Chapter 4: The Blood Don

Leonard kicked the closet door shut, leaned against it and opened fire on the masked armed men.

Trapped inside the closet, Natasha curled into a ball and pressed her hands over her ears as gun fire blasted loudly.

Her heart hammered wildly in shock, terror and disbelief. Charlie's father was a notorious mafia don and he never told her?

All her life, she assumed his father was a simple farmer who lived a secluded life. How wrong she had been.

Everyone in the continent knew who Don Leonardo was. The blood don, the iron kingpin and ruthless crime boss of the underworld.

She suddenly realized what he meant when he said the armed men where here for him. This house was probably one of his numerous hideouts and his enemies had discovered it.

The gun fire ceased suddenly. She opened her eyes as Leonard yanked the closet door open and grabbed her arm.

"Are you alright?" His voice was calm, with a hint of worry.

She shook her head slowly, her knees wobbly as she rose to her feet. The scene she witnessed when she stepped out of the closet hit her with a wave of nausea.

Dead bodies. Every single one of them. Bloodied, heads and limbs shattered, blood splattered across the wall.

And Leonard stood untouched, unfazed. He tossed the shotgun aside and pulled her along with him.

"I need to get you to the safe room." he said in a voice filled with urgency. "More of those bastards are probably on their way."

"Why are they after you?" she asked curiously.

Leonard gave her a fond look and shook his head. "You're so innocent, too innocent for all this bloodshed."

He took her down a narrow hallway where there was a metal door at the end. A dial pad was fastened to the door, and he swiftly punched in a code.

The door hissed and pushed open, revealing a cozy, windowless sitting area, lit up with bright lights.

He gently pushed her into the room, but as he turned to go, she grabbed his arm.

"No! You can't leave me here. Please!"

Leonard noticed the fear in her eyes and caressed her face. "You will be safe here, I promise. Stay here until dawn. The code is 4428."

"I can't..."

"Listen to me, Natasha." He cupped her face and forced her to focus on him. "What did I say the code was?"

She gulped and shut her eyes. "4428."

"Good girl. Don't forget it, else you'll be trapped in here. Don't come out until dawn, and don't speak of what happened here. Not even to Charlie. Do you understand?"

She nodded slowly, then tensed up as more gunmen broke into the house.

"I never thought I would say this, but you've caught my attention, Natasha. I will come back for you after this is over, and I will own you. I swear it."

He smashed his lips on hers in a wild, reckless kiss, a kiss born of the tension and desperation of the moment.

Then he pushed her backwards and slammed the door shut.

Natasha stood there minutes after he left, her lips still tingling from the kiss. Her pulse raced as she backed away from the door and huddled in a corner.

Because of the thick steel surrounding the room, she couldn't hear the sound of gunfire. She didn't know how long she stayed there, curled on the ground.

The clock above her head told her it was past 3 AM. Where was Charlie?

Tired and stressed from the rush of adrenaline, she fell into a restless sleep and woke up when the time was exactly 7AM.

She rushed to her feet, hurried towards the door and punched in the code.

The door slowly opened and she stood there, mouth ajar at the sight before her.

The house was totally destroyed. The walls had crumbled, the roof had been torn off and broken furniture was strewn about.

Only the safe room remained untouched.

A small crowd had gathered outside the ruins. A police car was parked on one side, and two officers closed off the area with yellow tape.

Charlie stood beside his car, shaking his head and muttering something inaudible.

Beside him was Angelique, looking like she just stepped out of the covers of a model magazine.

Natasha slowly stepped out of the debris and moved towards Charlie. When she drew close, she managed to catch a few of his words.

"...I got held up in town. If I had been here, I would have protected her."

"Charlie?" she called out softly.

He whirled around, his expression one of utter shock. He didn't look too happy to see her. Rather, he looked surprised and a bit disappointed when he saw that she was still alive.

"Natasha! I thought I lost you." He moved away from Angelique and pulled her into his arms, acting like the perfect fiancé.

Natasha nodded to most of his questions and allowed him to embrace her, but she couldn't forget the look in his eyes when he saw that she was alive.

Had he been hoping that she died?

"Where's my father?" he asked suddenly.

There was something odd in the way he asked, almost like he wanted her answer to be bad news.

She remembered what Leonard told her, about never mentioning what happened there, not even to Charlie.

So she shook her head. "I don't know."

One of the officers moved towards them and introduced himself.

"Miss Stewart? Would you please come to the station with us to leave a statement. It would really help with our investigation."

She nodded weakly and moved away from Charlie. She expected him to drive with her in the police car, but he chose to drive in his own car with Angelique.

As they drove away from the destroyed house, Natasha couldn't help but wonder where Leonard was and if he had escaped unharmed.

...

The cops threw questions after questions at her, wanting to know what led to the gunfire and what Leonard's real identity was.

But all her answers remained vague. She gave nothing away and the officers finally let her leave.

Charlie was waiting for her when she stepped out of the station. She went into his arms willingly, ignoring Angelique's scathing glance.

"Let's go home. You look a mess and you need to change out of these filthy clothes."

For once, his words didn't hurt her. She felt numb from everything that happened.

As they drove out of the station, a sleek, black Rolls Royce parked on the left side of the road caught her attention. She narrowed her eyes and frowned, watching the window lower slightly.

As they drove past the car, her eyes caught a familiar face and she gasped. It was Leonard, staring straight into her eyes with a dark smirk on his lips.

He was alive.