Leo brought his car to a halt by an array of trees that hid us partially from the large warehouse which was our target. Many other vehicles were parked around the property that was away from the city or any civilization for that matter, perfect for a showdown. Some men and women ran in, immersing themselves in the loud gunfire fiasco inside with multiple lifeless bodies scattered outside.

          Leo opened the trunk of his car then lifted the board under which guns were hidden. Different varieties of pistols, knives, and little gadgets were compartmentalized. Among them stuck out a big assault rifle that I definitely wasn't going to get.

After giving me two guns and rendering my hands full, Leo decided to strap a utility belt around my waist himself. He jerked on the belt and pulled me closer, his bare, rigid chest in my face. I looked away, trying to control the unusual beats of my heart, but my skin kept heating up due to the proximity and thinking about what almost happened by that yacht.

"Here are some mags for the guns." He stuffed some ammo into the belt along with knives. "Are you ready?"

"Are you?"

Picking up the assault rifles along with extra magazines, he shut the trunk and loaded his weapon. "The wet shorts are a bit uncomfortable. I need to change."

"What? Are you gonna strip a dead guy naked and wear his clothes now?" I scrunched my nostrils playfully. "That's low for even you."

The look of unamuse on his face forced a chuckle out of me before he tangled his hand with mine and warily maneuvered us both toward the property. "We need to get to that car over there."

He pointed at the blue Maserati. "Mike's?"

"It has my clothes."

"Ah, what are besties for!"

Hiding and avoiding any attention from the opposition, we moved alongside cars, ducking and looking out as we went in the night that the light poles lit up. During our ride here, Leo informed me that it was Orel we were hunting. He came to California with Cornelia, and I could already tell that this was his big mistake. There was no way that he was getting out of here even with his army of goons.

The closer we got to the Maserati, we noticed a platoon of men heading our way. "Yours?"

"No," he answered, getting ready to shoot from behind a car when suddenly the men stopped abruptly upon hearing the sound of our feet against the gravelly ground. "Run!"

It didn't take them another second to fire at the car we were hiding behind. With Leo, I sprinted, using the vehicles to shield us from the gunfire. The huffing stench of bullets piercing through the air, leaving the barrels with heat, and the smoke starting to emerge from the cars wafted up my nostrils and made me fear for my life. As we continued darting down barely escaping the bullets, Leo untangled our fingers and put his hand on my butt, making me gasp before he blindly inched it up to my waist after an apology. He suddenly pulled out a bomb I didn't know was there and threw it in their direction.

The men yelped and stopped the gunfire, giving us enough time to get ready. Leo with his assault rifle and me with my handguns, we aimed at the men and began firing until each one was dead. One squirmed on the ground, but he was put out of misery with a bullet in his head from my gun.

"Good job!" he complimented, ejecting his empty magazine and swapping it out for a new one.

Before I could say anything snarky to him for taking almost everyone out himself, I looked past his broad shoulder and witnessed another man darting for us. He was too quick for me to shoot without having Leo get caught in the crossfire. The man kicked the rifle out of Leo's grip and punched him hard which forced his face in my direction. Leo's oceanic eyes darkened like the night as a tiny drop of blood formed and slipped down the side of his mouth that twitched before he elbowed the man in his face and forced him to stumble back.

As if we read each other's mind, I placed my arm on Leo's shoulder as his hand on my lower back boosted my body off the ground to kick the man in his face then swirl and somehow bring my leg around the other side of Leo's shoulder and sit on top. I shot the man twice in his chest then slid off Leo to shoot another man rushing our way.

          "Ah! You've learned well from the sisters." The sly smirk on his lips along with the droplet of blood and bare chest glistening with sweat made him look like the biggest villain from the movies. Physically perfect. Cocky. Smirk as charming as ever with a deep, smooth voice. Ugh! How could I hate it yet love it at the same time? I would never know.

          "Can we just go?" I averted my gaze and headed for the Maserati with him following me as Vince and a few other men surrounded us.

          "Boss, he's inside. Where exactly he is in the building, we're not sure about," Vince started to inform Leo, giving me an acknowledging nod along the way. "His men are all over the place. D'Angelo's daughter is with him too. Do we kill her?"

          "Absolutely not!" I exclaimed in a hard tone before Leo could get a word in. "Get her out safely and take her to my house to Sophie or to her parents. No one lays a finger on her."

          Vince and the others immediately turned to Leo for directions as if the words coming out of my mouth were completely irrelevant and full of shit. "What the fuck are you looking at him for?" I chided in annoyance and stood in front of Leo to make his goons look at me directly. "Listen, you dumb fucks! I said, she gets out safe which means she gets out without a scratch on her from you guys. Anything goes south, it'll be your dicks on the chopping board, and I'll chop away with pleasure. Understood?"

          They all stared at me dumbfoundedly without a word to say until I repeated myself a bit more sternly. "Under-fucking-stood?"

          "Yes, ma'am!" they obeyed in unison.

          "Vince, stay with Ms. Noelle at all times. Don't leave her side." Leo turned to me. I could see his hand moving to touch me, but he refrained and pursed his lips. "Be safe."

          A daunting feeling in my chest made me believe this was another goodbye. It happened every time we separated. The dangerous lives we lived left me in such peril every day and I was learning to live with the unpredictability. One moment you'd laughing with someone and the next you'd watch them drown in their own blood. Cruelty of life at its finest. But seeing him leave left me in fear every single time.

          "You too," I muttered then walked away with Vince and some others who lead me into the warehouse that boomed with the sound of gunshots emerging from every direction. With our guns drawn and senses on high alert, we advanced through the area and up a set of stairs, killing and finishing off anyone from Orel's army.

          Suddenly, we were ambushed by too many men and had to take shelter in a cemented room, each of us standing to either side of the door. I reached behind my back and felt for another bomb. I tossed the heavy frag toward Vince who removed the pin and launched it into the hall. I covered my ears and stepped further away from the entrance. The bang made the floor beneath my feet shake and the smoke compelled me to cough. As I removed my hands, the screams of the men filtered my ears as I stepped out.

          I shot the squirming ones dead on the floor while Vince and the others physically fought off the ones standing. I would've helped them kick their ass if I hadn't seen Orel sneaking away in the back. Darting past the brawling crowd, I followed Orel and caught up to him. He held Cornelia's hand, trying to pull her to safety with a few of his guards.

          Without hesitating and with rage building inside me, I shot his leg which was the only part not shielded well by his men. Orel crumbled to the floor, Cornelia almost falling with him. The man cursed in Russian as I shot his men before they could wound me. Cornelia was on the floor, putting pressure on her husband's injury and positioning her body in a way I couldn't get a good shot at the man.

          "You again," Orel barked furiously, pulling out a gun and pressing down on the trigger immediately, but Cornelia directed the gun elsewhere, sending the bullet up into the ceiling.

          "Don't shoot, Arie!" Cornelia pleaded, helping Orel up. "Stop this madness."

          "Why should I? He ruined many lives," I spat, keeping my gun trained on the man who was slowly inching back in the shadow of his wife.

          "Look, no one is innocent here. Everyone has ruined someone's life. Killing him won't do anything." Cornelia held her hands up in surrender and walked toward me. "If your goal is to take me, I'll go with you. Just don't shoot him and he won't shoot you either."

          "Cor—"

          "Orel, please!" Cornelia looked over her shoulder at her husband with tears in her dark brown eyes. "Let me go home now."

Orel's brows pinched together, his features turning with sadness and heartache as he limped toward a wall and held it for support. "What about our home? What about Mikhail?"

Cornelia closed her eyes and let out a silent cry that suddenly hardened Orel's face.

"I see." His lips pursed, his unyielding gaze fixated on his wife. "You may go now, but I will come for you."

"No!" Cornelia forbade. "They will kill you. Just go and forget about me. You'll get Mikhail killed."

"We'll see about that." He quickly turned around the corner, allowing a bunch of rowdy men to flood the area. No weapons were seen in their hands. Perhaps he feared a bullet could hit his wife. He couldn't risk that which worked out well for me.

"Run!" I instructed Cornelia who darted in the direction I came from, leaving me to handle these punks myself. With my gun, I took down as many as I could while the others rushed toward me like wild boars. Having no time to reload, I dropped the weapon and pulled out the knives from the utility belt to take down the remaining five.

I raised my hand to slash the first person, but another man grabbed my wrist from the side, bringing his fist to meet my cheek. Before he could get a hit in, I swiftly swept my other knife down the length of his arm, spilling blood like a bag of insulin that just ruptured. He stepped back in horror before I aimed for his neck and ended him just as easily. The unbelievably sharp blades made the remaining four a bit wary of me and act in a calculated manner.

Two came at me at the same time for a better chance to win this little battle. I launched my knives at both. Unable to escape it, one blade impaled and lodged itself in the forehead of the first man while the second guy dodged it. Seizing the opportunity for himself, he used all his force and kicked me to the ground. I didn't have the time to whine about the pain in my stomach when his foot tried to stomp on me. I rolled away in time and took my stance against the burly man once again while the other two men in the back watched amusedly.

We both bolted toward one another, each ready to throw a punch. He flung his balled-up fist at me that I swerved around. Grabbing his arm, I elbowed his joint which broke his limb and almost burst my eardrums with the screech that left his mouth. I kneed him in the groin and made him kneel before him. By pulling back his head, I assaulted his face brutally until he had no energy to keep his body up and collapsed back like a flaccid piece of meat. I looked at the two men in the distance who ground their teeth at my act, and whilst maintaining my eye contact with them, I forced down my foot onto the neck of the man at my feet a few times until I felt the snap of his cervical spine.

Every nerve in me sprung with satisfaction. I should've been disgusted with myself for feeling like this, but I couldn't lie. I felt no remorse.

"You two gonna take me at the same time too?" I snorted pettily and charged toward them as they did the same. My eyes were on my knives that I needed to fight these two off quickly when suddenly a massive fist came for my face and rammed dead into my nose. I fell straight back almost lifelessly and blacked out. My eyes were wide apart yet I saw nothing as I felt my body being dragged across the floor then stopping. It took a whole minute for my vision to clear as I continued pattering my lids. However, the throbbing ache in my head didn't dissipate. I forced down the sudden emergence of bile and attempted to get up.

I coughed, grimacing at the pain erupting in every part of my body. The heat radiating off the blood dripping from my nose compelled me to wipe it away with my sleeve and make out the scene laid out before me. The guy who punched me in the face joined the enemy and collectively fought off a single man dressed in all black who battled them on my behalf. It had to be Leo. He changed awfully quick as usual.

After Leo knocked one out cold, another man grabbed my knife from the ground and charged at him from behind which turned a switch inside me, unleashing sputters of adrenaline throughout my body. Every instinct in me worked toward a single goal which was to take that man out before he could hurt Leo. Despite the dizzy vision, I dragged myself toward the dead body that encapsulated my knife in its skull, forgetting all my pain at the moment. I yanked it out and hurled it at the man who crumbled to the floor when the blade embedded itself in his lower back, probably hitting his spine. Leo punched the last man into unconsciousness but didn't kill him. For interrogation purposes, I guessed.

I seated myself against the wall with my head tilted upward to stop the bleeding as I groaned in pain. "You should be more careful around here," Leo spoke in his British accent that usually surfaced when he was angry, but he kept his tone calm.

          He held my hands and helped me up easily. Despite the beanie on his head covering his hair and the black handkerchief masking the majority of his face, I could still tell it was Leo by the marbles of ocean he had for eyes. The disguise didn't hide him from me. He watched me with purpose as if taking note of every detail on my bruised face. He began wiping the stray trail of blood from my nose with his gloved hands as I gazed into his striking pearls.

The adrenaline in me was still pumping rapidly. Even now I was in a fight or flight state, making a hasty decision in the moment. Who knew how lucky I'd be to survive the next attack? It was now or never.

          Pulling down the handkerchief from his face, I pressed my lips to his with urgency, not giving him time to react. My stomach flipped, my heart jolting up. Leo didn't move a muscle as I sucked his bottom lip into my mouth. Five years of distance made him taste foreign to me which I wanted to change with every caress of my lips on his. These new clothes even masked his scent that I loved. When he still didn't move, I felt my heart break and soul ache. The rejection left me dejected. A part of me expected it, but I could never ready myself for the hurt.

When I started to pull away, he suddenly reciprocated the kiss with tenacity. His fingers squeezed my waist, pinning our bodies together with force. My heart lurched up my throat in glee. I almost couldn't believe it as his lips moved along mine so effortlessly. I couldn't even comprehend how it could be so gentle yet needy. The buried butterflies in my stomach started to emerge from their graves. Tingles started to spread out throughout my body. Just when I wrapped my arms around his neck and began to immerse myself in him, someone made a noise and pulled us miles apart. We both stood against walls opposite each other, staring at the man who gawked at us from a distance.

"We..." The man cleared his throat, tilting his head a little and signaling Leo for something.

Leo pulled up the handkerchief, disguising himself once again. There was a certain look in his eyes when he glanced at me that I couldn't quite place, however, my cheeks still heated up without fail. On his way out, he winked my way and left me weak in the knees. I leaned my head back against the wall and exhaled deeply as I tried to stop the ever-growing smile on my face.

"Boss la- I mean Ms. Noelle, I have orders to take you home now." Vince came up next to me while the other men surrounded me like a shield. "We have D'Angelo's daughter. My job is to get you both home now."

I pressed down on my blushing cheeks and walked with them without a word. We maneuvered around the place, the men shooting anyone in their path and taking me out of the warehouse safely. As I was getting into the black Suburban, my eyes went to the man looming at the top on the terrace. Leo stood there so leisurely with his hands in his pockets, looking down at me. He lifted his hand and spared me a curt wave before vanishing like a ghost. It was oddly mysterious, but it was Leo after all.

As I sat in the vehicle next to Cornelia, the pain in my body rushed back in. She had her face buried in her hands and cried quietly, her back shaking. I remained silent for a few minutes as the car pulled out of the area and got back onto the highway with Vince in the passenger's seat and another man driving.

          "Why do you insist on protecting him?" I questioned, words coming out harsher than intended. "You even lied that day at the party."

          Cornelia lifted her head, wiping her tears. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

          "Tell me that it wasn't you I saved at the park that day then."

          She rubbed her temples as if I was giving her a headache. "It was me."

          "And Orel was behind it."

"No."

"Why the fuck are you lying?" I spat, my insides blazing with rage. "You don't have to fear him anymore."

She whipped her head toward me and gritted her teeth. "It's not Orel I'm scared of, it's my father."

My brows furrowed with puzzlement. "What are you talking about?"

"The kidnappers you saved me from were hired by my father to get me back to him." She turned her head the other way and stared out the window. With an exhale, she continued. "Something happened five years ago. I think your brother was involved too." She referred back to the time when Ashton had gotten kidnapped from Athena's place. "It was one of the reasons I decided to leave behind my father's life and go away. I never looked back. Orel just happened and I fell in love again before I even knew who he was. We lived in Russia. Orel brought me to California for a little vacation. While he was attending a meeting here, my father got a whiff of me being in town. He was informed I was involved with the Russian mafia so he decided to get me kidnapped. Those were his hired assassins. I recognized you which is why I ran so that you couldn't take me back to him. You don't know what my father has done."

I shook my head in utter confusion. "Those men sounded exactly like the woman who was keeping an eye on you even in the bathroom at the party."

"Having a Russian accent doesn't mean working for the same boss," she quipped, slumping into her seat.

          I had a hard time buying her words and interrogated her further. "Why was that lady watching you in the bathroom, though? Why did your husband confront me right after what I said? He even acted shady."

          "Orel had Olga watch me because I lied to him about what really happened that day, and she was also watching me for my own protection. He would hurt my father for the attempted kidnapping. It's why he wanted to attend the wedding so he could confront him. All these men were watching him and breathed down his neck, so he could do nothing." Her hands swept over her exhausted eyes and down the rest of her face. "He cornered you so he could get the whole story out of you, but you made him out to be the bad guy, so he acted like it. One way or another he had to get the truth out. And he did bribe the cops so that he could deal with the one responsible himself regarding the men you killed."

          I fell silent, not knowing what else to say. I may have gotten him wrong for her kidnapping, but he was responsible for Fred and Wren's death. There was no way he was getting off the hook for that.

***

          When we arrived at my place, I hoped the kids were asleep. They didn't need to witness my bruised state, and thankfully, I wasn't greeted by them at the foyer. Valentina had put them to sleep. However, we were met with Sophie's parents.

          Cornelia lost all the color in her face as her eyes landed on her father whose expressions were nothing short of angry. Sophie ignored everything and stepped forward to embrace her sister tightly. Nora looked at her husband as if asking for permission then came forth to hug her estranged daughter.

          Once they stepped away and confessed how much they missed her, everyone fell silent. The tension in the air was felt the moment we entered and the storm was just brewing. "Hi, daddy," Cornelia mumbled.

          "Don't," Zachariah warned with a single finger. "You've disappointed me more than ever."

          "I was never good enough, dad. You always made that clear. No matter what I did, you were never happy." Cornelia's meek voice began to rise as she courageously stepped forth, surprising us all. "I always did as you asked. Fought to secure you every deal you wanted. I worked my ass off for you while Soph was in college. You even disapproved of the time I dated Eros. I can never please you."

          Well, that was a surprise.

          "And then you married the enemy," Zachariah roared, walking forward in pure rage before Nora stood in front of him in attempts to protect her daughter.

          "He's the enemy because you make him out to be," Cornelia snapped. "You have no moral high ground to stand on when you kill his sick brother and kidnap his sister. What the fuck did he do to you?"

         "What did he do?" I didn't think Zachariah could get any madder, but I was wrong by the way his features turned fiercely grim and deadly. "He killed your sister's betrothed at the altar and left her with a child." He suddenly pointed to me, keeping his enraged gaze on his daughter. "He murdered her fiancé too."

          Cornelia's mouth suddenly fell apart, her eyes welling up in utter shock as she looked at Soph who sighed distressingly. "No," she shook her head in denial. "He didn't. He wouldn't. He has no reason to. I know him. He would never do this."

          "The Bonferroni and Pavlov rivalry goes decades back. There's always a reason and he killed them. I cannot believe you're defending him," Zachariah seethed, sidestepping Nora and heading for Cornelia. In the moment, I feared for her life. I had never seen the man bubbling with anger. He grabbed Cornelia's jaw and forced her to look up at him. "Go back to him for all I care. You're dead to me. Do you understand?" He released her with a nudge and grabbed Nora's wrist, stomping right out without another word.

          Cornelia crumbled to the floor, completely devastated and broken as Sophie knelt to comfort the girl. "I'm so sorry," Cornelia cried out, her sobs almost breaking my heart.

          "So am I." Sophie wept with her sister.

***

          It had been two weeks since the warehouse fiasco. From what Mike told me, Orel had gotten away so we were all on high alert. We knew it was only time before he came for Cornelia who was shifted to a secure location an hour from here. Leo hadn't shown up since that day either which was odd because he'd always make an appearance for Lucian. He only called Mike and talked to his son through him which left me in a state of despair. He regretted all that happened that day. I knew it.

          "Alexa told me that she had fun on her date with Leo last night," Sophie informed as I trained with Zaya and Zee in the backyard under the night sky. "He even kissed her goodnight."

          "Bitch, shut the fuck up!" I seethed, taking out my anger with the punch I landed on Zaya's rib who fell back and started coughing. "Shit! I'm so sorry."

          "It's okay." She groaned in pain as Zee and I helped her up and seated her on a lounge chair. "The only pointer I'm going to give you is that work on controlling your jealousy."

          "Shut up." I rolled my eyes and took a break from the brutal workout. Fighting the sisters at the same time wasn't easy, but it was improving my combat skills. "We kissed and I haven't seen him since."

          "We did?" Leo's sudden voice dropped my heart and made me choke on the water I was chugging down, some of it spewing out of my nose. "Easy there."

          Way to go, Arie!

          "Sir." The Passero sisters bowed their heads and left to provide us some privacy. Sophie followed them inside.

          "Lucian is asleep," I said, wiping my face with a towel, refusing to face him. "You can take him to school tomorrow morning."

          "I came to talk to you."

          "About what exactly?" I forcefully put the cap on the water bottle and set it down. "You said nothing happened, so nothing happened."

          "Arie," he sighed my name as I grabbed my stuff and started to walk inside when he grabbed my wrist. "Why don't you talk to me over a hand-to-hand combat?"

          "That's a brilliant idea." I immediately dropped my belongings and swung my fist at him which he quickly dodged.

          With a quirked brow, he watched me amusedly then flipped me without any effort and landed me on the ground. "So, how was your day?"

"Great!" I used my legs to kick him away, buying myself some time to take my position again. "How was your date?"

Grabbing my punching fist, he stared at me quizzically. "Date? What date?"

"With Alexa." I head-butted him which did nothing to him but bursted a jolt of pain for me. "Don't tell me you already forgot her name from last night."

"Pardon me?" He gave me a quick break to rub my forehead. "I was in New York last night."

"What?" I blurted, catching Sophie standing by the doors who watched us with a cheeky grin.

"Sorry." Soph shrugged. "Alexa and I thought it'd be funny."

My anger from Leo drained and was aimed at Sophie who was now at the top of my hit list. When Leo realized what Soph pulled on me, he laughed, forcing my face to grow red with embarrassment. Fucking Sophie!

"I get it now. The woman you're speaking of, she came up to me to talk about Lucian's parent-teacher conference and that I should attend. She gave me the number of the counselor who would arrange a private meeting for me with all his teachers."

          I scowled at Soph who immediately walked away, leaving me to deal with the situation myself. To avoid talking about it, I launched my leg at him that he clasped and used to drag me to him. His blue orbs gazed down into mine, his other hand on the small of my back pulling me closer.

          "Listen, what happened that day at the yacht..." His voice trailed off, his eyes softening as he let go of my leg. "We can't. I can't."

          My brows furrowed, my voice a low whisper. "Why not?"

          A defeated sigh slipped past his lips as he closed his eyes and rested his forehead against mine. "I've always been in love with you, you know that. My heart never stopped wanting you, but..."

          The dreaded 'but'. Only a word yet it had the power to change everything. I could almost hear my heart shattering around my own feet as my chin began to quiver and eyes started to collect tears.

          "But I broke your heart," I finished the sentence for him and allowed a tear to cascade down. "I understand."

          His lids pattered open to reveal his eyes full of anguish themselves. "I can't get into something with you when you might abandon me again the moment things get a bit too hairy for you."

          I looked down and stroked the lapels of his suit jacket. "You don't know that."

          "And I don't want to risk it. Staying friends is a safer option," he mumbled, brushing away a strand of hair from my face. "I've abandonment issues now, you see."

          We both chuckled somberly as I looked up at him. "So whatever happened that day, was it a mistake?"

          "You're never a mistake, love." Turning me around, he hugged me tightly from behind and breathed me in. "I fear for my heart. I've lost so many and the thought of losing you scares me the most. I don't think I'd be able to survive that again. It kills me to be so close to you yet miles apart."

          Tears rolled down my cheeks rapidly as he buried his face in the crook of my neck and held me together. "I love you," I professed. "Always have. Everywhere I look, it's you I see." I turned around and cupped his face, looking him right in his breathtaking eyes. "Tell me, would it be that bad for us to be together?"

Leo wiped away my tears distressingly. "Having the label of my lover will have them come at you like wild dogs. Even my own family won't spare you. I fear the possibility of you suffering the same fate as Verona, and that would...." He shook his head slowly with his glossy eyes before he placed a tender kiss on my temple. "That'd be the end of me."

Without another word, he distanced himself from me and walked back into the house and out the front door, leaving me cold and desolated. My wretched knees gave out, forcing me to crumble to the floor like a shattered doll. My heart was in pieces around me, the shards of which I couldn't ever possibly pick up by myself. The boulder on my chest pushed me further down and broke any hope I had.

I understood his fear and paranoia about having me meet a brutal fate as well. The event of me walking out on him all those years ago only added bricks to the walls he built up around his heart. I couldn't blame him. There was a time when I was scared, now he was.

I moved myself to the patio swing and sobbed at the cruel situation I was in where I was so close to the man I loved but couldn't be with him. How matter how much I wanted it, I couldn't force him. I sat out there for an hour until the clouds above me raged with thunder and started to cry with me, mourning the love I couldn't have. With heavy feet, I stood up and started to trudge toward the house when Leo suddenly walked out the back entrance in my direction.

"Promise me that you won't leave," he shouted over the rumbling clouds and the rain that splattered on the ground around us.

"What?"

He walked closer to me and halted his steps a couple of feet away from me. "Promise me that you won't leave this time. I need your word."

I nodded, unable to comprehend what was really happening.

"I need you to say it," he demanded, his tone firm and eyes hopeful.

"Yes!" I nodded vigorously. "I promise I won't walk out this time. I'll stand by your side no matter what."

Watching me for another second, he opened his mouth to utter, "Good." In two steps, he towered over me and I could immediately feel the heat radiating from his strong body despite the rain pouring down on our bodies.

Gingerly, he brought his hands up to cup my face and slowly neared it. The rapid beats of my heart commenced, my breaths increasing with it. His warm breath tickled my lips while his heated gaze rendered me utterly weak before him.

Those eager lips of his brushed against mine ever so gently, almost teasingly, that I grabbed the lapels of his suit jacket and crushed my body to his. "Leo," I husked out breathlessly before he answered my plea and pressed his lips to mine softly. The butterflies in my stomach not only flew but danced with great joy. My arms instinctively blanketed around his neck as he deepened the kiss by taking my bottom lip into his mouth.

          Maybe it was the rush and adrenaline that made the kiss at the warehouse feel out of place, but this one wasn't foreign anymore. His scent surrounded me in a warm bubble that I didn't want to escape. It was all so familiar and sent the feelings I only experienced with him rushing in faster than ever. He helped my heart pick up its own pieces and glue them together with each movement of his lips. The heated skin on my body sizzled against the rainwater, my entire body melting and mushing into his.

          Only moments ago I had lost all hope, and now, I was in the arms of the man I loved. The slow pace of the kiss orated the tale of his love for me and mine for his. It felt so natural like the easiest task in the world. A puzzle was a word too harsh to describe how perfectly we came together and became one, completely immersing ourselves into one another.

          When he slipped his tongue in, my insides lit ablaze at once. He dropped his hands from my face and traveled to the small of my back and then my ass. His fingers squeezed hard, making me gasp pleasurably into his mouth.

          "Fuck," we both cursed in unison as I suddenly felt the member in his pants straining against my lower stomach which sent the rhythms of my heart haywire.

          Leo broke the kiss, taking my breath away with him, but he didn't distance our bodies. "You will be the death of me someday."

          Whilst rubbing our noses together, I smiled brighter than ever. "We should take this inside."

          The smirk on his lips pulled on my heartstrings itself before he scooped me up in his arms bridal style. "Your wish is my command, mia regina ."

———————————————————

Yay or nay?

Do you think Cornelia is telling the truth about Orel?

Was Orel really behind the deaths of Fred and Wren?

What did Cornelia mean by "You don't know what my father has done"? What did Zachariah do?

Is Orel gonna come back? What will he do?

Where do you think Leo and Arie's relationship will go now?

Are you happy with where it's going now?

What's gonna happen next?

Thoughts on Leo?

Or Arie?

Further comments and questions are always welcome ❤️

HIT ME WITH THE THEORIES!

INSTAGRAM: reetilicious

Much love ❤️
~Reet