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Leo

Katherine’s excuses tonight have me thinking of the past. The painful memories I have chosen not to think about return to my mind in full force.

The heartache and desperation I felt as a teenager when my contact with Katherine suddenly ended.

She was my escape, my sense of calm that made my troubled life bearable.

After months of unanswered letters and calls, I thought the worst had happened.

It took me years to find her, but with the help of an investigator at age eighteen, I found an address.

I immediately travelled to England to find her.

I knocked on the door of the address with my heart pounding.

When there was no answer, a neighbour asked if she could help me.

I explained that I was looking for Katherine.

She told me there was no Katherine living there, only a Katie and a Paul.

“Here they come now.” The lady pointed to a couple walking arm in arm down the street .

It was her. The realisation hit me hard. My Katherine had moved on.

She was living with another man and changed her name to stop me from finding her.

My heart completely broke.

I left before she saw me and threw up in someone’s front garden.

When I returned home, my life and family were in a state of war.

My older brother had been executed. He had been fed to the wolves by his fiancée.

The person he loved and trusted the most had cruelly deceived him.

Unbeknown to him, he had fallen in love with the daughter of my father’s biggest rival.

After much disagreement, the fathers eventually held a truce so they could be together.

But it was all a trick—a plan to break our family.

The night it happened, I was supposed to be with my brother.

I should have been there to protect him.

Things may have turned out very differently if I had been.

But I was not there; I was in England, searching for a woman who had betrayed me.

That was the moment I realised women were never to be trusted. They are liars and cheats.

Fury builds inside me. I throw the bottle of scotch I am holding against the wall of my office.

I was not meant for this life. My brother was supposed to take over from my father, not me.

Marco appears at the door.

“Esci cazzo!” Get the fuck out! I spit.

Marco is my cousin, friend, and underboss.

He has been by my side since my brother passed.

Guiding and training me, turning me into the Don I need to be.

Unlike my brother, who was born to reign, I have had to fight against my natural instincts to become who I am today.

But I will not let our legacy down. Our family has suffered enough. It is my duty.

It feels like whatever I do just isn’t good enough. Long-standing deals are being abolished. Trades and deliveries are being intercepted. Men are going rogue in their duties. There is a weak link somewhere that, for the life of me, I cannot find.

Father thinks I need to earn more respect. He has insisted I marry, start a family, and continue the legacy. It is the last thing I want. I do not trust women.

If I were to marry, it needs to be someone I can control.

The life they’ll lead will not be a kind one—not with me.

What woman would want that burden? There is only one woman I wish a life of pain on—the woman who promised me a life together and then took it away.

I am about to make Katherine redeem that debt. To take what I am owed .

I drink until I can no longer stand.

Katie

Still unable to sleep, I hear the bedroom door open.

It’s Leo. He wobbles in, mumbling something to himself.

Undressing, he stumbles, clearly extremely drunk.

I almost get up to help him, but I don’t want him to know I am awake.

The room is dark, but I can just about make out the muscular shape of his body in the moonlight.

When down to his underwear, he climbs into bed and lies by my side.

I lie still and close my eyes. I feel him looking at me.

“La mia ragazza,” he whispers before turning onto his back and drifting off to sleep. My girl.

With even less chance of going to sleep now, I decide to make myself a drink. I get out of bed quietly and leave the room. On my way to the kitchen, I hear muffled voices. I follow the sound to Leo’s office. I put my ear to the door.

“Lei non è un problema.” She is not a problem.

“Lei è già un problema, Marco!” She is already a problem, Marco!

I hear heels clicking against the floor, so I dash to the kitchen just as the door opens.

I watch Marco escort out the woman I met this evening, the daughter of Mr. Guerra’s senior business partner.

Mia, her name is, if I remember rightly.

I wonder if Leo knows she is here. Marco kicks the door in temper as she leaves; this makes me jump, a gasp escaping my mouth. Marco turns to see me in the kitchen.

“What the hell are you doing creeping around at this time?” he snaps.

“I wasn’t creeping. I’ve come to make a drink.”

“Well, make one!”

Jeez, he is so abrupt.

He disappears into the house, leaving me to it.

I warm some milk in the microwave and make a milky coffee.

Settling in the lounge with my teddy, I go through my phone.

I have a missed call from an unknown number.

Thinking it may be Damien, I make a mental note to ring him in the morning.

Hopefully, he has found a way out of this situation.

It’s a shame, as I have dreamt about meeting up with Leo for years.

But this ultimatum is too much. He is crazy.

This is not a life I want to be part of.

Scrolling through my social media, I get homesick. I hope Damien has some good news for me tomorrow. Eventually, I must fall asleep, as I’m woken by Alga.

“Miss Katherine. I’m sorry to wake you. Are you all right?”

“Sorry, Alga. I’m fine.” I yawn and get up, wrapping a blanket Alga must have placed on me around my shoulders.

“Would you like some coffee?”

“I’d love some, thank you.”

Sitting in the kitchen, I drink my coffee, enjoying chatting with Alga and Sergio. Sergio is prepping the food for the day, and Alga is cleaning and writing the shopping list. The mood changes when Leo enters.

“Get dressed; we are going out for the day.”

“Where are we going?”

“Out.”

I roll my eyes at him.

“Fine.” With one last sip of my coffee, I jump off the bar stool I’m sitting on and go to my room.

A blacked-out SUV waits for us at the front. Leo opens the door to the back and slides in after me. Marco is in the driver’s seat.

I sigh.

“What?” Leo demands after my irritated expression.

“Nothing. Good to see you, just Marco.”

Marco ignores me.

We stop in a little town. Its beautiful old buildings with quaint shops have me smiling from ear to ear.

I wander excitedly in and out of each one I pass.

Leo tries to keep up, and Marco moans and groans two steps behind us.

While Leo takes a call, I’m drawn in by some delicious-smelling candles.

The gentleman in the store explains how he makes them.

“Would you like to make one?” he offers.

“I’d love to, thank you.”

He shows me the differently shaped moulds, the coloured dyes, and the selection of scented oils he uses to make them smell so good. We get to work, and I’m having a lovely time mixing the scents; for the first time since I’ve been here, I feel as though I am enjoying myself on holiday.

“A perfect choice. A beautiful candle for a beautiful lady.” The gentleman kisses my hand but then abruptly drops it, staring behind me. Leo glares intensely at us from the doorway.

“Leo, come in. Come and smell this; it is absolutely gorgeous. This lovely gentleman here has just shown me how to make my own candle; look how pretty it is.” I link Leo’s arm with mine and pull his stiff body into the shop.

The candle I’m wafting under his nose does nothing for his cold, wide-eyed expression.

“See, doesn’t it smell wonderful?” I gush.

“If you say so. We need to get going.” He replies impatiently.