CHAPTER 15 : MARCO

Nat's POV

It has been a day since Leo's confession and I can't believe I kissed him in the parking lot of a restaurant.

I touch my lips with my finger and can't help but think of how it felt when he crashed his lips against mine. I feel the butterflies in my stomach again and blush away at the thought of the kiss.

And then it hits me, I shouldn't have kissed Leo.

Leo stands for everything I should run from, hide away from and just never come in sight of. I can't seem to do any of those things though. For the first time in my life, I want to stay and whatever lies ahead of me but then the fear cripples in and know I just don't know what to do.

Should I run?

Hide?

Or face everything that lies in front of me headfirst?

I don't know what to think just yet.

I just can't fall for Leo.

It's not an option.

I can't afford to .

It will hurt both him and me.

I can't hurt more people than I already have. I've too much blood on my hands, too much guilt and I don't want to have more of it.

I'm done.

I'm not safe and so is he.

On top of that, I don't even know what Nick's real emotions for me are. I thought I did but no it was all a lie.

It's not like Nick still wants me or anything. He never actually did. He just wanted me to give him what he wanted. And me being foolish did give it to him. I was too much in love with him to say no. Now because of Nick, I can't fall in love with anyone else. It was a mistake I cannot afford to make.

I should though.

It will be a sight to see him in pain and it'll be pleasurable for me, no matter how sick this sounds.

The worst thing is that I want to hurt Nick, I want to him to feel the hurt that I felt because of him, maybe then he'll know how it feels like and hopefully he'll stop doing it to others. I couldn't save myself from it, but maybe I could save the others.

Doesn't seem like the worst thing after all.

If it's in the best interest of everyone then why not?

I switch my train of thoughts back to Leo.

I still can't believe I kissed him.

I can't do it anymore.

I have to stay away from him.

If I don't Leo will find out the truth and kill me before Nick can even get the chance.

Nick's real name isn't even Nick.

That asshole has been lying to everybody except his Famiglia.

It's Marco.

He is not American as his name suggests.

Nowhere near America.

He is Italian.

Literally the same place in Italy where I have been brought up and raised.

He hides his true identity so that people can't discover his secret.

It's a pretty huge secret for a 17-year-old teenager.

I wonder if even Leo knows about it but I have this feeling that he does. Leo looks at Marco with hatred and venom and Marco looks at him the same way. This is not because of me but because of some deeper vengeance they have against each other.

I have sworn to secrecy that I will not spill the beans because then his whole famiglia will run after me with their wannabe soldiers.

I guess it's just in my luck that the guys who give a damn about me are both Italian and leaders of the most dangerous clans.

If anyone is willing trade their peaceful or even boring life with a life full of such drama, I'm all ears.

But this all goes far deeper than that. I just know a few things about these clans which aren't even that serious. What happened to me was just another leaf in their book of bloody wars. There's something deeper which runs in their veins filled with hatred for each other and even though I have been trying to figure out what that is, I still can't find it.

I can't even think to imagine that what if I did find out their dirty secrets, am I ready to dig deep into their lives and find out what lays ahead?

What if this hole that I dig is deep and is nothing else but my very own grave?

I can't let that happen, not when I have come a long way.

It's too late now and the only option left for me is to continue and find out what it is and destroy the two clans.

As I'm in my thought process, the doorbell of my house rings and rush down the stairs to see who it is.

I hope it's Leo.

But what if it is?

I retreat back to my room and lay on the bed.

I can't be with Leo and still try to continue my secrets' hunt.

Being with Leo means another thing, death.

When he finds out about me he won't spare me because the reasons to kill will outweigh his feelings for me. That is if those feelings survive.

Who am I kidding anyways?

Guys like him are usually playboys and the kiss we had probably meant nothing to me.

It meant something to me though, ugh.

Is there some kind of way where people just can't fall in love?

There has got to be.

The doorbell rings again and I slowly climb down the stairs.

Whoever is outside cannot take a simple hint that the person inside is purposely ignoring and does not want to answer the damn door.

That person is obviously stupid and dumb.

I decide to open the door to spare myself another round of coming down.

As I open the door, I don't see the super handsome face of Leo but the face whom I have grown to love, hate, despise and loathe since last year.

The face that is there in my every nightmare.

The face of Marco Accardi .