Chapter 52
Leonardo De Luca
The glass was at my lips again and I felt the spicy yet sweet liquid running through my veins.
www
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Alessia has no idea the stress of being the boss, the absolute crapthat we have to sort through when something becomes an
inconvenience.
But Alessia doesn’t back away. She steps even closer and pauses before my desk “What are you talking abou
There it is again.
That soft voice makes me believe she cares about me until she does something to make me doubt that I grunt silently and slam the glass down on the side.
She doesn’t flinch but it makes her take a slow breath. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Did Russo do something?”
Our eyes find each other like magnets drawn to each other. I take another sip of my drink as I rip it from the counter, finishing every last drop. She folds her arms over her chest out of the corner of my eye
“So, he did
I pressed a hand to my desk, leaning on it. Alessia’s shoulders sag for a second but she doesn’t remove her hands from her chest. Her dark brows tug into a low frown and she shakes her head at me.
“My brothers should be the people you trust if no one at all. One thing they don’t do is betray. Russo cares about you and this empire more than I can even understand. He’s been nothing but loyal and respectful to you. They both have
Why do you think you can’t trust them?”
I was proud of her for standing up for her brothers. But this truth might not be my truth. I press a hand to my forehead and I close my eyes. Everything feels like a jumbled mess and I wish someone would just tell me what the fucking answer is.
“Some people can be hungry for power.”
Alessia’s brows raise so high that her whole face changes. “Not my brothers. They’d never betray you. What’s this even about,
Leo?”
I curse under my breath. “For their sake, I do hope you’re right ignored her question though. It’s best to keep her out of
this
She chews on her lip with that look of concern again. I watch as she loops around my desk and walks towards me. She carefully leans forward to grab my hand, inspecting the cut
No shock
Now I noticed that it’s bleeding and I’ve busted open my knuckle. No shock there, considering I just hit a brick wall with my
fist.
Alessia rocks my hand between her own. They’re so soft and delicate, the complete opposite of mine, rough and heavy.
“This needs to be cleaned.” She says, before glancing up at me.
“It terrifies me when you act all soft on me.” I blurted out
Wait! I wasn’t supposed to say that out loud!
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Chapter 52
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I wanted to run a thousand miles just so I could stop this warmth building in my chest. I’ve gone from being a gloomy asshole to a weak ass man for a woman.
Alexa arches a perfect eyebrow in my direction. “So should I call you a dickhead while I clean this then?”
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My head tilts back and despite the current situation with my empire, for a moment I forget that anything is wrong as I laugh out loud.
Alessia’s lips moved up in a smile too.
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“I think you should—”
The door to my office creaked open louder this time and Russo walked in, eyebrows raised in question as he noticed Alessia’s hand clutching mine
Alessia Guzman
“What’s going on!” Russo said, flicking his eyes down to our clenched hands. I don’t know why but the look in Russo’s eyes made me yank my hands away and dust them off on my leggings as if they somehow contained poison.
What’s wrong with me?
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“I heard a loud clash” I exhale slowly. “I thought someone broke in again.” Russo dips his gaze down to L’s split
knuckles, “What happened?”
“I think you two need to talk.” I declare loudly Leonardo glares at me but I don’t care. If he doesn’t trust Russo all of a sudden, then he needs to address it, not cower away from it
Because I know deep down, that Russo would never do anything to betray Leonardo.
“It’s obvious you got shit to discuss and I know it’s none of my business, so I should probably leave, I say.
Russo scoffed from across the room, folding his thick arm across his chest. “Em pretty sure you’re very much in the business now, Alessia” He said, his eyes boring into me.
His gaze finally flicks to Leonardo who is still standing behind me “So go on, spit it out, boss,”
I heard his loud sigh behind my ear.
I was glad to stay because I was interested in knowing what was going on and why Leonardo felt like he couldn’t trust my brother all of a sudden.
Leonardo clears his throat loudly and steps beside me, pressing a hand to his desk. “Alright.” He growls lowly. “You want to hear it?”
“Yes,” Russo said.
“Alessandro gave me information on Rizzo’s and Gabriel’s phone Whoever sent those text to them,” Leonardo pauses for second. “They’ve been at this house before. The IP address matches this network. They sent some text messages from here.
I turn to look at my brother. He’s still standing with his arms folded across his chest. No fleck of expression at all. He’s completely blank–faced until he releases a slow but painful laughi
“And you thought that it could be me?”
Russo’s voice is so lethal I could barely recognize it. I was beginning to feel uncomfortable.
I really should not be here!
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Chapter 52
“I didn’t say that” Leonardo’s voice is steady.
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“But that’s what it sounds like you’re accusing me of He takes one step forward, his tone becoming sharper. “I’ve known you for more than a year, Leonardo. Your reputation precedes you no doubt but I’ve come to know and respect you in the over one year I’ve been here.
I’ve backed you in every given opportunity. I’ve gone to the ends of the earth for this empire and you think I’d stab you in the back like this?”
Leonardo’s jawgtensed as he stared back at him. “I’ve been thinking cautiously, that’s all. Anyone could be a threat. Hell, maybe you weren’t happy with the way I forced you out of your family gang to come to work for me after Alessia ran away”
Why was he talking about me as if I wasn’t standing right there?
Russo curses and presses his fingers into his eyes. “Wow, Lea.” He drags out the letters. “I just can’t believe this.”
“You know everything, Russo, How can you not expect me to be weary of everyone who has ever been here! Even after we found Alessia and I told you that you were free to go back to your family gang, you still decided to be a part of my emp-”
“That’s because I had come to respect you goddammit!”
I listen to my brother as he laughs to himself sourly, “I can’t fucking believe this shit.”
Leonapo breathes out heavily through his nose. “Listen, Russo Im not accusing you of doing anything but anyone who was here in the space of one year needs to be checked.”
Russo digs through his pocket and raises his phone. “You want to go through this and check if I’m lying?”
“Do you think I’m stupid? We both know you’d never use your rel phone for this shit if you were the one.” Leonardo leans a hand onto his desk, brows pulled down tightly.
“Holy shit” Russo glances up at the ceiling. “I can’t believe this is happening”
I glanced between the pair of them. Danger and fire danced in their eyes. If they were not careful, they would be brawling on the floor in a minute and I would have no clue what to do,
After a few minutes of silence, Russo steps even closer. “Alright, ne. Be wary of me. But that still doesn’t take away from t fact that someone is out there, someone who is messing with this empire. Do you think I’d want to mess with Landon? Especially now when Alessia is staying here? Td never be that stupid to put her in danger because I know what Landon can get like with his petty revenge.”
There it is again, talking about me like I wasn’t standing right there.
I resisted the urge to clear my throat.
Leonardo straightens his spine. Anyone could see how protective my brother was of me at that moment. He presses his fingers to the piece of paper on his desk, sliding it across the wolen surface. “Here are the rest of the names. We need to figure out which lying bastard has done this. I don’t want them liteathing by the end of the week.”
Leonardo’s voice had me shuddering
I’ve never heard something so deadly and so sexy at the same time!
