Page 18 of The Empress

Mom will go to the embassy. She’ll get help.

Massimo’s heavy footsteps have my head snapping in his direction. He speaks Italian again, and I can’t make out a single word. After Leo replies, Massimo lets himself out the front door, leaving me alone with Leo.

Standing near a gray couch, I keep a safe distance between Leo and me. Fearfully, I glance around us, again taking in the expensive décor and the breathtaking view of the ocean beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Leo’s angry gaze remains locked on me, and it’s the most unnerving thing I’ve ever experienced.

The silence becomes unbearable, and the words rush over my dry lips, “Why are you doing this?”

Slowly, he tilts his head, the simple movement looking threatening as hell. “I lost a good man today because of your cowardly cousin.”

My features grow tense, and I struggle not to burst out in tears as I whimper, “But I have nothing to do with any of it. Why me?”

Leo takes another sip of his drink before he saunters closer to me. Every muscle in my body tenses, and I’m trembling horribly by the time he stops right in front of me.

God, he’s so much taller than me.

When he lifts his hand to my face, I flinch and squeeze my eyes shut. Instead of hitting me, he brushes a finger over my left cheek.

The surprisingly soft touch confuses the hell out of me.

“You remind me of someone I used to know,” he murmurs.

I open my eyes again, and feeling very uncomfortable with him touching me, I take a step backward. All the fear I’m experiencing is becoming too much to handle.

Leo lowers his hand, and letting out a sigh, he just stares at me for a while before he says, “Take a seat.”

My movements are stilted as I sit down on the nearest couch.

When Leo takes a seat across from me, the sight of the dried blood on his skin draws my attention once again.

God.

Another sob bursts from me, and I quickly cover my mouth with a trembling hand.

A frown line appears between his dark brown eyes, then he says, “I’m not going to kill you.”

I suck in a desperate breath, and lowering my head, I stare at the sand-colored tiles. “Please, let me go.”

“You can leave at any time, but then your family dies.”

His brutal words have my head snapping up again, and horrified, I meet his angry gaze.

He sips on his drink, then says, “That’s the deal, Haven. Either we get married and peace returns between the Toscanos and Romanos, or I’ll wipe out the Romano name.”

More fear creeps through me as I whisper, “But I’m a Romano.”

Leo just shrugs while he finishes the last of the amber liquid. He sets the tumbler down on the glass table between us. The sheet of glass rests on a beautiful piece of driftwood, but I’m too traumatized to truly appreciate it.

My emotions spiral into a chaotic mess, and I can’t stop from crying out, “Why me? I’m just a regular girl. I’m American and I…I…”

“There’s nothing regular about you.” His voice rumbles like thunder between us, making more shivers rush over my skin. Suddenly, his eyes narrow on me. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-three.”

The corner of his mouth lifts in a dangerously hot smirk, “You’re far from a girl,principessa.”

An ungodly fear hits me so hard, my vision blurs, and for a moment, I have to fight to keep from passing out.