"The grumpy ones." He nods. "They're attracted to me because I'm serious. Formal. I don't laugh at their complaints or try to cheer them up. I just... exist beside their misery. And for a while, that works. Then they realize I'm not going to fix them, and they leave. Or I realize I can't stand another dinner of listening to everything wrong with the world, and I leave."
"That sounds exhausting."
"It is." He pushes off from the tree, pacing a few steps before turning back to face me. "So I stopped trying. I have my work.My duty to the family. I don't need a woman complicating things."
"You like being alone."
The words come out flat. A statement, not a question.
Valentino meets my gaze. "Yes."
"No, you don't."
His expression flickers. Just for a moment. A crack in the stoic facade.
"Hey—"
"Loneliness is a drug." I step closer to him, my voice soft but firm. "I know because I've been taking it for two years. It gives you this instant relief. No one to disappoint. No one to lose. No one to hurt you. Just you and your walls and your work and your carefully controlled existence."
Valentino goes very still.
"It feels safe," I continue. "It feels like protection. Like armor. But it's poison, Valentino. Slow-acting poison that kills you from the inside while you're too numb to notice."
"Okay, this was a mistake." He says, pushing me to walk toward the house again.
"Oh, you don’t like hearing the truth, cousin?"
"Not at all. Thanks, but no. Ciao Vittoria!" He smirks and moves away from me.
"You owe me 50 bucks for therapy." I yell at him and he laughs.
Dmitri
Three days.
Seventy-two hours since I've touched her. Held her. Breathed in the scent of her hair.
I check my watch for the fourth time in ten minutes. 7:52 PM.
The restaurant sits empty around me. Every table cleared of other reservations. Every chair pushed in with military precision. The staff hovers near the kitchen, waiting for my signal.
Tsuki to Umi.
I owed her this dinner. The night my father's condition worsened, I'd promised to bring her here. To her favorite restaurant.
Tonight, I fix that.
My phone buzzes. Yuri.
Arriving in two minutes.
I stand, adjusting my jacket. Black suit. No tie. The way she looked at me at the theater when I loosened my collar. I want that look again.
The front door opens.
Vittoria steps inside, and my chest tightens the way it always does when I see her. She's wearing a deep green dress. She's so beautiful.
Her eyes sweep the empty restaurant.
