Chapter 25: Predator And The Prey

Chapter 25

Her heart caught in her throat as she stared at him, his gaze feral, daring her to do what he said, like a predator just waiting to pounce on its prey.

She felt this strange kind of heat coerce through every crook and cranny of her body, his hand on her slender waist warm, his grip firm.

His one hand nearly circled the whole of her waist; that was just how small she was compared to him, the way he stared down at her, like she was a small little bird.

Her toes curled, her heart beat so fast that she feared it might just burst through her chest. Earlier he had held her thigh, and she had thought he simply wanted to irk her, but that wasn’t the case right now.

Right now, he seemed like a starved man, one who had lost all patience. Anna could do nothing but stare at him helplessly, his minty breath falling on her face.

Leone didn’t need to lean in further to hear how her heart thudded in her ribcage. When he had fondled her thigh earlier in the car, he had loved watching her go red.

It was the innocence in those big blue eyes that drew him further, closer—wanting to steal her away and ravage her completely. The growing urge to taint her filled his mind, almost eating him whole. 

How dare she utter those words? Her words resounded in his ears and tripled the violent wave of anger that crashed through him, unsettling him. 

He could feel her tremble in his hold, like a fragile glass that could break if he added too much pressure. He leaned in further, his nose on the crook of her neck:

“Don’t test me, Anna. You’d be very disappointed at the results,” his cold breath fanned the crook of her neck, making her shiver.

No man had ever done this to her before. The closeness made the hair on her body stand on end. Her limbs began to tremble, and if it weren’t for the support of the wall, they’d have buckled.

If it were possible, she’d have become one with the wall. His larger frame covered her completely. She wasn’t wearing a bra right now, and his broad chest was pressed against her tender breast, making her toes curl from something she couldn’t comprehend. Her buds hardened. 

Her breath was shallow, her heart and her mind were a mess as he pressed his larger body against hers. She gulped as his words registered into her memory. She couldn’t dare utter a word—not when he pulled the strings right now.

She had to wait a bit, but she began to doubt if there was a safe place away from this lunatic. 

“Leone,” she breathed, her hands trembled as she held them up to his chest, wordlessly pleading for him to pull away.

Thankfully, her actions didn’t irk him further, and he pulled away from her. Anna let out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding in.

Her chest heaved up and down. She felt faint. She could still feel the unusual fast heartbeats; her eyes swirled. She pushed herself from the wall, but her knees buckled. She almost plummeted to the floor if it weren’t for Leone.

His strong arms held her firmly. Anna let out air through her parted lips, her head throbbed painfully, and she just wanted to go back to the mansion, get some rest, and more importantly, be as far away from this man as possible. 

“Can you walk?” she heard him whisper. She just clung on to him, not able to respond, and in the next moment, she felt her feet go off from the ground.

Her eyes widened as she was now in his arms, his hand on her waist firm, and she curled her hand around his neck for support.

Her cheeks flushed. It wasn’t the first time he was carrying her, but those times she wasn’t conscious. But now, she was too aware of his presence. 

“I can walk,” she rushed her words, hoping he would put her down. She had zero plans of being carried back to the party like this.

“It’s too late for that, Peach.” Blood drained from her face. She shook her head in refusal, hoping he’d let her go, but that didn’t happen as he began taking her out of the balcony and down the stairs.

Oh dear Lord. Anna buried her face in the crook of his neck in embarrassment. His hand on her bare back was warm. It was safe to say this man had touched her in the space of one night more than any guy had touched her all her life. 

Anna noticed he didn’t take the route back to the ballroom. He took a different route with lesser lights, and there was no one on this side of the building.

They went through a door which led directly to the parking lot, and Anna was glad no one had seen them. 

“Leone,” she heard a deep manly voice. Her heart hitched on seeing Massimo.

He walked up to Leone, a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. “I saw you headed this direction, so I thought someone had been… unalived.” His eyes fell on Anna in his arms, who looked nothing less than a tiny rabbit cradled in his arms right now.

 Not even an inch of surprise was smeared on his face—he knew Leone too well.

“Wouldn’t want to shed blood on your special day, Massimo,” Leone chuckled. 

………

In another balcony, a guy with brown hair and brown eyes, draped in expensive tux like everyone else in the party.

He twirled a glass of wine in his hand as his eyes remained fixed on the ground floor. The top two buttons of his white shirt were off, bite marks all over his neck—and they were certainly not from a vampire. 

A lady, draped in a red silk dress which completely exposed her cleavage and womanly figure, sultrily walked up to him, her lipstick completely smeared. Her brown hair fell in curls, resting on her shoulders. 

She wrapped her hands around him, placing kisses on his back. “I enjoyed our session, Rocco, and I want more,” she shamelessly confessed.

She watched him remain stoic, like he hadn’t been pounding her through the back a moment ago. Her eyes fell on who had grabbed his attention.

She could see Lord Maurizio’s son, Massimo, and then… Leone Vicenzo, the second son of the Don of the Vicenzo mafia empire. She knew him too well. She had always tried to get him to look at her, but he never even spared her a glance.

But that wasn’t what made her eyes almost fly out of their sockets. It was the blonde-headed girl in his arms. That hair—absolutely no way it was her. The girl suddenly removed her face from the crook of Leone’s neck to give a nod to Massimo.

Her mouth flew wide in shock. “Isn’t that the lowly servant you always spent time with?”

“One more word from you and I’ll make sure your head rolls beside your feet, Vivian,” he seethed.