His Stolen Bride - MINK Page 0,26
out how to address the situation with Gianna. And for two days, I’ve failed to come up with a solution that doesn’t end in bloodshed between my budding family, the Davincis, and the Carreras.
“I’ve promised to keep Gianna safe.”
He eyes me warily and crosses his arms over his chest. “That’s my job.”
“Cut the shit.” I wave a hand at him. “I know she’s carrying your baby inside her.”
His eyes widen. “How—”
“I’m not blind. I see the way you are with her.” I pick up a coin from my desk and flick it across my knuckles. “You two aren’t careful. Not enough, anyway. And I notice things.” I won’t reveal what my Bella told me in confidence. “It’s clear. I assume you were better at hiding it when you still lived under Fernando’s roof.”
His jaw is hard, as if he’s waiting for a blow.
I lean forward, testing him. “I don’t blame you. Gianna is one hot piece of ass. Of course you’d want to bag that sweet, juicy—”
He lunges for me, a blade in his hand.
I shove back from my desk and get to my feet, a knife in my own palm. “Calm, Leo,” I warn. He looks about one hair away from coming over the desk for me. “I just wanted to see if it’s real.”
“It’s real,” he grates. “Don’t you ever speak of her like that again. I don’t care who you are, I’ll gut you.”
“Good.” I rest my blade on my desk. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”
He rolls his shoulder and stows his knife, then backs up, though he still has that wary quality that I’m coming to respect. “I won’t let anyone hurt her. Ever. In our hearts, we’re already married.”
“I don’t think Fernando will see it that way.” I sit back down and gesture for Leo to do the same.
He sinks into the seat across from me and scrubs a hand down his face. “Honestly, it’s a relief that you know. I have to get her out of here before Fernando comes back and demands her again.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“No.” He glances to the left, back toward the foyer where Bella holds court. “She’s the brains of the operation. Bella.”
I shift in my seat. “What’s her plan, then?” An uncomfortable ripple shoots down my spine. Bella came clean with me the other day, but has she had other reasons for revealing the truth? To distract me, perhaps? Maybe give me just enough truth to pull the wool over my eyes?
“I don’t know.” He seems to clam up again, as if he’s remembered that I’m the enemy. I’m not. Well, I’ll revise that. I’m not unless my beauty intends to leave me, to escape with her sister and Leo. I’ll never let it happen. I’d chase her to the ends of the earth and bring her back here where she belongs, then fuck the truth right into her. We are forever.
Leo isn’t going to tell me anything else. I can see that by the set of his chin and the hardness of his eyes. He doesn’t trust me.
“Fernando is going to come calling for her, sooner rather than later.” I take up the coin again and walk it along my scarred knuckles. “He wants to marry her off to a made man, someone who can bring fortune and strength to his operation.” I hold his gaze. “You aren’t that, are you?”
He shakes his head. “I have no name to speak of, no.”
“Neither did I when I was young and stupid like you. You have to make your name. But that’s beside the point. The point is that Fernando is coming, and Gianna will have to go. It’s that or start the war that we’ve all been trying to avoid for years and years.”
“I’ll happily fight a war for her.”
“I understand that.” I do. I feel the same way about Bella. “But we have to be smart. Risking lives—especially the lives of Bella and Gianna—isn’t something I take lightly.”
“I don’t take it lightly. You think I want to be here? Gianna and I should be somewhere safe, somewhere we can plan a nursery and build our future. But we can’t. Fernando will never let her go, not when he can use her to his advantage.” The fire in his tone is both admirable and worrisome.
“I will keep my promise to my bride. Protecting Gianna is part of my covenant with Bella, understand?”
“Yes, but Gianna is mine to protect.”
I sigh. “Don’t do anything stupid. That’s all I