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She made me helpless, but I didn’t want to give up that feeling.
“Sit.” I told her as I walked over to the chair and sat across from her. “Eat.”
Leda picked up a piece of toast and slathered some butter on it. “You know there’s a method to making good toast,” she stated as she held it up to her mouth.
I smiled lightly. “Oh? Do tell.”
Her eyes sparkled and I was taken aback by how fucking beautiful she was.
“If I told you,” she said. “I might have to kill you.”
A laugh erupted from my chest as she took a bite, my slightly overcooked toast crunching in her mouth. I picked up a fork and dug into the scrambled eggs. We fell into a companionable silence for once, and all I could do was drink in her presence.
I was glad to see that she wasn’t running from me after yesterday. The boulder of worry and concern started to ease in my chest. She knew that it was hard for me not to be in control of any situation. She might not totally understand why, but she knew it.
After the bombing, I had no control. I couldn’t exert my title because it meant shit. I couldn’t protect anyone because I had no men to enforce my will.
It didn’t matter that I had a ton of money sitting in the bank somewhere. Amazon didn’t exactly offer two-day shipping on weapons or guards. I had to reach out to those that I had connections with, and that meant the most excruciating part of this entire business: waiting.
Everything I had worked for was slipping out of my grasp, and Leda was the only thing that I could control right now.
“I’m not going to fix your door,” I told her after she had eaten nearly everything on her plate. “You have free access to the house, but I ask that you don’t step outside for now. It’s not safe.”
Leda brushed the crumbs from her fingers and reached for the orange juice that I had placed on the tray. I couldn’t work the fucking espresso machine, which was particularly vexing since all I wanted right now was a strong cup of coffee.
“All right,” she finally said. “I can abide by those rules for now.”
My grin grew at her emphasis on “for now.” That was what I loved about her: the push she gave me and the constant need to test her boundaries. Leda wasn’t a shrinking violet. She was full of passion and fight.
But as much as I adored that, I couldn’t risk her. Surely she could understand that? And if she didn’t, I would need to make her.
“That thing yesterday,” she said after a moment. “What was it?”
My grin died. “Adrian. He sent a bomb placedinsidethe messenger. I lost a man.”
“That you couldn’t afford to lose,” she added with a sigh. “I’m sorry, Lucas.”
Her words didn’t bother me. Hell, they were the truth. I couldn’t afford to lose anyone. “Adrian will pay for this in due time.”
She drummed her nails against the glass in her hand. “I was thinking about this war with Adrian. Aren’t you afraid of opening the door for other Dons to attack you when you are down?”
She was right.
I was barely keeping my shit together with minimal ability to fight. If Adrian decided that he didn’t want to defend whichever capo or business was still tangentially loyal to me, then all of that would become slim pickings.
Not only those, but the routes that I had stolen from the other Dons would be up for grabs as well. Losing those meant losing the whole damn thing.
“I know you don’t want to hear this,” she continued, biting her lower lip and drawing attention to her mouth. Fuck her mouth. My cock reared its head again, and I had to adjust my pants to make room for it. “But you need help, Lucas, like firepower help.”
I didn’t want to admit that she was impressing the hell out of me, trying to come up with ways to help me out.
Not herself, but me, the man who had destroyed her life, caused her to be abused, and nearly gotten her killed more times than I cared to count.
She was helping me. “What would you do if you were in my position then?” I countered, curious to know what was rolling around in that pretty head of hers.
Leda looked at me. “I would find someone to align myself with. My brother’s got some hefty weight, whether you believe it or not.”
It was my turn to laugh. Nico D’Agostino wasn’t a Don, not anymore, and he sure as shit didn’t have a Mafia behind him. He had theFeds, and they weren’t going to lift a finger for me.
