The Absence of One and the Agony of Two
Nox was gone.
The plane had lifted before dawn, slicing the sky over the villa in shadow and silence, its engines rumbling like an omen. He left no note. No goodbye. Just a text with coordinates and a promise of radio silence until the extraction.
Leo hadn't said much when he read it. Just stared at the phone screen long enough that Dominik peeked over his shoulder and whispered, "You okay, boss?"
Leo's response?
He turned and asked for the day's schedule.
06:00 AM — Training with Blades
Leo was at the sparring ring early. Earlier than anyone expected. Sweat dripped down his spine as he practiced alone, movements fast, precise—but too tight. Nox would've corrected that, pulled his wrist, told him to relax.
There was no one to correct him now.
Dominik and the mafia boss stood by the surveillance feed, coffee mugs forgotten in hand.
"He's overcompensating," Dominik said, watching the screen with a frown. "He's running every training cycle like someone's going to notice if he doesn't bleed."
Leo's father nodded. "He doesn't know what to do without him. Typical alpha attachment misdirection. It's like watching a widowed crow."
"Sir, I think it's worse."
Dominik tapped the screen.
Leo was stabbing through targets like they owed him rent. His jaw was clenched. Every time he adjusted his grip, his thumb ghosted over the space where Nox usually passed him a new blade.
10:30 AM — Breakfast (Avoided)
Leo sat in the kitchen, untouched toast and black coffee in front of him. The olives were missing from his plate. The cucumbers were stacked at the edge like always.
Dominik squinted. "Wait. Nox isn't here."
Leo's father arched a brow. "Then who…?"
Leo didn't touch the plate.
Didn't rearrange it either.
He just stared.
12:00 PM — Paperwork and Silence
Leo buried himself in reports. He didn't speak unless addressed. And when he did, it was short, clipped, efficient.
"No," he told Dominik.
"No," he told the consigliere.
"No," he told a man who'd flown in from Geneva to present a million-dollar transaction.
"Was that necessary?" his father asked once the man stormed off.
Leo shrugged. "Nox would've said no too."
14:15 PM — Smoking on the Balcony
Leo lit two cigarettes. He didn't notice.
He held both between his fingers for a while, before putting one in the ashtray.
Dominik, crouched beside the cameras, scribbled in his notebook:
"HE'S SMOKING FOR HIM."
Leo's father sighed deeply. "I'm starting to think they've been married this whole time and we just missed the ceremony."
17:00 PM — Accidental Confessions Over Wine
Dominik tried distracting him with conversation.
"So, uh, remember when Nox threw you in the pool because you told him his tattoo looked kind of sexy?"
Leo cracked half a smile. "Yeah. He didn't speak to me for three days after that. I left apology notes in his gun case."
Dominik blinked. "Wait, that was you?"
Leo sipped wine. "He framed the one where I drew the phoenix with glitter glue."
Dominik turned to Leo's father. "They're literally domestic. There's no saving this."
Leo's father refilled his glass. "We're not saving it. We're documenting it."
18:00 PM — He Finally Looks for Him
Leo wandered the villa without pretending anymore.
Checked the kitchen. The training room. The roof.
He passed the surveillance hallway, stopped in front of the security screen, and stared at the feed from Nox's usual station.
Empty.
His lips parted slightly. His throat moved like he wanted to say something, but no sound came.
Dominik whispered to the mafia boss like they were in a museum:
"That's his first unscheduled moment today."
Leo stood there for six minutes before walking away.
20:00 PM — Dinner in Silence
The main hall was quiet.
Leo sat alone at the head of the long table, half a glass of wine to his right, untouched water to his left.
He ate only the parts of the meal Nox usually picked at. Left the rest.
Dominik showed Leo's father the plate. "Look. He's leaving the food that's his. Like he's saving it for someone else."
"Heartbroken," the mafia boss muttered.
Dominik wrote in the shared mafia report:
Signs of uke withdrawal syndrome in seme heir. Possible symptoms include agitation, silence, irrational routine control, and the attempt to share smoke with the wind. Recommendation: send Nox back or sedate heir with romcom marathons.
21:00 PM — The Rooftop Again
The night air was sharp.
Leo lit one cigarette.
Then a second.
He didn't even realize when he looked at the empty space beside him.
Dominik was crying silently into his surveillance blanket. "He misses him. Look at him. He's gonna write poetry."
Leo's father rubbed his face. "My son fell in love with a damn ghost in combat boots."
23:00 PM — Final Surveillance Note
Leo sat on the roof until midnight.
He stared at the stars, cigarette burning low, lips parted like he wanted to speak. But the words stayed buried.
Dominik, curled on the surveillance beanbag, whispered: "He's going to snap. I give it two more days before he starts wearing Nox's hoodie."
Leo's father crossed himself. "Saints help us all if they start calling each other darling."
Dominik: "They already call each other nothing. That's worse."
And somewhere, many timezones away, Nox finished gutting a cartel informant and looked briefly at the moon.
His heart fluttered.
And for one second—just one—he reached to check the crimson heart piercing on his navel.
Still there.
Still his.
End of Chapter 63