Page 46

Leo

I get a few hours of sleep in before going for a light run, making sure not to overexert myself, especially since I do not want Azura to feel my pain. I return home, shower, and dress before dealing with a little paperwork that I am falling behind on.

It isn’t long after that Corrado wakes up, and I stop working to spend a little time with him. We are now seated opposite one another with a breakfast prepared by Rosaline in front of us. Corrado eats silently, a deep frown on his face.

The first thing he did when he ran out of his bedroom was ask where Azura is... not hiding the fact that he had expected her to be here. Seriously, this kid. He then become serious, frowning and watching me like a father would their disobedient pup.

“What did you do, Daddy?” He asks suddenly, placing his spoon down. I raise an eyebrow while drinking my coffee.

“What did I do?”

“Why isn’t Azura here? Did you make her angry?” He asks, looking at me with concern and suspicion.

I sigh, “Maybe?”

“Daddy! I thought when I woke up Azura would be here, too, wearing your shirt!”

“Wearing my shirt?”

“Yes. It means you are going to share everything with her!” He looks at me questioningly, and I place my mug down. Yeah… wherever this kid is getting his information is pretty questionable. I should have a word with Winona. “Daddy! We can’t lose Azura.” His eyes are now full of worry.

“Hey, kiddo, listen. Things aren’t always as easy -”

“So, you will still try harder?” His hopeful look makes me frown slightly. I look at him seriously.

“Corrado, why do you like her? I was with Nikki for two years and you were never this attached, although she had been living with us for over a year as well. So, why are you so attached to Azura?” I ask. He shrugs, looking down at his plate.

“I don’t know, Daddy. I like Azura, and when she spends time with me, she doesn’t go on her phone or look bored. She’s happy to play with me and talk to me. Nikki was only happy when Daddy was there…” he mumbles.

My heart fucking clenches, and I can’t stop myself from moving closer to him, taking his face in my hands as I crouch in front of him. I feel fucking guilty. He may be young, but, like all kids, he has good intuition. He picks up on things that you would never think he would…

“I’m sorry Nikki made you feel like that. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“It’s okay, Daddy, she made you happy. I just… Azura is special and… I think Daddy likes Azura a whole wide world more than Daddy liked Nikki,” he says, stretching his arms wide as he smiles brightly. I smile slightly.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes, Daddy. When you look at Azura you look happy…”

“I’m happy all the time.” He shakes his head.

“No, Daddy, I mean when you are with Azura, it’s the same happy like when we are alone. You are different.”

I don’t reply, wrapping my arms around him tightly as I pull him down from his chair, his small arms wrapping around my waist. If I leave him… who will he have? And what about our unborn pup? I want to meet him or her, too... what will the pup look like? Azura? Me? Maybe a mix?

For them… do I ask Kiara? Who knows, maybe she can delay the process to buy me some time?

“Daddy, I love you the most,” he whispers.

“I love you the most, too, kid,” I reply quietly. For them... I fucking need to do something.

“But I am okay if Daddy also loves Azura, too.” Love... I chuckle, moving back and ruffling his hair.

“You really are something, kid.”

“I am Corrado Herrmann Rossi!”

Rossi… I frown slightly but say nothing. Many of my businesses are under Herrmann, but deep down, I still feel my name is Rossi, and as Alpha, being tied to the name you believe in is the only fucking thing that works, even if I fucking hate it. So, it fucking stuck, no matter how much I began to despise it…

“You sure are.” I stand up, giving him another faint smile. If he wants to be called Rossi, he sure as fuck can be. He is, and always will be, my son, regardless of anything else.

It is a while later, and I have dropped Corrado off at Marcel’s, telling him I’ll be popping down later once I have dealt with some shit. He had been happy to have him and clearly thrilled that I was going to pop down later, even going so far as to ask me to eat dinner there tonight. I had agreed, much to Corrado’s excitement before I left.

I am now making my way to Emmet’s cell. He is sitting there on the bed, unmoving; I observe him through the cameras for a bit before I turn and walk to one of the questioning rooms, ordering the guards to bring him out. I don’t even fucking know how this conversation is going to go. I have grown up alongside him, and the fact that he did that... just the memory of him kicking Azura makes my blood fucking boil.

He is brought in and pushed into the seat opposite me.

I can handle him. Wait outside, I tell the two men, my gaze on Emmet, who is simply staring at me. His eyes are heavy with emotion and probably the effect of the silver in the cell.

“You finally came to see me. I won’t say I’m not hurt… I thought we were brothers.”

“Are you really playing the sympathy card? You kicked a pregnant woman in the stomach when you knew she was carrying a pup,” I growl coldly, taking out a cigarette to keep my hands from strangling him. I light it as I watch him, trying to remain calm.

“An Elite, remember?” Emmet replies, his eyes watching me calculatingly. “So, she turned out to be your mate, but she’s still one of them.” My eyes flash as I slam the free one down on the table between us.

“What the actual fuck? Are you for fucking real? You tried to kill an unborn pup and obviously have no fucking remorse,” I spit venomously.

“That’s the mate bond talking, Leo, not you.” I stand up, my aura raging around me as I lean over the table and grab him by the collar of his shirt.

“No. Trust me, it’s not, because I’m doing my fucking best to try not to remember that it was my mate who you fucking hurt or the fact that that is my kid you tried to kill. Because if I go by that… I would have fucking killed you already,” I hiss, tightening my hold on him. He simply smirks and shakes his head.

“Nah, you wouldn’t... because of Jackie,” he replies cockily.

“I don’t even fucking know how we were friends,” I shoot back, coldly slamming him back in his seat. “Besides, Jackie admitted to the fact that you hurt her. You will be tried, Emmet, before the pack. And yeah, maybe I won’t fucking kill you, but you will live a life worse than death. A life in confinement.” He frowns, and I sit down again. “Tell me, Emmet. Aside from beating and abusing your mate, trying to harm a pregnant she-wolf, and assaulting your Alpha’s child and rightful Luna. Is there anything else you want to tell me?” I ask, my eyes locked with his. There is nothing there… just like when I first asked him about what Azura had said, he was smooth as could be. Who knows how many times he has lied to me?

“Alpha to be,” he says after a moment, a faint mocking smirk on his face. “Right?” Low blow, considering he’s the one person I ever expressed my feelings about that to. I smirk arrogantly, taking a long drag on my cigarette.

“The thing is, whether I hold that title or not, I’m still an Alpha. Not because of my position but because an Alpha’s duty is to protect, and that is what I’m doing. Title or not, I’m still the fucking Alpha.” With those words, I lean over, yanking him forward by the collar as I glare at him. Although I can’t do real damage, I can still hurt him to an extent where Jackie won’t feel the pain, just like a ruthless round of training. “Now tell me who you gave the formula of my 0395s. Only you knew about them. So, want to tell me exactly how I came across someone else with the exact same fucking bullets?” I ask coldly, my eyes locked with his. His heart rate changes.

Bingo.

It seems like he wasn’t prepared for that question. The confidence on his face falters before he looks away, running a hand through his hair.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he denies, his eyes flitting around the room before he looks back at me.

“Oh, you fucking do. So either you tell me, or you are forced to answer me,” I threaten dangerously.

“So, you’ll do what every other Rossi does and compel everyone to speak the truth?” He spits venomously.

“If I have to, I will.”

“You really are more like them than I thought.” His voice is filled with resentment, and I wonder if this is my fault. Did I instil this hatred in him? Nah… we both thought similarly enough.

“Then I guess I am, and there’s fuck all either of us can do about it. This is about what’s fucking right or wrong, and you, what you did, was worse than what Rayhan Rossi did,” I hiss.

“So, you will just forget the years of friendship and trust over a few mistakes?”

“Mistakes? What you did wasn’t a one-off, but we’re going off fucking topic. The thing is, I think you’re forgetting that I was able to cut off my own blood. What makes you think I won’t do the same to you? There’s a limit to forgiveness, Emmet, and you’re way past that. Now tell me, who did you give my formula to, knowing full fucking well the damage they can do in the wrong hands?” I ask, letting my command roll into my voice. Although I am not the official Alpha, my command is still strong enough. He frowns deeply, clenching his jaw. “I’ll count down from three… speak, or I’ll fucking make you speak,” I growl.

“There’s nothing to tell! I told no one!”

“Lie.” My eyes blaze as I stand up, tossing the cigarette aside and slamming my hands on the table. He flinches, his eyes flashing with irritation towards himself for letting his fear show. “We have been friends long enough. You should know that I don’t forgive. One last time. Who did you sell the make-up of those bullets to?” Under my command, he lowers his head. “Answer me!” I shout.

“I didn’t give anyone it! I made them!”

“Then who the fuck did you sell them to?”

“Web!”

We stare at one another, and to say I am fucking shocked is an understatement. I don’t know what to think. Of all people… someone like him with those bullets…

“Say what?” His heart is thundering, and he knows he is done for.

“I needed the cash.”

“You had me. If you needed cash, I would have given you anything you asked for! How many did you sell?” My heart is thundering with fear at the thought of those bullets out there in the hands of men who are far from good. Fuck, what have I done? He stays silent, his own heart racing.

Drugs and weapons are an entirely different situation. The world is full of them, and if one supplier isn’t giving them, another would. Weapons and drugs exist, but those bullets… they should never have seen the light of fucking day.

“How. Many.” My voice is a menacing animalistic growl, my heart thundering as I try to control myself.

“Fifty thousand.”

Our eyes meet, and all I can hear is the thumping of our hearts. Fifty thousand.

“When?”

He refuses to answer, and I let out a menacing growl. In a flash, I am by his side. Lifting him from his seat, I throw him across the room with full force. He grunts when he hits the wall, crumbling to the floor before he gets up quickly. I grab his shirt, slamming him into the wall.

“One last fucking time. When?”

“Th-the first batch of five hundred was about eighteen months ago… and then…” I tighten my hold around his neck, and he begins turning purple. “The, the total number, it was a few months ago!” His face is full of anger, hating the fact that I used the Alpha command on him.

I let go of him, my heart thundering. Fifty thousand… shit… shit… shit!

I need to talk to Web. I need to get to the bottom of this and get them all back. If he is the one Judah is getting his supplies from… then I need to know what more he knows. This also means there could be supernatural beings out there who know of these bullets… a threat to all…

Fuck!

My mind is reeling as I remember the whispers and rumours of strange deaths. Stuff that sounded pretty normal that I didn’t even fucking bother too much with, not knowing that maybe, just fucking maybe, they were caused by my own creation. The young boy we had found with Azura was probably an innocent victim, too…

I stand there, my mind a violent storm of emotions. I feel a dull pain in my back, but it is nothing compared to the pain within. I vaguely notice four guards running in as I simply stand there, pulling Emmet away and out of the room as he shouts things I don’t fucking hear. Is someone calling me? I don’t know… I don’t care…

Fuck… indirectly… I am now responsible for the lives of many… so many more than he ever was. I look down at my shaking hands, my vision blurring. The blood of thousands taints these hands…

What have I done?