Leo’s grip on my wrist was iron, unyielding. His eyes burned like storms as he leaned closer, his voice low and commanding.“Go back to our room, Lena. Now.”My chest tightened. “No. I’m not leaving you to face this alone.”His jaw worked as he pulled me closer, his breath hot against my face. “You’re not leaving me. You’re trusting me. For once in your life, just trust me to handle this.”My throat burned. “I do trust you, but I’m not letting you disappear on me again. Not after what happened the last time.”“Lena…”“No!” My voice cracked, my fingers curling tight into his shirt. “You don’t get to tell me to sit in a room and wait while you bleed out somewhere! I can’t…”His mouth crushed mine before the sobs could spill. The kiss was fierce, punishing, and desperate. When he pulled back, his hands framed my face, and his voice dropped to a whisper.“I will always come back to you. Do you hear me? Always, Lena. I will not leave you. But if you don’t go now, if you make me worry about
Enzo slammed his fist against the table. “We’ve wasted too much time. Whoever is out there is cutting us down piece by piece while we sit here wringing our hands.”Antonio shot back immediately. “And what do you suggest? That we march out blind and hand him our throats? You’d like that, wouldn’t you…martyr yourself and drag the rest of us into the grave.”Giovanni leaned forward, his voice biting. “Better a grave than a cage. He’s hunting us. We either fight or rot waiting.”“Your silence isn’t safety…it’s cowardice!” Enzo added.The noise pressed in, heavy, chaotic.Leo didn’t move. He stood at the far end, his arms crossed, his silence louder than their shouting. I sat stiff beside him, trying not to flinch with every new accusation that rattled the walls.When he finally spoke, his voice silenced the room like a blade cutting rope. “The one behind your burned homes, your dead families, your sleepless nights… is Marcello.”The silence after was suffocating.Then it shattered.“Marce
Marcello.The name alone felt wrong in my mouth, bitter as poison.“You’re telling me Marcello planned this?” My voice was thin, trembling, barely mine.Leo’s gaze didn’t waver. “Yes.”I shook my head, shaking it harder when he didn’t blink. “No. No, Leo, you don’t understand. He was here with us. He fought alongside us. He…he helped protect me when…”“That’s why it worked.” His voice cut sharp enough to slice through bone. “That’s why I didn’t see it coming. He stayed close. He wanted me to trust him. And I did.”“No.” The denial tore out of me, desperate. “You’re wrong. You have to be. Marcello was like family…”“He was never family,” Leo growled. He raked a hand down his face, eyes burning with rage that wasn’t aimed at me but scorched me all the same. “He wanted me blind. And I was. He played the loyal ally while he built the trap under my feet.”I wrapped my arms around myself, my whole body trembling. “But why? Why would he do this to you? To us?”Leo’s laugh was sharp, hollow.
The days blurred together like one endless nightmare.People filled every corner of the mansion but it didn’t matter how crowded it was. I’d never felt so utterly alone.Every night I broke down behind my bedroom door, muffling my sobs into the pillow so no one would hear. In the morning, I fixed my face, pretended my body wasn’t breaking down, and tried to hold this fragile kingdom together.Leo wasn’t here. And without him, I felt like I was drowning.I stuck to doing nightly rounds, walking through the halls with aching feet and burning eyes, making sure no one was sneaking where they shouldn’t be. Sleep was a stranger now, and paranoia had moved in permanently.All thanks to Enzo.The first week we’d arrived, I’d caught him sneaking toward the West Wing, one of the restricted parts of the house where Leo kept his office, his secrets, and our bedroom. He’d looked like a child caught stealing candy, brushing it off with some flimsy excuse, but I’d never forgotten it. That memory hau
They filed in, filling seats one by one, their voices hushed but expectant. I knew what they were waiting for… for me to leave, to excuse myself so they could talk business without the nuisance of a woman.Instead, I set my laptop on the table, walked to the head, and slid into Leo’s chair.The scraping of chairs, the coughs, the muttered surprise was almost comical.“You’re staying?” Antonio Rossi asked finally, arching a brow.“Yes,” I said flatly, opening the laptop. “Start whenever you’re ready.”Enzo laughed under his breath. “Leo’s seat, no less. Bold.”“Someone has to occupy it,” I replied, eyes on my screen.Their conversation began in stilted tones, arguments layered with sarcasm and arrogance. I let their words wash over me as my fingers flew across the keyboard. One by one, their systems bent to me, firewalls stripped, IP addresses traced, their private networks unfolding under my touch.Halfway through the discussion, Giovanni leaned forward. “You know, this would all be e
My eyes burned like someone had rubbed sand into them. I’d been staring at screens for so many hours my vision swam every time I blinked, the tiny red dots of camera feeds dancing behind my eyelids even when I closed them.The house was now eerily quiet as though nothing had happened, as though men hadn’t tried to storm the gates only hours ago, as though my voice hadn’t echoed through the security comms giving order after order like I’d been born with them in my throat.But my body knew. My body was screaming for rest, every nerve stretched to breaking point. The dawn light was cruel, slipping through the curtains and glancing off the monitors in Leo’s office.Just ten minutes, I told myself, sinking back into the chair. Just ten minutes with my eyes closed.A knock rattled at the door. Then hurried footsteps.I bolted upright, adrenaline spiking like a whip in my veins.“Signora!” a voice called. One of the guards. “Your parents have arrived.”My stomach dropped. “What?”I pushed up