Page 20 of Bound in Obsession
I toss the towel aside. “Exactly. She’s troublesome as hell. I need eyes on her at all times. That girl would try to climb out a window the second she thinks no one is looking. This way I can keep a close watch on her.”
Marco studies me for a beat too long, like he wants to say more, but thinks better of it. “Okay,” he finally says, nodding. “I’ll leave you to your workout.”
He turns and walks out, closing the door behind him.
I sit there on the bench, staring at the weights, chest still heaving. Whatever he thinks is the reason I put her in the room next to mine, he’s wrong.
Is he?
I ignore the voice in my head and load on more weight, pushing through another brutal set. The burn in my chest and shoulders feels good, grounding.
Gallo finding the location of the estate isn’t a surprise. I expected it. When he finally comes for his bride, we’ll be ready. He’s not getting Eleonora until I’ve squeezed every last concession I want out of both him and Caruso. The alliance will crumble first. Only then will I decide what to do with her.
I rack the bar with a heavy clang, sit up, and wipe the sweat from my face with the towel. My muscles are pumped and screaming, but my mind is already shifting to the basement. Last night, one of my warehouses was hit hard. I know Gallo had a hand in it. Today, I’m going to find out exactly how deep that hand went.
I head downstairs toward the kitchen to grab water before dealing with our new guest.
Lea is already in there, bustling around like a tornado in an apron. The smell of fresh coffee, bacon, and eggs fills the air. She’s been running this house since I was a kid. She practically raised me after my mother died. The only woman on this earth who can talk to me like I’m still ten years old and actually get away with it.
“Morning, Nico,” she says without turning around, flipping something in the pan.
“Morning, Lea.”
I open the fridge, grab a cold bottle of water, and twist the cap off.
She plates eggs, bacon, and toast and sets it on the breakfast bar. “Come sit and have breakfast.”
I give a shake of my head. “I don’t have time.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “You never have time,” she fires back, hands on her hips. “Look at you, skin and bones lately. You think you can run an empire on black coffee and that hideous stuff you always drink?” she waves her hands referring to my protein shakes.
“Sit down and eat something before you go off torturing people or whatever it is you do in that basement of yours.”
I open my mouth, but she keeps going, waving a spatula like a weapon.
“You barely touched dinner last night. You think I don’t notice? You need fuel. Now sit.”
I just watch her, the corner of my mouth twitching despite myself. Lea is the closest thing I have to family. The only person who still sees the kid behind the Don.
She slides the plate closer to me with a raised brow, daring me to argue.
I exhale through my nose. “Fine,” I mutter, dropping into the chair. “I’ll eat. Happy?” I mutter, stabbing a piece of egg.
Lea smiles, satisfied. “Ecstatic. Now eat. The world can wait five minutes while you remember you’re still human.”
I shake my head, but I eat.
“I already sent Daniel upstairs to bring your visitor down for breakfast.”
The second she says “visitor,” my fork pauses halfway to my mouth. Eleonora.
I don’t need her walking in here while I’m trying to choke down food and deal with Lea’s mothering. I’ve barely slept. All night I kept replaying the balcony, how close I came to kissing her, how her breath hitched when I had her pressed against the stone, how badly I wanted to taste those lips of hers.
She’s been plaguing my thoughts like a fucking fever. I can’t even go an hour without her invading my thoughts. There’ssomething about her that’s both infuriating and strangely appealing. I can’t explain it and it pisses me off.
As if summoned, I hear footsteps and raise my head to find Eleonora walking into the kitchen.
And fuck me.
