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Leo and Elena

Author: Riah
last update publish date: 2026-09-25 13:29:12

The morning of the wedding was golden.

Drake woke before the sun, as he always did, and lay in bed for a long moment, listening to Mason breathe. The house was quiet. The garden was waiting. And somewhere in the guest room, his son was waking up to the last day of his unmarried life.

Drake smiled.

He slipped out of bed and walked to the window.

The garden was dressed in white. The roses had been pruned and trained into perfect arches. The lavender lined the pathways, releasing its sweet scent i
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  • SINFUL SALVATION    Fallout

    The days after Don Vittorio's arrest were strange. The house was quiet. The press had moved on. The police had taken their statements. The lawyers had filed their motions. The world had returned to normal. But Leo didn't feel normal. He felt empty. He walked through the garden every morning, tending the roses, watering the lavender, talking to the koi fish. He ate breakfast with his fathers. He called Elara every night to make sure she was okay. He held Damien in his arms every night. But he didn't feel anything. He didn't feel joy. He didn't feel sadness. He didn't feel anger. He just felt numb. --- Damien noticed. Of course he noticed. He always noticed. "You're not sleeping," he said one night, lying beside Leo in the dark. "I'm sleeping." "You're lying." Damien turned to face him. "You're lying awake every night. You're staring at the ceiling. You're thinking." Leo didn't answer. "What are you thinking about?" Leo was silent for a long moment. "T

  • SINFUL SALVATION    Sister

    The call came on a Tuesday afternoon.Leo was in the garden with Damien, pruning the roses. The sun was out—a rare, bright November day—and for the first time in weeks, Leo felt something like peace.His phone buzzed.He pulled it out of his pocket. It was Elara.He smiled."Hey, little star," he said. "What's up?"Silence."Elara?"A voice—not Elara's—spoke."Hello, Leo."Leo's blood ran cold."Who is this?""You know who this is."Don Vittorio Cross.---Leo's hand tightened on the phone."What do you want?""I want my grandson back." Don Vittorio's voice was calm. Cold. "But since you've made that impossible, I've decided to take something of yours instead."Leo's heart stopped."What did you do?""Nothing yet." Don Vittorio laughed—a soft, cruel sound. "But I have your sister. And if you want to see her alive again, you'll come to the warehouse on the south side of the city. Alone.""Let her go.""I don't think so." Don Vittorio's voice hardened. "You have two hours. If you're not

  • SINFUL SALVATION    Dark

    The days after the attack were quiet.Too quiet.The house was repaired—new windows, new locks, new security system. Mariah's team patrolled the perimeter. Drake and Mason stayed close, their eyes watchful, their hands never far from their guns.But the silence was not peaceful.It was heavy.Leo felt it in his chest. He felt it in his bones. He felt it every time he closed his eyes and saw the man falling—the blood, the silence.He had killed someone.He had taken a life.And he couldn't stop thinking about it.---He didn't sleep.He lay in bed beside Damien, listening to his steady breathing, and he stared at the ceiling. The darkness pressed in around him—cold, heavy, suffocating.He thought about the man he had killed.He didn't know his name. He didn't know if he had a family—a wife, a child, a mother who would wonder where he was. He didn't know if he had been a good man or a bad one.He just knew that he was dead.And Leo had killed him.---On the third night, Damien woke up.

  • SINFUL SALVATION    Strike

    Matteo spent the night in the guest room.Leo didn't sleep.He sat in the kitchen, a cup of cold coffee in his hand, staring at the wall. Damien was asleep in the bedroom—finally, truly asleep—and Leo didn't want to wake him. He didn't want to disturb the peace.But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.Something was coming.Something bad.---At 4:17 AM, his phone buzzed.He picked it up.It was Mariah."Leo." Her voice was sharp. "We have a problem.""What kind of problem?""The bad kind. Don Vittorio's men are moving. They're not waiting for the trial. They're not waiting for anything."Leo's blood ran cold."Where are they?""They're heading for the house. Three cars. At least eight men. Heavily armed."Leo stood up."How long do we have?""Twenty minutes. Maybe less."---Leo woke Damien.He shook his shoulder—gently at first, then harder."Damien. Wake up."Damien's eyes flew open."What's wrong?""Your grandfather is coming."Damien's face went pale."He's—""

  • SINFUL SALVATION    Teacher

    They spent the next three days preparing.Leo called Mariah—the woman who had protected his family for decades, the woman who had taught him how to fight, how to shoot, how to survive. She arrived at the house on the first morning, her dark eyes sharp, her body still lean and strong despite her years."You're going to war," she said. It wasn't a question."Yes," Leo said."Against the Cross family.""Yes.""With a boy who was raised by them.""Yes."Mariah studied him."You're either very brave or very stupid."Leo smiled."Probably both."---Mariah trained them in the garden—the big one, the one behind the house, the one with the roses and the koi pond and the stone pathways. She taught them how to move, how to fight, how to kill.Damien was already skilled. He had been trained by Matteo since he was a child—he knew how to use a knife, how to disarm a man, how to break a neck. But he was out of practice. He had spent the last year hiding, pretending, surviving.Leo was different. He

  • SINFUL SALVATION    The ghost

    The peace lasted four days.Four days of quiet mornings and slow afternoons. Four days of Damien waking up without nightmares. Four days of Leo watching him smile—really smile—for the first time in his life.---Leo saw her first.She was standing at the gate—a woman in a black coat, her dark hair pulled back, her face pale and sharp. She was tall and elegant, with the kind of beauty that came from years of discipline and control.Leo's blood ran cold.He knew her.He had seen her photograph in Damien's room, in the small album he kept hidden under his bed. He had seen her face in the documents Marcus had gathered. He had seen her name on the list of Cross family associates.Isabella Cross.Damien's aunt.---Leo walked to the gate.He didn't open it. He just stood there, his hands in his pockets, his grey eyes steady."Ms. Cross," he said.Isabella smiled—a thin, cold smile that didn't reach her eyes."Mr. Ashford.""What do you want?""To talk.""About what?""About Damien."Leo did

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