The Chronicles of City Lights and Modern Love

After eating my breakfast, I sat in bed for a while, pondering over how best to approach the confrontation with Neil. By no means did I wish to anger my grandfather beyond what was necessary, although I could not help but hold an itching desire for the confrontation to irritate him. I wanted to push his buttons.

Carmine had not left since he had brought my breakfast up. After watching in amusement as I ate more than he would have believed possible, and making a number of comments accordingly, he had spread out at the end of the massive bed in the sun filtering through the pane glass window like a cat, looking up at the ceiling.

I watched him for a moment, wondering what his take on my situation really was. What was he thinking about?

He must have sensed my gaze because he rolled onto his side and looked at me. He didn’t smirk or grin or make some stupid, smart-arsed comment. He just looked, his eyes boring into mine with an intensity that gave me goose bumps. I felt the heat creep up the back of my neck and onto my cheeks, threatening to turn me a deep shade of scarlet.

Finally he looked away, abashed, as if realising just how powerful his gaze had been; just how long we had stared into each other’s eyes.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, drawing the deafening silence to a close.

“Better,” I told him. “Thanks for bringing me breakfast. Greasy food was just what I needed.”

“I had a feeling,” he said, chuckling.

He looked at me again, an expression of contemplation etched into his features.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how are you feeling...I mean, about what I told you? You’re obviously not thrilled...I wouldn’t be...”

I felt the heat creep into my cheeks again. I hadn't properly thought about all of that this morning.

“To be honest, I don’t know. I don’t know what to trust anymore. I don’t know who to trust."

I paused for a moment, thinking it over. Carmine continued to watch me, his brow furrowed and his attention fixated upon me. I was a bit put off by the fact that he was actually interested in what I had to say.

After a second, I continued slowly. "To find out that I have had people such as these walk in and out of my life scares me. To extract them from the equation, what’s left? Without all those people, there's just the shell left...the rest was just...a facade...”

I sighed as I felt the tears well up in my eyes. I didn’t want to cry to Carmine; I didn’t want to let him know how much I was hurting, but I couldn’t stop it. The tears came pouring out of my eyes, my throat constricted, making me gasp with pain. In a flash, Carmine left his spot at the end of the bed and wrapped his muscular arms around me, holding me in a strong embrace.

I nestled into his chest, letting myself forget once again where I was and who I was with. For the moment, it didn’t matter. The fact that this was the same guy who had seemed so uncaring and arrogant yesterday blew me away.

“Shh,” he said quietly. “Don’t be stupid. You have family and friends that love you so much. I know it seems bad, but all those people are toxic.”

The comforting hum of his chest as he spoke seemed to have a hypnotising power over me. Before I knew it, I began to calm down.

“They don’t deserve to be in your life; they don’t deserve your attention. You deserve so much better...you’ll get so much better.”

I lifted my head up a bit, resting my chin on his chest so that I could look at him. “That has got to be one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.”

He moved his hand toward my face stroking my forehead and running his fingers through my hair. He cupped my cheek in his hand. His palm was so warm and soft, his touch gentler than I would have expected. I leaned into it, closing my eyes.

I felt his fingers as he traced my features, first along my cheek bones then across my eyelids and finally they rested beneath my chin. I opened my eyes groggily, entranced yet again by the expensive smell of his cologne and the mesmerising power of his gentle touch.

I didn’t hesitate to assist him as he lifted my chin up to his face, resting my palms on his chest and shifting closer. It felt so natural. Our eyes were fixed upon each other as our faces got closer, finally leaving us with no more than five centimetres between our noses.

Suddenly there was a crash down the hall and a second later the door burst open, causing us to jump apart hastily.

“Ooh, sorry,” Freddie sang. “Am I interrupting something?” He looked at his brother intently, albeit lopsidedly, seeing as one eye was nice shade of dark mauve and barely able to be opened.

Carmine glanced at me before glaring back at his younger brother and saying very sternly, “no.”

Freddie shook his head. “Whatever,” He said. “I was just coming up to see what the plans were for today. Neil left about a couple of hours ago and - "

“WHAT?!” I interrupted. “Where did he go?”

“He had a meeting in Sicily,” Freddie answered quickly, frowning at my interruption. “He’ll be back in a few days.”

“Sicily?”