Chapter 1 - Leo's P.O.V.
1273 Words
Leo’s P.O.V.
Four. Long. Excruciating years of searching for her. For them! And it all comes down to this moment.
“What the f**k do you mean, she was in the car with her?” I say through clenched teeth, holding Roberto by his throat tightly, making the veins on his forehead bulge out.
“I’m s-sorry Boss. W-We didn’t r-recognize h-her. S-she isn’t a brunette a-anymore. We thought s-she was one of them,” he answers, his breath ragged.
“I trusted you with this, and you failed me. Now my wife is gone!” I scream, spitting in his face.
“Because of your negligence, my queen is now dead! How am I supposed to explain this to my little princess? How am I supposed to tell her that you not only injured her mother when taking her but that you are also responsible for killing her?”
“I-I swear, if we had known it was her, we wouldn’t have left her there”
“You should have checked her to make sure! You left her bleeding on the backseat of that mother f*****g car!”
“I’m really sorry! Please, have mercy on me.”
“Mercy would have come if you would have brought my wife back to me injured. I don’t even have her body to bury. Alexander made sure of that.” I say, my voice turning ice cold, just as my heart.
The thought of my wife’s body in the hands of that bastarda brings fury to my soul.
My wife…My queen…My everything… Lost forever.
I had promised my little princess that I would reunite her with her mother as soon as possible. Turns out, she was the woman sitting next to my little Claire in that car. The morning after they brought my daughter back to me, she asked if her mother was ok. I didn’t understand at first. When she asked if her mother was fixed, I was even more confused. She said that before the “bad men” took her, she was trying to wake up her mother.
My queen, my Mallory, hit her head too hard when they t-boned her car. They are lucky my little princess barely had any scratches on her.
I told them to take her back by whatever means necessary, but I never meant to injure them!
Idiota!
My subordinated f****d up. They f****d up badly!
Looking at Roberto with deadly eyes, terror registers in his, as he realizes what’s going to happen to him for this mistake.
“No…Please! Don’t do this! I’ll do anything, please!”
“Begging me won’t change your faith. You can’t bring back the dead. Get on your knees.”
“Please…” He begged again.
“On your f*****g knees, NOW!”
Slowly, he does as he’s told, and kneels at my feet.
“Any last words?” I ask, looking at him venomously.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for making this huge mistake! Please, tell little miss Claire I’m sorry…”
“You don’t get to say her name after what you’ve done!” I scream, before pulling out my gun, pointing it at his forehead, and pulling the trigger without hesitation.
BANG!!!
“Aaaaaaaahhh!!!” A small voice cries out from my office doorway.
Turning around, I lowered my gun at the sight of my terrified little princess.
“Claire…” I whisper as she runs away crying.
“Claire!” I yell, running after her, screaming at my brother, Lorenzo, to clean up the mess in my office.
Going up the stairs two by two, I run towards her bedroom.
I should have made sure she was nowhere near this place when I took care of business. I’m such an idiota!
Going in, I don’t see her, but I hear her muffled sobs.
Cautiously, I make my way to the closet. Opening the door, I see my poor little princess huddled up in the furthest corner, covering her ears, rocking back and forth.
“Claire…” I whisper, making her jump.
My daughter is scared of me. What have I done?!
I sigh and sit on the floor in front of her. Close enough to reach her, but not touching her. Yet.
This was never what I wanted. She is only four years old for f***s sake! I thought I’d have a lot more time before I’d have to explain to her what type of family she was born in.
We, my father and his father before that, have always been the Boss of Positano on the Amalfi Coast.
We have prospered in our business for the most part. We could have expanded much further if it weren’t for the Berlusconi family. They have been a thorn in my side for many years. Especially since Andrea’s son, Alexander took over for him.
“Claire, look at me, please,” I ask, keeping my voice as calm as I can.
I see her trembling, shaking her head from side to side.
“Little princess, please look at me. I’m not going to hurt you.” I ask again.
She sobs a few more times before uttering the most heart-wrenching word I never wanted to hear.
“Did you kill my mommy too…” She says, visibly scared to know the answer.
My little princess, how do I explain this to you?
“No. I would never do anything to purposely harm your mother. Come here for a moment. I promise nothing bad will happen to you.” I say, opening my arms wide.
She looks at me unsure if she should or not. Hesitantly, she comes into my arms.
I slowly place my arms around her holding her tenderly.
“I am so sorry you’ve seen this side of me. I never meant to scare you.”
“Why did you do the thing that you did?” She tentatively asks.
“He was a bad man and made an unforgivable mistake. He needed to be punished.”
She keeps quiet for a while, looking distantly.
I assume she's trying to understand everything in her own way.
“But mommy said you should never hurt someone. Unless they hurt your family. Did the mistake he made hurt your family?” she naively asks, looking at me with puffed-out eyes.
How do I tell her?
“Yes, he did,” I say, closing my eyes and letting out a deep sigh.
“You know how someone hit the car you and your mother were in?” She nods yes.
“That man you saw me punish earlier, he was that person.”
“H-He made my mommy hurt!?”
“I’m so sorry, little princess. He did.” I exhale deeply, bracing myself for the next part.
“Your mother was severely injured during the accident. And she wasn’t able to get to a doctor in time to be…fixed.” I say, my hand tightening a little around her delicate frame.
“Little princess, your mother was too hurt to be fixed. She didn’t make it.” I say, the last words sticking in my throat.
“What does that mean? When can I see mommy again?”
Placing my hand on the side of her face, softly stroking my thumb on her cheek, I gather the courage to tell her the inevitable.
“She isn’t coming back. She dies before we could help her. I’m sorry, little princess.”
The low shriek that escapes her tiny mouth, breaks me.
“I’m so sorry, my dear daughter. I never wanted all of this to happen.”
- Writer
