Page 32 of High Stakes

“I know it’s complicated,” he interrupts, his voice steady but filled with an intensity which leaves no room for doubt. “But I need you to understand I’m not just doing this for Leone. I’m doing it for you, too. I need you to be safe, to be with us, to be with me.”

A lump forms in my throat as I grapple with my thoughts. “I don’t know if I can be that person, Milo.”

“You’re asking the impossible of me. Leone is incapable of love. He’s capable of control, possession, death, and God knows what other atrocities—but not love.”

Milo shakes his head, a frown creasing his brow. “That’s not true. Leone loves me. He loves Rocco. You don’t know him like I do. The things I’ve seen him do when he feels his loved ones and those he holds dear are threatened… He’d turn on his own blood without a second thought. Family isn’t about blood to Leone; it’s about loyalty, appreciation, and being there when it counts.The only reason Dante is still breathing is he serves a purpose—keeping Vittorio distracted.”

It makes me think of when he put a gun to Dante’s head for Rocco. Also, how Rocco isn’t afraid to speak back to Leone like most people. Just like Milo.

“How did Rocco earn Leone’s loyalty?” I ask now, suddenly curious. Milo’s eyes hold a serious glint as he explains, his voice low.

“When Rocco, Leone, and I were in our twenties, things were… different. Leone wasn’t as controlled as he is now. One night, things got out of hand.”

I listen, my breath catching as he turns his attention to the windows of the mansion. “Leone had been trying to help Lydia get clean. He felt responsible for her addiction—she was hooked on his gear. He found her high at a dealer’s place, one of his own men. He lost it completely and killed the dealer in a rage.”

Milo pauses the weight of the memory pressing down on him. “The problem was, the dealer was the son of a local politician, and someone called the police over a supposed domestic disturbance. When the cops showed up, it was a mess.”

He sighs heavily, the shadows in the car seeming to deepen around us. “Rocco stepped up. He took the blame for everything. Said it was him who killed the dealer. Leone tried to pull every string and used every contact he had to lessen the sentence, but Rocco still got six years in prison. The judge couldn’t ignore the pressure completely, not with the victim being who he was, even if his father disowned his son.”

My heart pounds as I absorb the gravity of Rocco’s sacrifice. “And the politician?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

Milo’s expression darkens. “He retaliated. While Rocco was in prison, his sister and mother were killed.” He hesitates for a second then continues. “Leone didn’t just kill the politician quickly in return. Over those six years, he dismantled the man’slife completely. Stripped him of his cartel connections, isolated him. He took his wife, and his kids, and turned his allies against him. By the time Leone was done, the man was nothing.”

I shudder, picturing the cold, calculated destruction Leone is capable of. “And Rocco?” I manage to ask.

“The day Rocco was released, Leone was there, and he’s never left his side since. He made Rocco family and gave him a new purpose. That’s why Rocco would die for Leone. And why Leone would kill for him.”

Milo’s voice softens as he continues, his gaze holding mine in the rearview mirror. “Leone might come off as unfeeling, but he’s capable of caring—deeply and completely. He’s harsh because he wants to forge you into someone who can stand beside him. You’re his wife, which gives you more power and influence than you realize.”

I scoff lightly, still skeptical. “And you think he can learn to love me?”

Milo nods confidently. “I think he already does. If he didn’t, you wouldn’t be alive. Leone doesn’t keep things—or people—he doesn’t value. He’s a complex man. He feels things deeply, even if he buries them.”

I ponder what he said, the notion I could wield some influence over Leone is both empowering and terrifying. “And what about you, Milo?” I ask, curiosity piqued. “Where do you stand in all of this?”

Milo’s gaze is intense as he turns to face me fully, the car’s interior casting shadows across his features, giving him an even more foreboding look. “I’ve watched you for years, obsessed because I couldn’t look away. I feared it, feared what it would do to you.”

His voice drops to a whisper, filled with a dark intensity. “Bringing someone into this life—it can destroy them. Ruin themin ways they can’t ever come back from. I didn’t want that for you.”

I swallow hard, feeling a chill despite the car’s warmth. “Why not take me, then? If you wanted me, why not just take me away from all this?” I ask, the words heavy with accusation and curiosity.

Milo’s laugh is hollow, devoid of any real amusement. “I would have locked you away out of fear of people knowing you could be used against me. You would have been my caged bird.”

The stark admission makes my stomach squeeze at the thought. “How is it different from how Leone keeps me? And why now? Now that I’m Leone’s wife?” The question feels like a plea for some kind of twisted understanding.

Milo leans closer, his eyes locking onto mine with a predatory intensity. “Because now, Leone stands as a barrier between you and them, between you and me. He won’t let me go too far, won’t let me do the irreversible. With him, you’re protected from the darkest parts of me. But more importantly, no one touches a Pressutti woman without paying the consequences. His name alone paints a target on your back in some ways, but it also makes you untouchable. Only those stupid enough would dare try to steal Leone’s woman.” Milo tells me when I see car lights pulling up behind us.

“And if I can’t grow to love him?” The question hangs between us, laden with fear and uncertainty.

Milo’s expression hardens, his gaze becoming steely. “Then you play the part so well no one, not even Leone, can see the difference. Because if you don’t, the consequences…”

Leone steps out of the car with Rocco. Rocco heads inside, but Leone wanders over and opens my door. “I said wait up for me; I didn’t mean wait in the car?” he says, peering in at us both.

“We were talking, got distracted,” Milo answers. Leone steps back, and I step out, but Leone shuts the door while walkinginside. I follow him inside with Milo, but Milo wanders toward the kitchen, and Leone heads upstairs. I stop, not sure whom to follow.

“Are you putting me back in the basement?” I ask, not knowing what I am meant to do. Leone said to wait up for him but never said why, or if that is so he could shove me back in my cell. Leone pauses on the stairs.

“Is that where you want to go?” he asks, and I shake my head. He knows the answer to his question already, so I don’t understand why he asked.

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