Chapter Twelve CHIARA #2
Leo stepped inside wearing black slacks and a dark charcoal dress shirt rolled to his forearms. Rainwater still dampened parts of his sleeves.
His tattoos disappeared beneath expensive fabric and silver cufflinks, dark hair slightly disheveled like someone had dragged frustrated hands through it repeatedly.
But it was his face that made fear creep slowly down my spine.
Cold. Not the teasing, amused cruelty I’d grown used to. Not possessive hunger.
His expression looked carved from stone, jaw tight enough to snap teeth. Those dark eyes landed on me, unreadable and flat beneath the low bedroom lighting.
And God. My body betrayed me anyway.
The moment he walked into the room, heat unfurled low in my stomach so fast it made me dizzy. My nipples tightened painfully beneath the thin shirt. My thighs pressed together automatically.
Humiliation flooded me afterward.
Leo’s gaze dragged slowly down my body. Bare legs tangled in black sheets. His shirt hanging off my skin. Blonde hair spread over his pillows.
Tonight though, there was no smug satisfaction in his face when he looked at me. That scared me more than anger would have.
“You’re home,” I said softly.
His eyes lifted back to mine. “Yes.”
Just one word. Dangerously calm. Fear and want twisted together violently inside me.
He loosened one cufflink slowly while walking deeper into the room, the scent of rain and whiskey following him. My heartbeat quickened painfully the closer he got. Instinct screamed at me to back away. Instead, I stayed perfectly still. Like willing prey.
“What happened?” I asked quietly. “Why have you been staying away?”
Leo didn’t answer right away. He removed the second cufflink carefully, setting both on the dresser with precise movements. Too precise. Like he was forcing control over something ugly underneath.
“Leo.”
His gaze met mine again. And my stomach dropped. Because for the first time since meeting him… I realized there were things capable of frightening The Serpent.
“I spent the evening with your father,” he said calmly.
Ice flooded my veins. “What?”
Leo’s jaw flexed once. “He requested a meeting before the wedding.”
Panic stirred beneath my ribs. “Why?”
A long silence followed. Rain battered harder against the windows.
Then Leo walked toward the bed slowly. Every instinct in my body screamed at once when he stopped beside me.
My breath caught sharply as heat rolled off him in waves.
Even angry, even cold, he was devastating this close.
Six foot five of tailored violence looming over me while the city glittered behind him like a kingdom built for monsters.
And still my body wanted him. I hated myself for it.
“What did he want?” I whispered.
Leo stared down at me for several long seconds before answering. “To discuss what belongs to me after tomorrow.”
A chill slid slowly down my spine. The room felt smaller. Something dark flickered behind Leo’s eyes then vanished so fast I almost missed it. Rage. Not toward me.
“You should try to get some rest,” he said quietly. “Big day tomorrow.”
The softness in his voice scared me more than shouting would have. “Leo…”
“It’s going to be a very long day, Chiara,” he muttered. My name sounded different coming from him tonight. Final. And as he turned away toward the windows overlooking the city, I realized with terrifying certainty, something had changed.
I stared at his back while rain lashed violently against the windows behind him.
Something was wrong and not just the conversation with Papa. Not just the coldness radiating off him tonight like winter wrapped in expensive cologne and violence.
Something inside Leo felt… restrained. Like a wolf straining against a chain.
He stood near the windows with one hand braced against the glass, broad shoulders tense beneath the dark charcoal fabric stretched across his back. Lightning flickered somewhere in the distance, briefly illuminating the sharp lines of his face in silver.
God. Even angry, even distant, he was devastating.
The rolled sleeves exposed powerful tattooed forearms veined beneath golden skin.
His dark hair looked slightly damp from the rain, pushed messily away from his forehead.
Expensive whiskey and storm water clung to him, masculine and dangerous enough to make heat spread traitorously through my stomach all over again.
I hated my body. Hated the way fear and desire tangled together every single time he walked near me. Leo Moretti terrified me. And still my pulse raced whenever he got too close.
I swallowed hard, fingers tightening against the black silk sheets twisted around my legs.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” I said quietly.
He didn’t turn around. “Yes.”
The simple honesty somehow hurt worse. “Why?”
Silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating beneath the sound of rain battering the glass walls surrounding the penthouse. “Because you keep looking at me like that.”
Confusion flickered through me. “Like what?”
Now he turned, slowly. And the look in his eyes nearly stopped my heart.
His gaze dragged over me where I sat in his bed wearing nothing but his shirt, the black fabric slipping lower down one shoulder.
My bare thighs pressed together instinctively beneath the sheets when his eyes lingered there too long.
Heat rolled low in my stomach.
“There,” he said quietly. “Exactly like that.”
My breath caught. Leo started toward the bed again, slow and predatory, and my body reacted before my mind could. My pulse jumped violently. My nipples tightened painfully beneath the thin shirt. A nervous ache coiled lower between my thighs the closer he got.
He stopped directly in front of me. Towering. I tilted my head back to look at him properly and quickly regretted it. Those dark eyes pinned me in place. Dangerous.
Not teasing tonight, and not playful, either.
“You should stop sleeping in my bed,” he said softly. But his gaze stayed fixed on my mouth.
I swallowed hard. “You never told me to leave.”
“You should obey me without question,” he said firmly. The warning in his voice made my stomach twist.
But something reckless had already taken root inside me. Maybe humiliation finally curdled into desperation. Maybe tomorrow’s wedding terrified me more than rejection did now. Or maybe I was simply tired of him pretending he didn’t want me when my entire body knew better.
Slowly, I pushed the sheets aside. The black shirt slipped higher up my thighs as I moved toward the edge of the mattress. My pulse thundered painfully while I stood barefoot in front of him, close enough to smell whiskey on his breath.
Fear crawled through me. Real fear. Because Leo looked at me like a starving man trying not to bite. But I stepped closer anyway.
“You said tomorrow changes everything,” I whispered. “Will you touch me like I want you to tomorrow?”
His jaw flexed hard. “Go to sleep. No more questions.”
“No.” The word surprised both of us. My heart slammed wildly against my ribs, but I forced myself forward until only inches separated us. Heat radiated off his body in suffocating waves. I could practically feel the restraint vibrating beneath his skin.
And God help me, I wanted to break it.
“I’m tired of you looking at me like you want to devour me,” I whispered shakily. “Then disappearing.”
His breathing changed slightly. Barely. But I noticed.
“You begged me not to touch you before,” he said roughly. “Now you’re begging for the opposite.”
Heat flooded my face. But instead of backing away, I reached for the buttons of his shirt. Leo caught my wrist. Hard. A sharp gasp escaped me. The grip wasn’t painful, but the warning in it was clear. My pulse fluttered violently.
“Dangerous game, bellissima,” he murmured.
I looked up at him through trembling lashes. “Maybe I’m tired of being scared of you.”
Something flickered across his face then vanished.
Slowly, deliberately, I pulled my wrist free.
Then I reached for the hem of the shirt I wore instead.
The city hummed faintly beyond the glass while rain poured endlessly outside, but inside the bedroom everything went deathly still.
My hands shook slightly as I unbuttoned the shirt.
One button. Then another. Leo watched every movement without blinking.
My breathing turned uneven beneath the weight of his stare. Fear prickled across my skin, but beneath it burned something hotter. Wilder.
Because this was Leo. The Serpent. The monster everyone feared. And right now he looked one second away from losing control completely.
The shirt slipped open slowly. Cool air brushed against my bare skin. Leo inhaled sharply. That tiny sound almost destroyed me.
My nipples hardened beneath his stare, humiliation and arousal crashing together so violently my knees nearly weakened. I forced myself not to cover up. Forced myself to keep going.
The black cotton slid down my arms and pooled soundlessly at my feet. Bare. Completely bare beneath the penthouse lights.
My entire body erupted in goosebumps. Leo’s expression changed to pure hunger. His gaze moved over me slowly enough to feel physical. Breasts. Waist. Bare thighs pressed tightly together despite myself.
A low sound rumbled deep in his chest. My pulse nearly stopped. Fear tightened around my lungs. But my body… God. My body leaned toward him anyway.
“Leo,” I whispered. “Please, stop resisting me. Show me I’m not making a mistake by saying I do…”
He moved so fast I gasped. One second there was distance between us. The next his hand locked around my throat. Not squeezing. Holding me so tightly I was immobile.
My back hit the wall beside the bed hard enough to make me suck in a breath while Leo crowded against me completely, massive body boxing me in. Every inch of me lit on fire. His forehead dropped against mine roughly.
“Do you have any idea,” he said hoarsely, “how hard I’ve been trying not to touch you?”
A shiver tore through me. I could feel him breathing harder now. Feel the tension rolling violently through his body. His free hand slid to my waist like he physically couldn’t stop himself anymore. My thighs trembled.
“Then stop trying,” I whispered recklessly.
Leo’s control snapped visibly for one terrifying second.
His mouth crashed against mine hard enough to bruise.
I gasped into the kiss, fingers flying into his damp dark hair while his hand tightened possessively around my waist. Heat exploded through my body so violently it hurt.
His mouth tasted like whiskey and anger and rainwater.
God, he kissed me like a starving man. Like he wanted to consume me. The sound that escaped me was humiliatingly needy. Leo groaned against my mouth. Then he stopped.
The loss hit so fast it felt like being thrown into freezing water.
Leo ripped himself away from me abruptly, chest rising hard beneath his dress shirt.
His eyes looked wild for half a second. Then cold again.
The transformation terrified me. I stared at him breathlessly, lips swollen from the kiss, body aching everywhere.
“Leo…” I whispered. “Please. Show me. Tonight.”
He laughed once, but it was humorless.
“There she is,” he murmured darkly. “The greedy little thing underneath all that innocence.”
Shame flooded me.
“You practically throw yourself at me the second I stay away long enough.” His eyes dragged over my naked body deliberately now, crueler this time. “Christ. You really are desperate for it, aren’t you?”
My stomach dropped. “Stop it.”
“Why?” he asked coldly. “You wanted my attention so badly. Now you have it.”
Tears burned behind my eyes. He saw them. And still kept going.
“You think taking your clothes off gets you what you want?” he asked softly. “That’s not how this works, baby.”
Humiliation hit like a slap. I grabbed desperately for the shirt pooled at my feet, but Leo caught my wrist again before I could cover myself.
“Look at you,” he murmured. “Standing naked in my bedroom the night before our wedding begging for my cock.”
“I wasn’t…”
“You were,” he said firmly. His voice cracked through me like ice. I flinched. Something flickered across his face then. Regret. Gone almost instantly.
Leo released me abruptly and stepped backward like touching me burned him. “Get dressed. Now.”
The coldness in his voice shattered something inside me. Shaking, I bent to grab the shirt with trembling hands. I could barely see through the tears blurring my vision while I pulled it back over my body. Leo watched silently. Expression unreadable again.
When I finally looked back up at him, he was already heading for the door. Panic flared through my chest. “Where are you going?”
He paused beside the doorway without turning around. “I need some sleep. No chance of that with your begging echoing off the walls.”
The bedroom door opened. Ice slid down my spine. The lock clicked loudly after he stepped outside.
I stared at the closed bedroom door for several long seconds before realization fully settled in. He locked me in again. A broken sound escaped my throat. Humiliation crashed over me all at once. The rejection. The cruel words. The way I practically melted the second he touched me.
Pathetic. I hated myself. Tears finally spilled over hard enough that I couldn’t stop them anymore.
I crawled back into his enormous bed shaking, clutching the black silk sheets tightly against my chest while rain pounded against the windows like gunfire.
Somewhere beyond the locked door, I thought I heard Leo stop walking. But he never came back. And eventually, still crying quietly into his pillow, I fell asleep smelling like him.