Forbidden Deception (Deception)

40

M y world tilts around me.

If I was foolish for even a second, it would be that moment when Venezia left. Actually, foolishness doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel right now.

I have crashed from the highest skies right into concrete, into the pits of the darkest place on earth.

My scream pierces the dark skies above me as I throw my chair, crashing it into pieces on the ground. My chest heaves, my ears ring, my hands tremble.

I can’t fucking breathe.

Grabbing hold of another chair, I throw it across the living room. It hits a lamp on the wall. Alarms in the house shriek, and red flashes all around from triggering security measures, but I couldn’t care less.

She fucking destroyed me.

Venezia destroyed me.

She used me. She faked everything. She took my love, my care, and my affection and twisted it into something ugly.

She had the nerve to cry, to tell me she would choose me in another lifetime, then listened to me confess my feelings, which probably felt like a joke to her. Something to laugh at.

What the hell even were we? A tragedy? A love story bound to doom?

My front door crashes open, and light filters in, but I remain frozen in place. My knees weaken, and I can’t stop the shaking in my hands, my body, my whole being. I’m fracturing.

“Rafael? What the hell happened here?” Khyros’s voice filters in. The door shuts softly, and silence follows.

“Did you do this? Why?” he calmly asks. He is not the brother who would show up to console someone. He won’t be of any help with this emotion shit.

A hand lands on my shoulder, but I shrug it off, walk over to the sofa, and drop into it.

“Rafael,” he says carefully, slowly.

I cover my face with my hands, taking deep breaths to calm myself down. The sofa dips beside me, and Khyros’s presence surrounds me. His cologne, his quiet. He doesn’t say anything, and he doesn’t need to. I can feel his support like an invisible shield that has always protected all us brothers.

“It’s about Venezia,” he states.

I don’t answer.

“Did she leave you? Or betray you?”

No answer from me.

“I think you should take deep breaths and truly think everything through. Whatever it may be, remember you are a strong man, a powerful one. You don’t need anything or anyone to continue moving forward.”

I drop my hands and lift my face to Khyros. He watches me, his eyes a mirror of my dark ones. The cropped hair and strong body are very similar to mine, though he is trained to be a boxer.

“She’s Remo Cainn’s sister.”

My eyes widen at his words, but he only shrugs, leans back on the couch, and crosses his arms like it’s another normal day.

“I was a bit suspicious of her the day the breach in our security happened. I was making sure the firewall stayed strong even while I was away. I guess Remo did manage to break into the Rafael Gustav’s security-infused home. Also, they look like siblings.”

He rolls his head to me; his eyes, though calm, feel like they are piercing you right where it hurts.

“I didn’t say anything because you truly seemed to care for her. But it seems my worst fear has happened, and she’s left, with your heart and soul in hand.” He reaches for the glass of water on the coffee table and takes a sip.

I am burning here. The blood in my veins feels like poison she injected inside me. I feel like I could die right now and it would hurt less than the way it stung when I realised who she truly was.

“Would you set fire to the world for her? Even knowing who she is?”

When I don’t answer, he turns to me.

A beat of silence follows.

“Would you, Rafael?”

I blink, my jaw ticking when I realise the truth. Fuck yes, I would.

“Are you hurting enough to hurt her back? Do you want her to suffer the way you are right now? Could you bear to see tears in her eyes because of you?”

His words make me fist my hands, and a headache begins throbbing at my temples.

“If yes, then let’s go to London. Let’s go and show her who Rafael Gustav exactly is. Let’s go show her what playing with a monster feels like.” He stands up.

“Sit the fuck down, Khyros,” I grit out, my eyes set on the oak table in front of me.

He sits down without another word. “See? It was an easy choice. Tell me your next steps, and I’ll make it happen.”

I don’t know what I want. I am so conflicted. As per his answer, I can’t even begin to think of hurting her, so how the fuck am I going to move past this?

We sit in silence for God knows how long, and I lose track of time. Khyros doesn’t protest, nor does he complain about it. He just sits there, taking sips of water and giving me patience and time to think things through.

Think what through? I don’t know.

“Cute flowers,” he says, pointing to the freshly cut sunflowers I picked out to give Venezia tomorrow morning.

I want to know why she did what she did and if the feelings were true or not, if being here was all planned to bring me to my knees, as Remo said he would do.

My head falls back on the sofa, eyes on the white ceiling, and my heart throbs painfully inside of me. I gave her everything, and she still decided to choose sides. And I wasn’t the one she chose. She didn’t choose me.

How could I expect her to when she spoke so proudly of her brother? She wouldn’t take my hand even if I had extended it, given her the world, or even let her burn it to the ground and then took the blame for it.

My eyes sting, so I shut them.

She didn’t choose me.

Long brown hair flashes in front of me, eyes that pierce my soul to the point I cannot breathe. She extends her hand to me, a smile on her face that takes my breath away.

“Would you not take my hand, Rafael?” Her voice calls out, and the pain intensifies and hurts like a bitch.

She tilts her head, her hair falling to one side, and she keeps smiling like the sight of me is enough to bring her happiness. I raise my hand, but she vanishes and is now running towards the beach, the wind picking up her hair. She looks over her shoulder at me.

“Rafael, come on! Are you scared of a little water?” She walks into the water, throwing some in my direction with the biggest smile on her face.

“Rafael!”

My eyes snap open to find Khyros in front of me, his mouth twisted.

“That’s fucking enough. What kind of person are you? You’re hurting, yes, but you’re sitting around like a drunken man after a breakup.” He runs a hand through his hair, a glare fixed on me.

I look towards the window. Night has fallen. How long was I out? And why the fuck was I dreaming about her?

“I’m going home now. If I return tomorrow morning, and you haven’t showered or changed your clothes or gone to the office, there will be answers to give Mikko and Eiran.”

Then he’s off.