He knows
1029 Words
Gia’s POV
Gia’s heart thudded in her throat as she entered the house.
He knew.
There was no chance that he didn’t. She wasn’t an i***t. She knew Marco kept Leonardo informed of her every move.
She quietly kicked off her heels before going to see him. There was no point in putting it off. But as she walked to the office…she heard what sounded like moaning.
She pushed the office door open quietly, heart hammering, preparing herself for another cold conversation... But what she saw rooted her to the spot.
Leo lounged back in his leather chair, shirt hanging open, a glass of whiskey balanced lazily in one hand. And in his lap — A woman. Half-naked. Straddling him, her dress pushed up to her hips, moving against him with slow, practiced rolls of her hips.
Gia couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
Leo’s eyes flicked up — and found hers across the room.
He didn’t jerk away. He didn’t push the woman off him. He just... smiled.
That lazy, smug smile she used to think was charming. Now it made her stomach turn.
The woman whispered something in his ear — giggling — oblivious to the devastation standing in the doorway.
Gia stepped back. The world tilted around her. She closed the door quietly, careful not to make a sound.
She hated him—but part of her still loved him. He’d saved her from humiliation when no one else would—took her and her baby in and mostly treated Luca nicely.
But Leo had changed—punishing her for every little thing that he though she did wrong.
Gia was slipping into her heels, staring at her reflecting in the vanity mirror of their bedroom. They had been invited to some gala. She wished she could just blow it off and cry herself to sleep, like she’d done so many times before, but she knew that wouldn’t slide.
She heard the door of the bedroom opening, and Leo popped up behind her, his reflection smiling at her through the mirror.
She froze for a breath, but forced herself to stay calm, smoothing the skirt of her dress.
Leo’s voice floated down the hall, casual, amused.
“You look stunning, are you ready?”
Gia turned slowly, finding him leaning against the doorframe, still tucking his dress shirt into his slacks. His golden hair was tousled from obvious reasons. His lazy smirk made her stomach twist.
He sauntered toward her, reaching for her waist, but Gia stepped back sharply.
Leo chuckled. “Come on, amore. Don’t be like that.”
She looked at him — really looked at him — and felt sick.
“Did you even wash that w***e off you yet?” she asked, voice low and shaking with fury.
Instead of getting angry, Leo threw his head back and laughed like she’d told him a joke. He closed the distance again, trapping her against the wall with one hand beside her head.
“Oh, baby. Don’t be jealous,” he crooned. “You’re my queen. She’s just a hole to fuck.”
Gia jerked her chin away, disgust flooding her chest.
Leo leaned in, brushing his lips against her ear. “Sometimes men have needs wives can’t meet. That's what girls like her are for. Whores. It's different with you. You're…sacred.”
Gia swallowed back the bile rising in her throat. She didn’t respond. Didn’t scream or cry. She just…turned her face away.
Leo gave a smug hum of satisfaction, like he thought he’d won something, and brushed invisible lint off her shoulder.
"Now, let me take a quick shower, and then we’ll leave," he said brightly. "Dinner's waiting. We don’t want to be late and disappoint all those boring old men who adore you."
The restaurant was one of the most exclusive places in the city — glittering chandeliers, linen tablecloths, murmured conversation and clinking glasses.
Gia sat beside Leo at the long table, smiling, laughing at all the right moments. She played her role to perfection, even though her mind was racing.
Racing with flashes of Leo, smiling at her while another woman was on him. It was to punish her…and she knew it.
He’d heard about her seeing Dante… but she wondered why he hadn’t brought it up yet.
Dante…
It had rattled her, seeing him today. More than she wanted to admit.
For a few heartbeats, standing there with him looking at her like she still mattered, she'd felt... seen. Like she wasn’t invisible. Like she wasn’t broken.
But then she'd remembered.
He had betrayed her, too. Different sins, same betrayal.
Maybe all men were the same.
Some just smiled better while they ruined you.
Next to her, Leo charmed the room effortlessly. Telling stories. Complimenting wives. Making deals. Gia felt like she was floating above her body, watching herself perform.
When someone brought up the New Horizons charity event that had happened earlier that day, Leo’s hand casually dropped onto her thigh under the table.
He squeezed — hard enough that it wasn't quite playful.
"Ah, yes," Leo said smoothly. "Our Gia has been very busy helping the poor unfortunate souls."
He winked around the table, getting chuckles.
Then, too quietly for anyone but her to hear, he added in a low, patronizing whisper. "And bumping into old flames."
Gia froze, fork pausing halfway to her mouth.
Leo leaned in, murmuring against the shell of her ear. "You didn’t get too nostalgic today, did you, amore?"
Gia forced her face to stay neutral, her smile never slipping. She set her fork down and sipped her wine like nothing had happened.
Her hands trembled slightly beneath the table.
In the car afterward, Leo's hand slid onto her knee again. She stiffened.
"Not tonight," Gia said quietly, staring out the window.
Leo’s jaw flexed, but he didn’t argue. He just withdrew his hand, his face settling into a cold, controlled smile.
The rest of the ride was silent.
And for the first time in a long time…Gia allowed herself to wonder if this life — the perfect life Leo had built for them — was a gilded cage she would never escape.
- Writer
