“I need to ask if I can borrow something from -”
I hear the apartment door open and frown. I am only in my lingerie. Who would just come in here like that? How the fuckdid they get in? And then he appears, Leo - in nothing but pants, his sexy tattooed body on full display, making my core automatically clench with desire. He is looking at me, but the look on his face tells me something is very wrong. Even when his eyes flickered as they lingered on my breasts, it was only for a second.
“Got to go,” I say, snapping the laptop shut.
“We have got to go,” Leo says, his voice dangerous. His eyes run over me before he looks around the messy bedroom and grabs my pants. “Put them on. You need to leave. Right now.” My heart thunders as his words echo in my mind.
“Why?” I find myself asking as I slip my jeans on, my hands shaking slightly as the urgency in his voice gets to me. I don’t have a plan. What if Judah finds me? No, I just need to focus, I’ll find -
“Azura, are you listening?” He asks coldly, yanking me up from the bed. I gasp when I’m slammed into his chest. Flickers of sparks rush through us, his scent invading my nose. I freeze when he pulls my pants up over my ass, making my heart skip a beat as he looks down, zipping them up.
“Why do I have to go? I can’t go yet, I haven’t made a plan where to go.” He frowns, grabbing my bag and shoes super-fast.
“I don’t care. I need you out.” His words sting. Then, he grabs my arm, pulling me to the door.
I try to tell myself it is fine. Go home, and just tell someone. I don’t have any other option. After last night’s drama, I need to leave anyway. Maybe it is for the best, but he needs to at least let me grab my stuff!
“Leo, listen to me!”
“Fuck, keep your voice down,” he growls, trying to pull me out of the apartment.
“No. Do not fucking manhandle me, I told you that already! What the fuck is going on?” I need time, and I need to know whyhe is acting like this!
“Listen to me, little she-wolf, either you come quietly, or I will force you,” he growls menacingly, grabbing my upper arm as he pulls me from the room.
Fuck, he is strong. He almost has me at the stairs when we hear footsteps and Corrado comes into view, instantly making Leo let go of me.
“What are you doing with Azura, Daddy?”
“You should never have told him your name,” Leo mutters quietly. “Corrado, go back up.”
“No, Daddy! Grandad is coming!”
Marcel is here? Now his behaviour makes sense. It is obvious he doesn’t want Marcel to see me, and I don’t either.
“I can just stay in the apartment and away from your Dad, then just leave when the coast is clear?” I suggest quietly as Leo looks around, assessing the best way out. Corrado runs to one of the windows, excitedly looking out of it. It would buy me some time if he listens and let me wait in my apartment! Why is he so fucking stubborn?
“No. I don’t want to risk it. Here’s your passport, Eric will drop you at the edge of the territory. Go wherever you want; Sweden, home, I don’t really care. Just stay the fuck out of my life,” he says, making me freeze.
Our eyes meet, and that crushing pain returns with a vengeance, my heart thumping violently. It is stupid of me to feel like this, but I suddenly feel alone and so damn lost.I’m not fucking alone. I have a family,I remind myself.
He frowns, his gaze sharp as he scrutinises me as if wondering what is on my mind.
We hear the ding of the lift coming up, and Leo swears,
“Fuck.”
“That’s what happens when you have only one damn lift,” I mutter.
He doesn’t reply, glancing towards the lift before he pulls me back to my apartment and enters, kicking the door shut behind us. I close my eyes, pulling out of his hold.
“Stop pulling me around like I’m a damn doll!” I hiss.
He ignores me, instead advancing on me until I am pushed against the wall. I don’t dare shout, not wanting to be heard. I can hear Corrado’s faint shout and Marcel’s laugh. Shit, I am in a pickle. And, to make it worse, Leo is invading my personal space. I hate how he makes me feel, the way his scent intoxicates me, the way those icy blue eyes seem to look through me.
He has Nikki. I would never do that to anyone… but then why am I not rejecting him?
I gasp when he places one of his hands on the wall, caging me between himself and the wall, the other finger placed to his lips, warning me to keep my voice down.