Chapter 5
Leo
I drove fast and it wasn’t before I believed we had driven far enough, that I stopped the car on the side of the road in the dark and called Marco. Isabella was breathing hard beside me, like she couldn’t catch a breath.
Every time I asked her if she was okay, she only mumbled a response. I could sense that she was still in shock. Marco’s phone rang a couple of times before he finally answered, and I felt relieved.
“It’s me,” I said.
“Leo! Where are you? Is my daughter with you?”
“Yeah, I took her out of the place. What happened?”
“We were under attack, that’s what happened. Fuck this! I’m going to murder them!” Marco was barking into the phone.
“Do you want me to get back? I can drop Isabella off at the house,” I suggested.
“No. Keep her away from me tonight. You need to keep her safe, you hear? Make sure she doesn’t come anywhere near me tonight!” Marco continued to bark.
“Let me talk to him! I want to talk to him!” Isabella screeched beside me and she snatched the phone out of my hand before I could stop her.
“Papa! Where are you!” she screamed into the phone.
I gripped the steering wheel hard, listening to her scream at her father.
“Why can’t you tell me where you are? What happened back there? We could all be killed! Me, our friends, you!”
I couldn’t hear what Marco was saying to her, but I could sense that he was failing to placate her. He was only pissing her off even more.
“What are you talking about? How can I be calm when we all nearly died?” she screeched some more.
Then there was silence. She was listening to what he was saying, with her breasts heaving up and down. That beautiful navy dress she had picked out that morning, looked a little torn in the struggle. Her hair, which she had loosely pinned in a bun at the side of her head had now come undone. Her long chocolate colored strands were falling delicately around her face.
“Fine. Whatever!” she snapped and threw the phone at me. I could see that she’d ended the call already. I slipped it back into the pocket of my jeans and we sat together in the car in silence. I gave her a few moments to catch her breath.
“He wants me to stick with you tonight. He doesn’t want me to go back to the house,” she said finally, in a quiet voice, after we had been silent for a while.
“Yes, I know, that’s what he told me too,” I said and Isabella kicked her foot in her seat. She growled and banged her fist on the window in anger. I clenched the steering wheel tighter. I wanted to help her. I wanted to find a way to make her feel better but I didn’t know how.
“Isabella,” I said her name in a deep voice and she turned to look at me. Some of her mascara was running down her cheeks now, but she still looked beautiful. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
“Tell me what I can do to make you feel better,” I said and she gulped.
The fierceness in her eyes dimmed a little now and she licked her lips quietly.
“Take me to mama’s grave,” she said quietly. I stared at her, mulling the idea over in my head. It wasn’t a good idea. It was the dead of night, and I had no backup. Taking her to the graveyard at this time would be a risk, it would open us up to all kinds of attacks.
“Please?” her voice cracked as she said it and I started the engine again. If that was what she wanted, that was exactly what I was going to give her.
We drove in silence to the graveyard. I could see from the corner of my eye, that Isabella was dabbing at her eyes with her knuckles.
When we arrived at the graveyard, she slowly got out of the car and I followed her. She knew exactly where her mother was buried and I kept my distance as we walked.
Isabella looked tragically beautiful in the moonlight, her dress glittering in the dim silvery light with every step she took. Her skin shone pale too as she wrapped her arms around herself. I could hear her sniffling in the dark as she walked ahead of me and then stopped when she reached the site where her mother was buried.
I stood some distance away from her, as she stared down at the headstone. There were no flowers at the grave and I knew that Isabella had noticed it too. In fact, I couldn’t think of one instance that Marco had spoken about his late wife. Most of us had forgotten she had even existed.
Isabella crouched down to touch the mound with her fingers. I could hear her crying and I felt the urge to hold her, to make it all right for her.
“Hello, mama, I’m back,” I heard her whisper in the dark. She sounded like the saddest girl in the world and I could feel my body stiffening. I’d never felt this way before, this desperate urge to hold someone, to make their pain go away. I didn’t even know Isabella, but I already knew that she deserved better. That she deserved to be happy.
She stood up again and turned to me.
“I’m cold. We should go somewhere warm,” she said. She hadn’t even bothered to wipe the tears off her cheeks this time. I nodded my head and led the way back to the car. She was walking beside me now, keeping pace and from time to time, I glanced at her.
I knew I was falling for her all over again.
***
I brought her to my apartment, because that was the only place I knew I could keep her safe. Isabella walked in, looking about her curiously, while I checked all the windows to make sure they were locked and we weren’t being watched.
After visiting her mother’s grave, she had spoken very little and I let her grieve the way she wanted to. After I was satisfied with the safety of my apartment, I offered her some water.
“You should get some rest,” I suggested, when I brought her the glass of water. She took it from me and drank some and didn’t acknowledge what I had just said to her.
“Tell me about your family, Leo, given that you know so much about mine,” she spoke gently, I could see in her eyes that she was genuinely curious. I didn’t talk about my parents, nobody ever asked because everyone in the family already knew the story of how Marco had saved me.
“My parents died when I was a kid,” I told her and I started leading the way to my bedroom. Isabella followed me and just when I was about to open the door to the room, she placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Leo…I’m sorry,” I heard her say and I turned to look at her.
“Don’t be, I don’t remember it. I don’t remember them either. I was in the accident too and I had a severe head injury,” I said and Isabella’s eyes grew wider, I could see her feeling sorry for me and that was the last thing I wanted. I didn’t want to be pitied.
“Oh, Leo…” she cried and I shook my head.
“It’s okay, Marco took me in, he gave me a place to stay and recover and gave me a position in the family,” I said and turned from her and walked into the bedroom. She followed me in.
“Maybe you should talk about it, talking about it might help,” she suggested. I whipped around to her.
“Help with what?” I snapped and Isabella gulped.
“With whatever’s troubling you inside,” she spoke in a quiet voice.
“Nothing is troubling me, I’m fine…I’m in the best position a guy like me could be,” I said and I pulled the covers off my bed, making space for her to get in.
“You can sleep here, I’ll take the couch,” I snapped and I made to walk past her, but she placed a hand on my arm and I stopped me in my tracks. Her touch was like electricity, like I was frozen to the spot.
“Please don’t go, I can’t be alone tonight,” she said and looked up at me with her pleading large green eyes. I felt my throat go dry and I gulped. Before I could say anything, she stepped over to the edge of the bed and slid herself under the covers.
“Lie down with me here, please, I won’t be able to sleep if I’m alone,” she said, pulling the covers up to her neck. I couldn’t say no, even though I knew it was wrong.
I walked over to the other side and got in, sliding into the warmth of the bed and pulling the covers over me. I made sure that we weren’t touching, that she didn’t think that I was going to take this opportunity. I still had a job to do.
I could feel the warmth of Isabella’s body emanating beside me. Her dress grazed my legs as she moved in bed to make herself comfortable. The lights were out in the room and the moonlight filtered in through the thin white curtains on the window.
“Leo…” she said my name softly and I said nothing.
“Thank you for everything. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here, if I didn’t have you,” she added and I turned my head to look at her. She stared back at me in the dark, her green eyes were shining.
Our faces were so close, her lips so deliciously tempting. My brain told me to stop, to hold back but my body won the war. I stretched my arm towards her, grabbing her cheek in one hand. She leaned towards me, close enough for our lips to graze and she parted her mouth.
The kiss felt like it came out of nowhere, even though I’d been wanting to kiss her all day. Her mouth tasted delicious and she moaned lightly as I used my tongue to part her lips. My tongue slid in and I explored her mouth while she weaved her fingers into my hair, holding me tight.
We kissed slowly at first and then I could feel my cock moving again, my body burning up, throbbing with desire. I pulled my mouth away from her with a rough growl and she gasped as I ran my tongue down her chin, down her neck. My hands rose up to her dress…that beautiful fucking dress!
I slipped the slim sleeves off her shoulders and they slid down her slender arms and slowly, under the covers, the dress dragged down her body. Her hands were on me too, rolling up my t-shirt. I could feel her warm fingers on my chest, feeling the abs on my torso, my stomach.
Her breasts were revealed as the dress slid further down, she wasn’t wearing a bra. I groaned as she pressed herself to me, her breasts squeezing against my chest.
“What are you doing to me!” I growled and flung the covers off us. I had to see her. I needed to see her gorgeous body.
I sat up in bed in the dark, with the covers thrown off. Isabella remained laying on the bed. Her dress was pulled down to her ankles and she flipped them off now. She was completely naked, in nothing but her thin useless panties. She was the sexiest thing I had ever seen, with her big juicy breasts and her narrow waist and her endlessly long smooth legs.
“What are you waiting for, Leo?” she murmured and I couldn’t answer that question.