Page 312 of Alessio

He straightened a bit, stuffing his hands into his pockets at the same time. “I—”

“No, no, no,” the other man murmured quickly, stepping down from the desk in one fluid movement, like his entire body was made of water, and he moved like it, too. “No, I don’t want to hear you talk, unless you’re going to say something I want to hear.”

Corrado eyed that knife in Alessio’s hand. “You going to put that away, or …?”

That was a low blow.

Even Corrado knew it.

Alessio’s jaw twitched, and he flipped the blade around in his palm without even looking at the weapon. “Fuck you. Like I would ever—”

“I didn’t say you would. I asked if you were going to put it away.”

Without a word, Alessio snapped the switchblade closed, and pocketed the weapon. He didn’t acknowledge he did it other than to raise his brow at Corrado like he was saying, better?

“I made a trip to New York, yeah,” Alessio said, taking one step closer to Corrado, but coming no further than that, “worried about you—because that’s what I fucking do, Corrado. I worry about you. I think about you.”

He sucked in a heavy breath but kept quiet. It wasn’t like he needed to be told to shut his fucking mouth right now. He could tell what Alessio wanted, which was to get shit off his chest, and then maybe he’d be willing to let Corrado talk.

But who knew for sure?

“And what do you do, huh?” Alessio asked.

“I fucked up.”

“Right.” Alessio glanced away, staring out the one bay window in the office that currently overlooked a darkening sky and a city that was still awake. “Do you wanna know why I picked this room?”

“Because you always liked it.”

“Not even close.”

“Then, why?”

“Because there’s only one goddamn room in this penthouse that you’ll sleep in, and if you’re fucking her, that’s where you’re doing it, Corrado.”

He didn’t reply.

Alessio’s gaze cut back to him fast. “You won’t even deny it, then?”

“Would you believe me if I did?”

“What—”

“I haven’t slept with her,” Corrado interjected fast. That, he wanted clear. “Yeah, I crossed a line. Yeah, I broke those fucking rules. And yeah, I got too close, and I didn’t let you know from the start like I should have, but I didn’t fuck her.”

Alessio made a noise under his breath.

Dark.

And oh, so painful.

It cut Corrado deep. That one sound could have been a knife driving into his chest because he felt that. He felt that betrayal swimming in Alessio’s mind, and heart. Felt it like nothing else, but it was done now.

He couldn’t change it now.

“But you want to,” Alessio said. “You’ve wanted to.”

“Les—”