sitting up and dropping my hand away from his. His eyes followed my every movement. "I'm guessing that you didn't enjoy that as much as me then." 

"Antonia." The sharp edge in his voice made me stop from getting out of the bed. I heard the sheets rustle, and then a hand came down on my shoulder. It was trembling. I turned my head to the side. I knew that he was staring straight at the carving of the M in my skin, but I jerked when his fingers traced the outlines. "I killed them." There was a pause while my thoughts stopped and all I could hear was my own breathing. "Well, it took some time before I let Sophia die, but I accorded Fabio the mercy of a brother; a quick death. I'm not in hell physically. You see, I'm trapped in it. In here." I turned slightly to see him tapping a finger to his head. 

It took some time before I let Sophia die. 

"You tortured her?" I whispered in disbelief. It was stupid, I shouldn't have been surprised. But as much as I had despised that woman, and even taking into account her attempted murder on me, I couldn't wish torture on any living thing, even if guilty. Marco's eyes narrowed, and when his gaze grew distant, I knew that I was losing him. 

"I told you. I'm not a good man," he gritted. I turned completely and rose up on the bed on my knees, and despite our nudity, Marco's gaze stayed locked on my eyes as he tilted his head back to watch me. I took his face between trembling hands. And then I bent down and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. The silence was blissful and whole as his hands almost hesitantly came up to my waist as if he couldn't believe that I'd initiated the act. When I pulled back, his gaze was full of reverence, and the blazing emotion shocked me and warmed me all at once. "I never apologized." I stiffened slightly, apprehensive about what he would pull in to ruin this serene moment but curious nonetheless. So I stayed silent and continued running my fingers lightly over his skin, an action that visibly soothed him. "The scar on your shoulder. Antonia, it was cruel of me to put you through that to serve my own arrogance and twisted ownership-complex. I respect it if you can never forgive me, but believe that your safety comes before everything now, especially since..." he trailed off, and my breath hitched as his right hand slid away from my waist and came to rest over my stomach. 

"Marco-" I started in a choked voice, placing a hand firmly over his that lay there on my skin. "It isn't certain, I might still bleed..."

"And if you do, then it will be a shame, but my opinion remains unchanged." I felt the warm feeling of his words seep into me from the touch that radiated heat through my stomach, and I clung to it. It was a dangerous game, but at that moment I realized that I didn't care if I lost. If it was to Marco, I was starting to come to terms with the promise that he'd share the reward with me. This time, it was he who brought me down on top of him as he lay back, and our skins burned alive again as they touched. I propped myself up on my elbows and gazed down at him. 

"I forgive you. God help me, but I forgive you," I whispered. 

"Then I will cherish your forgiveness as long as I breathe," he murmured back, sliding a hand around to the back of my neck to gently tilt my head down to his. 

The knock on the door was like a gavel coming down in a courtroom, and apprehension washed over me in a torrent, desperate to hang on to this small moment of bliss that I hadn't known that I'd longed for, for so long. Marco seemed to be as conflicted as I felt, but then the coldness of a trained killer came started seeping back into his features, and I knew that it was too late. So before I lost him completely to the brutal reality of his world, I pressed a longing kiss on his lips. "Thank you." 

"For what?" I shook my head and climbed off of him, drawing a sheet up to cover me. Marco lay there for a second, staring at me in confusion. But a second knock, more urgent this time, snapped him straight out of it and in an instant he was up off the bed and striding to the door in powerful steps, grabbing a robe and tugging it around himself on the way. He opened the door an inch to conceal me from view, and I took that opportunity to slide out of bed and quietly tiptoe towards the door. Marco closed it further and hurt hacked at my previously whole heart at the cruel knowledge that I would never be completely let into that secretive head. Words flitted through the crack in fast Italian that I knew as fluently as my own body. 

Romanos. 

Bodies. 

Piero.

The arranged meeting. 

They flung themselves at me in a whirlwind of confusion, and I knew that Marco was constructing the conversation with whoever was on the other side of the door so that I'd be thrown off balance. It worked. I gritted my teeth and marched away from the door, grabbing the nightgown that had been strewn on the floor and hastily drawing it over myself. "I need to go." I flung around to find Marco in front of me, eyes drawn together in a frown as if he was having an inner battle with himself. I crossed my arms over my chest. 

"Okay." 

"Okay so..." he trailed off, and it was the first thing that I actually saw embarrassment color his cheeks. If I weren't so annoyed, I would have found it adorable. "I'll just go then."

"I guess you will," I replied simply. He scratched the back of his head. 

"I was just informed that there's a dinner coming up, one that my father is obliging us both to attend." An actual nervous laugh came out of him. "At least the food will be good." I fought the smile tugging at my lips, but when the amusement became to much, my lips twitched up in the tiniest movement. But his eyes lit up when he saw it anyway, and in an instant he bent down and placed a loving kiss on my forehead. "I'll find you." He walked away, but this time, I didn't feel as if I was on a wild goose chase. I was confident that he'd come back just the same as he'd left. And the blooming knowledge spread like wildfire in my veins, heating me from the inside out.