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      "I don't need your forgiveness, nor does Claudio. But the only thing I am asking from you is to kill Antonio," Elizabeth tells us, wiping the tears that have stained her cheeks earlier.

     The whole room was silent.

    Elizabeth has finally told us her reason, and I could see in Romeo's eyes that he is as confused as he was when he saw Elizabeth "murder" his father years ago.

     "My plans of killing Antonio will not change," Romeo finally says.

     He hasn't said anything since earlier that I was starting to get a little concerned. Thankfully he finally said something.

     "There are a lot of things that I still have to plan, and a lot of things that I still have to think about. But for now, I want to rest," he continues, suddenly standing up from his seat.

     Elizabeth looks at him, but she doesn't stand like how his men would usually do.

     "You do not need my forgiveness? Good...because I don't think I can give it to you for now," Romeo coldly says, but I knew that in his heart he felt something for his mother, maybe something close to pity.

     "Mathias, if you may...please escort Ms. Elizabeth to a room where she could rest. Then go check on the men and see how many other men they have already killed," Romeo instructed.

     Mathias nods his head and puts his hand in his chest, "Yes Don Romeo."

     Elizabeth finally stands up as Mathias gestured for the door.

     She looks at his son for the last time, like he was going to say something, but she decides not to and just leaves the room with Mathias.

      When Romeo and I were finally alone, I slowly reached out for his shoulder and touched it.

      Romeo doesn't say anything or does anything. He doesn't even look at me.

      I took a deep breath, feeling the pain and the hurt Romeo was feeling now.

      I knew what I felt now was nothing compared to what Romeo might be feeling. But seeing him so exhausted made my heart ache so much.

      He was physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted, and I couldn't do anything about it.

      He looked even a little older now compared to the time he was still just chairman Val.

      It made me feel that this isn't the Romeo that I've met before. He was like the Romeo that the people in this household knew, the version of him that I was not able to witness...not until now.

     "How many secrets are left?" Romeo finally asks me.

     I don't say anything so he continued, "About my uncle, about President King, about the real death of my father...about everything else. How many more secrets are left?"

     Romeo finally turns around to face me, my heart immediately breaking as I saw tears in his eyes.

     I don't say anything and just moved forward to hug him. Leaning my head on his chest as I draped my arms around his neck. Hoping that my comfort can somehow ease him, even for a little.

     Romeo lowers his head and continues to shed tears.

     Then, he drape his arms around me and finally hugs me tightly.

     "I honestly don't know what I'm supposed to do," Romeo says as he continues to hug me tightly.

     "Whatever you decide on Romeo, I will be by your side, no matter what. Okay?" I reminded him, making him nod his head as an understanding.

     I slowly pushed him away from me and looked straight at his deadly gray eyes.

     I wipe his tears away with my thumb and gently kissed his lips.

     Romeo doesn't pull me in like how he always does, and I was glad because I honestly didn't want him to.

     "Go ahead and rest, I'll join you at your room as soon I finish talking to my brother," I tell him.

     Romeo looked like he was going to protest. Like he didn't want me to leave his side since the whole house was in chaos. But Romeo was too tired to fight, so he just nodded his head in defeat.

     He takes my hand and suddenly kisses it before leaving the office.

     When Romeo closed the door, I slowly backed away and sat down.

     Then, the tears that I have been trying so hard to hide, finally comes out of my eyes.

     Because just like Romeo...

     I too was completely...

     Physically...

     Mentally...

     And emotionally exhausted...

*****

     "So that's the reason why I've been hearing gunshots," Jiyong tells me with a serious tone.

      I knew he needed to rest, but it's best if I update him on the things that happened today.

      "It's chaos," I answered him. Then I sighed and sat on the chair beside his bed, "Makes our own house look much better doesn't it," I jokingly say, making Jiyong chuckle.

     "Yeah, it does," Jiyong simply answered.

     I looked down at my brother and once again saw the bruises on his arm. My anger over Antonio grew even more by just seeing it.

     "I've been hearing from downstairs that most of Romeo's men escaped the household to join Antonio earlier. The only ones left here are the men who are loyal to him, and I'm here to say that it's not as many as you might expect," I tell my brother.

     Jiyong shakes his head, like it wasn't a big deal at all, "Numbers are just numbers. But loyalty is irreplaceable. We should be glad that some are even loyal to him to begin with," Jiyong explains.

     "There are times Romeo proved his worth as godfather. But that wasn't enough for some of the Valentino men because they were more blinded by the power Antonio promised them."

     Jiyong takes a deep breath and looked out the window, "It will only be a matter of time before real chaos starts."

     "Will you be safe here?" I asked him. Then Jiyong quickly looks back at me and glares at me, like I just insulted him.

     "You expect me to just stay here as I watch my men fight off the man who I desperately want to kill?" Jiyong angrily asked me.

     "Brother, you are obviously not in the right condition to fight. You've been chained up for days. Do you expect me to just let you-"

     Jiyong suddenly cuts me off and persistently says, "Exactly! I've been chained up for days! Which is why I need to be beside my men and let them know that their hardship in keeping me alive was not a mistake."

     I sighed and finally nodded my head, "Alright, I understand. But I don't want you dying out there."

     Jiyong finally cools down. He looks at me and gives out a small smile, "Oh don't worry little brother. Dying is one of my weaknesses."

     It was my turn to chuckle.

     But when I remembered the past, the smile on my face vanished, and I immediately took Jiyong's hand and said, "I'm so glad you're alive Jiyong. I'm sorry if I-"

     "No, Julien it's okay. This wasn't your fault," he says, but I shake my head and continued, "No...I'm apologizing because...I never really treated you like a brother. I saw you as another person who I had to tolerate. A person who was like everyone else, forcing me to do this and that; not even thinking of what I'm going through. But in reality, you were thinking of what I've been going through. You've been behind me, cleaning the mess. So I'm sorry...if I was a troublesome brother."

     Jiyong smiles again. He looks at me and hesitates, but when he finally had the guts, he pulls his hand away from mine and suddenly pats my head, startling me.

     "The only thing you should be sorry about is the fact that you're sorry about such things," Jiyong says.

     The warmth of his hand suddenly made me feel teary.

     Romeo had comforted me before, but a comfort from your actual brother was somehow warmer than how I expected.

     "And you are troublesome, but trouble already runs in our blood so it's okay," Jiyong jokes again, making me quickly push his hand away from me.

     He laughs. Then he holds my hand this time as he continued, "The best thing that ever happened to our family was you, so there is nothing you should be sorry about, do you understand?"

     I tried my best not to shed actual tears in front of my brother. So I quickly blinked and nodded my head as an answer.

     Then, I pulled my hand away and stood up from the seat.

     "You should rest now so you could join us at the meeting tomorrow. War is about to begin, and Romeo needs all the advices he could get," I tell him, and my brother nods his head.

     "Good night," I say before leaving the room.

     Outside his room were at least four soldiers. I quickly looked at them and innocently smiled, "Thank you so much for protecting my brother. I know it's going to be too much for me to ask this to you, but if you try to do anything to him, I will shoot your heads before you could even run away. Don't even test me because I'm proven to be a very good shooter."

     The soldiers flinched, then they immediately nodded their heads as an understanding.

     I continued to smile as I patted one of the men's shoulders, "Thank you. I have witnessed too much betrayal today that I don't think I could stomach another one."

     Before anyone could even ask anything, I started walking away.

     The warning wasn't necessary since my brother could easily kill them even at his state. But still, it's better to be cautious now.

     Especially NOW.

     "Sir Julien," a familiar soldier suddenly greeted me when I arrived in front of our room.

     "Do you need anything?" I asked as I approached him.

     The soldier nods his head and says, "I was about to report to Don Romeo about the number of men who we have killed."

     "How many?" I asked, and surprisingly, he answered me, "The board members were able to give us names. A lot were able to escape the household, but we were able to execute at least 20 of them."

     I nodded my head and stared at him.

     When I stared at him longer, I finally remembered him as the man who thanked me since Romeo rescued his brother before.

     "And your brother?" I asked, startling him.

     "He is unharmed...thankfully," he says, actually relieved about it too.

     "That's good. Well Romeo is resting, I'll tell him about the report myself. Thank you," I say, and then the man gives me a quick bow before leaving.

     A whole capo is being tortured (Well most of them). Twenty soldiers were already killed, and who knows how many other men escaped.

     I took a deep breath and brushed the thought away.

     I know it's not the right time to rest, but I think it's okay to just forget about all this, even for a few hours.

     Antonio is injured thanks to Jiyong's men, so I'm pretty sure he also needs time to recover.

     I took a deep breath again before finally opening the door to our room.

     "Romeo?" I called out when I closed the door behind me, but no one answered.

     "Romeo?" I called out again.

     I was about to go to the balcony when I suddenly heard a splash from inside the bathroom.

     I sighed from relief and knocked on the bathroom door.

    Romeo never told me to knock whenever he's in the bathroom. But I feel like I'm breaching his privacy if I just barge inside while he takes a bath. The only time I'd seen him fully naked is when we have sex, which was not so long ago. And in all honestly, the first time we made love was the last time too.

     Romeo never really stripped in front of me before, which was why I never noticed the tattoo on his back.

     "Come in," he finally answers.

     I opened the door and saw Romeo sitting on the bathtub.

     He was obviously completely naked, and I clearly knew that this was not the right time to blush, especially since Romeo had seen me naked countless of times now. I was even naked on our first meeting too!

     "Did you talk to your brother?" he suddenly asked me, his eyes still closed, like he was really relaxing himself.

     "Yes, and just by looking at him I could see that he's looking much better," I answered as I closed the door.

     "I'm glad," Romeo says, finally opening his eyes to look at me.

     He stares at me, like how he usually stares at me before, "Join me?" he suddenly asked, making me flinch.

     "Join you?" I asked, like I just heard him wrong.

     Romeo has helped me take a bath before, but it was never the other way around, so I'm a little surprised.

     "Are you embarrassed now? Now that we have actually become one?" he embarrassingly asked me, making me blush again. I knew Romeo really didn't intend to make me blush with what he just said, but he smirked when he saw my reaction.

     "Aren't you tired?" I asked, still stalling.

     "Exhausted," he quickly answered. Then he moved a little, like he was giving space for me so we could both fit in the tub.

     "Which is why I need my boyfriend beside me to relax," he tells me.

     And I never had thought that I'd ever witness the day that Romeo would actually ask me to join him in his bath. His bath session is like the most sacred thing to him.

     "Are you sure?" I shyly asked.

     Romeo weakly smiled. Then he playfully gestures on the space in between his legs. He was obviously really tired, but he still did his best to somehow flirt with me.

     "Alright then," I finally answered, slowly walking towards him.

     Romeo intensely watches me as I took off my shirt first, revealing the tattoos that somehow made me feel like I was still wearing something.

     When I was now completely naked, I dipped my feet inside the tub. I took a deep breath, relieved that the water wasn't as cold as I thought.

     I don't look at Romeo and finally sat in between his legs, my back quickly touching Romeo's hard chest.

     Romeo doesn't say anything and just leans forward to kiss my shoulder, immediately making me close my eyes from the sensation.

      "Your body still mesmerizes me, even until now," Romeo whispered against my ear.

     I couldn't help but lean against him; my body now relaxing on his.

     Romeo lowly chuckles and said, "I told you this will be relaxing."

     I was going to say something but Romeo suddenly kisses my neck. He wraps his arms around my body, then his hand suddenly grips on my manhood.

     The contact immediately made me gasp.

     "Squeezing this makes me feel much better than squeezing my stress ball," Romeo suddenly tells me.

     "Romeo...n-not here..."

     Romeo ignores me and squeezes it tighter.

     I reached out for his hand and buried my nails on his skin; finally making Romeo quickly released himself from me.

     "I'm sorry," he says as he embraces my waist and rests his chin on my shoulder, "I haven't touched you in a long time. I couldn't help it," he suddenly tells me, making me stupidly blush again.

     I wanted to say something, but I kept quiet and just relaxed instead.

     Romeo did the same as he closed his eyes to relax as well.

      We stayed like that for a couple of minutes.

     It was quick, but it felt like it was hours, and it was only Romeo and I. Everyone inside the household didn't exist, and the thought of just being the two of us made me feel so happy.

     Just Romeo and I.

     Without the killings, without the gangs and mafias, and without the chaos.

     Just the two of us.

     "Let's finish it up so we could sleep," Romeo suddenly says, standing up first.

     He goes out of the bathtub and shows me his hand. And like a princess, I reached out for him and stood up as well.

     He doesn't let go of my hand as we walked towards the shower area.

     We went inside the small space, and then he turns the shower on, the cold water surprising me.

     Romeo and I were facing each other.

     He stares at me as I stared back at him. And without any warning, Romeo pushes me against the wall and starts devouring my lips, but this time, I didn't try to stop him.

     I draped my arms around his neck, his lips still on mine.

     When he pulls away from me. Romeo quickly bites my lower lips before grabbing his own cock.

      To my surprise, he starts jerking off, just a few inches away from me.

     "Do you want me to-"

     I was going to ask him if I should give him a hand, but then Romeo quickly came. I don't know why but when he did I suddenly blushed.

     "This will do," Romeo tells me.

     He looks back at me and winks, making me stupidly blush again.

     "Soap will hurt," he adds, confusing me even more. But before I could even question him, Romeo brings my leg up and shoves his still very hard dick inside me.

     I gasped from the shocking pain.

     Romeo groaned and closed his eyes.

     "Y-You...idiot," I say, trying my best not to laugh because of how eager my lover was to shove himself inside me.

     "So he used his cum as lube," I finally realized.

     "Ah fuck...I miss your tightness," Romeo randomly tells me, making me remember that his dick was seriously inside me right now.

     "I missed your size too," I say, making him smirk.

     Romeo then lifts my other leg; now carrying me off the floor while my back was supported on the wall.

     "You can move now," I tell him as my hole has finally adjusted to him.

     Romeo starts thrusting slowly. His cock was brushing against the walls inside me that I immediately gripped on his shoulder because of how good it feels.

     "Moan for me baby. Come on," Romeo says as he started fastening his pace.

     "Hmm...so good...baby it's so good," I moaned as Romeo continued to thrust himself inside me.

     My voice echoed inside the bathroom, and I could tell that it was turning Romeo on even more.

     He pulls himself slowly and aggressively slams himself back in.

    While he did that, he continued to kiss me.

     "Stick out your tongue," he commands, and I quickly followed.

     Romeo licks my tongue before practically sucking on it. He takes my tongue inside his mouth and continues to slam himself inside me.

     The feeling was so good that I thought I was going to cry.

     "More, shit Romeo fuck me more," I demanded him, and Romeo didn't hesitate.

     He was already oozing inside me that my insides became slippery. This made it easier for him to move faster.

     "Ah yes! Daddy I'm gonna cum...s-shit I'm gonna cum."

     I leaned forward and practically bit his shoulder as I finally released my seed.

     Seconds later, Romeo cums again. Inside me this time.

     He slowly pulls away, but he doesn't put me down.

     "I love you," he whispered to me.

     I hugged him tightly and rested my head on his shoulder.

     As I was trying to catch my breath, I answered, "I love you too...Mr. Ego."

*****

     "Don Romeo? Don Romeo we have an emergency!"

     I slowly opened my eyes, the sunlight coming through the window directly hitting my face.

     I sat up and stretched my arms, and then I heard it again, "Don Romeo? Don Romeo!"

     "Baby, they're calling you," I say as I tried to shake Romeo up.

     Romeo mumbles something, but he still doesn't move.

     I sighed and stood up from the bed. I wore my robe and finally opened the door.

     "Sir Julien!" the man shouted from surprise when he saw me.

     "What's going on?" I asked the soldier in front of me while yawning again.

     The soldier looked panicked, so my sleepiness immediately left me.

     "What's going on?" I asked again, but with a lot more serious tone this time.

     "Dozens of cars are approaching our gate," he suddenly tells me, shocking me.

     I immediately looked back at Romeo, but it looks like he already heard because he was already standing up when I looked back at him.

     "We'll be right there," I answered.

     Romeo and I quickly changed our clothes and went out of the room.

     Mat, and surprisingly, my brother Jiyong, was already standing at the main entrance when we arrived.

     "Brother, what are you doing here?" I asked him as we joined them.

     Jiyong looks at me and answers, "I heard the noise from my room. If this is an attack, I don't want to be locked inside my room."

     "Are they attacking?" Romeo asked as he looked at Mat.

     Mat has dark circles in his eyes, obviously he wasn't able to sleep properly after finding out the truth about his family. Remembering his situation suddenly made me feel guilty for some reason because of what Romeo and I did last night.

     "They're not attacking. They're actually just...waiting," Mat answered, confusion present in his voice as well.

     "Waiting?" Romeo and I asked in unison.

     Then, we both looked at each other, like we knew what or who those men were.

     "Open the gates!" Romeo suddenly shouts, shocking his men. But no one questioned him as another man repeated, "You heard our godfather...open the gates!"

      With that, the gates slowly opened.

     Dozens of cars started driving inside. My heart beating fast as I watched them perfectly park themselves in front of us.

     Romeo's men surrounded us, their guns ready if someone tries anything.

     But when the door from one of the cars opened, my heart finally eased.

     "Eric!" I shouted from joy.

     "Eric...they're here?" Jiyong asked beside me.

     With a wide smile, Eric walks towards us. He bows in front of us and says, "Boss Julien and Don Romeo, it's nice to meet you again."

     "Likewise," Romeo answers.

     Eric then looks at Jiyong and says, "And you too...boss Jiyong. Your men told us everything. I apologize for thinking you were a threat to our Black Angel."

     "My men?" Jiyong confusingly asked. And like it was some kind of magic word, everyone inside the cars and vans started coming out.

     Some of these men were the men I saw back in Korea, while some were from the headquarters that Romeo and I went to. Then, the rest showed their faces, and I honestly didn't know how to react when I saw them.

     "Those are my men!" Jiyong shouted from shock.

     "I was able to contact one of them when we arrived," Eric tells us.

     Jiyong was going to say something when his men suddenly approached us. They were only twelve now. Most of them probably died while ambushing the Valentino Household.

     I looked at them without any expression. I was partly glad that they have finally reunited with their real boss, but I was also partly mad because of what they did to me.

     I know it's wrong to blame it all on them, but I also can't remove the fact that they were a coward to let Antonio manipulate them like that. If they were loyal to my brother, why were they willing to do all those horrible things to me too?

     "Boss Julien," one of them says.

     I don't know why but I suddenly flinched and backed away.

     Romeo quickly holds my shoulder, like he was protecting me.

     The man looked even guiltier as he looked at us, so without saying anything, he bows in front of me. Then, the rest of them did the same.

     "We do not deserve your forgiveness Boss Julien," they all said in unison. And honestly, I didn't know what to feel.

     I glanced at Jiyong, and he looked apologetic as well, like he knew all along what his men had specifically done to us. 

     The thought of it made my stomach churn.

     "This is not the time for us to talk about things in the past. We'll discuss this when things are better," I tell them, not sounding too comforting or too harsh.

     Jiyong nods his head, like he understood.

     Then I looked back at Eric, who immediately told me, "Boss, these are all of the Dark Saints that were here and in Korea. We're a little over a hundred, so I hope it is enough."

     "It is. Thank you," Romeo said instead.

     Romeo was about to say something else when suddenly one of his men shouted again, "There are more men!"

     "More men?" Romeo confusingly asked. But before anyone could answer him, more black cars and vans arrived at the scene.

     "Who are-"

     I was about to ask who they were when suddenly; I noticed the letters V and R on the hood of the cars.

      My eyes widened from shock, "Russo? Are these men from your-"

     "My grandmother," Romeo finished. Looking excited as he saw dozens of cars park in front of us.

     They all went out of their cars one by one. All wearing the signature suits the Valentino men also wear.

     "Don Romeo! We are ready to serve you!" they shouted in unison; their voices making the hair on my skin stand.

     "Romeo..." I say as I looked at him with amazement.

     Romeo smirks and grabs my hand to intertwine them. And with a powerful voice, he says, "Let this fucking bloody war begin."

- END -