50
(Leo's POV)
I watch Derek whisk Arie away, as my feet glued themselves to the ground with the unbroken grin still lingering on my lips. It hasn't even been a minute and I already miss that woman. This was going to be a long week without seeing her.
The massive tent in my pants elaborates how she makes me feel. From her soft, sweet scent to her beautiful voice and from her angelic face to her lovable heart; it all sent a sudden jolt of excitement through me. My mind wouldn't drop the thought of her. She kept running through it again and again. Just the mere thought of her made me feel warm inside.
My fascination with her increased everyday. A fierce, strong woman is what she is. Without hesitating she stood up to Federigo, the man who nobody has even dared to look in the eye and her slap... oh god, her fucking slap. I have been slapped three times in my life and all three were her gift. The smack that she laid on my cheek today didn't bother me like it did a month ago, it strangely made me hard. The way she looked at me, touched me, dominated me, all just made me excited and jittery in a way I have never felt before.
After what happened two years ago, I didn't think for a second that someone would come into my life the way she did and it scares the living shit out of me. I haven't let anyone come close enough to pound my heart crazily like the way Arie does. She was creeping up the rusty ladder to the stony exterior of my heart, pounding hard and cracking it enough to rip the wretched beating sucker out and placing it in her fragile palm, dusting and scraping the rocky, cold surface away that I managed to completely encase it in all those years ago.
Even though I was getting attached, I couldn't do this to her or me. I can't put her through the hell of my world; the thousand fires that are bound to burn her. She deserved so much more than the darkness that my world is destined to engulf her in if she continued to test me like she did today. She was pressing all of my buttons, making it torturous for me to refrain myself from throwing her to my bed and showing her what I could do. Treating her the way no man ever has, giving her a trip to whole different dimension, and worshiping her like the queen she is. My queen. Mia regina.
Control and fear is the only thing holding me back. Fear of putting her through torturous depths of hell, ripping her humanity away, preventing her from having a normal, fearless life without the tension and constant terror that my world provides. She makes me happy to the point that I've never reached before and for her happiness I'd keep her safe from the horror even if it means I have to push her away for her own good. I'd happily give her up for her safety.
The sun continued to lather kisses all over my exposed skin painting the sky in various shades of pink, purple, and orange as it dipped further down behind the vast array of Norway spruce trees that scattered themselves all over and around the property secluding and giving us the much required privacy; a major reason for the purchase of this estate. I notice my men rounding the place as usual while I look down at the tent still very much intact, not planning to leave. Fuck! I needed to get it under control before I go talk to Belle.
I turn and stride back into the air conditioned mansion. Walking towards the west wing, my shoes echoed in the hallway that located her room when I hear Evelina's shouting pierce through my ears.
"I don't want to wear this," she yelled at Geana, her personal maid, as I leaned against the frame of the door.
"Ms. Evelina, please. Your parents require you to wear a dress, not a pair of sweatpants," the maid retorted with her hands holding out a lime green dress in front of her.
"I said no." Evelina yelled once again as she jerked the dress from Geana's hand and threw it to the floor, sliding it to the wall.
"What's going on?" I interrupt the bickering and step into her room.
"Sir, Ms. Evelina isn't cooperating and wearing the dress," Geana said as she spoke to me with defeat straining her voice and her slumped shoulders.
"Leave us alone!" I order the older woman who stood with her head low.
"But, sir," she tried to revolt before I sent a chilling glare her way. "Sorry sir," she buried her head further into the ground as she walked around me and out the room after a soft bow.
I walk to Lina who now sat on the edge of her fluffy bed with her head low and annoyance dancing on her face. Sitting down beside her, I let out a sigh. "What's wrong, Lina?"
"I don't want to wear a dress all the time. I just want to wear loose pants and shirt sometimes."
"That's it?" I look at her as her soft brown eyes meet mine.
"That's it?" Her voice rose with anger. "Leo, would you be okay if someone forced you to wear a dress all the time no matter what and tell you to act classy?"
"No..."
"That's what I thought." She sneered and looked down into her lap again. "You're not a girl, you don't get the stress of being perfect at all times."
"No one's perfect, Lina and neither are you. Is the dress thing bothering you?"
"Yes," she sniffled with her eyes still fixed onto her lap. "I just want to wear baggy clothes sometimes and sit on my bed and watch movies instead of acting classy and being a perfect polished daughter that Belle was at first."
"Then don't wear the dress. Wear the baggy clothes if you want to. No one is forcing you."
She scoffed. "It isn't that easy. Father and mother wouldn't be too pleased with my attire."
I put my strong right arm around her small shoulders and pull her close to me sideways in a reassuring manner. "Lina, no one and I mean not a single person has the right to tell you what to wear. Not father, not mother, and not even me. You wear whatever your heart tells you to whether others like it or not. It's their job to talk and oppose. No man has the right to dress you the way they like and don't let any man do that to you no matter what. Be strong and do what you want to do. Alright?"
"But father and..."
"Like I said," I interrupt her and look down at her, "no one can tell you what to do. So wear whatever you like. I'll see whoever wishes to be critical of your outfit. He won't live to see the next sun."
She giggle as her thin arms wrap around my torso tightly in a hug. "Why don't I get to spend more time with you? I miss you, Leo."
"I miss you too, Lina." I kiss the top of her head and mount from the bed with her still clinging onto me. "You can let go now, ant." I chuckle as my hand ruffles her dark hair.