They could never stop looking down at me. They were too used to doing just that.
Turning toward Leda, I saw she had been watching me with bated breath. “And that’s it.”
This would be all I was going to tell her tonight.
“I’ll admit,” she finally said. “I don’t know much about the Cavazzo Mafia. I mean, I didn’t even know who you were. And I thought I knewallthe Dons out there.”
Thank fuck for that. “How involved were you in your father’s business?”
“Look.” She shook her head, and gave me a small smile. “As far as I was ever concerned, I was always going to be married off to one Don or another. My father did his best to keep me out of his business. I had an idea for how it would end. And after Nico put him in prison, I just thought…” Her voice trailed.
“I mean, I hoped that my life would be different,” she finally said.
Her words affected me far more than they should. I had taken that hope from her. I was the real villain in her story, not her father.
I wasn’t a hero by any means. I wasn’t the good guy, nor would I ever be. There was too much blood on my hands—enough that I could spend the rest of my life in penance and the guilt would never wash out.
The devil would greet me when my time on earth was over. I was sure about.
But if I hadn’t bought her that night, her fate could have been far worse.
I doubted that was any consolation to her.
But it was to me.
When Leda rose from the chair, I became still. I didn’t like to admit it, but I enjoyed my time with her, mainly because she had been on my mind since the night I had her.
Every night, she appeared in my dreams. She wouldn’t let me rest, wouldn’t get out of my blood.
Something deep down told me that it was because I didn’t want her to be gone. I wanted her to be with me. Emil’s words came to me.Might be best to put her back on the auction block.
I would never put Leda back up for auction. I wasn’t about to give her up.
Call me a selfish bastard, but I wanted more from her.
Leda didn’t turn to the balcony door. Instead she joined me at the railing, leaning against it with a slight smile on her face.
“Look, I’m not going to tell you that you are a good guy,” she said softly. “Because you aren’t.”
“No, I’m not.” I agreed.
“But for what it’s worth.” She placed her hand on my arm. “I’m thankful that you shared that with me.”
I turned and caged her between my body and the railing. My cock hard as a rock as it sensed her proximity. A familiar thought returned—to bury myself in her warmth and forget who I was. Forget what I had done to her and anyone else in my fucking life.
My nose was inches from hers, and her citrusy scent was like a drug. I inhaled her, hoping that it would calm the raging storm inside.
“I’m a monster, Leda. I always will be.”
It was my mantra when I was an enforcer, and I had stuck with it as a Don.
Shadows and darkness were what I lived in. Not her.
“So don’t think you can save me.”
Chapter 34
Leda