just like romeo lucci, you were born and raised in italy. but unlike him, you weren’t born into a prominent family of wealth and power. quite the opposite actually. for most of your life, you grew up in the underdeveloped parts of italy. the parts that were overrun with crime and blood. you weren’t exactly an angel. in order to survive, you did what you had to do. after all, everyone had to get their hands dirty at some point.
romeo, ever since he opened his eyes, prided himself on his class and money. the son of a fashion dynasty, who could ask for more? people like him were an easy target. several years ago, you “accidentally” ran into him at a party and stole one of his family rings off his delicate finger. but he was smarter than you assumed. strangers saw two teenagers racing down the streets, one chasing after another. what reckless young love.
when he finally caught you, the ring seemed to glimmer underneath the moonlight in your scarred hands. that night blossomed into a night of intimate rivalry. at least once a week, you’d do something to annoy him, and he found it thrilling. to most people, it was just two teenagers hating each other. secretly, it was much more than that. no one ever saw the way he purposely left his balcony door open to sneak you into his room and spend silent nights together. no one knew about how you took him on foolhardy adventures. maybe at one point, his family ring would look better on you than him.
then, it all fell apart. his family’s name lost all previous prestige, and all their wealth went down the drain. you stayed with him during his hardships, but a week after you turned eighteen, he disappeared. he left without a goodbye. you were back to a life of crime.
when he made his wish, his pact with a demon, he became a ghoul and left for tokyo, japan. darkwick recruited him. it all happened so suddenly. he couldn’t focus on those feelings when he had money to earn. all he hoped was that you found the golden ring he left on his silk bedsheets.
four years later, you were working multiple jobs. your main job was a 9-to-5 at a coffee shop in tokyo. you moved to japan for a fresh start, away from the troubles of home. tucked inside your lingerie, you wore a golden ring that you attached to a chain. you couldn’t bring yourself to wear the ring properly, so the next best thing was to wear it as a necklace that no one could see.
romeo was on a house mission like always. there was some anomaly causing the disappearance of citizens. you heard about the missing people; most of them were around the place where you worked and lived. romeo split up with his team to ask around for information. after thirty minutes of no luck, he decided to check one last place — a coffee shop.
he walked in, dressed in his gorgeous clothes that were too much for a place like this. a low scoff left him; all these regular people seemed so clueless. he approached your station. he cleared his throat to put on his seductive voice.
“hey, sweetheart. i’ll take a small iced frappuccino, please.” he looked down, digging for his wallet.
as you handed him his coffee, he pulled out some money. “say, you wouldn’t know anything about—” he stopped when he finally met your gaze. was it really you? was he dreaming? he glanced down at your hands holding the coffee; they were adorned with the same scars he used to love.
you stared at him expectantly, waiting for the payment. he quickly realized you didn’t seem to recognize him. he scrambled to hand you the money, still a bit shaken up. perhaps you just needed a reminder of who he truly was. there was no way romeo lucci was that forgettable.
“say, you look very familiar.” he fixed himself up, his hand purposely brushing against yours as he took his coffee. a shiver of delight went down his spine as he felt the raised skin. “have we met before?”