TILL D£ATH DO US APART
(The•Devil•I•Loved)
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Copyright © 2025
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★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Ivanna's eyes didn't have the slightest touch of guilt when the kiss broke. Not even a spark of shock.
She looks blank like she didn't just moan an enemy's name.
Her soft lips are still wet from the kiss's aftereffects, and her even as she watched the shocked expression on Hayden's face, she was unshaken.
"Nardo? The bastard's... name?"
Ivanna was silent, she watched him with a tight mouth.
Hayden blinked, bringing his hands closer to touch her shoulders, but she quickly stepped back in avoidance.
His arms dropped, and his eyes widened again.
"You...what did he do to you? Tell me...what did he f+kin do to you! Did he touch you inappropriately? Did he..."
"Yeah. He defiled me, we had s+x, which is why I came to give you a last glance today." She cut him off, but she didn't only cut his words, she also cut him open with those words dropping from her mouth.
"What!" His eyes widened.
"We're now two worlds apart, Hayden. Different worlds, different missions, opponents........ Enemies." She drawled on the last word.
"No..." Hayden went closer again.
She backed up before his hands could reach her.
"Hayden, now that you know I'm fine with my siblings in the House Of Esposito, you should focus on yourself in Crimson Cave too." She said, not blinking throughout.
She could see Hayden breaking.
No—he's shattering, so she balled her fists behind herself.
Tears rushed out of Hayden's eyes, and his sweaty palms opened. He feels cold and hot at the same time. The temperature played double on him and his head tumbled.
"From now on... Hayden, if you see me in missions, don't hold back to attack or tackle me. You're for Crimson Gang, and I'm for The Outfit." She declared.
Those were her last words before she stepped away, leaving the room and the animal shelter completely.
Hayden stood there, as if life has been uprooted from him, as if his soul has been buried in debris. As if his heart has been smashed to mud.
When the cold breeze opened the only window in the room with a zippy sound, the air hit him, and that seemed to unzip his brain.
She's gone.
She left him here.
She....she left.
He bolted out of the room, out of the shelter in tears.
"Vanna!!!!!!!" His yell echoed through the scanty houses in the small street.
Ivanna was already gone as if she flew. No traces of her car anywhere.
Hayden stood on that road, crying profusely like a his wits was stolen.
And as he cried, he's being watched.
That small street is literally surrounded by Leonardo's spies.
There are more than ten of them in discreet unsuspicious places.
Some are on top of buildings, some inside cars, some strolling and some are inside the small houses.
There are Monika's gangsters too—two of them.
She sent them to follow Hayden from the cave, and those ones are on top of a low mountain at the back of the animal shelter.
As they watched Hayden cry, they both clicked their tongues.
"Lover boy got dumped? What a eventful evening," the first one said, lowering the microscope he's holding.
"Call Leader. Nothing happened between them, just a boring kiss and a dump. Should we start calling him Dumpling?" The second one laughed.
"Why bother call Leader? We'll get back to the cave in twenty." The first one laughed too as they both jumped down the mountain.
They went to Hayden, and as they dragged him to the car, he didn't even have the energy to decline.
Also, he was blindfolded when he came out of the cave, so he doesn't know the way back unless he follows.
He was thrown to the back of the car with the two fellow gangsters at the front as they started their drive back to Hydra forest—to the cave.
As they drove, the car notified them that another car is following them with just few meters gap, and that car has been following them for two minutes now.
They exchanged glances and quickly changed routes.
The car followed them too, knowing their chase has been found out, they didn't bother hiding again.
They're Leonardo's spies.
The drive was hot, the chase relentless till they arrived at Hydra forest, but the moment they arrived, Monika's gangsters car followed an unknown lane.
The spies followed the lane too, but it's a dead end.
The gangsters are gone.
The spies jumped out of their car in the deep forest, and they cussed quietly as they stared at the end.
"We lost those m0therf+kers!"
--
[Chicago Executive Airport, 5:25pm]
Leonardo arrived at the private terminal, and his walk was recognized the moment he entered.
No one knows his face—the news is always scared to show it, but there are rumors—the way he carries himself especially that walk. The hair and piercings, the earrings.
Even with his tattoos hidden under this suit, his persona was obvious, so people rushed out of the way as he advanced like danger wrapped in white expensive suit.
He stood gallantly beside the black convoy that came with him for the pickup and waited.
Hungry for smoke, he retrieved his lighter and a opium cigar, lighting it and smoking like a dark devil.
He left the cigar alone between his lips as he fished out his phone.
As expected, there are pictures from his spies, even videos and texts.
The first picture he saw was the one that has the kiss, and he didn't bother scrolling through the others.
He swallowed smokes from the cigar, and he finally took it away from his lips, shaking ash from it to his phone screen. There's nothing to explain the insanity in his eyes right now as he stared like he wants to enter the screen and spill blood on it.
Before he knew it, he already wrapped his palm around the cigar, squeezing and killing the fire. He felt a ting of pain from the burn before he dropped it on the ground.
Then...the private terminal suddenly experienced an uneasy stillness.
Just the low hum of engines dying and the quiet awareness that someone important had arrived.
Leonardo looked up, straightened his posture. Expression remained neutral though, but pulse is respectfully calm
The cabin door opened first, and he stepped out, unhurried. His presence bent the air around him.
The Padrino Marko.
The scar beneath his left eye caught the lights, a thin, brutal line carved into flesh long ago, a reminder that power had once been paid for in blood. His gaze was calm, almost bored, yet it carried the weight of men who had disappeared for less.
Behind him came the four brigadiers. Old lions. Decision makers whose names were still spoken carefully in certain neighborhoods of Italy. Age had not softened them—it sharpened them into colder kings.
They moved as one, silent and disciplined, their loyalty unquestioned.
Leonardo stepped forward and lowered his head slightly.
No handshake. No smile.
"Granddad," he said.
The older man studied him for a long moment, eyes flicking once, then a faint curve touched his lips.
"You came quickly," he said, voice lethally calm.
"All useful member of the family hates waiting, you top that list." Leonardo replied.
That was enough, no other words were spoken before Marko entered the sleekest convoy, and the brigadiers entered the rest of the convoys...one per one.
The last person to come out of the cabin was a lady with sharp angular features. Pointed nose, sleek hair in a neat low ponytail, black suit and moderate jewelry.
Eyes are fierce, and demeanor is even fiercer as she descended, but the moment she descended completely, she smiled beautifully.
"I made your grandpa call you for the pickup, I wanted you to be the first person I see in this country." She said.
"It shows, Aunt Renata." Leonardo replied, and the lady smiled wider, hugging him like a son.
But he didn't hug back. He just stood there, like a tree.
"You're still sticking to your sickness of not hugging people back?" Renata groaned, pulling away.
"People barely change, nowadays." Leonardo replied, and she sighed.
"No...you changed...the hair. I still remember how much your mum hated your hairiness back then, so she forced you to trim your hair everyday. There was a time she even gave you a buzz cut, and since then, you hated keeping full excessive hair, but look...look at your full hair right now, Leonardo." She gave him a plastered look.
"Are you finally breaking free from my sister's legacy?"
"You touched down in Chicago after several fuckin years, and first thing you talk about is my hair? Disappointing. And why the hell is everyone talking about my damn hair? Who put it on the topic for discussion?" Leonardo muttered.
They're already walking side by side to the last convoy.
"Being your late mother's junior sister has to be the most exhausting thing ever. Now I have to be like a mother to you for the rest of my life." Renata commented.
"I don't remember writing you a letter to that effect. Just be Renata, I didn't request for a mum's replacement." Leonardo replied coldly, detached.
"Why? Cos you already found one? The Ivanna girl? We heard a lot about her in Italy, and I can't wait to meet her." Renata said.
Leonardo stopped, facing her.
"Don't compare." He warned.
"I was just—"
"Don't. Compare! That whore isn't in anyway like mum." He snapped angrily.
Renata scoffed. "You know sometimes, I hate the way you act like your mother and say things that stab deeper than knives."
"Who else should I act like? Like you?" Leonardo snarled.
"Stop, Leonardo! Stop already! I know you've never liked me cos I was too soft compared to my sister, and you hate soft people, but I'm soft and sane because I fought and never allowed myself to get ruined by father like he did to Vera! Vera even ruined you harder than father ruined her, and now you can't even...eat properly." She muttered.
She couldn't say more, cos the car door was already open.
She got in.
"I'll be staying with father at the Valley, we're not staying at the clan estate. I know you're always prepared, but get more preparations in place. Father didn't come to play this time." She said gently and signalled for the driver to go.
The car zoomed off the tar, and Leonardo got his burnt mobile. He made a call to the estate robot—Red.
"Any info to pass down, Sir Leo?"
"The convoy is going to Phoenix Valley, not the clan estate." He replied and hung up.
He picked out another cigar, but when he light it up and wanted to smoke, he went to the sent pictures to stare at the kiss on his phone.
He pressed the burning cigar to his phone screen, burning the spot where their mouths joined.
--
[Crimson Cave, Computer Lab]
"They tried to chase?" Monika asked, her eyes not leaving the screen where she worked silently.
The gangsters who went with Hayden are just reporting to her.
"But of course they couldn't catch up. We have enough covers in this forest, and even the most brilliant gamer can't break the puzzles." They replied confidently.
"Good. And Hayden?" She asked, clicking buttons very fast.
"He's probably crying somewhere, they broke up officially."
"Are you sure? It wasn't just a show to deceive us?" Monika faced them.
"We recognize a fake show of emotions, Leader. It wasn't fake. You should watch the video, we captured it." They replied.
Monika sent them out with a wave, and Moo instantly entered with Bradshaw. "you are reading from www.mhiztaemy.com.ng" They both look pale still recovering from the effects of the pain shots they received.
Behind them, Hayden came in with streaks of tears in his eyes.
"Bad view... Look how my top 3 are as weak as flies. I give enough training sessions and empowerment here, but still... One little mission, always a massive failure!" Monika said.
"You went to the cabin too, didn't you?" Hayden talked.
Monika looked at him.
"You went to the cabin too but you couldn't kill the bastard who defiled Vanna! You couldn't defeat him! He left with your locket and you crashed out for hours inside your hall, but we get blamed for your failure?"
Moo pulled him by the shirt to caution him, but he obviously wasn't ready to stop talking.
"He touched Ivanna in ways he shouldn't have, and now she...she broke up I'm losing my mind! I want to end him with my two hands and make Vanna dig his grave!"
"Obviously, she's smarter than you. Breaking up was the best cos there's no way you two could have been together! Even without Leo, she'd still do that cos so far you're here, you both are enemies!" Moo shouted.
"He's the most stupid man I've ever met, a void that learned how to speak." Bradshaw muttered.
Hayden was already going to him when Moo got in their middle.
"This is Leader's lab, attack is forbidden you cunt!"
"Let him come, Moo. Who does he think he is to talk to Leader like that! Leader is cosseting him too much! A year after I got here I still didn't get the visitation card but not up to a month and he already has it? Unfair! Favoritism!" Bradshaw shouted.
Now, Monika is back on her seat, working on something like she's not even hearing them talk.
When they noticed her silence, they all turned and looked ahead.
On the wall, on the tables, on the ceiling, there's only one projected word crawling around.
KNEEL.
They all knelt, and Monika turned her swivel chair to face them.
Her hands aren't empty anymore. Now she's holding a cold box which has ice installed inside.
She opened it, and on top of the ice, there's one finger.
"House Of Esposito has over twenty illegal accounts, assigned to each member of the family protect with their biometrics. This is Felicia's finger..." She explained, taking the finger out of the box.
It's still fresh cos of the ice.
"How?" Moo asked.
"She gambled in the underworld hub, and I simply got it." Monika smiled. "Felicia has no child, so there's only one account in her name to protect. I extracted her fingerprint from this finger already, and I'm currently sucking the account dry."
Moo stood from her knees slowly.
"Meaning...we lost the drugs but we'll still somehow get their money?"
Monika stood and signalled at the two guys to stand.
"Hayden, you want Leo dead? Now that you share the same dream with me, we're finally on the same page. Leo is Vera's biggest treasure, and I want him gone too in the grandest way ever. In this cave, we're the biggest team." She said craftily.
Hayden stayed silent, but his jaw us ticking fast.
"Valon isn't dead yet. He'd be transported from Albania to Chicago by ship. I got him involved in this mess, it's only right to get him out. The clan is already used to port attacks, which is why we'd change style this time... We'll enter the clan to take Valon and my locket." She said, looking at Felicia's finger again.
"How?" Bradshaw and Hayden asked in a chorus.
"There'll be a celebration to cover us, Thaddeus Armando is becoming a brigadier. Felicia's finger will help with our entry again that night." Monika smiled.
Hayden's jaws contacted, and Moo looked at him shortly.
--
[House Of Esposito, Painhood]
Ivanna only went to the apartment to pick her horsewhip when she arrived, and afterwards, she came here to vent her anger.
All on the chaser she brought back from New York.
The man is tied to a pole just the way Leonardo tied her on the day he whipped her like a lesser human.
His eyes are hopeless as it should be, cos he has received more than hundred whippings.
He's got peeled bloody body and flesh, bruised face cos she whipped his face too.
His jaws tore apart already.
The whip is a brutal one with the ghostly, yet stinging sensations it sends to the body of the person suffering from the beatings.
Ivanna is sweating despite the cold weather, and there's a little line of tear below her lashes. They're wet, meaning she had cried.
With shaking veins, she tightened her hand on the whip golden holder.
"Who sent you to kill me in New Orleans? Your boss probably told you to kill Hilda if you couldn't kill me, and that's why you targeted Hilda too. Who sent you!!" She demanded, striking him with the whip again.
105... 106...107...108...109...
Before she could strike him with the 110th, she heard sudden laughter from him, her whippings stopped.
Her breaths and her heartbeats synced in fastness.
"Quit stressing yourself by inflicting pain on me cos it means nothing, you'll never get anything so... I'll help you end your misery." He smiled.
He went quiet after that, but his mouth moved a little bit funny.
Ivanna's eyes widened when she got an idea of what he's about to do, but before she could grab his chin, he already did it.
He bit his tongue off!
He spat his tongue on the ground, and Ivanna shifted back, dropping the whip as she watched blood pour out of his mouth.
He died very fast and went limp on the pole, his blood clotted.
"Bastard..." Ivanna muttered and went silent too, but not for long.
She sniffled, picking the whip back from the ground.
She was about to exit the hood when Nino came in, and she halted.
"Hey..." He smiled dryly.
"You've been scarce these days. No...since the night of the teaparty...are you ok? You don't even look ok so forget the question...what's wrong with you?" She asked.
"He bit his tongue off?" Nino replied, looking at the man on the pole. "What a loyal dog."
"I'm talking about you, not some loyal dog. What's up with you?" Ivanna asked, not buying the digression.
"Do you believe I'd rape a female?" He asked out of the blues.
With a blink, Ivanna came close.
"I've barely been here for one and a half month, and though I'm not stereotypical, but...No." She said.
Nino sighed.
"Nino? Talk to me..." She said.
"I might have raped Island on the night of the teaparty," he replied.
She gasped. "The girl you hate? No..dude, you better be joking."
"But it's real. Even Donna vouched." He replied hopelessly.
"And you don't think your drink was spiked that night?" Ivanna asked.
Nino's eyes went up.
"You should make researches, check your system...."
Ivanna was still talking when Island barged into the hood, grabbing Nino.
"Stay the hell away from my boyfriend, I'm warning you Ivanna! Stay away!" She shouted territorially.
Then she dragged Nino away, but Nino looked back, telling Ivanna with his eyes that he's gonna fix it.
As they're leaving, Robert and Ginny entered the hood.
"I saw the note you dropped on the apartment table, how did it go?" Robert asked.
Ivanna just went to hug him, and he understood immediately.
He patted her back. "It's for the best, you did the right thing."
"I wonder if anyone is gonna give Hayden a hug too..." Ginny muttered, touching her fluffy armless gown.
Then, suddenly ... she screamed and ran to the door, gumming herself to it when she saw the dead man on the pole and his tongue on the ground.
"He bit his tongue off?" Robert asked with wide eyes.
Ivanna nodded.
"Then how are we gonna know who sent him?" Robert said.
"We both know who sent him, I only wanted him to say the name as evidence, but he's a loyal dog who preferred death." Ivanna muttered.
"We know who sent him? You mean Thaddeus? That bald man?" Ginny said,, coming closer too.
Ivanna nodded, and Ginny threw her slim arms around her sister.
"I just hope we're safe in here with that man, and i heard I'm on the roster tommorow... For extensive computer work which will be handled by Ghost. I'm scared."
"I'll be with you, don't worry," Ivanna assured. "Where's Tierney?"
"He's in the kitchen," Ginny provided.
"And why is the clan not cold yet? Is the Padrino not back yet?" Ivanna asked curiously.
"He's back, but he has a residence in this city called Phoenix Valley. He'll be staying there with his brigadiers, and the family is already there to give their greetings." Robert explained.
"At his Valley? Sounds too ominous," Ivanna muttered.
At this point, a guard entered, and Ivanna recognized him as one of the guards from Leonardo's private park.
He didn't talk, his eyes told Ivanna that she's needed.
"Go, I'll have a training session with Gin." Robert said.
Ginny nodded, waving her.
Grudgingly, Ivanna left with the guard to the Citadel.
When she arrived at the relaxation room, first thing she saw was Leonardo's phone on the couch, but it's not the same again cos the screen looks like it got burnt or something.
She was still staring, wondering what's going on when she felt his thick presence.
She moved her head to see him emerging from the bedroom. He's not in white suit anymore, it's black now like he freshened up.
He must be going to see the Padrino like the rest of the family.
"The chaser bit his tongue off, but I'm very sure Thaddeus sent him." She talked first.
Her words received a reply immediately. A slap from him.
A slap that sent her hairband flying out of her hair, releasing her hair to scatter all-over her face.
She pushed the hair back immediately, then raised her hand to return the slap to his face, but she restrained herself, stopping the move as her cheek burned hotly.
"I went to see Hayden, you probably heard about it since your spies are everywhere. I broke up with him." She said, lowering her hand.
But her eyes still burned intensely like hot coals
"I didn't know breakup moments included stupid kisses..." Leonardo muttered, his eyes catching hers.
He looks too livid like he wants to slap her again and again.
"Oh... Your spies did a good job capturing the whole moment...cool..." She muttered back.
In the next minute, he was already stalking to her.
She didn't move, she stood her ground till he got to her and grabbed her by the throat, shoving her.
Not to the wall, but to the cellar.
The drinks didn't fall off even as he slammed her back on it cos he activated protective glass already.
Her legs lifted from the ground as he lifted her by that neck, toxicity rolling off him like bun steam.
Ivanna's red eyes stayed open, clashing viciously with his own till he returned her to the ground.
His figure bent over, his face drew close very fast, their faces only a breath away from each other.
"Each time you make one of those sleazy moves of yours, I badly wanna kill you. You have no idea how closer to death you get each time you piss me off intentionally! I've never been lenient on anyone like this before.. how the fûck are you still alive.." he spat venomously.
"I broke up with him, that's all I have to say. And you've even refused to show me my parents after I earned merits, so..."
"That gives you an automatic reason to grow defiant? I can snap their life apart with a clip." He snarled, his clean breaths hitting her last nerves.
Fresh, since he brushed away the scent of smoke already.
"I'm trying my best, you're just hard to satisfy. That'd be last time I'd meet Hayden secretly." She muttered.
Her eyes are down, but the moment Leonard's face drew closer intentionally, she looked up.
His lips almost touched hers.
She quickly folded her lips into her mouth, and Leonardo smirked cruelly, grinning before letting go.
"Stay here till I get back. Practice in the hood. Your sister might have to die for real this time if you go against it. Tierney is a computer brain too, so don't think she's that important...to me." He said before leaving.
As the elevator closed, Ivanna's body left the cellar glass.
She caught her breaths, panting as she quickly pulled her inhaler out to pump herself.
It's starting to finish, meaning she needs another one.
At this rate, she'd need a pack of this inhaler.
After calming down, she left the cellar and walked to the relaxation room, standing in the middle.
She wanted to rub her necklace, but it's nowhere to be found.
Her eyes widened, and she remembered when he grabbed her neck. He must have...
She rushed to the private park...but he was already gone.
She was rubbing her neck repeatedly as she stumped her speakers on the marbled ground.
"F+k him...f+k him...f+k that devil...shit. Not my necklace..."
She held her head tightly.
This only means she has to work harder on her sensitivity.
He's her boss, and there's no way she'd be as fast as him, but she should at least be able to know when he removes things from her body immediately after he did it.
Not some minutes later like now.
She was still cussing as she returned inside the Citadel.
She entered the hood alone for self training, and surprisingly, when she typed Sensitivity and sent it to the teleprompter, it gave her notes on that topic immediately.
She started reading.
--
[Phoenix Valley, 7pm]
Phoenix Valley lay far from Chicago’s noise, tucked behind rolling land that felt more European than American.
The road into the valley is deliberately curvy, flanked by ancient oaks and cypress trees whose branches leaned inward like guards bowing in silence.
No signs. No lights. If you didn’t belong, you’d never find it.
The house sat low and wide at the heart of the valley, majorly stone and iron. Not ostentatious, just certain.
Not only the brigadiers are inside the valley house, the old men of the clan too. They all came to pay their respects, so it's filled.
The family is here too. Don Anthony, Donna Felicia, the children except Leonardo who's yet to arrive.
A big flagon of aged Italian wine sat on the tables, and while the old men and brigadiers sat round one of the tables to drink and talk, the children sat on another table to do same.
"Cardi, I know the major reason you came to say your greetings is cos of this wine, you're not that respectful." Sandra said to Bacardi.
"You know how much I love alcohol...I live for good Italian wine, feels like I'm drinking my origin." Bacardi replied with a cup to her lips.
"I'm here to say my Christmas greetings in advance and see Aunt Renata, the hell is she?" Bobby scowled.
Sandra's phone buzzed on the table, and she was surprised to see the waiting message on screen.
Lowly Driver: Help me. I need to get myself checked but not inside the clan. I need a trustable city hospital.
She dropped the phone first, not knowing how to reply.
Bacardi picked her phone next. She didn't get a text, but she sent a text to Robert's line.
Bacardi: Want some good Italian wine? Not for free though. Take my boring virginity, and get the wine.
She pressed send and dropped the phone, but Bobby saw what she sent, and his mood went rotten.
He drank a whole cup.
"What the hell is grandpa doing inside? We came to pay respects and he's not even coming out? I can never understand that cranky old man." Bacardi said seriously.
"He's with the Armando family and dad and mother inside, so it might take a while." Sandra said.
--
[Renata's Room]
It's the largest room in this valley, even larger than Marko's.
For an unknown reason, Padrino Marko likes small spaces, so his room is just moderate.
Renata sat in bed, not wanting to go out to the noise outside.
Unlike her dead sister Vera, Renata is a lover of peace.
She's with her phone though, swiping through two pictures of Leonardo.
Leonardo has no single childhood picture cos Vera never allowed it, but Renata has always been a dutiful aunt who cherished him, so he sneakily snapped two pictures of him when he was just five months old.
As she stared, she smiled.
But then she felt someone around—a lingering presence.
This room is the last room in here, so no one should be around except Leonardo and his siblings.
But all of them have the habit of walking without footsteps, so it's definitely not them.
Renata stood, kept her kill-pin intact in her hair before swinging the door open, but her caution disappeared when she saw Hilda.
She gasped, then smiled.
"Hilda!"
"I know you used to like the peppered snails from the clan estate kitchen, so I brought them plus the soup and the homemade juice." Hilda winked.
"Oh Hilda...it's been years and you still remember everything," Renata took the food tray, placed it on a table and hugged her dearly, but when it was too tight, Hilda cringed.
Renata quickly broke the hug.
"I'm so sorry...your spine..." She said with genuine concern.
Hilda entered.
"How about another surgery?" Renata closed the door and followed her.
"No, Rena. The doctor made it clear that survival chance is 50/50. It's either the surgery is successful or it fails and I end up getting completely paralyzed. "You are reading from www.mhiztaemy.com.ng" I'll just live simply like this for life." Hilda replied.
They both sat in bed.
"I still dunno how you were able to cope with being my late sister's maid... I know she was insane like our father." Renata said.
"I haven't seen him...the Padrino." Hilda whispered.
"He's busy discussing things inside his pond lawn, he'll probably come out at 10." Renata said.
"All of them are here, are you aware? Bobby and the rest..." Hilda said.
"If they're tired of waiting outside, they'll come see me. They're not visitors." Renata shrugged, taking her peppered snails plate.
She began eating with a toothpick.
"And have you seen Sir Leo? I mean his hair? He's finally breaking away from his mother's hair-hate legacy." Hilda said suddenly.
Renata slipped the toothpick out of her mouth, looking up.
"You noticed that full hair too, right? He's so fuckin hot I never want him to touch it with a clipper."
--
[Pond Lawn]
Here, the estate land sloped gently into a fish pond, perfectly still.
The pond surface is dark and reflective like polished onyx.
Koi and thick silver fish moved beneath the water in slow patterns. A wooden dock extended just far enough to stand alone without being exposed. No guards nearby.
Padrino Marko sat there, coat draped over his shoulders, fishing line cast into the pond with patience.
Birds sang cautiously and quietly from cypress trees. Even nature behaved itself here.
Don Anthony and Donna Felicia are by his left, but by his right, Thaddeus, Penny and Lissa sat.
No exchange of words yet. They're all watching Marko's fishing line, waiting for it to catch a fish.
Immediately a fish bit the bait and got caught, Leonardo entered.
His presence was enough to make Lissa's mouth itch.
She wants to kiss him, kiss his c0ck, kiss his dark hair.
She wants to touch him, and she wants his touch too. She's like a touch-starved wife right now.
Thaddeus smiled with trick when his eyes met with Leonardo's, but Leo isn't in the mood to return it.
He heard about how the chaser bit his own tongue off even before Ivanna said it earlier, and he knew for sure that there's only one suspect.
Thaddeus.
Now that Marko is here, this game of brains will only get more intense. He can't wait at all.
Don Anthony looks trapped on his seat. He looks subdued.
Donna Felicia just stayed like a dependant wife beside him.
Penny looks overconfident beside her daughter Lissa.
Marko hasn't talked at all, but there's a way his authority wraps around his environment it affects everyone.
He's intimidating without trying.
There's an extra chair for Leonardo right beside Marko, and the moment he sat, Marko pulled the fishing line up from the pond.
It caught a Koi, and he dropped it in a metal plate with a groan, then he snapped his fingers, and one of the valley guards ran in with a tray.
On the tray, there's a syringe and needle. It's loaded already with a red liquid which resembles blood.
But merely looking at it, Leonardo knows it's not blood.
Marko picked it up, looking at it experimentally as he finally talked.
"Now that you're here, I'll do my verification before anything else," he faced Leonardo. "Your mother left a legacy for you, and merely seeing your hair, i have a feeling you're already slipping off the legacy."
"I had plans to get it trimmed soon, don't panic." Leonardo replied, sounding so composed.
"I trust you, and I'm aware of your mother's order that says once you turn 30, you must impregnate Lissa to give you an heir." Marko said.
Leonardo's brows ticked.
Lissa gasped, but she quickly composed herself. It's the first time she heard that fact.
"But...you unfriended Lissa, then took one particular thief in as your... marionette? Registered her biometrics, gave her personal trainings, PERSONAL?" Marko looked him in the eyes as if weighing unseen possibilities.
"That is considered a sin? Padrino?" Leonardo maintained the sizzling contact... eyeball to eyeball.
"Take a male pet if you want one. This female is canceled. And to test your condition, you’re going to take this shot." Marko said and handed him the syringe.
Leonardo took it without hesitation.
"That red liquid is called OB—short for Obsessed," Marko continued. "I had it specially developed by my doctor. It works directly with the heart. Even scientists agree the heart skips at least one beat when you hear the name of the person you’re obsessed with."
He paused, watching Leonardo closely.
"If you take the shot and you truly feel that obsessive pull towards her, your heart is gonna skip at least one beat, and the shot will instantly force your heart to pump faster. You’ll bleed out of your mouth or ear."
The explanation ended there, and Leonardo didn’t wait.
He drove the needle into his arm and injected the liquid shot.
The guard who had brought the syringe stepped forward again, lifting a pair of headphones from the tray and handing them to him.
Leonardo took them, slipped them on, and closed his eyes.
One minute passed. Nothing.
Then the second minute began—and an echo flooded the headphones.
Her name.
Not the first one—the middle name.
"Joy...Joy...Joy...Joy...Joy...Joy..."
It didn't stop coming, but Leonardo's eyes stayed effortlessly closed. His heart worked as it should. No hitch.
Lissa's breaths were held.
Thaddeus and Penny are already smiling broadly.
Don Anthony doesn't look in support, and Felicia is just there.
Leonardo has been sitting there, listening to the echoes for three minutes now, but nothing happened.
Angrily, furiously, he removed the headphones and stood. He threw the headphones in the pond.
Padrino Marko smiled sickly.
"You didn't bleed? That's a good one. I knew I could trust you."
"If this is your welcoming party, granddad...it's boring as f+k..." Leonardo muttered and left.
Marko continued smiling, and it got sicker by the minutes, the scar under his eye seeming to darken.
Lissa is beginning to smile too. She was restless for nothing?
"After Thaddeus ceremony tomorrow, I'll have a mud fight with the thief girl." Marko said.
His smile stopped.
"Mud fight? She's asthmatic." Don Anthony spoke up.
"Makes it more fun. Leonardo isn't obsessed or anything, so he'd find it fun to watch too" Marko said without looking at him.
Don Anthony huffed.
Lissa just smiled wider.
--
When Leonardo left the lawn, he went inside the house and walked past the two tables.
The brigadiers, old men, even his siblings. He walked past them.
The brigadiers were stunned at his disrespect that he didn't bow, the old men were annoyed that he didn't greet, his siblings were confused that he didn't look their way.
Leonardo went past that room to the nearest washroom, but he remembered there are cameras, so he left and took the second hallway.
His way was free, but his eyes were already bloodshot as he arrived at the car and flung the door open.
He got inside, and before he could even sit, his throat made way for what has been trying to get out.
His mouth opened to let out what he has been holding back.
Blood.
Blood shot out of his mouth to the second car seat.
Red, healthy blood.
He actually f+kin bled.
His eyes are mildly wide, and at the same time, he's looking at Ivanna's necklace in the open drawer.
Then...his phone rang, and with a stretchy groan and bloody lips, he brought it out.
It's her, too.
'Pet.'
He licked the blood on his lips and grinned, sweeping his hair away from his face before picking.
"I want to use your gym female section, but it's locked with a password... Can I have it? You told me to practice so there should be no reason to say no." Ivanna said.
Leonardo grinned again, his tongue going over the remaining blood on his lips to lick, then he laughed.
Obsessed...with her???
"How dare you, Joy. How f+kin dare you make me......."
TBC.
She did nothing to you Leo
ReplyDeleteSuit yourself 😂😂😂
Help me tell him abeg
Delete