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"Alright then," Julian muttered under his breath, his frustration mounting. The warmth of the sun overhead did little to soothe the chill that had settled over their interaction.
Silence stretched between them once more, the distance between their two souls feeling like an insurmountable chasm. Julian's gaze followed a group of friends as they walked past, their laughter infectious and light-hearted. He yearned for that connection, the warmth of shared experiences that only true companionship could bring.
It was something he'd had with Bear, even if just for a brief time, and it left him feeling hollow in its absence.
I love him, Bear had said back at the mansion. Julian tried not to think about that. It was too much to comprehend, like having to back up to take in a painting by the masters all at once.
He tried to shake off the melancholy that threatened to drag him down, but it clung to him like a second skin. He missed Bear: the gruff exterior that masked a vulnerability rarely seen by others, the way their conversations seemed to spark something within him that he couldn't quite put into words…
And his dick. He definitely missed that, too.
"Watch yourself," Toro warned suddenly, his hand on Julian's arm as he guided him around a group of street performers, their bodies twisting and contorting in ways that both fascinated and unnerved him. The sound of music rushed through the air, mixed by laughter and applause from the gathered crowd.
"Sorry," Julian mumbled, his cheeks heating as he realized he'd allowed himself to become lost in thoughts of Bear once more. He needed to focus on the present, on getting safely through each day with Toro by his side.
Julian stared at the horizon, the setting sun casting long shadows across the bustling city street. He thought about how much he would miss this place when he returned to London, but more importantly, how much he would miss Bear. As the sky above turned shades of pink and orange, he couldn't help but feel a growing sense of despair within him.
He was shaken out of his thoughts by Toro's voice. "Eyes up," he commanded.
"Huh?" Julian looked up.
He might not have been the type of hard bastard that Toro or Bear or Angelo were, but Julian had still grown up in the Toscano family. He was familiar with underworld life enough to know trouble when he saw it.
And he was seeing it now. There was a small group of men standing ahead of them. Unlike the rest of the crowd, these men were clearly not there to shop for bargains or grab a bite to eat at a cute cafe. They eyed Toro and Julian with the simple patience that came before extreme violence.
Toro's eyes narrowed, and his entire demeanor shifted into that of a feral predator, ready to strike. "Stay close," he growled, his hand instinctively reaching for the gun at his hip.
The Toscanos were not exactly model citizens, but they had their etiquette. Angelo and his men didn't carry out raids with civilians around, keeping unintentional harm to a minimum. If they operated clean, only taking out their enemies, they could skirt underneath the radar, claiming the city as theirs without repercussions.
These guys did not seem to be working from the same playbooks. Despite the happy crowd surrounding them, the men reached for their guns.
The atmosphere became charged with tension, thickening like honey as the world slowed down around them. Not letting go of Julian's arm, Toro shifted immediately, dragging him around the corner.
The first shot rang out the instant they did. Julian felt his heart skip a beat, adrenaline coursing through his veins like wildfire. He barely had time to register the crack of the gunshot, or the screaming of the crowds.
"Keep your head down, kid," Toro commanded, his voice low and urgent as he shielded Julian with his body, forcing him to run. "And if I go down, you run like hell, got it?"
"Got it," Julian panted, his chest heaving beneath the solid weight of his bodyguard. As much as he appreciated Toro's efforts to protect him, he couldn't help but feel vulnerable in that moment, longing for the comforting presence of Bear.
Julian's heart pounded in his chest as the cacophony of gunfire and screams filled the air. He stumbled forward, Toro's grip like an iron vice around his arm, guiding him through the chaos. Thick smoke from a car set ablaze obscured their vision, but Toro seemed to know exactly where they needed to go.
"Left!" Toro yelled, yanking Julian down a narrow alleyway, causing him to nearly lose his footing. "Don't stop running!"
They ran until Julian's heart felt like it was going to split apart, his pulse booming in his ears. The screaming of the crowd had been replaced by an oppressive muffled silence; everyone had gone to ground and was holding their breaths, waiting for rescue.
Toro pulled Julian around a corner, darting out to scan the area before jerking back to safety. "Any idea who these charming individuals are?" Julian asked between ragged breaths.
"Does it matter?" Toro snarled, scanning the street for any sign of their attackers. "They want us dead, and that's all we need to know."
"Right, of course," Julian muttered, feeling a pang of vulnerability deep in his chest. It was in moments like these that he missed Bear the most—the reassuring solidity of his presence, the way he made Julian feel protected even when faced with the very real threat of death. He longed to see Bear's granite-like expression soften just for him, to feel the gentle brush of his calloused fingers against his skin in a moment of stolen tenderness.
"Shit, here they come," Toro snarled, snapping Julian out of his reverie. "Get ready to move. You're gonna make a break for it."
"Okay—wait, just me?"
Toro readied his gun, not even looking at him. "They're coming from the right. I'll hold them up, and you get to safety. Run, and keep running."
"Is that really the best plan?" Julian questioned, panic creeping into his voice. "I mean, I'm not exactly the fastest runner on this side of the Atlantic."
