Enzo hadn’t moved. Couldn’t.
Her words hung in the air, soft but weighted, the kind of truth that landed like a blade driven into the table–clean, final, undeniable. She wasn’t talking about ink anymore. She was talking about them.
Her shield. Their wall.
And the way she looked at him when she said it–like she was pinning him to the center of that formation, like his place wasn’t up for debate. His throat went tight.
He’d lived his life in phalanx logic without ever naming it. His crew locked at his sides, his empire the wall they pushed forward day after day. He thought he understood loyalty. Structure. The way survival hinged on never letting one shield slip.
But then came Lola–five foot two of fire and teeth–inking permanence into her skin and telling him she’d chosen to lock with them. With him.
It was grounding and destabilizing at the same time. A promise disguised as art. A vow she didn’t even realize she’d made, or maybe did and just wanted to watch him unravel over it.
He wanted to kiss her until the pool boiled.
Instead, he swallowed the burn in his chest and leaned back, letting Dom’s quiet promise–Shields up. Always.–carry the weight his own voice couldn’t yet risk.
Lola’s smile in response was small, but it wrecked him. Too soft for this world. Too soft for him. And still, she aimed it straight at him like it was hers to give.
The grill hissed as Dom flipped steaks, smoke curling into the night. Gino slid fresh beers onto the ledge with a flourish, Nico dragged another chair closer to the water, and just like that the heaviness thinned, the moment shifting into something lighter.
Plates clattered, laughter sparked in easy bursts, tequila burned down their throats in rough succession. Enzo let the sound of it wash over him, let the sight of her between his men–alive, whole, unbreakable–etch itself into his memory.
By the time the food was gone and bottles littered the table, Gino leaned back with a wolfish grin, eyes glittering mischief.
“Alright,” he announced, jabbing a finger at the pool. “We’ve eaten, we’ve drunk, we’ve philosophized–time for bloodsport.”
Lola arched a brow, still drifting lazily in the water. “Bloodsport?”
“Chicken fight.” Gino slapped Dom’s shoulder. “Me and him versus you and lover boy over there.”
Nico scoffed. “What, you think the two of you stand a chance?”
Gino grinned wider. “Oh, I know we do. Question is–are you ready to get humbled?”
Enzo’s mouth curved, slow and sharp, eyes never leaving Lola as she tipped her head back in a laugh. She looked like a siren in the water, smoke and fire wrapped in skin, smiling like she already knew she’d win.
If she wanted it, i would burn the world down just to remake it in her image.
Whatever she wants, she’s have it.
I should have just told her.
Nico pushed off his chair and stripped his shirt without hesitation, the lean lines of his frame catching the glow of the pool lights. “C’mon, Lo,” he called, wading in. “We’ll make it quick. I’ll even give you the good seat.”
Her laugh was bright and reckless as she swam to him. She moved like she belonged in the water, quick strokes carrying her until she was braced against his shoulders, hands on his head for balance.
“Don’t drown me,” Nico said, deadpan, though the grin tugging his mouth betrayed him.
“No promises,” she whispered down at him, chest pressed to the back of his skull. Whatever she added made him bark a laugh, shoulders shaking under her thighs.
Enzo’s jaw tightened.
Her laughter–her touch–spread so damn freely here. They caught pieces of her like scraps, and she let them. A hand on her knee to steady her, a joke only she could hear. Little things that probably should’ve dug under his skin.
But instead, it twisted something hotter, darker. Possessiveness laced with the sharp edge of hunger. Because he knew–no matter who touched her now, who she teased, who she played these little games with–she’d crawl back to him when it was over. She’d strip down for him. Beg for him. Burn for him.
“Ready?” Gino bellowed, hauling himself onto Dom’s shoulders with a splash and a curse. Dom grunted, steadied him with practiced ease.
Are you?” Nico shot back, water dripping off his jaw as Lola shifted higher on his shoulders. Her thighs tightened instinctively around him, Nico’s hands clamped onto her thighs to lock her in place and Enzo felt it like a hit to his ribs.
The match began with a roar of laughter, water slapping against tile, four bodies colliding in the shallow end. Lola leaned into it, hair wild, grin feral. A warrior goddess perched on Nico’s shoulders, arms outstretched like she owned the night.
And Enzo–beer dangling from his fingers, heart a steady thunder–sat back and let it unfold. Watching her shine. Watching her fight. Watching her burn.
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