Chapter Six #2
I force myself to stand up. Leo wipes me down with a towel as if I’m incapable of doing it myself before he places the silk nightgown on me. It won’t offer me any protection in the cold basement.
Leo doesn’t say a word as he brings me back to the cage and locks me inside and neither do I. It would solve all my issues if I just told Leo the full truth about my mother. But every time I think of her, I freeze. I can’t get the words out, even if the truth would save me.
Leo
After leaving Emma in my basement, I rush into my home office where I have the camera set up to watch her. When I made the plan to kidnapped Emma and her mother and put them in my cage to be used as leverage, I made sure to install a camera in the room so I could always keep an eye on them.
Of course none of this is going to plan.
Valentina is somewhere out there and none of us knows where. Not even Emma seems to know.
And as for Emma… fuck. She’s getting under my skin. I shouldn’t have pleasured her. I shouldn’t have given her an orgasm.
But I wanted to see her come on my hand. I wanted to see her get lost in pleasure, knowing I was the one making her that way.
It’s clear that she’s innocent. She acted like she had never been touched like that before. And while that may be true, that doesn’t mean she’s innocent when it comes to her father. She has to know something.
And even if she doesn’t, she can still be used against Alessandro. But if Alessandro doesn’t back down, I might have to hurt Emma and I’m not sure if I can do that. It’s one thing to put her in the cage. It’s another thing to deliberately hurt her. To cut her.
Fuck. None of this is going to plan.
The sooner Alessandro is dealt with, the better. Then I can let Emma go. There won’t be any need for me to keep her.
But if she’s working with her father, then she might try to rally his men against us if I let her go. Which would mean I would have to kill her. And the thought of killing Emma is not a thought I want to entertain.
I shut the camera off. She’s safely locked away in my cage. There’s nothing I can do about her tonight.
The only thing I can do is repeat the memory of her coming on my hand over and over again until it’s seared into my brain.
To get Emma off my mind, I go to one of Gabriel’s nightclubs. I own part of it. A nightclub is a great money maker in the mafia. A great way to funnel money through without the cops looking. Gabriel has most of them paid off anyway.
I order a whiskey and settle into a private VIP booth, trying to forget the mess I have got myself into. That’s when Isabella approaches me.
“Leo, I didn’t know you’d be here tonight.” She sits down beside me before I can say a word.
“Isabella.” I take a sip of my drink so I don’t have to speak to her.
“Where have you been for the past few days? I thought we could spend some time together. Unless you’re spending time with that maid of yours.”
“Isabella, it’s over between us. What we had was a fling. Nothing more.”
She huffs. “You don’t have to be rude about it.”
“I’m just stating the facts.”
Before Isabella can respond, the loud sound of gunshots rings through the air. My body reacts on instinct and I throw myself on top of her, bringing both of us to the ground.
“What’s happening?” she screams as more gunshots echo through the air. The cacophony of hundreds of people screaming mixed with the gunshots is almost deafening.
“Stay down,” I growl before getting to my feet. That’s when I see a group of men in the club… with Alessandro at the back. He’s making a stand. Coming for Gabriel’s nightclub.
Gabriel is at home with Aurora tonight but his guards are here. They come rushing forward, shooting at Alessandro’s men. Some of our men get shot while some of Alessandro’s men get killed.
My eyes lock with Alessandro’s. This is my chance to kill him.
I pull out my gun and fire at him but one of his guards blocks it. When the guard falls to the ground, I see Alessandro walking out of the club, taking his time, like he doesn’t have a worry in the world.
I run out the backdoor away from the fight happening between my men and Alessandro’s men and run around the side of the club. Alessandro gets into a car and calmy drives off.
Fuck.
I immediately call Gabriel. “Alessandro just attacked your club. He’s making a stand. He’s coming for us.”
“Then we need to tell him that you have his daughter. It might make him back down.” Gabriel is quiet for a moment. “Did anyone die?”
“I’m not sure. Some of your guards did, I think. I’m not sure about any of the customers.”
“Are you all right?”
“You care enough about me to ask?”
“Never mind,” Gabriel says gruffly.
“I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”
“It’s a good thing you took Emma. I was against it at first but if Alessandro is getting this bold, then we have to stop him. Spread the news that you have his daughter and see how reacts. He has to have a weakness.”
“What if Emma isn’t his weakness?” I hate that I have to ask it but it’s a thought that’s been swirling around in my head.
“Only time will tell. But if she isn’t then you kidnapped the wrong girl.”
Gabriel’s cold, stark words hit me in the stomach.
“Deal with this,” he tells me. “I’ll come over soon.”
It takes hours to figure everything out. Some people were killed, including our guards and some customers. The police arrive to ask questions but after Gabriel shows up, he helps calm things down.
Alessandro cannot win like this. By coming here and shooting the club, it means Gabriel can’t run it for months. Maybe even years. Which means cutting off one of our revenue supplies. Alessandro is going to bleed us dry to take us down.
After things at the club are dealt with, I head back home and stare at Emma on the cameras in my office. She somehow managed to fall asleep on the cold, hard ground.
Seeing her reminds me that I am doing the right thing. Any way I can save my career and the lives of those I care about, I will.
Even if Emma is the price.