The De Luca twins were now set for surgery. Mrs. De Luca was sniffling on her husband's shoulder probably lost in deep rumination over what she'd do if either of her sons failed to sustain the separation surgery.

They knew the risks, Dr. Bravucci made sure to tell them not to expect too much from it. But, the family possessed some sort of faith and determination. Italian press was already causing a chaos at St Marko Hospital in Venice.

After being given a nice pep talk, Dr. Brad finally agreed to get this surgery done and over with. "Alright ladies and gentlemen. Everyone knows what to do from here." Bradley announced as soon as anesthesia kicked in.

"Trouble in paradise?" Dr. Brad asked Seth who was working some spinal nerves beside him.

Seth peeked at Bradley over his surgical mask. "What do you mean trouble in paradise?" He wasn't stupid, of course he knew exactly what Dr. Brad meant. Seth just didn't want to get into unnecessary gritty boy drama talk.

It had been a week since Dr. Bravucci made any form of contact with Seth since their last frictional lunch. Leonardo made it a point not to chase after Seth like he did the last time. Someone had to be the grown up in this whole  situationship.

The resident had slipped back to his stubbornness and that piqued Leonardo. It was like taking a step forward and Seth would always make sure to drag them both two gigantic steps backwards. It was so frustrating.

Dr. Brad eyed Seth, ensuring to focus more on the vital task at hand. "Make sure you won't lose him completely."

"I—" Seth was speechless. He figured there was nothing to say so he drifted into silence. It was easier that way.

Seth took a fleeting glance at Leonardo monitoring heartbeat throughout surgery in both twin A and twin B. Seth missed him so much. He missed the way his slightly rough hands would feel on his skin and the way he'd bring him to a world of inner peace after sharing some intimate moments. He couldn't resist him, not that he wanted to. Seth liked the guy more than he ever wanted to admit.

"The vessels are more fragile compared to the model." Noted Dr. Brad, fishing Seth from his reverie. Suddenly there was a lot of bleeding.

I told you this was a bad idea. Bradley thought to himself but it was already water under the bridge.

No reverse deals.

The OR was tense, the surgery was getting more complicated with each and every passing second.

"How about finishing off with a microvascular bypass?" Seth suggested. Everyone in the room remained eerily silent, curious eyes fixated on him. "I mean, we can harvest the saphenous vein, right?"

"There should be another simpler way," One of the senior attending surgeons was doubting Seth's approach. "We just have to think."

"I need a decision now." The chief of surgery, Dr. Bravucci announced. There was literally no time to think. "If you don't have any other approach we're taking Dr. Mickelson's route."

Dr. Brad nodded at Seth signaling it's a go.

The saphenous graft was now secured in place then they removed the clamps. They were now waiting for the moment of truth. Seth was handling the nerve stimulator and it took a while for them to notice any reaction. To be honest, Seth wished he hadn't advocated for this particular surgery. Muscles however twitched in both twins' limbs, meaning there was absence of paralysis.

The whole room erupted into applauses. People hugged and the highly emotional ones shedding one or two tears. It was indeed a joyful moment.

"That's why I appointed you chief of residents and not because you were sucking my dick and bending over for me, asshole."

Seth involuntary shuddered at Leonardo's sudden close proximity and monochromatic voice.

"Leo..." his voice was a mere breeze. The man was helium in a windstorm, just like that he was gone. Seth watched the guy shaking hands with other surgeons as he left the OR.

. . .

Seth strolled on Leonardo's private suite's rooftop, he immediately spotted him lying beside a pristine pool. His body was glistening with beads of water, remnants of a nice evening swim. The man somehow managed to impersonate an aqua god of some sorts, lying there with only an aquamarine towel draped over his lower front. Seth thought he was simply enthralling, he could've passed off as an angel if not for his prospective sullen glare.

Seth was meddling with Leonardo's me time.

"The man of the hour," Seth said. The Italian noticed a bottle Rosé wrapped around Seth's fingers. Interesting. "Congratulations chief, I figured we could make a toast."

There was a tiny smile on Leonardo's face. "Are you not supposed to be toasting with the others? I'm sure there was a party arranged specifically for that."

Seth's lip corners ascended into a smile of his own. "If I'm being honest? I'd rather spend this night with you."

"I thought you were upset with me." Leonardo cocked Seth an incredulous brow eliciting a sigh from him. "Finally done being a teenager?"

"I like earning my keep," Seth explained, ignoring the obvious jab as he ambled to sit right next to Leonardo. He dipped his feet into the pool. The water felt nice on his skin. "I hate it when things are just handed over to me. You know what I mean?"

Leonardo slowly nodded, keeping Seth's gaze locked on to his. "I worked so hard to be where I am now. And when I got the intuition of you promoting me just because I was..." Seth trailed.

"Sucking my dick and bending over for me." Leonardo finished for him dryly.

"Yes, that. I felt so—unworthy and dirty. I know my first impression with you in the OR wasn't the best but..."

"Seth, look at me baby." Leonardo grabbed the resident's chin, forcing him to maintain eye contact. "I meant it, when I said you're a good resident. I shouldn't have paged you that day. Hell, I knew you didn't scrub in for cardio anymore but I still paged you anyway. Never ever doubt your capabilities, you hear me? Not even I can stop you from being a kickass surgeon."

"I slashed a glove when I was an intern and I thought my nail nicked a patient's artery. I kept it from my attending." Seth chuckled humorlessly. "I was scared."

Leonardo kept his thoughts to himself so Seth continued. "I got so paranoid I even offered to stay the whole night monitoring the patient after surgery but later on during the night, something went wrong. They took her back into surgery then I figured out I had to come clean. Surprisingly I hadn't nicked any vessel, it was something totally different, nothing to do with me popping a glove during surgery but since then, I've always distanced myself from cardio. The patient, she didn't make it."

"You want me to tell you a secret?" Seth liked it whenever Leonardo lowered his voice into whispering decibels. It always made him feel some type of good.

"Try me."

"During residency I dropped a donor heart. It slipped out of my hands and guess how long this patient was waiting on a transplant list?" Leonardo shook his head. "But, I learnt from my mistakes. That never stopped me from thriving and here I am, a damn good cardiothoracic surgeon if I can say so myself. Even great doctors make mistakes, we're only human after all."

"I just want to be mentioned amongst the greatest surgeons alive you know?" Mumbled Seth.

Leonardo squeezed his thigh. "You can be whatever you want. Trust me."

"So, shall we?" Seth swiftly changed the topic. "Make a toast to Antonio and Elio De Luca?" It was good talk.

"Let's do it."

Leonardo watched as Seth eased the cork slowly and gently, there was no need for champagne drama.

"To Antonio and Elio." Seth raised his filled glass and Leonardo mimicked his action. They clinked their glasses together declaring, "Cheers!"

"Why didn't you go to the party?" Seth probed while taking a sip on his champagne.

"Not exactly my scene," Leonardo shrugged. "Besides, I needed my rest."

"Am I not interrupting your rest?" Seth took another swig from his tulip, carefully eyeing Leonardo's reaction. "I can always leave you to it."

"But you don't want to leave." Leonardo mentioned as a matter of fact with a smug smirk showing on his gorgeous face. "Plus I want you here, with me."

Seth swallowed thin air, he stared into those pools of devouring ink and the depth of feelings being reflected inside were pulling him in. "You're so perfect."

"You just had one glass of champagne for God's sake." Leonardo chuckled.

"It has nothing to do with alcohol," Seth was absolutely conscious of his words. "You're so fucking perfect, beautiful even."

Leonardo pulled the resident's down to his level and captured his soft lips in a kiss that liquefied both their spines and in a matter of minutes the resident had lost his clothes. Seth went on to straddle Leonardo's waist, tugging the towel hiding his impressive bulge off of him. Leonardo gasped at the bare contact of their erections. Seth started grinding away.

"Don't move just yet." It sounded like a broken plea. Leonardo thought he was going to lose it.

Then the Italian secured his hands around Seth's hips, giving himself tiny bit of leverage. He needed to hold on to something. Seth knew Leonardo's neck was a magnificent erogenous zone for him and he delved right there. He tormented that sweet spot until the man was muttering profanities.

"Seth—"

Seth loved it whenever Leonardo fell apart. When he lost control. It was the most erotic, titillating and enticing scene ever.

Not today.

Leonardo unexpectedly shifted their positions bringing himself on top. Leonardo had somehow managed to regain his lost senses then he leaned down to kiss Seth. He couldn't hold back now, sucking those lush lips like he owned them. Oh boy Seth kissed him back with fervor, like his whole life depended on it.

"God, what are you doing to me?" Seth breathed heavily when Leonardo finally freed his mouth. Hell, he desperately needed to breathe.

"It's Leo, not God." The Italian doctor drawled. Seth wrapped his legs around Leonardo to keep him tightly secured. He couldn't lose him.

When Seth felt Leonardo grinding his hard cock against his equally aroused one he was totally blown away.

Not even a word came out of Seth's mouth, all he could do was just stare at the man who managed to rack his mind with pure insanity. The intimacy and sensuality of their cocks dribbling with loads of precum moving against each other did not do the word ecstasy any justice. This was beyond reasonable pleasure, so incredible Seth thought he was going to end up in a sensory overload coma.

Leonardo let his hot breath caress the crook of Seth's neck, his wandering hands tangling inside the younger man's dark hair. He tugged on Seth's hair a bit earning himself a low moan. Leonardo's thrusts instantly gained momentum.

Seth went wild.

"Suck on my fingers." Seth's voice sounded rough. His eyes locked into the depths of never ending obsidian.

When Seth saw Leonardo's tongue flicking on his fingers getting them all slick and wet, his cock twitched violently. Leonardo hadn't stopped with the dick on dick humping and thrusting which made it even much more intense. Seth withdrew his well slicked fingers and directed them towards Leonardo's ass, then he rubbed a single pad on the entrance before sliding inside.

"Seth!" Leonardo almost forgot what he was doing and where exactly he was.

The thought of having Seth deep inside of him terrified him but damn, it felt so good he almost begged Seth to take him. He never let anyone do that to him. Leonardo was only comfortable being the one in total control of any sexual activity, he called the shots but Seth always made him throw all that composure overboard with just one touch.

Leonardo thought he was going to pass out from such a spiraling hot experience. Seth added another finger inside, thrusting as deep as he could reach. His fingers grazed a certain spot inside wrapped with phenomenal sensitivity. Each time he grazed that percussion center he drove Leonardo at the brink of a frenzy.

"Oh fu—I'm gonna come, Seth!"

"Let me see you lose your mind." Seth could feel his own orgasm unfolding deep inside of him.

Leonardo captured Seth's lips mostly to muffle his own euphoric cries. It was absolutely ferocious, his body bucking helplessly against Seth's heated body.

"Damn that's so hot." Seth just had to acknowledge. "You look so sexy when you unravel."

The Italian doctor was literally breathless. "Have you seen yourself lately?"

Leonardo took them both then he jerked them off in unison with such a feral urgency that curled Seth's toes. Sharp flares of sensation scrambled inside of him forcing Seth to throw his head back in a blissed out abandonment.

"Leo!" Seth was so close. Too close and he tried to fight it. He didn't want to give up the feeling of paradise just yet.

Leonardo took Seth's earlobe then he sucked on it. The hand jerking their erections never eased on the furious pace. "Fuuuck! I can't—ugh Leo!" Seth cried out as he dissolved into a puddle of never ending rapture.

"I don't know what this was." Leonardo whispered as soon as he released Seth's lobe from his mouth. "Are you okay?" He proceeded to ask a bedazzled Seth.

The resident looked so far away and lost in wonderment. His eyes only blinked proving that he was still alive. Leonardo planted kisses on his temple and face. A soft moan eluded him when he felt Seth starting to pull out his fingers from his channel.

"Come with me to Milan." Leonardo said, rolling off of Seth. "It's grape harvesting season and I want to feed them to you straight from the vineyard just for me to see the juice dribbling from your lips down to your chin. You'd like that, won't you?"

Seth was still shaky and high from his climax, damn you Leonardo that kind of talk was making him hard all over again. "Do I have a choice?" Seth asked, fighting the urge to touch him.

"No you don't," Leonardo pulled Seth close to his chest. "Is that a yes?"

"Yes."

"Now let's go take a shower, we're all sticky and sweaty." Leonardo said making Seth chuckle softly.

"Go on, I still need a moment to feel my legs."

"No need." Leonardo said. "I'll carry you."

"Do it and die." Seth threatened.

"Mmm I'll take my chances."