Don't Touch

-16-

A/N: Content warning on body image issues in this chapter.

Emiliano saw the door close behind Syd as she rushed inside her building. He didn't understand why he was so into her and he was pissed that he even cared she was with someone. He shook his head and crossed his arms, leaning back in his seat.

"This shit is getting annoying," Emiliano groaned. "Every time I get close, someone interrupts..." He cut his eyes at Luca. "You couldn't help me speed things up? She was obviously into it. If you would've jumped in sooner, I'm sure I'd have her thighs on my shoulders and your hands would be full of her tits right now."

Luca scoffed. "Make up your mind, already. One minute you're telling me to back off and the next, you want to share." He shook his head. "Besides, we don't need to piss off Sean, so stop trying to fuck her. She's off limits, remember?"

"She's only off limits for as long as she says no," Emiliano smirked "You were about to jump in on that anyway... Just not soon enough."

"Because you were fucking provoking me," Luca snapped. "Getting her all worked up like that while she was right next to me. I can't be around her anymore."

"Great, I'll have her all to myself," Emiliano responded casually.

"What part of 'off limits' do you not understand?" Luca switched over into the seat where Syd sat before so that he was directly in front of Emiliano. He leaned in and tensed his brows, giving his brother a stern look. "Fratello, vorrei rendere chiaro: You are not to fuck Simone Davidson or Syd Johnson," he added to be extra clear. "Neither of us are. Capito?" [Brother, I want to make this clear...]

Emiliano knew the look on Luca's face. Luca was already a serious guy, but when he had that expression and spoke Italian along with it, Emiliano knew he couldn't test him. "Fine," he responded. "Hey, Frank." Emiliano reached toward the front to pass him a wad of cash. "No need for Sean to know this part of what happened tonight, right?"

"Mhmm," Frank responded, taking the cash.

***

"So, what'd you get us for dinner?" Syd asked, leading Hector into the apartment.

"Something light," he responded, walking to the kitchen counter to remove the food from the takeout boxes. "Steamed vegetables and salmon from that spot near my office that you like."

"Ah, I have the perfect white wine to pair with that!" Syd chimed going for the fridge.

"How about we just drink water with it?" Hector stopped her.

Syd looked at him slightly confused. "Okay..."

"It's just..." Hector scratched his head shyly before speaking again. "Remember how at dinner the other night you said we should be more open with each other?"

Syd nodded.

"Well... I know I had mentioned it before when we were together... You know I think you're beautiful. I love you... But it's just your stomach..." He averted his gaze. "It could be flatter..."

"You've managed to piss me off twice in less than an hour, Hector. Que carajo?"

"I just want to do things right this time, cielo. I don't want to lie or keep anything from you." He walked over to her and lifted her onto the counter, positioning himself between her legs. "You know I still think you're sexy..." He unbuttoned his shirt and grabbed Syd's hands to run them from his firm chest down to his abs. "But you like this, don't you?"

"Mhmm," Syd nodded. She liked Hector's body, but that didn't mean his body was the only body type she liked. His six-pack was sexy to her because it was attached to him, not because it was a six-pack. She'd been deeply attracted to men without abs too.

"Well, I'd like you to have something like this. I always found four-packs on women to be sexy."

Syd's face tensed and just as she was about to go off on him for the second time that night, he stopped her with a kiss on her lips.

"But don't get me wrong," he said when he pulled away. "You still have this effect on me." He moved one of her hands from his torso down to the front of his pants so she could feel his erection.

"Right..." She responded hesitantly. She wanted to be upset with him, but like he told her, he was just being honest and open with her as they discussed - he was making an effort.

Before when they were together, Hector always told Syd that her body would be perfect if she could just lose her stomach. She never felt insecure about her body except when he talked about it. Syd was perfectly aware of her pudgy stomach, but it didn't keep her from feeling sexy or wearing whatever she wanted until Hector started pointing it out a few years into their relationship. And now, they'd only been back together for two days and he was already bringing it up again and trying to change her eating habits. But Hector was Syd's first relationship and first love - so she thought it was just one of those things one changes for the person they love.

Hector noticed the way Syd's body had tensed up. "Don't be like that cielo, I'm just doing what you asked..." He started placing kisses around her neck. "And besides... You know that wouldn't keep me from fucking you on every surface in this apartment."

"Yeah..." Syd couldn't hide the unease in her voice as she pushed him to the side and walked over to the carryout boxes. "Let's just have dinner... We can skip the dessert."

***

"Shit," Emiliano breathed as he pounded into the second woman he fucked that night. He held her thick thighs open, digging his fingers into them while he watched his dick move in and out of her, wishing the entire time that it was Syd he was fucking.

The woman's back arched as she approached her climax and her moans grew louder.

"Shut the fuck up," he growled, moving her legs to his shoulders before he leaned in further and took almost a squatting position to piledrive her while his hand covered her mouth. Although her body was similar enough to Syd's for him to fantasize, her voice sounded nothing like hers and it pissed him off.

The woman came and Emiliano followed not long after.

"Fuck!" He exclaimed after he got off the bed, startling the woman. Emiliano quickly disposed of the condom and put on his clothes. He threw a wad of cash on the dresser. "You can have the hotel for the rest of the night," he grumbled before storming out.

He still wasn't satisfied and at that point, he knew that there was only one person who could satisfy him and she was off limits.

***

It was 2:08AM when Hector left Syd's apartment. Despite the comments he made about her body that night making her feel uneasy, their conversation over dinner went well and they cuddled up to watch a movie afterwards, though she still refused to have sex with him.

She looked at her phone to finally respond to the texts Sean sent while Hector was over.

Sean: (2 missed calls)

Sean: Luca told me about the Brits and Dmitry... Nice work handling it, but why tf haven't you called me yet???

Sean: Oh... you're with Hector's punk ass. I'm gonna have one of our guys outside your apartment tonight just as a precaution.

Sean: We need to meet first thing tomorrow. I'll be there around 8.

Syd: Whatever.

She had been distracted by Emiliano immediately after the deal and then Hector after that and didn't have time to think about how annoyed she was that Sean wasn't there. Sure, he sent the Rossi brothers with her, but she pretty much improvised - checking if the containers were hollowed was an idea she got from a TV show and she was having an internal panic attack when she was talking shit to Dmitry. If Sean were there, he would've known exactly what to do. She didn't know what he had to do that was so important he couldn't be there for the deal.

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A/N: Thanks for reading!