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Chapter 5
Leda
“What is it?” he asked, likely seeing the war raging in my expression. “What are you not telling me?”
I shoved the words deep down inside and shook my head, sliding my own hands around his neck. “Nothing. I just can’t lose you again. No matter what.”
He pulled me against his body and buried his face in my hair. “I can’t believe you are here.”
Sagging against him, I let myself dwell on the now and not the future. Eventually I was going to have to tell him about what had happened and deal with whatever reaction he had as a result, but for now, I wanted his arms around me, locking us into the cocoon that was just Lucas and Leda, no one else.
“You’re hurt.” I said, resting my cheek against his shoulder.
“I’ll be fine,” he said roughly, his hand sliding over my back. “I’m more pissed than hurt, truth be told.”
Whether he was pissed off because he had nearly been killed or because he had lost me, I wasn’t sure, but it didn’t really matter. We had both escaped death, making every moment far too real for me.
“We should probably get some sleep,” he said a moment later. “There are plans to be made, Leda.”
I reluctantly pulled away, locating my underwear on the floor. “I probably should tell my brother that I am safe somehow.”
“I’ll have Emil tell him,” Lucas decided as I stepped back into my underwear, deciding to keep my bra on for now. My breasts felt heavier than normal, and having some sort of support kept my back from aching.
I climbed into bed and Lucas followed, keeping his jeans on. “Too shy to sleep naked with me?” I joked as he doused the light.
He reached for me, hauling me against him. “No. I don’t want Ruhua to see me in the buff, that’s all.”
“You think she would just barge in here?”
His chuckle rumbled on my back, his arm clamping down on my waist as if he expected me to bolt at any moment. “I think she would, honestly, to make sure you hadn’t killed me yet.”
“I don’t want to kill you,” I mumbled. “Maybe maim you a little for forcing me to leave.”
I felt his sigh before he pressed his lips against my shoulder. “I’m sorry about that, Leda. I thought I was doing the right thing by getting you out of harm’s way, but all I did was put you in it, and I will never forgive myself for that.”
His words struck a chord within me with their earnestness, so I let it drop, just glad that I was in his arms and not spending another waking moment wondering where he was and if he was okay.
“You never told me what happened,” I said after a moment. “To you.”
“I was taken by Adrian,” he bit out, pulling the covers over us. “I got away before I could be delivered to him.”
I turned in his arms, horror in my voice. “What?” So, it had been Adrian behind the attack after all. If he had gotten to Lucas, there would be no telling what kind of torture he would be going through right now.
Lucas’s features were hard to see in the dark, but I could feel the anger radiating out of his touch. “That is why I have to take him down,” he said softly. “I have to make him pay for what he has done, Leda. There is no other choice.”
I wanted to tell him there was always another choice. If Lucas went up against Adrian right now, I doubted he would survive. He was being stubborn by not allowing me to help.
But the words wouldn’t move past my tongue. Tomorrow, maybe I could tell him about the baby and talk Lucas into letting me help, but tonight, I wanted to just feel his arms around me like they were right now.
So, I placed my head on his chest and felt his fingers in my hair, stroking my scalp. “You know,” he said after a moment, “I didn’t think we would be doing this again.”
My heart clenched in my chest, and tears stung my eyes once more.
“I thought that I had lost you,” he continued, his voice oddly full of emotion. “I thought I had lost the only thing I fucking cared about in my life, and that wasn’t a good feeling, Leda.”
Oh God. He was going to kill me with his words! My standoffish, stubborn Mafia Don was telling me that I was the most important thing in his life.
The problem was, I didn’t believe him. I believed he cared about me, yes, but he also cared about getting his Mafia back. That was going to be the thing that destroyed us in the end. It was a feeling I couldn’t shake. If I didn’t step in and show him what he had in his arms, show him what I could give him that was far more important, I would be forced to watch him die.
I had to save Lucas.
