Chapter 32: of

LUCA

As I sit outside Adiv’s place waiting for him to come out of the house and hop in the car, I shoot Raven a text to check in with her.

It’s been a few days since the attack on Marco and everyone is dealing with it in different ways.

To start, Nero survived the attack. Though he’ll have physical wounds for the remainder of his life, he’s going to make it through. He has something called a traumatic cataract—he’s lost the vision in his right eye, which has ultimately gone white. He’s lucky they didn’t have to remove it entirely, but it’s still something he’ll have to adjust to.

I haven’t had a chance to speak with Diablo, but I’d assume he’s a mess without his son. No matter what he did or who he was, Diablo still must’ve felt some connection to him.

The wedding is obviously off. As of now, I can’t be sure if Cain plans to marry Raven off to someone else. I haven’t heard him speak anything of it.

I do know that he’s been trying to figure out who ordered the attack. Considering the men went after Dove and Raven, he wants to make sure to take out that threat before it manifests into something serious on our end.

So now we have that to deal with. On top of still having to deal with Kash. Plus, with the wedding being ruined, that business connection with Diablo is up in the air. Shit is kind of a mess right now.

Eventually, I notice Adiv finally exiting his place, locking the front door behind him. I greet him as he seats himself in my car and then back out of his driveway, beginning the short journey to the Brooks mansion.

After a few minutes of silence, I can tell that he’s thinking. Likely about everything that went down the other night. I don’t blame him, it was a lot and it’s been replaying in my mind over and over.

“How’s Dove been since everything?” I spoke to Raven a bit about it a few days ago. I haven’t seen much of Raven because she’s supposed to be grieving the loss of her fiancé, but I’ve spoken to her over the phone. She told me that Dove’s having a hard time with the violence she saw.

Raven, however, seems to be handling it well. I happen to believe Raven’s led a substantially less sheltered life than Dove has. Dove is far too nice for this world, whereas Raven’s angel wings are a bit tainted at the edges.

Adiv hangs his head, which signals to me that the answer won’t be positive. “Not good. She’s been getting her headaches—migraines, really. Vomiting. She’s sick. I think it scared the shit out of her. She’s had a few nightmares.”

“I’m sorry,” I mutter.

Adiv shrugs, “It wasn’t your fault. I feel terrible that I can’t be with her when she gets upset.”

Guilt tears at me.

“I wish I could’ve shielded her from it.”

“What about you?” I question. “How are you handling everything?” I try to draw his attention away from Dove, seeing how it’s bothering him.

“I mean, you seem to be doing okay.”

“I’ve seen a lot worse than you,” I defend. I’ve seen men getting nails driven into the chest. I’ve killed men myself. Cut off Kermit’s fingers. I feel like Marco’s death is Adiv’s first introduction to some of the more grotesque pieces of this world.

He sighs. “I’m dealing with it. I’m more concerned about Dove.” He falls silent for a minute or two and then suddenly, out of the blue, inquires, “You and Rae?” And I know from his tone that he’s not asking about how we’re doing, he’s questioning our relationship. He wants answers.

“Listen, about that—” I don’t know where to start, in complete honesty. “I’m sorry, I—”

“I’m not mad at you, Luca. I’m disappointed as fuck,” Adiv explains. “It hurts, y’know? That you don’t trust me with something like that. We made a promise to one another. I took that shit seriously.”

“Not to be the Spiderman meme or anything, but you did the same thing, yeah?” We’re both being hypocrites here.

“When did it start?”

I have to think back because for whatever reason, it feels as if Raven and I have been a thing since forever. Since Adiv first walked me into the Brooks mansion and I made eye contact with her from across the room.

When I’d first met her, the attraction was instantaneous. But I’d also promised myself that nothing would ever come of it. I’d convinced myself that it was best to keep my distance and that I wouldn’t allow anything to occur.

I think a combination of a few things led to my caving. She played a large part in it, of course. She’s strong and stunning and she isn’t like anyone I’ve ever known. But it’s also on me. The temptations and traumas of her world have drawn me closer to her.

There’s something about being around her that makes me forget about everything I’ve faced since meeting her. The traumas are overwhelming at times, they haunt me and she helps scare them away. If only for a few minutes.

“The first time was after the boxing match,” I admit.

“That long ago?”

I nod my head. “She saw me at the match. Unexpectedly showed up at my house after the fact to tend to my wounds. One thing led to another.”

She kept touching me in a way that signaled what was coming. I did the same with her. She gave me looks all night that told me what she expected. By the time I was hopping in the shower to wash the blood from my cuts, I wasn’t surprised to see that she was naked and climbing in with me.

I don’t regret a second of it. I don’t regret a second of us.

But I still can’t believe it’s happened. I’m still not even entirely sure how it’s come to this.

“That means you were already with her when you caught Dove and I?”

I nod my head. “I was a hypocrite,” I admit. The fact that I’d just fucked Raven for the first time is likely a large part of the reason why I reacted in the way I did. It’s a lot easier to release the anger and frustration on someone else over dealing with my own feelings. “I should’ve told you a long time ago.”

I’ve pondered telling Adiv more than once. He’s my best mate—my brother—and it’s been difficult keeping something like this from him. Especially when I gave him shit for doing the exact same thing. Something has always kept me from uttering the truth.