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I watch as the raindrops slide down the window, slowly at first and then all at once.

There was a time when just hearing the sound of rain comforted me and had the ability to get my mind to calm down, but I guess it doesn't work anymore.

I sigh and avert my eyes from the window on my left to Lazz, who fell asleep on the chair by my side fifteen minutes ago. His head rests on the mattress by my leg and he sleeps soundly, his steady breathing an only indication he's still alive.

Looking at him like this makes me realize how close we've become these past couple of days.

He's been nothing but a good friend since we've met, sure, but there's this lingering feeling inside me that he's becoming something more and it kinda scares me.

I think about waking him up, but I remember he hasn't had much sleep these past few days because of me.

My mind, then, wanders off to Silvio again.

Since he left yesterday, I haven't stopped thinking about what he said. I couldn't even sleep properly and for the first time the chest tube wasn't the reason for it.

If he said something else I would've brushed him off, but he confessed he loved me and that's not something you forget or brush off easily.

Then there was the moment in the hotel after the incident with Lazzaro almost a week ago. He said he wanted me even then. At first I thought of it as wanting me sexually, but never to this extent.

Even if I somehow manage to put the love confession aside, what should I do about his one last chance he begged me for? Should I give it to him again and watch as he messes it up and disappoints me one last time?

But, what if he gets it right this time?

I shouldn't have, I know, but I felt bad seeing him miserable like that. Even the fact that he shot me was buried deep in my mind for a short moment.

I'm starting to forgive him without even realizing it.

Lazz asked me what Silvio and I talked about, but if I told him he would've only complicated things more and I couldn't think it through clearly.

My eyes fall back on Lazz again as I feel him shift beside me, but he's still deep in sleep.

There's a question that's been dancing in my mind about him too, though.

How did Jade let him stay here knowing he's Silvio's brother?

I bring my hand to massage my temple and relieve the headache that's starting to settle when someone knocks on the door.

The door slowly opens and, after seeing Lazz asleep, Silvio quietly steps inside with a handful of wrapped up bouquet of pink tulips. He gives me a smile before he makes sure to leave the flowers on the coffee table without a sound.

I smile back.

Why? I seriously don't know.

"Thank you for the flowers," I say.

"It's the least I could do."He whispers and manages to walk around my bed and sit on the sofa while cautiously eyeing Lazzaro.

"He won't wake up, don't worry. He sleeps like a brick," I assure him, referring to the sleepy head next to me.

Silvio's lips curve into a short-lasting smile as he looks down in his lap and fidgets with his fingers. "He was like that when he was little, too. Mamma always got frustrated when he wouldn't wake up easily."

I just look at Silvio without having anything in mind to reply to that.

This is the first time he has directly spoken of his mother and the first time I have actually learned anything about him or his past.

"What was your mother like?" I suddenly ask him as a sense of curiosity creeps into me. I want to know more about him and how he became the person he is now. Maybe something horrible happened that made him the cold asshole he is today.

He's quiet for a few seconds and just when I think I've overstepped his boundaries, he looks up and lets out a soft chuckle. "To me, she was the kindest, most loving woman you could ever meet. She was beautiful, too. Lazzaro looks more like her. He has her nose and eyes. I look more like my father, unfortunately." Silvio ends with a barely undetectable sneer, a complete one-eighty of what he showed when he talked about his mum.

"What happened to her?" I find myself asking him further.

He gets quite again, as if he tries to remember what has happened, but then clears his throat.

"She died," He answers me with a, now, dull expression. "Cancer."

I want to ask more questions, but something in his voice tells me he doesn't want me to poke any further.

He may not have shared much, but I'm honestly surprised he even told me this.

"I'm sorry, " I say to him gently after few seconds of studying him. Silvio only offers me a curt nod.

The next few seconds may have gone by in silence, but my mind was anything but. My forgiving and rational side fought each other, arguing whether I should give Silvio the damn chance or not.

Seeing him like this, weak and hopeless, makes me uncomfortable. He wasn't weak and hopeless before. He was a strong, stubborn and a cold asshole, and I hate to admit it, but I somehow missed that version of him–that Silvio.

Damn it!

"One chance. Don't make me regret it."

Silvio looks up. I see a swirl of emotions run through his eyes—from confusion to hopefulness—before he gives me a proper smile for the first time since he walked in.

"Now, go. Don't be here when Lazz wakes up." I tell him before he can say anything.

Silvio nods while still holding that grin of his and stands up.

"I won't fuck it up this time. I promise you, gattino. " He whispers and quietly walks out the door.

All I'm left with are goosebumps and questions about how I'm going to explain what just happened to Lazz.

***

I watch as Lazz takes a sit at the far end of the room, away from me. All I can see is his back and the back of his head.

I sigh and try for a different, more humorous approach.

"Can the Great Lazzaro grant me his attention for a short period of time?" I ask hopefully, but get no reply.

I've been trying to get his attention ever since I told him from whom the flowers were. He's been ignoring me for the last half an hour now.

I can't say I don't understand why he's mad at me because I know why. He's been trying to protect me from Silvio since the first time he came to the hospital. He's angry at his brother for the same reason I should be at Silvio.

Silvio shot me and, between the both of us, Lazz is the only one who hasn't forgiven him. Truth to be told he doesn't look like he'll forgive him anytime soon, too.

This right here clearly shows how stupid I am.

I can't even hold my anger for more than few days.

"Lazz, talk to me," I try again. "Please?"

This time he turns around, but unlike earlier he isn't mad at me anymore. He's just disappointed now.

"What do you want me to say, Willa?" Lazz sighs. "Bravo? You did a good job forgiving him? Way to go?" His cynical tone is more than evident in his voice.

"I just want you to stop ignoring me." I say. "And I haven't forgiven him, okay? I just gave him the chance he's asked of me to fix things. If he messes it up again, then it'd be my fault for not learning from my mistakes."

Ruffling his hair in a distressed manner, he walkes to my bed and sits on the chair.

"Giving him this chance was a mistake and you know why?" Lazz says. "Because he will hurt you again, Willa, and I don't mean physically. I don't want to see you all broken up just because he doesn't know what he wants or how he truly feels about you."

Hearing Lazz talk like this takes me back to yesterday's love confession and makes me realize he knows about it too.

"You mean that he loves me? He told me, Lazz."

Lazz freezes at first as he hears me say this. "And do you love him?"

"I don't think so, no."

He lets out a sigh and now looks relieved. He takes my hand in his and softly kisses the back of it.

"Please be careful with him, tiger. He can easily get inside your head."

As I nod, we hear a sudden knock on the door before it opens.

Gio and Vince carefully and quietly walk in, closing the door behind them.

"Hey, guys." I manage to give them a small smile along with the greet.

"How are you?" Gio smiles back and says to me as Vince moves past him to put the flowers they brought in the vase on the nightstand, right next to my glasses.

"I'm good. They'll be taking off my chest tube today. "

Vince's stare is locked on my chest tube and he looks squeamish. Gio only nods, but then sighs.

"Sorry we couldn't be there for you right after your surgery. Something happened with Jade and..." He lets his sentence trail, not knowing how to finish telling me.

"I know. Lazzaro filled me in. " I tell him and steal a glance at the brown haired boy sitting next to me. "But he said you weren't certain who took her. "

Gio nods. "At first, yes, but now we know it's the CIA. We know why, too.

However, there's nothing on their servers about her arrest which means it's off the records. "

"What do you mean?" I ask him.

"There was no official arrest issued for her by any judge and I couldn't dig out the flight papers to Fajardo of the men who took her." Vince butts in. "We think that they have to do it under the radar and use the secrecy to get rid of her without evidence if things were to go south. Just like they did with those agents for years. "

It was one thing Silvio wanting to kill her, but the CIA? With Silvio I was there to prevent that and I actually prevented it, but how can I help her now?

"But," Gio says when he sees my scared expression. "We're doing everything we can to get her back alive. Trust me, Willa. I, more than anyone, want to get her back.".

I try to change my expression and give him a warm smile. "I know. If there's anything I can do to help-"

"You've done so much already, tiger." Lazz interrupts me.

"He's right. You need to rest and get better." Gio says, but then remembers something. "I almost forgot. Before we go, we have some good news too."

Upon hearing this Vince perks up and smiles like he knows what Gio is referring to.

"What good news?" I ask him, now curious.

"Your parents are coming." Gio says with a smile.