Page 24 of He Found Me

“Come, let’s get you more comfortable. Carrying me again into the bedroom, he sets me down gently by the bed. He takes my face in his hands; his eyes are wide. I brace myself for what he is about to say.

A crash echoes through the house.

“Marco is back.” Leo drops his hands and his hard expression returns.

“Get changed. Stay in here. I will be back soon.” He leaves the room.

I shower, get my pjs on, and snuggle my Teddy in bed. The tele takes my mind off the night events until I hear Marco and Leo's raised voices. With my ear to the door, I strain to make out what they are saying. They speak in Italian. Marco is furious. He is accusing Leo of losing his mind. That I am a distraction, it seems it was a couple of gang members trying to rise in the hierarchy, thinking they’d get a shot at the Don and gain them some street cred. Only both men received a bullet between their eyes from Macro. Marco is furious that Leo did not retaliate, that he threw himself over me, which apparently was a detrimental decision. After a few more minutes of crossed words, I hear Marco leave.

When I’m feeling more settled after watching some crazy Italian tv show, I settle down to sleep. Leo hasn’t returned, and I doubt he will now after his argument with Marco. Considering the night's traumatic event, I manage to fall into a blissful sleep. That is until I am woken by the sound of heart-harrowing moans of distress.

Chapter 13

Katie

Painful cries sound in my ears. I’m half asleep, so it takes me a while to realise I’m not dreaming. The noise is coming from a male. A male in this room. At first, it sounded far away, but they’re not. They’re muffled slightly but close. My bed bounces and rocks. There is someone next to me trashing about. Apprehensive about who it may be, I turn slowly to see who is in the bed beside me. I see a bare-tanned, toned back. It glistens with sweat from the moonlight with each movement it makes. It’s stretching and clenching. The smell of cigars and alcohol mixed with Leo fills my nose.

“Leo?” I touch his shoulder gently; he turns towards me. Still asleep, his face is full of pain.

“No!” His cry has me holding his head, whispering calming words, and stroking his hair. The thrashing and moans begin to calm.

“Hey, it's ok, it’s me, Katherine.” Leo’s eyes open, they connect with mine, and I see him. I see the old Leo. All the barriers are down, and the beautiful soul I first met is back. Cuddling into me, he lays his head on my chest, my hand still running through his hair.

“What were you dreaming about?” I don’t expect him to answer.

“My brother.” He does have a brother; Leo spoke of him a lot when we wrote to each other; they were very close.

“Alex? Isn’t it?” Leo’s breathing picks up. He takes in a deep breath and sighs.

“I haven’t heard his name in years.” His voice is pained. I wrap my arms around him and squeeze, holding him as close to me as I can. I’m unsure of what to say, but I know he needs this.

“Do you remember when we used to lie like this, falling asleep under the stars?”

“Come se fosse ieri.”Like it was yesterday.

Leo’s breathing slows, signifying sleep is upon him. It doesn’t take long for me to follow.

When I wake, Leo is gone, but I find him sitting at the dining table.

“Good morning, Katherine. Did you sleep well?”

“Very well, thank you.” Alga is finishing up laying out breakfast on the table. She smiles at me like she knows something I don’t.

My stomach feels hungry this morning, so I go for a full English breakfast. While devouring the delicious food, I catch Leo staring at me from the corner of my eye.

“What are you looking at?” I question while biting into a piece of toast.

“Are you enjoying that?”

“Yes, why?”

“You know you make a humming noise when you eat?”

“I do not!”

“You do, like this HUMMMM.”

“No, I don’t.” I laugh and throw the slice of toast I’m holding at him. I panic for a second, remembering who he is, but he soon picks up the piece laughing, takes a bite, and throws it back. We end up having a mini food fight, with Leo pulling me onto his lap and rubbing jam on my nose. That’s the point when Marco walks in.

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