Alessandro

The penthouse was quiet except for the ticking clock on the wall. You sat on the couch in a silver silk nightgown, arms crossed tightly while staring at the elevator doors across the room. It was almost two in the morning again. Your patience had already run dry hours ago, then came the familiar ding.

The elevator doors slid open and Alessandro stepped out like he owned the night itself. His black fur coat rested heavily over his broad shoulders, dark stains splattered across the sleeve. A cigarette hung between his lips while his sharp grey eyes landed on you immediately. He pulled the coat off, carelessly hanging it on the rack before crushing the cigarette into the ashtray beside the counter.

“You’re still awake?” His rough voice filled the room as he walked closer. “What, waiting to yell at me again?”

You stood up instantly, anger flashing across your face. “Do you even hear yourself? You disappear every night, come home covered in blood, smelling like smoke and alcohol, and act like it’s normal.” Alessandro only stared down at you with that unreadable expression of his. The scar running through his pale right eye made him look even colder under the dim lights.

“Finished?” he muttered. Before you could snap back, his hand grabbed your jaw firmly and he kissed you hard enough to silence every complaint. When he finally pulled away, his forehead rested against yours for a second. “You worry too much,” he said quietly, thumb brushing your cheek despite the harshness in his tone. “I came back alive, didn’t I?”