He pulled back, his breath shaking in his chest, and gently rested his forehead against hers. His hands cupped her cheeks with a tenderness that made her heart flutter, as if he was afraid she would vanish if he held her too tightly. She leaned into him, letting the warmth of his touch steady her racing breath.
"Let feel you..." he murmured, his voice low and almost pleading, brushing along her skin like a confession he had kept tucked inside his ribs for too long.
Bella blinked up at him, barely having ti to understand what he ant before he swept her into his arms. The world tilted for a mont, her hands curling around his shoulders in surprise, and then he carried her down the quiet corridor. His steps echoed softly, muffled by thick carpet and the dimness around them, until he gently pushed a door open with his shoulder and stepped inside.
Bella’s breath caught.
The room was large and warm, lit by a soft glow from outside. The glass windows were closed, but the moonlight and the landscape lights still slipped through the beige curtains that covered them halfway. The light spread gently across the room, and tiny dust particles floated in the air, shining faintly as they passed through it.
In the very center stood a grand piano, its polished black surface reflecting the faint light like still water.
Her eyes widened in awe. "Is that... your dad’s room?" she whispered, rembering Alessandro ntioning once, just once, that he used to play.
"Yeah," Leo said softly, lowering her to the ground. For a mont he looked like he regretted bringing her here, because her attention moved away from him. But Bella didn’t move away. Her gaze was fixed on the piano, fascinated, warm, curious.
He watched her for a mont, his expression softening at how she admired the place.
"My dad used to play instrunts when he was younger," Leo said, walking toward the piano and sliding a finger across the cool surface. "He loved them... piano, violin, guitar." He paused. "But Nonno was very strict. He didn’t like those hobbies, didn’t see them as useful. So Dad focused more on mafia work and secretly kept music as sothing he treasured in his spare ti."
Bella listened carefully, her eyes warm with understanding.
Leo pressed one key gently. A deep, rich note filled the silence for a second.
"And do you know how my mom and dad t?" he asked, a small smile tugging on his lips.
Bella stepped closer, her curiosity shining. "How?"
Leo exhaled a little laugh, rembering. "Mom used to be very famous during her college days. Beautiful, elegant, always surrounded by admirers. Dad was supposed to give a speech at her college. The mont he saw her... that was it." His smile deepened. "Love at first sight."
Bella made a soft, dreamy sound. "That’s so sweet..."
"And she was playing piano that day," Leo added. "Dad said her smile that afternoon felt like it was ant just for him."
Bella lted further.
Then Leo continued, too casually.
"And later my father kidnapped her."
Bella’s entire face froze. "K... kidnapped?"
Leo nodded, leaning against the piano with a slow, amused smile. "Mom was stubborn. She didn’t submit easily. She fought him tooth and nail. They argued for weeks. But sohow, with all that chaos, they fell in love."
Bella had her hand on her chest, looking torn between romance and shock.
Leo’s expression shifted into sothing dry, darker, older. "And Pablo... he was obsessed with my mom too." His jaw flexed as the mory surfaced. "He was crazy. A real casanova. Tried to snatch her away from my dad. Even when Mom and Dad had already fallen in love."
Bella’s breath stilled.
"And when my mom was pregnant with ," Leo said, his voice turning cold and ugly, "he tried to kill her."
Bella’s eyes widened, horrified.
"That’s how the rivalry started," Leo finished softly, "and why things beca the way they are."
Bella stood frozen for a mont, overwheld by everything she had just heard, his family’s past, the danger that chased them, the shadows that shaped the man standing in front of her. Her heart clenched, not with fear, but with a fierce protectiveness she didn’t know she was capable of.
Slowly, she stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek to his chest. His breath hitched faintly, as if the warmth of her touch reached so place inside him he rarely allowed anyone to touch.
"It’s okay, Leo..." she whispered, her voice trembling but steady in its promise. "Everything will be okay. We’ll end Pablo. I’m with you."
His eyes softened instantly, sothing fragile and grateful flickering beneath the cold layers he wore for the world. He lowered his chin, brushing it gently against her hair as his arms curled around her small fra, holding her tightly like she was the only solid thing he could lean on.
"Thank you, bunny," he murmured, and his hand rose instinctively to rub her head, his fingers stroking through her hair with slow affection. "You’re really an angel."
She lifted her head at that, her eyes still wet but shining, and she touched his cheek with trembling fingers.
"I’m your angel," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion, "and you’re my angel too. Thank you, Leo... for torturing my uncle. I hated him. I hated him so much..."
Her voice broke, and tears spilled down her cheeks in a silent rush, years of pain, years of fear, finally finding a crack to pour through.
Leo’s entire body went still.
For a man who had spent his life surrounded by violence, this, her tears, her trust, her gratitude, hit him harder than any bullet.
He slowly pulled her closer, pressing her gently into his chest, his voice low and rough above her ear.
"You’re safe now," he whispered. "He’ll never hurt you again. I promise."
Bella nodded softly, her tears slowing, her smile blooming through like morning sunlight breaking across a stormy sky. When she looked up at him with that tender expression, one filled with trust and love, Leo felt sothing inside him ignite so fiercely that it nearly stole his breath.
For a heartbeat he only stared at her, srized by the softness on her lips and the glow on her face. A deep, wild kind of devotion surged through him, so sharp and raw that it almost frightened him.
"Bella..." he murmured, his voice rough with emotion.
He lifted both hands and cupped her cheeks gently, his thumbs brushing the remnants of her tears. She leaned into his touch instinctively, her lashes lowering, her breath softening. The sight of her trusting him so completely made sothing primal twist inside his chest.
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