Chapter 37 Sora
SORA
For a heartbeat, I can’t breathe. Leo’s words hang suspended in the air between us.
The coppery taste of blood still coats my tongue, and my face aches from where I was struck, but all of it vanishes the moment he looks at me like that. Like I’m the only thing left in his world worth holding onto.
“I want something real with you,” he says, his voice quieter now but no less firm. “If you’ll still have me. If you’ll leave all this behind with me, I swear, I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to be the man you and our child deserve.”
A tear slips down my cheek before I can stop it. “Leo…”
Everything in me wants to say yes. God, yes. I want to run and never look back. But the world we come from doesn’t let go so easily.
“You really think we can just disappear?” I ask, my voice trembling. “That we can walk away from all of this and just… live?”
He doesn’t hesitate. “I do.”
I want to believe him. But there’s a weight in my chest that won’t lift. I search his face, desperate for something more. “And you’d be okay with that? After what happened to your father? After my family stole so much from you?”
Before Leo can answer, Miko cuts in behind him, his low voice powerful and sure as he steps forward. “We’ll handle it.”
Gio nods beside him, his dark eyes flashing with grim satisfaction.
“You’ve always hated the politics, Leo. The power plays.
You never wanted to be Don in the first place.
We all knew that, and now that Father’s dead, no one’s stopping you from walking away.
Let us deal with the traitors. We’re not about to let what happened to Raf’s wife go unpunished—or the don, even if he was a dick. ”
That draws an unexpected laugh from me as Leo’s most affable brother delivers the cold, hard truth.
“Besides,” Sandro adds, his voice softer, “you’re going to be a father now. That changes everything.”
Leo glances at his brothers, his jaw working like he doesn’t quite know how to argue with them. A muscle tics in his cheek as he processes it all, then… slowly… he nods. “You sure?” he asks, voice low.
“We’re sure,” Miko replies, no hesitation. “We were born into this world, Leo. But you? You were never meant to die in it.”
My heart twists at that. I never realized how much Leo had been quietly carrying, how deeply he hated the legacy that had been forced on him.
Leo turns back to me. “I’m done, Sora. With the violence, the bloodshed. I want peace. For me, for you, and for our child.”
And just like that, the walls I’d tried so hard to hold around my heart crumble.
Before I can say anything, a sharp buzz cuts through the moment.
Leo pulls his phone from his pocket as it lights up with a name that makes my blood run cold. My father’s calling.
A chill prickles down my spine, and my stomach twists. “Answer it,” I whisper.
He taps the screen, putting it on speaker as he holds it out between us.
“Signor Tanaka, this is a not-so-pleasant surprise.”
“Chiaroscuro,” my father growls. “I don’t know how you pulled it off, but I want my daughter back. Now.”
“I don’t think so,” Leo says flatly.
My father scoffs. “Sora is still Yakuza. She’s still blood, and she belongs to us. She knows that as well as I do, so even if you try to keep her, it won’t last forever. She’ll come back.”
I step closer, reaching for the phone. “No. I won’t.”
There’s a long silence on the other end. Then, “You’re making a mistake. They killed your brother, Sora. They’re animals—”
“The only mistake I’ve made was trusting you,” I snap. “You lied to me. You used me. And when I needed you most, you traded me like currency.”
“You would turn your back on your family for him?”
“Yes,” I say with more certainty than I’ve ever felt in my life.
There’s another long pause before my father speaks again, voice cold and as sharp as glass. “Then don’t come crying back to me when he destroys you completely. You are no longer welcome here. You are no daughter of mine.”
The line goes dead.
My hand falls to my side. I should feel devastated, maybe even gutted, but instead… I feel free. For the first time in my life, I’m not trapped in a legacy I didn’t choose. I’m not someone’s pawn, someone’s daughter, someone’s political tool. I’m just me—and I’m his.
Leo wraps his arms around me, one hand pressing gently to my lower back while the other cups my cheek. “Are you okay?”
“I am now,” I whisper.
Behind us, Gio clears his throat softly, and we turn to find the rest of Leo’s brothers watching, quiet and grim. “You good?” he asks.
I nod. “Yeah.”
Miko gives a curt nod, stepping in. “Glad you’re okay,” he says, then quickly averts his eyes, reminding me of my shredded dress.
I quickly release Leo to pull the fabric closed around me.
“We’ll cover the exits,” Gio says, his gaze carefully turned away as well. “Take your time.”
Leo’s brothers slip out without another word, giving us space, and Leo helps me to my feet slowly, steadying me when I sway on weak knees. Then he shrugs out of his suit jacket to wrap it around me.
“I’ve got you,” Leo promises, snaking an arm around my waist to pull me close.
That familiar phrase warms my heart.
Because I know he has me.
Always.
Against all odds, he’s kept me safe.
He’s saved my life in so many ways.
And I trust that he can protect me and our baby—no matter what obstacles come our way.
“We’ll get out of the city,” he says. “Go somewhere safe, somewhere quiet. Then we’ll get you and the baby checked out.”
He dips his head to steal a kiss, and it’s like being struck by lightning—blinding and electric and consuming.
There’s no hesitation in him now, no walls. He pours everything into that kiss—his apology, his devotion, his hope—and I give everything in return.
By the time we part, I’m breathless, my heart thudding against my ribs as I look up into his eyes. “I love you,” I whisper.
He leans back just enough to look me in the eyes, his thumb brushing along my cheek, and his expression softens into something reverent. “I love you too,” he murmurs. “More than anything.”
The next few hours pass in a blur. Leo’s younger brothers clean up the warehouse, taking care of the mess we leave behind while Miko takes us to their yacht to load us up with supplies for the road.
When we get to the boatyard, Miko presses a burner phone into Leo’s hand, along with an envelope of cash. “You’ve got about thirty-six hours before the Bratva start hunting again. Until we’ve finished dealing with those traitors, you’d better lie low.”
Leo nods, his hand finding mine and threading our fingers together. “We will.”
When we leave the warehouse, the air outside is cool and inviting, the stifling summer heat gone, just like the confines of the world we’re leaving behind. I feel lighter somehow.
Like the weight of two empires has finally lifted off my shoulders.
We drive for hours—first in one car, then another, switching vehicles in a remote parking garage where no one can track us.
At some point, I drift off, exhaustion catching up to me.
But when I wake, we’re pulling into a small coastal motel, the sun just starting to peek over the horizon.
Leo gently helps me out of the car, his hands careful as they wrap around me. “You’re sure you don’t want to go to a hospital?”
“I’m okay,” I say. “Promise. We’ll go to the doctor as soon as I’ve had a chance to shower and rest.” Mostly, I just want to know that the baby is alright, but no doctor is going to be open at this hour, and I feel fine aside from the throb of my bruised cheek and split lip. I don’t need a hospital.
Leo doesn’t argue, but I see the tension in his jaw. The guilt. The fear. He still blames himself for not getting to me sooner.
We settle into the motel room, and I peel out of my ruined dress to step into the shower, letting the hot water wash away the blood and fear.
When I come out again, wrapped in a terry cloth robe that’s threadbare compared to the plush one from his yacht, Leo’s waiting.
He sits on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands, and my heart twinges to see the strain of his emotion along the tense curve of his back.
He looks up the moment he hears me, his eyes full of something I can’t quite name as he straightens.
“Come here,” he murmurs, reaching for me.
I go to him, sinking into his arms and curling against his chest as his hand settles instinctively on my belly.
He’s quiet for a long time before he speaks.
“How long have you known?”
“That I was pregnant?” I whisper. “A little over a week.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” The hurt is plain in his tone, and guilt makes my stomach clench.
I should have told him from the beginning.
So many things could have turned out differently if I had. But I was too uncertain about us to take the chance.
“I still wasn’t sure what we had was real.
Not until the yacht… And then I wanted to make sure the baby was alright before I said anything to you.
” I close my eyes, burying my face in his shoulder.
“I was going to tell you last night. Then I heard you and your father talking, and I was so heartbroken, I just… I needed some space to think. But when I got to my parents’ house, well, you know the rest of the story. ”
He holds me tighter, his arms strong and comforting, the sound of his heart sweet music to my ears. “I’m sorry. For everything.”
“I am too.”
A sad smile graces his beautiful face as he leans back and cups my uninjured cheek so tenderly, it tugs at my heartstrings. “You have nothing to be sorry for,” he assures me.
And fresh tears sting my eyes. I nod, my heart swelling with relief and an overwhelming love.
Leo leans in to kiss me, slow and deep, like we have all the time in the world.
And maybe we do.
Maybe this is the start of something new—something precious and exciting.
I don’t know what the future holds. But I know I’m not afraid of it anymore. Not with Leo by my side.
And as I melt in his arms, I realize something with absolute clarity. We survived.
And now? We get to live the life we want—together, just me, Leo, and our baby.
Against all odds and despite our rocky start, we’ve found happiness together.
I’ve fallen in love with my husband completely, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life by his side.