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Francis Lemaire ordered a server to pour his special wine that he only used for important occasions. Leonardo and him began to talk business, putting their hostility aside, despite the night being Camille's birthday party.

"I have noticed a particular person has been on edge recently. ." Francis began. He sat back on his chair comfortably, his legs spread and his hands clasped together. He had a knowing smirk on his face as he curiously stared at Leonardo.

Leonardo was still feeling displeased at Francis's previous behaviour with Maria. He looked over at her to see that she was laughing and enjoying her time with Camille. She looked magnificent, her grey eyes full of life with a great smile on her flawless face. He felt slightly annoyed at his fake fiancée too for doing such a thing in front of him, despite the fact that he knew they had no loyalties to each other since he had drawn the line between them.

He had mixed feelings; being was frustrated with himself for pushing her away but also knowing doing so was for the better.

Leonardo decided for that time to focus on making a deal with Francis. It would be tricky since the two weren't exactly compatico at that time; it would most likely take a lot for them to even consider working together from all of the family history they had years behind them.

"You know I want Javier," Leonardo went straight to the point. He didn't want to waste time on introductions. "I was informed you are after him too." Francis chuckled, his face was full of amusement which pissed Leonardo off more.

Francis exhaled with a grin, "I can't believe the boss himself has come for a request. You usually send little Vincenzo to do all your dealings. I'm guessing this is important."

"You could say that," Leonardo responded bluntly, thinking of all the insults he had for that man in his head. "What will it take you to work with us? Your weapons are something of my interest."

Francis widened his grin, sitting more upright. "You want to work together?" He shook his head, chuckling some more as he took in the incredulous situation. He seemed to feel as though he had the upper hand.

"You'd put behind all that crazy bullshit our families have been through just for Javier? He must have done a hell lot of something, don," Francis spouted, enjoying the conversation. "Why do you want him?"

"Let's just say he crossed the wrong person a while ago." He hated thinking of the past with Javier. Francis didn't bother to ask for details and said his own reason, "this sounds tempting. . .that fucker played around too much. His debt I need to collect."

       When Leonardo was younger, he was much more feeble and weak. Only Maria truly knew how timid he used to be.

His introverted and reserved nature made him the perfect prey for Javier who used his shyness as an opportunity to subject Leonardo to his own sadistic torture.

Young Leonardo was bullied, he was pushed around in corridors, beaten up after gym class, picked on in lessons, left vulnerable to the torment of other stronger students. He used to be the one begging for mercy, the roles had reserved.

Maria was someone who helped him gain his confidence. When she moved to the neighbourhood, her mere presence changed everything about him. Leonardo's personality changed for better with her in his life. He did eventually stand up to him and fight back once he got stronger, but it wasn't enough; Leonardo had to ruin Javier's life in order to feel some sense of satisfaction.

"You've been in some hot water lately for that accident when you were abroad, haven't you?" Leonardo provoked authoritatively, his eyebrows narrowed. Francis's grin began to disappear as he remembered the ongoing problem he had going on. "It'll be fixed as soon as Javier is gone." He knew that Francis wouldn't be able to get out of his dilemma without his intervention. Leonardo had ties with the authorities in order to prevent legal action.

Francis hummed, pretending to ponder. Leonardo hated how immature he was. "Is that all you can give me?" Leonardo hoped he wasn't implying certain things. He rolled his eyes, waiting for an answer.

Glancing over at Maria, Francis had a small smirk beginning to grow on his face. Leonardo followed his stare and looked between them, his face quickly turning cold.

"What about your fiancée? She's quite the beauty, no?" Francis teased, his eyes running all over Maria's fine body. Leonardo's eyes landed on her. Indeed, she looked extremely ravishing that night. She was talking blissfully with Camille, her arms leaning against the table, slightly bent forwards which pushed out her chest a little; it was the perfect angle to look at her at. He tore his eyes away the moment he caught himself staring too much. Francis continued to taunt, "I'm surprised you got engaged. It's a shame you've taken my little sweetheart."

"What about giving me her? Would you consider it?"

Maria was laughing then, the sound of her soft, harmonious voice caught Leonardo's attention. She had a nice laugh, he thought. She was deep in her conversation with Camille, not even noticing the stares around her.

He focused back on Francis, feeling enraged at the fact that he was so close with her and she didn't even have a problem with it. For a moment, he contemplated on the possibility of whether Francis could be her stalker. The intimacy, the strange nature of their friendship, his need to constantly point out that she was attractive caused Leonardo to critically think about him.

But there were so many men in her life that could be her stalker. He had already met a few that displeased him in different ways. The possibility extended even further by the fact that she had so many rivals as women. Maria was a famous dancer, praised for achieving so much despite her young age; so many ballerinas would kill to be where she was in her career. He knew he couldn't single out Francis; there was a spectrum of people who were suspects. There must be some plausible reason as to why she was comfortable with him, Leonardo thought.

"She is a divine woman. You don't mind sharing, do you?"

He held back from pushing the table away and violently smashing Francis's glass of wine into his throat. One thing he hated was the objectification of women. "She's not an object for sale," Leonardo snarled, losing patience by asking the second. "Don't make me snap your fucking neck, Francis. She's not in the picture. It's between us." One thing about Leonardo, that was unlike to his brothers, was that he was patient. If another Romano had been in the room, Francis would be against the wall with his insides out on full display.

Francis guffawed heartily, finding entertainment in Leonardo's anger. "Calmati! Calmati {calm yourself}!" Francis sniggered in his badly pronounced Italian. Leonardo scowled at him, regretting more and more even attending the party.

"I apologise!" He effused with a laugh, shaking his head and waving his hands up in the air in surrender. He downed his glass and tittered annoyingly. "I joke, I joke! I know, I know." Leonardo exhaled quietly, not willing to accept Francis's dry apology.

"Ay, don, you aren't the easiest to joke around with," Francis relented, calming himself down from his terrible attempt at easing the tension. Leonardo glared at him, quickly looking over at Maria who had no idea of the things they were talking about.

"Alright, I am content with this. This should be fun," Francis clarified, grinning from ear to ear again. Leonardo held onto his glare, which amused Francis more. "It'll be interesting working with a Romano This stops the feud, right, big boss?"

"I'll see," Leonardo cautioned, as he noticed a tall, woman with straight, lustrous blonde hair approaching Francis. Her white heels clicked against the marble floor as she walked in a seductive manner, her prominent breasts bouncing from under her short, tight dress that barely covered her as she moved closer.

"Fra!" She had quite a high pitched, feminine voice. Running over to Francis, he pulled her onto his lap by her hips causing her to giggle as she kissed his cheek. Leonardo's eyebrows furrowed at the sight, what was he doing with another woman? He then remembered the open relationship Maria had mentioned before and once again rolled his eyes at the sight before him. Wasn't Camille enough for him? How could he possibly need other women when he had such a wife?

They kissed in front of him, sharing their salvia as their tongues swirled around with each other, as if it had been decades since they had last met. Leonardo's eyes then wandered around the room for some entertainment as he waited for Francis to stop, but he couldn't escape the disgusting sounds of sucking right in front of him.

"Francis," he called in a powerful tone, expecting him to compose himself and stop. Francis pulled away as the unknown woman, wiped the lipstick off his lips, childishly giggling as she pretended to be shy. Leonardo felt irritated at the sight of her. Why was she so annoying?

Francis finally looked back at Leonardo. "Sorry, sorry! Anyway, you were saying?"

Leonardo went to continue their conversation despite not wanting another party there but Camille beat him to it.

"What the fuck is she doing here, Francis?"

The loud shriek caught the attention of many guests in which some began to escape to the other sections of the party to avoid the drama.

Leonardo shut his mouth and glanced over at Francis, sensing how much deep shit he was about to be in. Maria was following Camille in tow and seemed to be attempting to speak to her. It was apparent that Camille had probably drank a little too much; her walk was fast but slightly wobbly but it didn't stop her from coming over and roughly slapping the cheek of the woman on Francis's lap.

It was so hard that the sound bounce off the walls of the room and caused the music to stop playing. All eyes were on Camille as she pulled the shocked woman by the straps of her dress and tossed her into the floor, off Francis's lap.

Maria and Leonardo's eyes met; both filled with surprise at the sudden slap. She quickly placed her attention back to Camille who was being held back by Francis who was throwing her a ton of useless words.

"Cammy, Cammy, calm down its-"

"It's what Francis? What the fuck is she doing here? I told you that I didn't want you anywhere near that fucking whore but you brought her here - to my birthday party!"

Leonardo realised that Maria was standing way too close to the couple. It was a quick move for him to pull her by his side, away from the couple's quarrel with his arm around her small waist. "Let's go," he murmured to her in what wasn't a question, but she ignored him, moving away from his arm and going back to Camille. Leonardo wanted nothing to do with the mess.

Camille was shouting at Francis, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks as she raised her anger at him. The woman on the floor was screaming and tried to grab Camille's hair but she was quicker, and stronger. She used the woman's hair to throw her against the table where it smashed into a half as the woman's body was thrown at it. That kept her down in pain.

Maria's eyes widened at the sight. She didn't know Camille had such power to toss a human like a flimsy dog. She felt the same anger Camille had raged in her. How could Francis bring such a woman to Camille's birthday party after treating her like shit for so long?

Camille was crying so loud that it was uncomfortable to watch and see the hurt in her pouring out in front of Francis who was helpless and couldn't comfort her. "Cammy, Cammy," he kept repeating, attempting to console her but she pushed him away and went to Maria.

Her makeup was completely ruined, mascara and glitter smudged across her cheeks after tears had fallen. "Get me out of here, Ria," she wailed, holding onto Maria's arm. Maria hugged her, glaring hard at Francis. "Camille, don't cry," Maria soothed, wiping Camille's flushed cheeks.

"We're done, Francis. Go screw your fucking bitch!" Camille yelled in a slur before burying her head in Maria's neck.

Watching all of that unfold in such a small period of time was truly something.

Leonardo was utterly confused and had no idea what to do. He wanted to go home but Maria was too busy being a good friend to Camille. He saw this as none of their business and wanted to avoid all the drama. By that point, people were gossiping and staring at the scene. It felt too claustrophobic for Leonardo to deal with. He was desperate to leave for some peace: the evening had been too much for him. It would only get worse if they had to take Camille with them.

He had no sympathy for Francis and couldn't care less about the fact that his wife was threatening him with divorce.

Leonardo met Maria's eyes, urging for her to go with him with his eyes. Maria couldn't just leave Camille and continued to comfort her friend.

Unexpectedly, the sound of multiple bullets shot through the air, unleashing a series of screams at the sound of the gunfire cracking. It was loud, so loud as they whizzed past.

The lights were suddenly out, darkness filling the room. The sense of vulnerability was high and put everyone in the room in fear. They relied on the light from outside to shine some brightness inside.

Alarmed, Maria flinched momentarily, her panicked eyes meeting Leonardo's but at the sound of the shots banging through the windows and shattering them, people became anxious and scared, beginning to run in different directions as they desperately searched for safety. The two were quickly separated.

Maria held onto Camille as they moved backwards. Maria ignored Camille's shrieks and lifted her own dress, frantically searching for the gun attached to her thigh. She pulled off off the band and lifted her arm, starting to shoot at the masked, dark clothed figures circling the outside of the room.

She had no idea who the hell dared to come and shoot at Camille's party but she knew she had to defend herself against them. Maria was skilled at shooting, from a young age she had been taught by her mother on how to use a gun. It was one of the only good things her mother had taught her to defend herself one day. It had come to use.

Leonardo was across the room, shooting back with the gun that was hidden in his clothes. He always carried one, he couldn't go anywhere unprotected. He could barely see in the dark with his contact lenses and struggled to find Maria.

It was chaotic in there and difficult to grasp all the commotion around them.

The gunshots were startling, echoing through the room. They didn't seem to be aimed at people, more to destroy furniture, art pieces. Leonardo realised this and moved past Francis who was busy trying to shoot back. He stated to look for Maria, calling out her name.

She was focused on getting rid of the attackers, continuing to power bullets out of her gun. Shooting one into the leg of a intruder, they exclaimed in pain, falling into the floor so she quickly shifted her attention onto the next one. Determined and strong, she didn't hold back from injuring them. They had dared to come and ruin the evening more for Camille.

In confusion, she gasped when suddenly she was grabbed from behind and pulled. For a quick moment, Maria thought it was her stalker and it freaked her out. She was separated from Camille and yelped through all the sounds of the guns firing and yelling.

Once she was turned back around, her eyes met a particular hazel ones and immediately, Maria relaxed, exhaling softly and relieved that Leonardo was there, holding onto her arms.

The firing ceased the moment Francis blew bullets into the heads of a few men and they retreated. He was fuming with anger and starting shooting commands instead to his men who had come at the sound of the scene, quickly becoming serious to fix the situation.

Leonardo began patting Maria's arms frantically, searching for a sign of a wound. "What are you doing?" She breathlessly asked, holding onto his biceps. The lights came back on with a flash, and they could finally see each other fully again. "Where are you hurt? Are you okay? Are you in a lot of pain?" He was clearly disconcerted and in some kind of trance as he panicked that she was injured. She shook her head at his agitated questions and pulled him closer.

"Leo! Leo! Hey, look at me!" Maria desperately. She lifted his chin and met his eyes filled with worry and uneasiness. She felt sympathetic at the sight. "I'm fine," she gently reassured him, her finger slowly caressing his cheek. "I'm fine," she repeated sincerely as he seemed to begin to calm down a little, returning to his more relaxed self. He sighed, finally able to calm down gazing into her gentle eyes.

Maria registered that she was touching something uncomfortably wet and startled, she immediately looked down at his arm and discerned that her fingers are on a cut on his arm, sinking into the flesh.

Her mouth gaped and she moved her hand instantly. "Leo, it's not me, it's you!" She blurted, her eyes widening at the sight of blood soaking his dark blazer. "How did you-" Maria exclaimed before quickly opening his blazer and pulling out his shirt. She then lifted her dress a little and yanked out the knife hanging on her other leg before using it to rip off some of the material of his shirt to use to cover the deep scratch, tightening a band around it carefully though he winced as he realised he was shot.

"Do you have some kind of first aid kit in your car?" She asked seriously, her eyebrows knotted together. He shook his head, "no, I'm-"

The conversation was cut at the sound of crying. Their attention moved onto Camille who was sat in the middle of the floor that was covered in glass and debris of materials. She was taking in the scene around her; Francis urgently trying to find the culprits for the shooting, his mistress that was against the wall, clutching onto her injured side, guests running all over the place, marvelling at the extent to which the party had completely gone downhill.

The empathy Maria had for her was a lot. She felt bad, extremely bad that Camille had gone through so much that night. Her hands slowly slipped off Leonardo and she was about to approach Camille until Francis came slowly and silently scooped her up, holding her.

He turned and faced Leonardo and Maria, his face hostile yet solemn at the same time. "Thanks for coming," he merely said in a monotonous tone before he sighed and took Camille out of the room, leaving his mistress behind.

"Come on," Maria gently said, looking up at Leonardo. "Let's get you cleaned up."

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~ Author's Note ~

Soooo, Francis seems to have his eyes on Maria! Good thing Leonardo was there to put him right back in his place.

Thoughts on that interaction?

Is Francis and Maria's friendship weird like Leonardo thinks?

How about Camille and Francis' dilemma, Francis brought his side chick to his wife's birthday party.
Does Camille have a right to be furious or not?

Leonardo and Maria were caught up in a crossfire! Next chapter is a sweet one, so keep voting and commenting for an early release!

Thoughts on this chapter?

Please vote, comment, share and follow.

Votes and comments really help me know how the story is going, if the book is going well or not, and helps boost my confidence for more updates :)

Thanks for reading!

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