LEO
When I’m done drying our bodies, I pick Haven up and carry her into my walk-in closet, where I set her down on the plush, round seat in the middle of the floor.
“Stay.”
Her eyes follow my movements as I pull a pair of boxers out of a drawer, and when I step into them, she says, “I wonder what the time is.”
I walk to a counter holding all my wristwatches. “Almost four.”
“Wow. It’s almost time for breakfast.”
I grab one of my T-shirts and walk back to her. She lifts her arms and lets me pull the fabric down over her head. I wrap my arm around her back and haul her to her feet so I can adjust the shirt around her thighs, then I hook my other arm under her knees and carry her bridal style out of the closet.
“I’m not even going to argue because my legs are still numb.”
The corner of my mouth lifts. “The second you’re able to walk again, I’m going to fuck you so I can keep carrying you everywhere.”
Laughter bubbles over her lips as I take the stairs down to the first floor.
The lights go on, and I cross the foyer to where the kitchen is.
‘Finally! Food,” she sighs when I set her down on the island.
“Yes. You need to build up your energy.” I collect the sandwiches she was preparing last night and throw them in the trash before I take chicken breasts and vegetables from the fridge.
“Where did you learn to cook?” Haven asks, swinging her legs and looking happy.
I pause to take in the moment, then smile at her. “I like seeing you happy.” Setting the food on the counter, I grab a pan and put some olive oil in it. “Your mother was an amazing cook. I loved watching her, and she started teaching me the basics. After her death, I kept practicing.” I glance at my wife again. “It was my way of honoring her memory.”
Haven’s eyebrows draw together, and sadness flashes over her features. “You were very upset earlier, so I didn’t want to ask, but will you please tell me more about my family?”
Cazzo, I’m an asshole. I made it all about me instead of thinking about Haven.
“I’m sorry, stellina mia. I should’ve taken you into consideration.” I set the pan down on the stove. “Wait! I have photos.” I dart out of the kitchen and jog to my bedroom. Walking into my closet, I pull a box from the top shelf and carry it back to where the love of my life is waiting.
I place the box beside her and take off the lid. She peeks curiously inside and pulls a small pink blanket out. “I remember this!”
“That’s a good sign,” I say, hope creeping into my chest.
Maybe Haven’s memory will return if she sees more things from her past.
I dig in the box until I find the photos, which I should’ve put in an album, but I could never bring myself to look at them.
My eyes lock on the first one that’s of Mrs. Messina smiling at the camera. I pull myself up on the island, and sitting beside Haven, I show her the photo. “This is your mother. Viola Messina.”
Her hand trembles when she takes the photo, and when her chin quivers, I wrap my arm around her and pull her tight against my side.
“She’s so pretty,” Haven whispers.
“Your name was the last word she said.”
Haven leans her head against the side of my chest and sniffles. “Carina Messina. It feels weird.”
“That’s understandable,” I murmur.
She takes the photos from me and looks at the next one, which is of her on Diego’s back. He has an empty toilet roll strapped to his forehead, the expression on his face not impressed at all. There’s also one of me and her in the same pose.
“Oh my gosh, these are so cute.”
“You made us crawl around pretending we were unicorns.” I rub my hand up and down her arm while chuckling. “Your father was laughing so much he struggled to take the photos, which only pissed off Diego more.”
Haven moves on to the next photo, which is of Mr. and Mrs. Messina sitting outside on lawn chairs.
“My parents.” When she wipes at her face, I realize she’s crying, and I press a kiss to her temple.
“Your father’s name was Corrado Messina,” I tell her while she continues to look through the pictures.
When she looks at one of her father holding her and her mother pressing a kiss to her cheek, her breath catches in her throat. “Leo, I remember this! I think it was my birthday. There was a pink unicorn cake.”
My eyes dart to her face, and I’m hit with a burst of relief and happiness that she hasn’t forgotten her family completely. “It was your sixth birthday, a month before the attack.”
“I remember my parents,” she sobs, and as she presses the photo to her chest and begins to cry, I hold her tightly and drop kisses in her hair. Her voice breaks over the words as she says, “I want to remember everything.”
“I wish I could give you all my memories,” I whisper.
“Tell me more. I want to know everything.”
“One day after school, when Diego and I got home, your mother was sitting on the floor crying. We thought she had fallen and hurt herself, but she was upset because you’d just taken your first step, and by the time she grabbed the camera, you sat down and she missed her chance to take a photo.”
While Haven continues looking through all the pictures, I slip off the island and start preparing the food.
I let out a chuckle when a memory pops into my mind. “There was a morning when you walked in on your parents having sex. Diego was so grossed out. It was up to me to drag you out of their bedroom while they were shouting for you to get out.” I start to laugh. “You were so worried because you thought your dad was stuck inside your mom, and you wanted to help pull them apart.” I glance at Haven. “Your parents couldn’t look me in the eye for a whole month and kept apologizing.”
“Did you see them butt naked?”
I nod while another chuckle escapes me. “I can laugh about it now, but back then it was the most embarrassing moment of my life.”
Haven’s smiling as she listens to me, so I continue telling her story after story while I prepare the food.
When I set the plates down on the marble counter, she jumps off and takes a seat on the stool beside me.
We eat for a little while, and after I take a sip of water, I say, “I’m sorry I terrified you those first two days I brought you here.”
Her eyes meet mine. “You’re going to have to grovel for the rest of our lives.”
I nod, prepared to do anything she wants.
Haven tilts her head and stares at me for a few seconds before she says, “Maybe I’m an idiot, but I forgive you.”
My eyebrow lifts. “Really?”
She rolls her eyes and gives me a playful smile. “Yeah. It’s probably the great sex and multiple orgasms that twisted my arm.”
“Oh, if that’s the kind of groveling you want from me, I’d better get to work.” I stand up and pick her up off the stool. Haven lets out a burst of laughter. “We just ate. Should we wait half an hour like you do before swimming?”
“That’s a myth,” I tell her as I carry her back to my bedroom.
After spending two amazing days with Haven, I hate being away from her.
Even though I trust Edoardo to protect her, I feel unsettled as we step off my private jet, which just landed at a private airfield in Croatia.
Find Nicolo and kill him so you can get back to your wife.
Dante instructs my men on what to do as Massimo and I walk toward the row of SUVs. We’re all already geared up with armored vests and machine guns, so we don’t have to waste any more time at the airfield.
“You look so much better,” Massimo comments for the umpteenth time when I open the passenger door.
“Say it again, and we’re going to have a problem,” I grumble, not really meaning it.
I get into the cab, and when Massimo slides in behind the steering wheel, he places his machine gun on my lap and chuckles, “You look so much better.”
I shove at his shoulder, giving him a playful glare. “Let’s get going so we can kill those fuckers. I’m impatient to go home to my wife.”
“Now you know how I feel every time we take a trip,” he replies.
When he starts the engine and follows behind Dante, who’s in the SUV in front of us, I pull my phone out of my pocket and type out a text to Haven.
Leo: We’ve landed in Croatia. I hope you’re enjoying your time with your mother. I love you, stellina mia.
I put the device away, and my thoughts turn to Nicolo.
I haven’t decided how I’m going to kill the fucker once I’m done getting all my answers. I keep thinking of different ways. Everything from beating him to death to letting rats eat their way through his gut.
Cazzo, rats are out of the question because I don’t have any.
After a while of driving, Massimo says, “We’re five minutes away.”
I roll my shoulders and say a silent prayer that I won’t lose any men today.
My gaze focuses on our surroundings. The coastal area is luxurious, and the mansions are spaced far apart from each other.
Dante speeds up, and when he turns and drives through a set of black gates, all the SUVs follow, and a few seconds later, we come to a screeching halt.
I shove Massimo’s machine gun onto his lap, and throwing my door open, I jump out of the vehicle. Gunfire erupts as soon as my men pour from their SUVs.
As they storm the mansion, taking out Vito’s guards, Massimo and I bring up the rear.
Dante’s the first to breach the front door, and I glance at Massimo, “He’s like a bulldozer.”
“Just very passionate about his job,” my right-hand man replies with a chuckle.
We enter the mansion where bodies lie scattered on the tiles, then I hear Dante’s voice through the earpiece I’m wearing. “We’re by the pool.”
“Which way do we go?” I ask no one in particular.
“Through that door, boss,” Mattia answers, pointing at a doorway to our left.
The mansion is decorated in bright blue and yellow, with weird statues of balloon animals.
“Cazzo, Vito’s taste sucks ass,” I mutter.
“You can say that again,” Massimo agrees right before we step through French doors and out onto a patio.
Four young women, dressed in bikinis, are holding each other while my men have guns on them.
“Take the women inside. They don’t leave before we do, but make sure they see nothing,” Massimo orders.
My eyes land on Nicolo and Vito, where they’re sitting on lounge chairs with drinks in their hands.
My rage spikes dangerously as I look at the two men who’ve been living the good life the past two weeks.
Dante and Ricco have their guns trained on the two fuckers’ heads.
“I’m offended that I wasn’t invited to the party,” I say, my voice tense as I hand my machine gun to Massimo.
I pull my Glock from behind my back and take a seat on a chair near them. Glancing around at the weirdly shaped bushes, I shake my head before I lift my arm and pull the trigger.
Vito’s head snaps back as the bullet hits him between the eyes, and his drink goes flying onto the paving.
Now it’s me and the man who ruined my fucking life and took the Messinas from me.
The man who kidnapped Carina and hid her from me.
Looking at Nicolo, I mutter, “Button up your shirt.” I gesture with my gun at his belly and gray chest hair. “No one wants to see that.”
He sets his drink down beside him and buttons his shirt before asking, “How did you find me?”
“What’s that saying about a scorned woman?” I try to remember, but then shake my head. “It doesn’t matter.” I stand up again and walk closer to him, then pointing my weapon at his left leg, I shoot him in the knee.
Nicolo lets out a roar while he grabs his leg, pain etched deep into his features, and it soothes my anger a little.
“Imagine my surprise when I found out Haven is Carina,” I growl.
Hatred tightens Nicolo’s features even more. “I should’ve killed her. I fucking knew this would bite me in the ass.”
“Grow a pair of balls and admit why you did it,” I demand.
Nicolo glares up at me. “Why, you’re going to kill me anyway.”
“Yes, but you can either die quick or I can torture you.” I glance at the view of the ocean. “I made a friend in South America who has the most creative ways of making people suffer. I’ve heard he recently cut off a man’s cock. Imagine that.” I shake my head and look at Nicolo again. “It had to have hurt a lot.”
“Your father was a loose cannon!” Nicolo shouts. “Everyone wanted him dead. I just had the guts to do it. It’s a pity you survived, though,” he taunts me. “How did it feel when you realized you forced the girl you were searching for all this time to marry you?”
He’s baiting me so I’ll give him a quick death out of anger, and it almost works as rage explodes through me. Before I can think things through, I shoot him in his other knee.
His howl of pain eases my thirst for vengeance a little, and I walk to the other garden chair and take a seat again.
Out of fear that I’ll lose my temper, I hold my gun out to Massimo. “Take it before I end him too quickly.”
My right-hand man comes to take the weapon and remains standing beside me.
Tilting my head, I ask, “Why kill the Messinas?”
“Dead people can’t talk,” he groans, blood streaming down his legs and forming pools on the paving.
“Get towels or something to wrap around his knees,” I order. “I don’t want him bleeding out too fast.”
“Give me your belt,” Dante orders Ricco while he removes his own.
I wait while he fastens them around Nicolo’s thighs to slow the bleeding. Ricco grabs towels from the other side of the pool, where the women were probably sunbathing before we interrupted the private party, and jogs back to us.
When they’re done patching up Nicolo as best they can, I lift my eyebrow at the fucker. “Tell me what happened that night.”
“You know what happened. I sanctioned the attacks to eliminate your family. Anyone who got in the way was collateral damage.”
“And Carina?”
“When the men came back with the girl, I sent her to my brother and helped him with the paperwork. You should thank me. She lived a good life instead of dying like the rest of her family.”
I stare long and hard at Nicolo. “Crawl to me.”
He lets out a bark of laughter. “Fuck you.”
“Someone find a knife so we can cut off his dick,” I call out.
Fear fills Nicolo’s eyes, and he shakes his head wildly as Ricco runs into the mansion.
“If you can crawl to me before Ricco returns, and beg me for mercy, I’ll shoot you in the head. If Ricco beats you to it, then you’ll find out how much it hurts to have your dick cut off.” I lean forward and rest my forearms on my thighs. “Your choice.”
Nicolo slides off the chair, crying out when his knees touch the pavement. Unable to stay up, he face-plants hard.
“Come on. You’re not even trying,’ I taunt him, my eyes feasting on the excruciating pain etched all over his pale face.
Nicolo pushes up, but unable to use his knees, he begins to drag himself toward me.
Ricco comes out of the mansion, and with one hard push and an agonizing roar, Nicolo dives forward, landing at my feet.
When he rolls onto his back and looks up at me, I growl, “Whatever you’re feeling right now is nothing compared to what I felt when you killed the Messinas and took Carina from me.”
“Mercy,” he gasps.
“Beg!” I roar, my body shaking with rage as I hold my hand out.
Ricco places the knife in my palm, and it has Nicolo sobbing, “Please, Leo. I’m sorry.”
“No.” I shake my head. “You’re just sorry I found out the truth.”
“Leo.” His voice is filled with terror as I lift my arm into the air, then he begs, “Have mercy on me!”
Standing up, I keep eye contact with him, my entire body shaking with every ounce of pain this man has caused me and Haven.
“Leo!” he cries desperately when I crouch beside him.
My voice rumbles like thunder as I say, “Slithering like a snake wasn’t the deal, Nicolo. You didn’t crawl.”
He tries to reach for me, but I slap his hand away before I use all my strength to plunge the knife into his chest.
I hear a bone crack and air bursts from Nicolo’s mouth.
Our eyes remain locked as my thirst for vengeance wins out. I begin to stab him repeatedly until he’s nothing but a bloody mess, and his gaze turns lifeless.
It’s still not enough, and I toss the knife to the side so I can beat him with my fists, a shout tearing from my chest.
“Everyone, clear out!” Massimo orders, then he pulls at my shoulders and drags me away from Nicolo’s mangled body.
His arms lock around me from behind. “It’s over. You’ve killed him.”
I grip Massimo’s arm, gasping for air as the realization sinks into the depths of my soul.
I’ve finally killed Nicolo Romano.
I’ve avenged the Messinas.
