Page 76 of Stolen By The Bratva King

“You think I’d let you stay there?” he asks incredulously as he helps me out of the car. “The place Dante owns and has keys for? No fucking chance. He will already have cleared it out, so good job all your stuff is safe.”

He throws me a sideways glance, a smirk playing on his lips. “And it’s easier to keep an eye on you here than via a secret camera set-up.”

I stare at him, open-mouthed. “You had cameras in my apartment? You reallywerealways watching. You know that’s not normal, right?”

He frowns. “None of this is normal,” he says as we enter the elevator. “A stalker’s mindset with a billionaire budget is a match made in heaven.”

I’m not listening. The lights seem suddenly too bright, like a tanning bed. I squeeze my eyes shut and slump against the wall as my head swims.

“What’s wrong?” Leon asks.

“Blood sugar,” I murmur. “Haven’t eaten.”

“God damn.” He tucks his arms around me and picks me up. “I thought you’d had breakfast with your father. Why didn’t you tell me?”

I suspect it was force of habit. Dante seemed to think I never needed food, that my excess body fat should fuel me just fine.

That’s bullshit, obviously, but I got used to telling him I’d have next to nothing to eat because it was usually true, especially once he demanded that I only eat with him.

“I don’t know,” I say. “Forgot.”

Leon carries me like I’m feather-light, with no signs of strain, and it feels wonderful. He even unlocks the door without dropping me and lays me on the couch.

“Here.” He tucks a cushion behind my head and retrieves a throw from his bedroom, wrapping it around me. “I was trying to make your favorite dinner the other night, before it all went to Hell. My cleaning lady tidied it away, or the place would’ve stunk of burned pork, but I have enough here to start again.”

I’m too spaced out to fully take in what he’s saying. “You’re gonna cook?” I ask. “Wow.Canyou?”

He brings me a glass of water and some pills. “For your head,” he says. “No,val’kiriya, I can’t cook for shit; I live in New York, for Chrissakes. Why would I?”

“I’m not sure I wantterribleramen,” I mumble, slinging back the painkillers.

Leon laughs. “I wannalearn, Emery. I’m so wrapped up in my own bullshit, and it’d be good to get out of my head. Besides, compared to you, I’m dumb as fuck. Noodles aren’t trauma surgery, but I gotta start somewhere.”

He slaps a piece of belly pork onto a chopping board and waves his knife in my direction. “Let me look after you.”

I close my eyes and let the kitchen sounds wash over me. Leon cutting things, humming to himself as he works, like a regular guy.

He’snota regular guy, but he’s the one I love. I can’t help it; he’s etched his name into my heart like he was carving the bark of a tree.

“How are you feeling now?” I ask.

“I wish Viktor would call. He’s not responding to me, but he’ll have a reason.”

“What about Josef? It got kinda emotional back there.”

Leon dumps hard-boiled eggs into a bowl of iced water. “To be honest, I’m ashamed. I wish I was the person my parents would have wanted me to be. A good man, someone who helps people, like they did.”

I ponder this for a moment. “What would have happened to that Reggiani guy if you hadn’t killed him?” I ask.

“He would have made deals with the cops, snitched on his friends, that kind of thing. He sure as Hell couldn’t have shown his face in New York again, not after that bloodbath.”

Leon puts a lid on the noodles and wipes his hands on a towel, looking thoughtful. “It ruined the delicate truce between lawmakers and the mob. Wealthy, high-profile philanthropists, killed in their own home? That’s some sick shit.”

“So the murders started the war?”

“Sort of. The police went after some of the mafia’s top guys and dredged up enough evidence to put them away. After that, the city fell apart, with everyone out for themselves. From that mess, the bratva rose up, and with my help, Roman stomped it down. He handed the leadership to me because I know what order and justice look like and what it costs to keep them.”

I sit up and pull my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms around my legs. Leon dishes up the ramen, broth, and gently wilted vegetables before adding eggs and crisped-up belly pork slices.

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