Chapter 71 - Seventy: Classic

" You intentionally started a war to settle old scores? Che cazzo hai fatto?" Damien asked, rubbing his forehead in frustration and Leo cocked a brow, giving his cousin a knowing look. " The Kanes are so screwed."

" I see your little promotion has given you some guts to speak to me the way you please." Leo chuckled coldly at the situation. A butterfly thinks himself a bird. 

Leo threw one last glance at Lazzerro. " Someone had to end his life. It would have either been me, the other people he had offended or one of his power hungry sons." 

If the Kanes were snakes, then the Dantes were power starved devils that were capable of swallowing up their own kind just to be on top.

Lazzerro was no saint, he deserved what he got, but his sons were even worse. 

The hatred and jealousy amongst his sons started all because their father dearest refused to step down when his time was due.

Surely they felt their beloved father had lived past his time and were probably already plotting on giving him a free pass to the afterlife. It really wasn't a surprise, rivalries like this was common when money and power were involved.

Damien was left baffled by Leo's cool demeanor. It was like the guy wasn't worried about the consequences of his actions or maybe just didn't care.

" Santo Cielo, for someone who has everything to lose, you don't look worried." Damien followed Leo's line of sight and glanced at Lazzerro's corpse, fighting the urge to spit on it.

" Why should I be worried? On the contrary, I'm glad I did this and I want everyone to know it. Let everyone know what happens to people who cross me. Let them know that the money and power they have won't stop me from hunting them down." Leo declared and starting walking away, leaving Damien to trail behind him.

Leo wasn't a fool, crazy but definitely not a fool. He somehow saw passed the rage he felt and connected the dots.

To be in a business as dangerous as the mafia, you have to smart and cunning and for Lazzerro to have lasted that long in the game, he had to have played his cards right for a long time. Too bad fate caught up with him.

Leo actually suspected Lazzerro's involvement in Becca's assassination attempt, he had his doubts too. At the beginning, he did believe that the culprit was Lazzerro but started having doubts when nothing else happened.

Other than the one time attempt on Becca's life, Lazzerro did absolutely nothing after that.

He didn't further his plans to get back at Leo by attacking Becca again. He didn't even try to hid. Nothing.

Which was strange because for someone who messed with the mafia king like that, the least thing expected from Lazzerro was to run away from the country with his tail between his legs and hid but he didn't do that. He stayed put like nothing ever happened.

He knew about what happened to Becca though, but didn't react because he had nothing to do with it. He never thought Leo would take it out on him.

So it meant someone else was out there trying to fuck Leo up by scaring his beloved because that was what the assassination attempt was all about. To scare, not kill.

If killing had been the motive behind the attack then Becca would have been dead before she could even blink and that was exactly why Leo pushed through with killing Lazzerro. Not just to settle old scores, but to send a warning to whoever was targeting his Becca.

Telling whoever those cowards were that whatever game they wanted to play with him would surely end in blood.

Leo walked to where his car was parked outside but stopped when he heard one of his man calling out to him.

" Boss, we found Jorge's body laying amongst those of his bodyguards. He was shot twice on the chest." One of Leo's goons reported and a wolfish smile stretched Leo's lips. Jorge was Lazzerro's oldest son and apparently his most favorite one.

" Even better, the only good Dante is a dead Dante. You all have done well tonight." Leo responded and got into his car.

Damien watched Leo's car drive away and smirked. Getting into his own car, he fished out his phone from his pocket and dialled a number.

It didn't take up to five seconds for the call to be answered and the sound of a man chuckling came from the other line.

" Boss—" The man on the other line started but Damien quickly cut him off.

" I have told you countless times to address me by my name. I'm not Leo who loves that kind of authority shit." Damien started his car, still holding his phone to his ear.

" Forgive me, my Lord." The man chuckled again and a frown marred Damien's beautiful face. That was what he was, beautiful. " How did the night go?" 

Damien look out the window to see if anyone was approaching and drove his car out of the vicinity.

" It went exactly as planned. Leo succeed in killing your father and even your older brother. He does know your father isn't the one behind the attempt on Rebecca's life but still doesn't know who really did it." Damien answered, driving his car towards the highway.

" And he would never find out, not when I have you to prevent it from happening. I already compensated the families of the men you shot on Monday night. It most have taken real guts to shoot two of your own." The man on the other line said, the laugh in his voice gone and Damien smiled.

" It was way easier than what you did. Conspiring against your own father? Shame on you." Damien chuckled at the situation. A son causing the downfall of his own blood, his father, for money. Classic.

" I'm no saint, neither are you, Damien. You were the one who came up with this plan to spite your cousin so he would do the dirty work for us." He reminded, running his hand through his hair.

" And it worked, didn't it? Just remember to keep your end of the bargain." Damien hung up the phone, already grown tired of the conversation and focused back on his driving.

With Lazzerro dead, everything would soon fall into place. His plans were turning into a reality and it was all thanks to Becca and how dear she was to Leo. He kinda felt sorry for scaring her like that but it was all for the greater good. His good.

******

Becca tossed and turned on the bed, the nightmares creeping its way to her again. The gunman, wearing all black and holding a gun that matched his clothes. She cried and begged for mercy but nothing happened.

The man wouldn't listen. Instead, his finger curled around the trigger and with one swift tug, the bullet was shot right at her. 

Leo's name on her lips as she jerked awake. Beads of sweat on her forehead as she looked at the space beside her on the bed. Tears blurring her vision as she scanned the room for Leo but couldn't find him.

" Leo?" She called out, getting off the bed to go look for him downstairs but paused when she heard the bathroom door creak open. Her heart skittering in her chest as she watched him walk out of the bathroom.

" What are you doing out of bed?" Leo asked tenderly, drying his hair with a towel. He had taken a bath to wash away the stench of blood and smoke from his body, after making sure to hide his gun properly.

Instead of answering, Becca stared at him, noticing he was wearing the same clothes he did when they both went to bed so it meant he never left the room.

He saw the frightened look in her eyes and took a step forward. " Was it the nightmares again?" Leo asked, his eyes soft and welcoming as though he hadn't just blown someone's brains out and Becca nodded, wrapping her arms around herself.

" Come here, my love." He drooped the towel over his shoulder and spread his arms wide apart, inviting her into a hug. 

With tears in her eyes, Becca stared at his opened arms then at his face and went to him as he said, letting the soothing warmth of his body envelope her.

If anything could calm down her nerves, it was Leo's hug. It always had it's way of making her feel safe and protected, soothing her fast beating heart.

Her tears soaking his shirt but he didn't mind. His big hands continued rubbing her back in circular motion until she stopped trembling.

" Leo" She called out with quivering lips, choking on her tears.

" Shhhh, it's okay. I've told you before, nothing will happen to you. Now let's get you back to bed." Leo whispered and lifted her up in his arms, walking towards the bed and placed her down gently on it.

Getting on the bed with Becca, he wrapped his arms protective around her and she did the same as well, hanging on to him like he was life himself.

" The nightmares... It's not going away." She muttered softly against Leo's chest, the scent of his body wash invading her senses and his hands working hard to soothe her throbbing pulse.

" It will, just give it sometime. Okay, my love?" He placed a kiss on her hair and she nodded.

" Okay." She managed to flash a smile at him.

They laid in silence for awhile, basking in the warmth they provided each other until Becca spoke up.

" Leo, can I ask you a question?" Becca inquired and Leo hummed in response.

" What were you like as a kid?" Becca asked out of nowhere, drawing imaginary lines on his chest.

Chuckling, Leo placed another kiss on her hair and rubbed her arm with his hand. " And why do you want to know that?" 

Biting her lips, Becca raised her head to look at him. Smiling when she saw a warm smile on his face.

After the attempt on her life and the mysterious man that came to her rescue, Becca realized that she knew absolutely nothing about Leo.

And though it hurt her that she knew nothing about the only man she had ever loved, she also knew it wasn't his fault.

She had never asked, never showed any interest to know and he too wouldn't have known anything about her as well if he wasn't friends with her brother and hadn't stalked her in the past.

" I want to know more about you, Leo. How you grew up? The man behind this sexy body." Becca said amused, giggling at herself and Leo grinned at her.

Thanks to his warmth and soothing touches, Becca felt her heart rate return back to normal and her body stopped trembling in fear. 

Her tears had stopped flowing and had dried up on her face with most of them getting wiped off by Leo's shirt while she rested her head on his chest.

" Well, there isn't much to know. I was the first and only son of my father. I spent the first seven years of my life in Italy with my grandmother and only started living in America when I turned eight." He said and Becca just stared at him, intrigued. Gesturing him to go on.

Leo looked at Becca and smiled at how her eyes and ears fixed on him with full attention.

" Perhaps I should write and give you a copy of my autobiography instead." Leo chuckled, earning himself a light smack to his chest from Becca.

" Please, I really want to know. I will listen, I promise." Her cute green eyes turned even cuter. " Were you the only child or did you have a sister?"

" I did have a sister." Leo smiled fondly, remembering the cute little sister of his and Becca's smile faltered slightly.

" Did have? Past tense?" She stared at him with confused eyes.

" Yes, she passed away when she was just six." Leo answered, then the memory of that horrible day flashed through his mind.

Remembering how devastated he and his family felt. Recalling how his own mother called him a monster and blamed him for it but still fought to keep the smile on his face in front of Becca.

" I'm sorry. I didn't know." Becca's eyes flickered with remorse and guilt, knowing she had brought up something way too personal and probably hurtful. But instead of getting mad at her for opening up an old wound, all Leo did was smile and caress her cheeks.

" No need to apologise, it happened a long time ago anyway." Leo pecked her lips and she smiled.

" What about your father?" Becca asked, trying to lighten up the mood.

" Dead." Leo gave a short emotionless response. Lorenzo was shot dead on the night of Leo's thirteenth birthday. He was the second person Leo had watched die, the first was his sister.

" Oh, your mother?" Becca asked, her eyes filled with worry as she stared at him.

" I haven't spoken to her in sixteen years so I don't know." Leo answered, his face devoid of any form of sadness but his word heavy enough to break someone's heart. And it definitely broke her heart.

Becca felt something snap in her, blinking away the tears that formed in the corners of her eyes as she stared at Leo. If she hadn't had asked, nothing would have told her that Leo had ever experienced such a devastating loss in his life. How would she know when Leo never showed any signs of his sad past? 

He didn't even look sad while telling her, but what she didn't know was that everything Leo shared with her that night was just the tip of the iceberg.

Leo saw the tears in her eyes and pulled her closer to his chest. Wiping her tears before they got the chance to fall.

" I'm sorry, I really didn't know. I didn't mean to bring up hurtful things like that." She blubbered, hiccuping and choking on her own tears. Then dropped her gaze to stare at the sheets on the bed instead of him.

" You don't have to be sorry about anything. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, everything around me fades away when I'm with you. The hurt was all in the past while you are my present and future." He used his thumb to wipe her tears away and kissed both her eyes, smiling when she looked up at him.

She opened her mouth to speak, many words jumping on her tongue but none could be voiced out.

" Let's go to sleep." Leo said, seeing as she was unable to say anything at the moment and rubbed her arm gently until she drifted off to sleep but he didn't. He didn't even shut his eyes for a second, talk more of sleeping.

His mind a mess with different thoughts jammed up in his skull.

He had only told Becca a small fraction of his messed up past and she ended up bursting into tears. What would happen if she learned everything, if she saw his darkness? Would she be able to handle it?

The obvious answer here was no, she wouldn't. She wouldn't be able to take it or even see through the darkness around him. It would just be too much.

Becca was such a sweet girl, an angel while he was a creature from hell. He wouldn't blame her if she decides to leave him after finding out about his true past, though he wouldn't let her go, he still wouldn't be surprised if her love for him turns to fear. Fear of the man he truly was.. A psycho.