❝I would burn for all eternity to feel your touch once more.❞
Former mafia member now turned barista, Lorenzo Castello, is running away from his family to grieve a sudden loss when he meets a paramedic with no impulse control that turns his world up...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
AN EAR-SPLITTING cry of pain escaped his chapped and dry lips as he fell on the wet concrete, his black curly hair falling on his hair, limiting his vision. Curses of anger and disappointment escaped his mouth, flares of pain igniting from his dislocated knee. With his eyes screwed shut and his lips moving quickly, prayers in Italian falling from them, he popped it back in its place and without wasting any minute, he got up and started running again even though he knew he would only make his injury worse.
His vision darkened from the pain but he knew better than to stop. With no idea as to where to go, he took a left turn and hoped it wasn't a dead end. His prayer was fulfilled and he tried to pick up his pace but that was kind of impossible because of his knee. When he looked down to examine it again, he noticed blood all over his clothes and that's when he noticed that there was a long scratch on his arm that was bleeding terribly.
With a huff, he tore a part of his blue flannel and wrapped it around the wound all while running. Footsteps were nearing him but he knew for a fact that they didn't belong to the people that were after him – they knew better than to make sounds that would reveal their coordinates.
He had no idea how quickly everything happened.
He was supposed to meet Gia by the coffee shop and then, together they would walk to wherever she was going to take him. She insisted on it being a surprise and he really didn't mind which was why he easily agreed. They had been talking non-stop on the phone about the date and they finally chose to go out on a Saturday night when they were both free.
However, Lorenzo never made it to the coffee shop.
Just before he took the final turn that would lead him to his date, he saw a man at the end of the street – his hood pulled over his head, creating a shadow that kept his identity a secret from him and his clothes were dark which made him blend in the background easily. He had been whistling and while he wasn't really alarmed yet – he had met lots of weird men and women in San Francisco – he was when he realised that he was looking right at him and was holding a freaking nine millimetre in his left hand.
Then, he fired but Lorenzo ducked just in time.
Or at least, that's what he thought.
At first, he thought the man just wanted to rob him or something but when he heard the Italian phrases that reached his ears, he stiffened and started running without a second thought. The words 'La famiglia prima di tutto' had his body almost freezing in fear but he had known better than that, he had been trained better than that. His instincts had gained control and he was running with light steps to make sure he wasn't leaving evidence behind but he knew with that bleeding arm, he had led them right to him.
More curses left him and for a second, he had no idea as to what to do.
He looked around the alley he found himself in and all he saw were garbage bags, a homeless man sleeping in the corner and three stray cats curled around him. His heart couldn't bear to feel the guilt for not helping the man as all it knew right then was fear – fear for his own life. He didn't know what to do, he could continue running but he was bleeding and they sure as hell would find him easily because of that.
