11
- KS. 11%0
Dawn painted the sky in shades of pink and gold as we arrived at another of Leo’s safehouses – this one a modernist mansion perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The sound of waves crashing against rocks below seemed to echo the chaos in my mind.
“You need rest,” Leo said, leading me through glass doors into a minimalist living room. “We’ll be safe here.”
But sleep felt impossible. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Jessica’s face, heard the gunshots, felt the recoil of the weapon in my hands. I’d crossed a line tonight – tried to shoot another person. The fact that I’d missed didn’t change what I’d been willing to do.
“Stop.” Leo’s voice was gentle. He knelt before me, taking my trembling hands in his. “I know that look. You’re questioning everything – who you are, what you’re capable of.”
My hands felt small in his calloused grip. The torn designer dress, the missing shoe, the dried blood under my fingernails – everything about me seemed wrong, distorted, like looking in a broken mirror.
“I didn’t even hesitate,” I whispered. “When she threatened us, I just… acted.”
“That’s survival.” His thumb traced the line of my palm. “It doesn’t make you a monster.” The ocean breeze carried salt through the open windows, tugging at my ruined hair. Behind Leo, the sunrise painted the minimalist room in soft gold, catching the angles of his face. He looked exhausted, his white shirt still stained with blood, but his eyes never left mine.
“How do you do it?” The words tumbled out. “Live with the weight of these choices?” “You learn to carry it.” He reached up, brushing a strand of hair from my face. “And your remember why you made them in the first place.”
“I could have killed her.”
“But you didn’t.” His fingers traced the lines of my palm. “You defended yourself. There’s no shame in that.”
I pulled my hands away, pacing to the floor–to–ceiling windows. The ocean stretched endlessly before me, dark and deep. “What Nathaniel said, about knowing what you really are…” I turned to face him. “I need the truth, Leo. All of it.”
Leo’s jaw tightened. He rose from his position, hands sliding into his pockets. The sunrise cast shadows across his face, highlighting the fresh cut above his eyebrow from the fight.
“You might not like what you hear.”
“I’m done with lies.” My voice cracked. “I watched my father die because of secrets.
married a man who turned out to be a murderer. Just… tell me.”
Leo stood motionless by the window, muscles tense beneath his shirt. “My tech company is legitimate. But it’s not my only business.”
“Voi’ro nart of the mafia ”
Fri, 21 Feb
Marry My Ex husband’s Riyal
“You’re part of the mafia.”
11%
“I am the mafia.” His dark eyes met mine. “At least, this city’s branch of it. Your father knew – that’s why he came to me when he suspected Nathaniel. He knew I could protect you.”
The truth settled over me like a missing puzzle piece. The armed men. The safehouses. The way doors opened and people stepped aside at his approach.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Would you have trusted me if I had?” He stepped closer, his cologne mixing with traces of gunpowder. “Most people hear ‘mafia‘ and think only of violence. They don’t understand that we’re also about protection, family, honor.”
“And what am I to you?” I couldn’t stop the words. “Part of your protection mission? A way to take down Nathaniel? Or something else?”
I
His hand cupped my face, thumb brushing away tears I hadn’t noticed falling. “You know what you are to me.”
“Say it.”
His lips found mine instead. Not like the desperate kiss in the study. This was slower, deeper, filled with unspoken truths. I pressed closer as his hands tangled in my hair, need
n out reason
When we broke apart, both breathing hard, his eyes held the same longing I felt.
“We shouldn’t,” he whispered, fingers tracing my skin. “Why not?”
felt.00
“Because once I let myself love you, there’s no going back.” His voice roughened. “And you deserve better than my world.”
“Better is overrated.” I traced the scar on his jaw, feeling the rough texture beneath my fingertips. “I had ‘better.‘ Perfect house, perfect life, perfect lies. Look where that got me.”
Leo caught my hand, pressing a kiss to my palm. “This isn’t a fairy tale. My world – it’s full of shadows.”
“So was Nathaniel’s. At least you’re honest about yours.” The ocean crashed against the cliffs below, its rhythm matching my heartbeat. “I’m not some delicate flower that needs protecting anymore. Tonight proved that.”
His eyes darkened at the memory. “You could have died.”
“But I didn’t.” I stepped closer, breathing in his scent – spice and gunpowder and something uniquely him. “I survived. I fought back. And I’m done letting other people decide what’s best for
me.”
“Victoria…” My name was a rough whisper on his lips.
I fisted my hands in his shirt, feeling the solid warmth of him beneath the fabric. “I choose this. I choose you.”
He groaned, pressing his forehead to mine. The tension in his body was palpable, like a wire
PAO
22:42 Fri, 21 Feb
Marry My Ex husband’s Rival
pulled too tight.
“I choose you,” I repeated, softer this time.
11%
The sun broke over the horizon, flooding the room with golden light. Leo’s mouth found mine, and this kiss was different – fierce, claiming, full of promises neither of us had voiced. I
melted into him, feeling the last walls between us crumble.
I wasn’t the same woman who’d fled her perfect prison of a home. That Victoria had been
a carefully crafted illusion, all designer dresses and polite smiles. This version of me had gunpowder residue on her hands and steel in her spine.
And for the first time since my father’s death, I felt truly alive.
