Chapter Eight
Leo
The blood on my finger is a haunting sight. It speaks to the fact that Emma is a virgin, which means she was honest about one thing.
What else has she been honest about?
Everything? Nothing?
Fuck. I don’t know and it’s eating me up inside.
I rush into the nearest bathroom and wash my hands. Wash away the shame that’s filling me up. Am I torturing a completely innocent woman?
But I know what I saw when Alessandro laid eyes on Emma. She is his daughter. So either she really has never met him before and he was never a part of her life or she’s been lying to me about it. I really don’t know.
Fuck.
I stumble away from the sink, running my hand over my face.
What am I going to do? Emma is steadfast in her story that she doesn’t know anything but I know people can break.
Will I have to hurt her even more to get her to do that?
Can I even get myself to hurt her more? I gave her a blanket because I didn’t want her to be cold at night.
I can’t get myself to truly hurt her in the ways I would with someone else to get the information I need.
This would all be so much easier if she didn’t have such an open, sweet face. Her innocence, to some degree, is real. The blood I washed away is evidence of that.
I need to get answers and I’m not ready to do what I have to do to get them.
Emma
After I finish crying, I realize that Leo never locked me back in the cage. My legs move up the stairs to the door that leads to the rest of the house. When I try the doorknob, I learn that it’s unlocked.
I can escape.
With a gasp, I tiptoe out into the hallway.
Leo is nowhere in sight. The house is dark and quiet.
But that’s dangerous because he might hear me and put me right back in that cage.
I was held as a prisoner all my life by my mother and it will kill me if I have to spend the rest of my life as a prisoner to Leo.
I have to leave. But the second that thought hits me, it also dawns on me that I still have nowhere to go.
I left my mother to find freedom. My own father is a mafia man who’s a stranger.
I can’t trust him, especially if he’s anything like Leo.
I don’t have any money. I can’t risk going upstairs to the room Leo gave me and taking the clothes he bought for me.
I only have what’s on my back right now – the silky lavender dress that doesn’t offer my body any sort of protection.
I have nothing and yet, in this moment, I can have my freedom. I can go to the police. Ask for help. Resources. Anything.
I tiptoe to the front door and when no one comes to stop me, I leave. The crisp air of the night hits me in the face, making me shiver. My bare feet are instantly cold.
But I can’t stop. I take off running down the street.
I only make it down the road when a car pulls up beside me. A man is revealed on the other side when the window is rolled down. The man in question has bland features. Nothing to make him stand out in a crowd.
“Please,” I gasp. “I need help. I need to go to the police.”
“Then get in.” His tone is cold. No questions. Why isn’t he asking for more information?
That makes me stop in my tracks. “Do you have a phone I can use? I would feel safer if I could fall for the police.”
“I can take you to the police.” There’s something about this man I don’t trust. After the way Leo deceived me, I can’t trust anybody.
“That’s ok,” I whisper. “Thanks though.” I pick up my pace but the man only follows me with his car. The hairs on my neck stand up.
“You should really get in. Your father wants to meet you, Emma.”
That makes me stop once again. “You… you know who I am?”
“Your father sent me to keep an eye on Leo Detti’s house, hoping you would be there. And imagine my luck when you stepped out. So let me take you to your father. He wants to meet you.”
“Alessandro Greco is truly my father?”
“Yes. So get in. Don’t make me force you to get in.”
I step away from the car. “I don’t know my father. Why wasn’t he in my life all this time? He’s a stranger. A mafia man. I don’t trust him and I don’t trust you.”
“Get in, Emma,” he says in a much colder tone.
“No,” I gasp before breaking out into a run. The man gets out of his car and chases me. With his longer legs, he reaches me in no time, grabbing me around the waist. I let out a scream but he slams his hand over my mouth, cutting me off. I kick and fight but the man is too strong for me.
“Hey!” A male voice shouts. Leo. I would recognize it anywhere. He comes running down the street. I’m not sure whether to feel more afraid or relieved.
Leo punches the man in the face, forcing the man to let me go. I slump to the ground.
The man pulls out a knife from his jacket and swings it at Leo but Leo grabs the man’s wrist, twisting it.
A snap is loud in the air. The man cries out as Leo takes the knife from him.
I watch in horror as Leo stabs the man in the stomach before pulling it out.
It’s covered in blood. Just like his finger was when he placed it inside of me.
The man grunts and drops to his knees.
Leo punches the man once more, knocking him out. It’s scary how Leo doesn’t hesitate to go into action by picking the man up and placing him back into his car. Leo then calls someone, telling the other person to come clean the mess up.
Leo throws the knife into the backseat with the man and shuts the door. No sweat on his face. No breathing heavy. He’s acting like it’s just another day at the office.
That is until he turns his eyes onto me.
I scramble away but Leo picks me up and throws me over his shoulder. I’m too stunned to say anything or fight.
Without a word, Leo brings me right back to the cage but instead of shutting the door, he gets into the cage with me.
“Leo?” I whisper.
“How did you escape?”
“You didn’t lock me up.”
He bows his head, shutting his eyes. “You’re right. I didn’t. And you escaped. Who was that man?”
“You don’t even know? You just killed him.”
“Because he was attacking you!” Leo shouts, making me gasp. “Of course I killed him. You are mine now, Emma. I married you so no one else could take you from me. Who was that man?”
“He worked for my father. That’s what he said.”
He scoffs. “Your father? So you admit that you were trying to return to him?”
A flare of anger hits me. “You just said that that man was attacking me. Did it look like I was trying to leave with him? I don’t know my father. He’s a stranger. I don’t know if I can trust him but I do know that I didn’t want to go with that man.”
“This could all be an act. A way to get me to trust you even more so you can help your father tear us down from the inside.”
“Do you actually believe what you’re saying right now?”
Leo gives his head a rough shake. “You shouldn’t have left. You could have been hurt.”
“You don’t care about my safety. If you did, you never would have done this to me.”
He grabs my waist. “You are mine, Emma.”
I back away from him until I hit the bars of the cage. Nowhere to go. “I am my own person. I want to be after everything I’ve been through.”
“What have you been through? Tell me.”
“I… I can’t. I just can’t.”
“Emma, tell me,” he growls, taking my face between his hands. “Are you truly this innocent? Or are you keeping things from me? Tell me.”
“I can’t,” I cry. “I can’t.”
With another dark sound, Leo presses his lips right to mine, truly kissing me for the first time.
The kiss we shared when he proposed to me was a small thing.
Barely anything but this kiss… this kiss is something.
It’s electrifying. It’s passionate. It’s terrifying and yet, I can’t make myself pull away. Instead, I lean in closer.
Leo kisses me like he might die if he doesn’t kiss me harder and harder until I feel like I can’t breathe.
He pulls away from me with a gasp before grabbing my waist and pulling me down onto the floor. His eyes are locked with mine as he grabs my legs and pushes them up into my stomach.
“You are mine,” he says darkly before he parts my legs and places his face right between them. I gasp when his lips find my nub. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Both soft and firm. Taboo and yet, feels completely right.
After how rough he was with his finger inside of me earlier, his lips are the exact opposite. Soft on my most intimate area.
“Leo,” I cry out when his lips and tongue run along my folds. My hands smack into the ground to steady myself. “What are you doing?”
“I’m tasting you. Reminding you who you belong to.” His dark words make another flare of arousal hit me. His tongue feels like magic on my body. And his powerful presence makes me feel safe.
He saved me from that man… only to bring me back to his cage. I know I can’t trust Leo but he’s all I have right now and that thought makes me want to cry.
But the pleasure he’s showing me makes me too happy to let the tears come out.
“Lay back,” he orders and I do as he says without complaint. I gasp again when his lips find my nub, rolling it between his tongue. Over and over and over again.
“Oh,” I gasp.
Leo pulls my legs wider apart, placing them on his shoulders, as he runs his tongue over me. “Your pussy tastes like fucking gold. How is that even possible?” He licks over my clit, making me shudder.
My hips rise up to meet his mouth. I need more. I need to find my release again. I need to get lost in it.
“Has no one ever done this to you?” he asks, licking me from the bottom to the top of my opening.
“No,” I say breathless. “Never.”
“You really are a virgin, aren’t you? You really are innocent?”
“Yes,” I moan and cry at the same time. “I am.”
“Fuck, Emma.” He buries his face deeper in and licks me harder. His tongue finds my entrance and slips inside of me. My hips buck into his face.
Leo places his hand over my hips, holding me down, but I need to let go. I need to find my freedom in this.
“Oh,” I sigh as my head moves back and forth. The pleasure of this moment is too much. I think I might die while at the same time, feeling like I’ve never been more alive.