CHAPTER SIX

LEONARDO

“To the Villa,” I said to the driver. My voice was calm but everything inside me burned.

The engine hummed to life as he started the car, pulling us away from that apartment and her fear.

She curled into the corner of the backseat, she looked like a shadow of the woman I just saw earlier today. Now she looked small, shattered.

Her face was turned toward the window, but I could hear the quiet sniffles and the way her fingers trembled as she clutched my coat tighter around herself. I hated that coat on her, not because she wore it, but because it was all she had to cover the damage they tried to do to her.

I clenched my jaws, forcing my hands to stay still on my thighs. If I let them move, I might punch straight through the damn window.

They touched her.

It took every ounce of control not to kill Morani right there. I should have. That bastard doesn't deserve to breathe, family ties or not.

After what felt like almost an hour later, we pulled into the Iron gates that shielded my estate.

The car came to a halt at the driveway leading to the main building and I alighted, feeling a tight cramp in my neck but I ignored it. I rounded the car to see Tessa already getting out. Her cheeks were stained with tears, her eyes puffy and her lips a bit swollen like she'd been nibbling on them. Her hair which had been pulled into a messy bun now had loose strands falling across her face.

She looked up at me but avoided my eyes as she stepped out fully from the car. My coat swallowed her tiny frame, falling to her mid thighs. My gaze dropped lower only to realize she didn't have any footwear on, not even some flip flops. She stood barefooted on the cold stones, like some orphan dragged out of war and my blood boiled. The thought of their eyes and hands on her made me clench my fists in anger but it was the terrified look on her face when I stepped in that did the most damage.

I hated the fact that I gave those bastardi an easy death. Just a bullet to their brain, that's the most merciful death I've given anyone that crossed me. I'd have torn them apart, limb from limb, carved them up piece by piece and gouged out their eyes and let them rot, then they'll know even in the next life never to lay their godforsaken hands on what's mine.

“Come with me,” I said to her, watching how shaken and scared she still looked. She followed slowly behind me as I made my way towards the building, the doors opened even before we got there.

I felt her so close beside me as we stepped into the house like she was trying to hide herself behind me. I glanced around and it hit me. The sight of the men in the house terrified her. She moved even closer like she wanted to disappear into me. Like she sought protection in my arms and that's exactly what I'd give her.

“I want everyone out of the main house,” I barked orders at my men and without hesitation, they all left the building.

I looked at her, waiting for some sign of relief but it didn't come. Her eyes were still fixed on the floor where she stood. She slowly took a step back, putting some distance between us and for some reason something shifted in my chest. Not anger, not frustration, but something else I couldn't name.

She followed quietly behind me up the double flight of stairs until we reached one of the closed doors. I opened it to reveal a well furnished bedroom with clean white sheets and a king sized bed.

Holding the door open, I motioned for her to go in and she did, still mute. She hadn't said a word since we left her apartment. Her eyes were drained and tired but the fear still clung to her face and movements. The way she walked slowly without a word like she was physically present but her mind wasn't, seemed like she still wasn't over what just happened. What happened tonight still traumatized her and honestly, I wouldn't blame her.

She just saw me kill three more men tonight as if what happened the first time wasn't enough to haunt her for a lifetime.

I cleared my throat. “Have a shower and get some rest. It's late.” I said, my tone deep but curt.

She nodded but didn't look at me. She still looked so lost in her thoughts as she took a step further into the room.

I paused at the door, glancing at her one last time. “There are clothes in the closet. Pick any.” I said and she nodded once more. I shut the door, heading straight for my office while pulling up the sleeves of my shirt. I tried to distract myself as I poured a glass of scotch but the images of her scared and distraught form flooded my mind.

I downed the first glass in a single gulp and poured the second, the burning liquid barely helping to quiet the storm brewing in my chest. The way she looked at me, like I was both her only hope and her worst nightmare.

I slammed the glass down on the table, harder than I meant to. It cracked, not enough to shatter, but enough to show the tension in my hands.

I poured a third glass but this time I didn't gulp it down. I just let the burn settle on my tongue.

The door creaked open and Matteo, my second in command stepped in. “Boss, we have the bodies taken care of. The boys are on their way to dispose of them at the noirbank river.”

“No.” I took another gulp, my tongue numb to the burn. “Dump the bodies at Redhook terminal” I ordered.

“Boss…that's the Commission warehouse…”

“Exactly.”

“That's going to cause a rift among the families, Leonardo.”

“I don't care.” My hand slammed against the table. “Tell the boys to dump the bodies there.” A sense of finality in my tone. I didn't even want to think of what would have happened tonight if I hadn't had my men follow her from the hospital. When I heard the Moranis were at her place, I saw red.

“That's going to start a war.”

“Then let it. They started the fucking war the moment they broke into her apartment and laid their hands on her!”

He looked at me for a second but didn't try to question my orders. “Yes boss.”

I leaned on the table. “Make sure everyone knows it was me.”

“Yes boss,” he said.

“And Matteo,” I called before he turned to leave. “I want it messy. Let the Commission find the bodies before the flies do.”

He gave a sharp nod and left.

I pulled my phone out from my pocket and dialed the consigliere's number. He picked on the first ring. “Yes boss,” his voice sounded, rough with the heaviness of sleep.

“I need a marriage-based protection contract on my table by sunrise. The name is Tessa Hartley. Make it legally binding.”

“Yes boss. Any specific terms I should include?”

“I don't care how you write it. I want it clean and indisputable, nothing vague.”

“Yes boss, I understand.”

I hung up without another word, letting the phone drop onto the table with a dull thud.

The silence settled in and for once, it didn't bring peace, rather, it made everything worse.

Frustrated, I grabbed my phone that lay on the table and headed upstairs. I stopped at her door that was slightly ajar with lights spilling out.

I stepped closer, quietly pushing the door open to see her curled up at the edge of the bed, hugging a pillow so tightly to her chest.

She looked so fragile…so innocent. Something pulled me to her. Her innocence was captivating and her beauty out of the world. She snored lightly, a sign that she had fallen asleep. But what confused and drew me in the most was how she still wore my coat regardless of the numerous dresses in the closet. She still let the coat cover her as if it shielded her from all the bad things happening.

I took a step in without realizing but stopped myself from going any further, my eyes still glued to her. My hand lingered on the doorknob as I stepped out, taking one last look at her sleeping form.

“You're slipping, Leonardo,” I muttered under my breath, then quietly closed the door.