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17

(Arie's POV)

My head pounded in pain when I slowly opened up my eyes. Death was what it felt like. A huge mirror was decorated on the ceiling above me while I shifted a little in the bed. I managed to lift my head up a little and look around. The walls of the room were whiter than the clouds while the furniture was black like coal. The door, curtains, bed side tables, and the lamp were also black including the sheets I was covered in. Where the hell am I?

I slowly pulled myself out of the bed and grabbed my throbbing head in my hands when I felt a small bandage stuck to the top left side of my forehead. Unable to stand straight, I began to drift to the side when a pair of strong arms grab me securely.

"Easy now, love. Don't hurt yourself any further," a husky, raspy voice whispered against my ear. I turned my head and saw Leo smirking right at me. His naked chest was pressed against my back while his disheveled hair was sticking out in every possible direction. My ass could feel his morning wood through his gray sweatpants pressing against me.

He slowly seated me on the bed and pulled the covers over me again. "You should rest," he said before retrieving a container of medicine from the side table. Popping the cap, he took out two pills and placed them in my palm while he handed me the water that was seated on the table. "Take these. You'll feel better in no time."

I heeded his advice and slid the pills into my mouth, swallowing it all down with water. "Good girl," he commented seductively while his toned abs kept distracting me every second. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the view.

"Where am I?" I questioned after handing him the glass.

"Where do you think? In my bed," he retorted smugly.

"No shit, Sherlock. But how and why?" I asked, confused out of my mind.

"You don't remember anything?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be asking you now. Would I?"

"I thought you'd remember when you were screaming my name between those sweet moans..."

"What?" I screamed in rage ready to rip his head off. "Did you fucking drug me and take advantage of me?" I could feel tears stinging in my eyes. Not again. I knew he was capable of doing such hideous act. Bastard! How did I let myself think that I could trust this fucker for even a second?

"Calm down, love. I'm kidding. Nothing of that sort happened. If it did then I'd never let you forget it." A huge smirk formed on his face as my anger simmered down a bit. I was so tempted to punch his face for playing such a cruel joke on me, but I also couldn't stop the little butterflies that began to fly in the pit of my stomach. What was he doing to me? Why did I feel like this?

"Okay. Just tell me what I'm doing here." I shook away all the dirty images forming in my head. Stupid Arie!

"You really don't remember?" He asked again before I shook my head no in response. Sighing, he began the tale. "A man barged into your house last night and," he stopped when he saw my eyes grow wide in realization. The memories of last night flooded in like a tsunami. The way the man barged in and held the gun to my head felt too fucking surreal, but it wasn't a sick dream. It was all very much real from how I got a scar on my forehead to how Leo shot that man. How could I forget this?

"You killed a man," I said as a tear rolled down my face. "Oh my God." My hands began trembling frantically as I tried to clear my blurry vision. The hammering of my heart against my ribs wasn't helping either. I needed to get out of here before he could hurt me too. How could he do that without flinching?

His face didn't change color, instead he sighed heavily through his nostrils and spoke. "It was self defense, love. He would have killed you if I didn't."

"You killed a man," I yelled this time. "And that is not okay." I backed away from him and rolled off to the other side of the bed. "Don't come near me," I warned him as I picked up a heavy vase from the side table. "I'd hate to break this now."

"Put it down. You'll hurt yourself," he said in a stern tone.

"Stay away from me," I warned again as I backed away towards the door. Turning around to open the door, I felt his arms pull me. Dropping the vase in surprise and fear, the heavy fucker hit my foot brutally forcing my scream to bellow in agony. "Please let me go," I pleaded. "I won't tell anyone. I promise." I continued to struggle in his arms, trying to get out of his tight grip.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. I just need you to tell me how it started and I'll explain everything else later." I stopped fighting him and calmed down a little with tears still dripping like rainwater from a leaky ceiling. "Good," he said before grabbing me by my wrist and taking me towards the bed with my aching foot. "Sit," he commanded and I obliged without a fuss. I rested my head against the headboard and nervously took the covers over me while he sat across me, looking directly into my eyes.

"So, tell me how it all started," he began investigating like a cop.

"Well you left after planting a kiss on my cheek," I said and turned red from the thought of the kiss. However, his expression didn't change at all with his poker face still brilliantly intact. He didn't feel anything. It was just another kiss on the cheek for him, so I just continued with my story. "I went back to the kitchen to get my popcorn and watch a movie. I laid on the couch and began watching White Chicks when about ten minutes later there was a knock on the door. I thought it was you for a second, so I walked slowly towards it and opened it to instead find a man who looked around his forties. He knew my name and started talking about things I wanted to do after I graduate, like if I wanted to pursue higher education or start a job. I told him that I already decided to go to a med-school and that I didn't need a stranger's assistance . When I began to shut the door, he grabbed it and told me to hear him out. I said no and tried to remove his hand, but he became violent and wouldn't let me shut it. He then pushed me and barged in shutting the door behind him. I was on the floor because due to the impact. I tried getting up, but he grabbed my legs and started dragging me towards the kitchen. I kicked him in the chest and started running towards the living room to get my phone, but I couldn't find it when I needed it the most. He came after me and pulled a gun from his pocket," I began to cough uncontrollably all of sudden at the sickening memory.

Leo left the room for a second and came back with a bottle of water. "Drink it," he commanded. I took a sip and looked at him. He brows were knitted together in anger and his eyes reflected sadness. I could see he felt bad for me. Pitied me.

"Then," I continued, "he charged towards me and grabbed me by my hair, hauling me towards the kitchen. It hurt so bad," I cried. Leo took my hands into his and lightly pressed them reassuringly. "He then threw me against the counter and pulled the gun to my head. I cried and pleaded him to not do this, but he threatened to make it hurt so I just kept quiet and continued to cry. And then you know the rest," I concluded. He nodded and looked down.

"It was so scary, Leo," I spoke after a few minutes of absolute silence while tears poured down my face and dripped onto my lap. He looked at me with his sad blue eyes. I couldn't resist myself and hugged him. I knew he was taken aback by my sudden affection when he didn't hug me back at first, but then he pulled me closer and let me weep into the nook of his neck. He ran a soothing hand through my hair and down my back. "I was so scared. Right when I thought everything was going back to normal, something terrible had to happen. Why me? What did I do to de-deserve this?" I choked on my tears.

"Love, you did nothing wrong. You were just a girl at the wrong place at the wrong time. You don't deserve this. You deserve so much better and I promise to try to keep you safe as long as I live. You have my word," he spoke into my ear as chills ran down my spine.

"Now it's your turn," I demanded eagerly as I pulled away from his warm embrace.

"You won't be able to handle it," he looked down.

"I've been through so much already. I'm managing to barely keep it together but I am. My sanity has been ripped away, so I think I can handle what you have to say."

"Well then," he began. "Ladies and gentlemen, brace yourself for another number one movie in America." He smiled wide and continued. "From heroes to villains. From life to death. From love to no love. Leo Bonferroni brings to you his sad pepperoni life story. Girls going crazy. Yay!" He squealed like a little girl.

I looked at him wide-eyed and burst into a fit of laughter. He chuckled at my reaction and smiled. "My mission is completed. I made you laugh."

"Thank you. I really needed that." I smiled up at him.

"You're most welcome, love. Now I'll tell you everything. Promise to not freak out."

"I can't promise to not freak out. Just give it straight to me."

"Here goes nothing then." He let out a breath. "I'm a mafia leader."

"A what?" I don't think I heard him right. "For a second it sounded like you said mafia," I laughed nervously. With a stern look on his face, he stared into my soul. "Oh shit."

He chuckled and shook his head at my response. "Yeah. I was born into it. My father was the leader. When I turned twenty-two and barely got out of college, my father put the burden of the empire on my shoulders. I knew I would have to take it on someday and I had been practicing for it but all of a sudden overnight I was the leader and not the heir to the throne."

"Throne, huh? Game of thrones?" I mocked.

"Something like that," he played along. "I know this is too much to take in for you."

"You think?" I interrupted. "I was going to die yesterday, Leo. I was literally face to face with death. I've been through so much in such little time that I feel like laughing at my fortune. Well, not fortune, but misfortune. You telling me about you being a mafia leader doesn't really faze me much. Deep down I knew that you were something dangerous like that and that was why I was so scared of you. I mean look at you," I pointed at him. "You're like a character out of a damn book. A sexy, hot, mafia leader that every girl wishes to be with. But in reality, being on the radar of one is scary. Deathly scary," I scoffed.

"So you think I'm hot and sexy?" He cocked his brow at me.

"Oh, shut up!" I quieted him and his stupid questions down. "I didn't say that you were. I was talking about the books. That's all."

"Mhm. Whatever you say, love. Whatever you say," he smiled smugly and tossed a phone at me.

"I can call the cops?" I questioned as I picked up the phone.

"Funny. Try it," he challenged me. "A few hundred dollars and they'll be my pet. Most of them are corrupted."

"Well there goes my chance to escape," I said sarcastically.

"You're safe here with me. Someone out there is trying to kill you. Until we find out who and why, I'm your best option."

He was right to an extent. Someone indeed was trying to kill me. But why? I haven't even done anything to hurt anyone.

"I told Mike to tell your Aunt that you were with me last night. That we went out and you got drunk, so I just took you to my place."

"But she knows that I don't drink. So, I'm pretty sure she didn't buy that crap."

"Well she did from what I heard. Just give her a call. She might be a little worried. And don't tell her anything about the mafia thing if you want to keep her safe," he suggested while getting up from the bed and walking into the bathroom.

I picked up the phone and began to put in her number when I saw Leo removing his sweatpants. Oh. My. God. The inner me was yelling 'take it off, take it off' while my brain was fighting to look away, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from a beautiful piece of art. I might never get to see this again.

"Not so soon, love," his deep voice rang in my ears as he caught me staring at his beautiful body. He smirked and closed the door. Okay. That was embarrassing. Might as well die now.

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