You’re a slippery little thing.

They grew up with you. They knew you through thick and thin, through every phase, through every friend group and relationship, they knew you. You and your little attitude. You and your swaying hips and witty tongue. You, the stubborn, prideful, gorgeous being whose wrongs were always justified in their eyes.

You, who ran away from them five years ago.

Enzo zeroed in on you the moment you walked into the ballroom. His gaze naturally gravitates to you at this point, with all the staring and daydreaming he often did before you ran from him. His grip on the champagne glass tightened imperceptibly, before loosening again. It’d been years since he last you, since he last laid his eyes on your person. His eyes were forever blessed, he was sure.

That was, until he saw the people ogling you.

Marco, who had been playing bodyguard, also immediately spotted you. He assesses anyone who steps even one foot into the door, so it was no wonder that he spotted you within 2 seconds. His knees nearly gave out from what he saw you wearing.

Too revealing, the two eldest thought in near unison. Too, too revealing. Marco had to physically stop himself from marching right up to you and demanding you wear something over your current outfit. It left little to the imagination, with it exposing miles of skin and being so tight they would’ve believed you were born in it.

Francesco had women on his arm, as he typically did. Ever since you left, he’d have a new one each week. He flashed charming grin after charming grin and laughed a laugh so boyish it only ever made him more of a player.

But the moment he saw you, he felt like he was back to being just a pining teenager, gazing at his crush whose family hated his. No, not crush. “Crush” was too trivial of a word. Object of affection, maybe. Obsession, more accurately. He felt like he’d collapse if he didn’t go to you immediately and cling to you like a puppy, whiny and desperate like the pathetic man he is.

Nico was impulsive. Reckless, some might call him. But which of the brothers weren’t at least a tad wild? Just a bit off kilter? So, naturally, the moment he saw you try to hide in the corners of the ballroom, he made it his personal duty to strut up to you like a peacock and make himself cozy next to you.

Of course, the other brothers weren’t particularly pleased he got to you first, but if you snooze, you lose.

Nico’s arm wrapped tightly around your waist, and he had to stifle a low groan of pleasure. God, how he missed this. How he missed the feeling of having you in his arms. If someone didn’t come and tug him off right now, he was sure he wouldn’t be able to handle himself and just start kissing up and down right then and there.

He could feel you tense up. He couldn’t help the tiny bit of sadistic satisfaction bubble in him. Good, he thought. After five years, you’re still aware of the power we have.

Now they just had to wait until this godforsaken party ended and the brothers could take you back home, back where you belonged.