Chapter 41
SILAS
After a week of having Leonore staying with me, I have figured out three things for absolute certainty.
One. I like being around this woman.
Two. She likes to fuck as much as I do. Because every night my little psycho rides me hard, and then in the morning she feasts on my cock with her delectable little mouth like she can’t get enough of me, before casually flicking me off and getting dressed to go to work.
And three. I’m so fucking in love with her it borders on obsession.
Okay, it is obsession.
Despite the short amount of time she’s been in my life, I can’t imagine living without her. These are the thoughts that consume me as I drive to one of my men’s locations, where no one has moved or picked up for four hours.
Usually, I’d take Valen with me, but I’ve since had him close by her workplace at all times when I’m not there.
I told her not to go to work, but she absolutely refused to listen to me.
I also understand her desire not to let Konstantin affect her in this way.
From the information I’ve gathered from Mikhail, Konstantin has very few weaknesses.
He has left his city, and I can only assume that soon he’ll make his way here.
I arrive at the pinned location, which looks like an old boat shed on private property. I adjust my jacket as I step out of the car, an ominous feeling fluttering through me.
I pull my gun out and notice the recent tire tracks beside where I’ve parked my car. Though I hear no noise coming from inside, I prepare myself when I open the door. My eyes scan the room for any threat, but there is none.
For a split second, there is only silence.
Then I look up.
“Fuck.”
It’s not loud. It’s not controlled either.
The monster I keep leashed in the dark doesn’t rise slowly this time—it snaps.
Two of my men are strung from the rafters, bodies staged like a message. Entrails spill down in obscene weight, swaying slightly in the still air, blood dripping in a steady beat onto the cement floor. A calling card. A declaration.
My jaw locks so hard it aches. Something hot and violent punches through my ribs, sharp enough to blur my vision at the edges. My hands curl without permission, nails biting into my palms until I force them open again.
Not now.
Not here.
I inhale once. Hard. Controlled on the second breath.
I pull my phone out and call Valen.
“Boss?” he answers.
“Where is Leo?”
He hesitates for a moment. “Umm, she currently has her hands in someone’s stomach and is … smiling.” I can hear the grimace in his voice that floods me with relief.
“He’s in town. Lockie and Tyler are dead.”
“What? I was only drinking with them last night,” he says, shocked. My skin pulls tight over muscle. Which means we’re also being watched, and I suspect Valen’s silence is because he’s thinking the same.
Leo was right. He’s moving fast, and it’s only a matter of time until he tracks her. He most likely already has if he knows to leave a calling card for me like this. If he weren’t coming for the woman I love, I’d say I’m mildly impressed.
“Bring her home. I don’t care if she kicks and screams. Make it happen.” And then I hang up before making another call for cleanup so we can mourn my men properly. My little raven is going to be pissed, but so be it. I’d prefer her misery over her safety anyway.
She’s outright glaring at me when I return home, and when I look at Valen, he has a black eye with scratch marks down the side of his face. Though he makes no complaint, I can’t help but feel pride.
“I can’t just stop living,” she says, flustered.
“He’s here,” I tell her matter-of-factly, and that only seems to ignite the flame in her gaze.
“I made a decision not to run from this.”
“We’re not running, but nor am I risking using you as bait. From now on, you remain here. The morgue closes.”
She scoffs. “You can’t just lock me up in here.”
“Then what would you have me do?” I growl, trying my hardest to keep my tone even.
Her burning fury seems to lessen slightly when she hears the waver in my voice.
She gives Valen a look, and I silently dismiss him, leaving us alone in my living room.
I’ve already had my men working to ensure my family’s security as well.
Now it’s just a matter of flushing the rat out.
She walks over to me with that little crazy look in her eye that ordinarily gets me off. We both hold our ground as she goes toe-to-toe with me. “I’m not your pet.”
“No,” I growl, wanting to force her into submission, just so for once she can easily comply.
I’m doing all of this for her. But I suspect she also wants to challenge him head-on, and that’s precisely what I worry about.
“You are not my pet,” I say, intentionally pushing down the burning anger and hunt that is fueling my veins. “You are my woman.”
Something crosses her expression, and I can tell she tries to cling to that fury, both of us so accustomed to using it to protect. But not between us. Not now, when her safety is paramount. I raise my hand to her cheek.
I think she might pull away, but she doesn’t. This week has brought us closer in ways I didn’t expect. Sometimes it’s carefree, others carnal, and like now, emotionally charged with tension around something we both know but have not addressed.
“You are my woman, Leo, and I love you. I will do everything in my power to protect you, even if you disagree.”
Her jaw clenches, but she seems to fight internally until she releases a small, defeated sigh, and she comfortably rests her head into my hand.
“I love you too, Silas.” It’s a fact. No impactful moment, because it was already known to both of us.
“But I can’t let him take control of my life again.
I feel like I’m backing down to him if I step away from my life. My livelihood.”
My gaze softens as I take in my woman with a fierce warrior heart, grateful for who she is but wishing she didn’t have to endure what she did to become who she is. “We’re not backing down. He’s moving quickly, and so will we. I promise to bring you his body.”
Her gaze darkens, and I don’t even dare ask what she has in mind for when she receives such a gift.
That’s between her and the devil to know.
But I promise I’ll give it to her. As she pulls me in for a kiss, I know she wants more than promises right now.
Her body’s demand is something I will always obey.