FIVE'S POV

Would you be so kind as not to kick the door of my car?" I teased as Y/n exited the vehicle, kicking the door shut.

I found it quite amusing.

I strolled around to the other side of the car. My gaze set on her. The veins in her temples pulsated in anger. She crossed her arms, shooting me a vicious glace. But all I could focus on was her beauty. In that red gown dress, she looked like a manifestation of my most sinful desires.

"Where are we even?" she snarled.

I looked around the tranquil setting, surrounded by nothing but the trees. "Far from the city, so we could talk."

A heavy exhale escaped her mouth as she leaned against the car. Her head shook, and she ran her hands through her hair before her arms crossed again. I felt my own veins pulsating. She was here. Right in front of me. The woman who had been the constant source of my insanity for the past four goddamn years.

"Now enlighten me, Y/n. What the fuck is going on here?" I scanned the gorgeous face that I had been missing so fucking badly, hoping she would say that it all was just a bad joke.

No reply.

She stared blankly at me, trying to play a bad bitch we both knew she wasn't. I grew sick of the games. All I wanted were answers.

I rested my hand on the car frame she was leaning against. Our gazes locked, and I slowly leaned down. Her breath became heavier and rugged.

"First, you make me think you died in a car crash," I hissed, my tone darker than intended. "Then, you vanish for four years. But that's still not enough. You show up at my family's charity event as if nothing happened, announcing you're engaged? To my fucking brother? Are you serious, Y/n?"

Her eyes flitted back and forth between mine. Her lips pulled together. "Yes. I am serious, Five."

My eyes shut for a second. My teeth gritted involuntarily. The palm I held to brace myself against the car clenched into a fist. I tried to repress the pain building inside me to the point where I was on the verge of erupting like a volcano. But before everything else, I was fighting back the urge to kiss her.

Fuck.

I'd been craving her lips so fucking badly.

"That's all you have to say?" I set my gaze back on her, my tone low.

She shrugged her arms casually. "Pretty much, yeah." As if the sight of me and our conversation meant nothing to her.

"So I meant nothing to you?"

God knows how scared I was of her answer, but I couldn't help it. I had to know. I had to hear it from her. And her herself.

Y/n's gaze dropped for a moment as if she wanted to avoid the answer. Then our gazes locked again. "You did mean something to me, Five," she murmured almost in a whisper, her eyes were glassy from tears. "I loved you."

"Loved?"

She bit her lower lip nervously, her brow arched fleetingly for a fraction of a second as she shook her head slightly. "Loved," she repeated. "The old me, the old Y/n, loved you so fucking much, Five. But you wanted her death, remember?" Her voice was full of pain.

"Y/n—"

"Remember?" she stressed; her tone raised.

I could see how badly she was trying to hold back the tears in her eyes, but she couldn't.

A tear dropped down her cheek, sinking into the fabric of her dress. "I made that happen. She's gone." Her voice was barely above a whisper. She briskly dabbed the corner of her eye, inhaling deeply. "Old Y/n is gone, Five. At your own request. And for the new one? Yeah, you mean nothing."

I'd never seen so much hatred in her eyes before.

"You heard what you wanted. Now drive me back to Diego. He must be going nuts." She turned to open the car door, but I didn't let her. I gently pushed her back against the car frame, still keeping her hostage in between my arms.

Every muscle in me tensed. The thought of Y/n with Diego made the blood in my veins boil. I hadn't stopped questioning whether this farce
was for real. I knew Diego would go for something as nefarious as this to get under my skin. He knew my weak spot, and he'd hit it. The mere thought of him having her drove me to the edge of insanity. But Y/n? What was in it for her? Why would she pretend to be with my brother? Or perhaps, she was really in love with him.

"You think you were the only one suffering?" The volcano erupted. The pain accumulated within me and all the years started flowing out of me like molten, destructive lava. "You have no idea what I went through after you vanished."

She didn't speak, but her lips trembled. Her gaze roved all over my face.

Fuck, even now, she seemed so gorgeous. Her skin was glowing under the fluorescent moonlight. Her waves brushed by the chilly air. And that dress again. It enhanced her petite frame in all the best ways.

She looked like a stunning and strong queen. At the same time, so fragile and vulnerable. Broken.

"You never gave me a chance to explain," I whispered through the pain I was sure we both shared. "I never wanted your death."

She let out a scoff, and her gaze wandered off into the distant trees.

"Y/n." I softly ran my fingers along her cheek. Her skin was so delicate. It felt surreal. Feeling her tender skin beneath my fingertips again. "I genuinely fell in love with you. To the point where I was ready to give up on my family, my life, or anything else, for that matter, for you. I was willing to fight against the whole world for you again, Y/n."

Y/n inhaled deeply, still averting her gaze. Her eyes closed. I could see how hard it was for her to steady her breath, hold back her tears, her emotions.

I backed away, allowing her the space I knew she needed. It might've been three years, but I could still read her body language and sense her feelings. "I know I made a mistake. I should've told you the truth earlier," I conceded. "I know I fucked up. But trust me, I've regretted that every single fucking day."

"You may say whatever you want, Five." She snapped back, locking her eyes onto mine, her tone filled with disdain. "But it won't work this time, and you know why?"

My head cocked. My eyes combed her face, inch by inch, searching for an ounce of the love we once shared.

"Because I am with Diego now, and this feeling is real."

Her voice cut deep like a knife, and she pushed the knife even deeper.

"Unlike with us, the feeling I share with Diego
was born slowly. Gradually.

It's not just a wild physical attraction as it was with you," she spat.

"Wild physical attraction, huh?" A glimmer of amusement sparked my eyes. I didn't believe a single word coming out of her mouth. Maybe I was twisted, but she didn't convince me. I slowly moved closer again, trapping her between my arms and the car behind me. Her chest was moving up and down slowly, heavily. Her gaze was on my lips. Our breaths meshed.

"Yes." She trembled, and so did her voice. She cast her eyes up to meet mine. "It was just a blinding passion. It all happened too fast. Something as intense as this could never have worked out anyway."

"So you've never loved me?" I ran my fingers down her arm, feeling her bare skin through the illusion fabric of her sleeves. Her body quivered, and her breath was ragged. "You no longer have any feelings for me?"

"No." Her voice cracked. "I don't. I am in love with your brother."

"Liar," I whispered against her lips, leaning even closer.

I was pretty damn sure she was lying. Judging by the way her eyes flickered back and forth between mine, her pupils dilating, her chest heavily moving up and down. I'd studied this woman through every single minute we'd shared, and I knew when she was lying. She still loved me. I could tell. She might've tried to bury that feeling somewhere in the abyss of her heart, but it was still there. Alive.

"I'm not." She cleared her throat. "I'm not a liar. The bond I have with Diego is different from what we had. It feels right when I'm with him. In between his arms. Making love to him." Her gaze bore into mine as if waiting for my reaction.

My lips curled up in a smirk, and I rested my forehead onto hers. My hand slid over the back of her neck, stroking the softness of her skin with my thumb. "Is that so?"  

"M-hm," she barely managed, her gaze dropped to my lips.

"Then why does your body tremble like this when I touch you?" I felt goosebumps rise on her skin underneath my fingertips. I grasped her chin and tilted her head back. Her eyes locked onto mine again, her lips parted involuntarily. "Shouldn't it be your fiancée making you feel like this?"

Her body quivered. Her eyes flickered between my lips and eyes. Eyes that I devoured her with. I slid my hand to the back of her head, pulling her even closer so that my lips brushed against hers as I spoke, "And not his brother instead?"

She gasped. I wasn't sure whether it was a scoff or a sigh of resisting temptation. "He does." She hardly swallowed, her voice full of longing. Even she didn't believe her own words. She shook her head, taking a deep breath as if gasping for air, swirling out of my embrace.

I watched her walk away from me as if she needed to maintain a safe distance. Her hand ran through her hair. A heavy sigh escaped her lungs before she turned to face me. Her eyes flickered between mine for a moment as if searching for some clue, as if she was trying to figure something out, figure me out.

"I'm shivering because I'm scared of you. How can I be sure you didn't bring me here to accomplish your task? Kill me."

"You're not scared of me." I shook my head, grazing my teeth over my lips that still held the tantalizing taste of her. "You never were. Even when I showed you my darkest side." I took steady steps toward her, never breaking eye contact. As I reached her, I hovered over her, and she looked up into my eyes. "You're always known you were safe with me.

Y/n stepped back as if trying to keep a distance. As if being this close to me would breach an imperceptible boundary she set to resist the undeniable lust between us. But it wasn't just lust. Lust alone couldn't be this strong. It was lust blending with love and love blending with lust. A mix of the two most dangerous feelings.

"See you around, brother-in-law." She quickly trotted toward the car.

The next thing I knew, she drove away, leaving behind the smell of gasoline and burnt tires and the lust lingering in the air.

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Question Of The Day:

"What is your birthdays? And if you're not comfortable answer, that's all okay :)

Mine: I'm a October 3rd!! I'm so upset I wasn't born on the first of October like the Umbrellas!! But it's still close 🖤

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Words Written:
1977