Love Me Harder +18

12

LEOANDRO'S POV

“She left.” Adrian said it. I felt his words in my bones it stuck.

Silence.

My fingers stilled against the paper.

I prayed it wasn't what I was thinking but I knew better.

“What do you mean she left?”

“She packed a few bags yesterday morning. Took a flight to Chicago.”

Chicago.

My jaw clenched instantly.

The café.

Her old life.

“She tell anyone?”

“No.”

I leaned back slowly, forcing my expression blank even as something violent moved inside me.

Adrian watched me carefully.

“You want us to bring her back?”

Every instinct screamed yes.

Drag her back.

Lock every door.

Keep her where I could protect her.

But another part of me remembered the sadness in her eyes.

The loneliness.

The way I'd practically abandoned her after forcing her into marriage.

She needed space.

Even if it killed me.

“No,” I said finally.

Adrian looked surprised.

I lit a cigarette slowly. “Put men on her.”

“You think she's in danger?”

I exhaled smoke. “She's my wife. That alone makes her a target.”

But that wasn't the only reason.

I needed to know she was safe.

Needed to know she was eating.

Sleeping.

Smiling.

Breathing.

Needed to know she was okay even if she hated me.

So my men watched from a distance.

And I tortured myself with reports.

“She works morning shifts.”

“She walks home alone sometimes.”

“She looks tired.”

“She cried after closing last night.”

Every update carved into me like a knife.

Then came the call.

I was in the middle of a meeting when Adrian entered quietly.

One look at his face and the room emptied immediately.

“What happened?”

“A van was spotted outside the café yesterday.”

"Too still the engine was running, the windows tinted. Our mean detected 5 heat signatures"

The air in the room shifted instantly.

Deadly.

My voice dropped dangerously low. “And?”

“We are still watching.”

I stood so abruptly my chair slammed backward.

“Get the jet ready.”

Adrian nodded once.

“Already done.”

The flight to Chicago felt endless.

I barely slept.

Barely spoke.

All I could think about was her.

Alone.

Unprotected.

And suddenly every reason I'd given myself for staying away sounded pathetic.

Weak.

Because distance wasn't protecting her.

It was hurting both of us.

Cold wind hit me the moment I stepped onto Chicago streets the next morning.

The city was alive around me.

Cars.

Voices.

Movement.

But all I focused on was the small café down the block.

My wife's café.

I spotted it immediately.

Warm lights glowing through windows.

People laughing inside.

Something felt wrong.

I could see the van Adrian talked about there sitting idle.

The door had closed.

And then—

Gunshots I heard them before I saw it.

Picking up my pace then I saw her.

She exited through the back.

My chest tightened painfully at the sight of her.

She was running full on sprinting like her life depended on it.

It did.

She looked thinner.

Tired.

But still beautiful enough to ruin me.

With her looking constantly behind to see if the men were still following her she kept on running until-

And slammed directly into me.

She tilted like she was about to fall.

I caught her before anything could happen.

She froze.

Slowly her eyes lifted.

And there it was.

Shock.

Disbelief.

Panic

Then relief.

It all came the anger creeped in slowly.

Sliding into her features.

Seeing her up close after weeks nearly undid me.

I stared down at her.

Really stared.

Blonde hair secured behind her head with a scrunchie.

Pink lips parted slightly.

Those emerald eyes looking at me like I was both salvation and heartbreak.

God, I'd missed her.

“You are becoming very difficult to retrieve, wife,” I said quietly.