Leona wanted to argue, to scream at him that perhaps that was exactly who she was, and despite whatever he might think, she was as broken and lost as she seemed. But she didn’t. She simply sat quietly, waiting for him to finish getting the towels from the shelf and placing them in a tumble dryer under the cabinet beside the sink she hadn’t noticed.
Tony walked over to her and dropped down so he could look her in the eye. “Right, let’s get you out of those pajamas and into the shower.”
Leona balked, trying to remember the last time she’d had a shower, and was immediately horrified at how hard it was to remember when that had been. “I can do it myself. I don’t need you to help me.”
Tony grinned at her, and the boyish nature of it surprised her. “See, now here’s the thing,bellezza mia, you might not need me to help you, but I find that I need it very much. Trust me. Let’s get you outta these clothes and into the shower. Once I know you can stand by yourself and that you’ll be okay in the shower, I’ll leave you to it. I promise.” His voice was beguiling and warm, and Leona found herself allowing him to gently tug her up to stand on her own two feet.
She groaned as her back and legs protested the move, and she gasped when Tony dropped to his knees before her, running his hands down the muscles in her lower back, hips, and thighs.
“Yeah, you’re tight as a drum all through here, Lee.” He continued to caress and rub the ache out of her legs until she was able to stand completely upright. Mostly. “The water is going to feel so good.”
She inhaled as Tony slipped his hands into the waistband of her pajama pants and slid them off before she could stop him, taking her functional black panties with them.
He stood, lifting the long-sleeve top up and off in a move so confident she found herself lifting her arms to make it easier for him. She was standing completely naked before him in a few short seconds and flinched when she heard his swift intake of breath.
“I know,” she whispered, dropping her head so that her hair swept around her, hiding her face from his view. “It’s not a very pretty sight. The scars are nothing but a turn-off. I’m sorry.”
She heard Tony exhale and watched as he lifted his hand to slide the side of his index finger under her chin to urge her face up. “Bellezza mia,you have nothing to apologize for. And I have to disagree. The sight I’m seeing is very,very,pretty.”
Leona felt as if she were drowning in his gaze. “I am covered in scar tissue. Angelo took a knife to me and I—”
She stopped when he shook his head, trembling as he swept his thumb across her lower lip. “No. He has no place in this moment, not between you and me,neverbetween you and me. I see the scars, Lee, but to me they are beautiful. They are a badge of honor my woman wears that tells me that she survived. For me.” Leona watched in awe as he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, and he slid his hand down her arm, to take her hand. “And if you think what I’m looking at is a turn-off”—Tony pressed her hand to his cock, and her eyes widened at the impressive proof of his arousal—“the state of my dick should tell you that’s just bullshit.”
Tony gently stepped back, keeping a hold of her hand and leading her to the shower. “Climb on in and take your time, baby. I’ll scope out the kitchen and see what I can rustle up for dinner.” He handed her into the massive tiled shower and Leona groaned at how good the hot water felt against her skin. “I love that sound you just made,bellezza mia, and I look forward to tasting it straight from your lips as I draw that groan of pleasure from you with the decadent things I plan to do to your body. When you’re finished, take one of the towels from the dryer. They’ll be soft and warm for you.”
Leona stood there for a moment in complete shock as he walked out of the bathroom like he hadn’t just turned her world upside down. He’d seen her completely naked, and he’d liked what he saw, but what had her heart beating so fast she pressed the palm of her hand against her chest was the fact he called her his. His woman. Of course, she knew that was nothing but a pipe dream, something she was no longer capable of being, but hearing him say it definitely left its mark.
The hope she tried to ignore unfurling within her was proof of that.
****
Tony desperately wanted to punch someone, or in the very least something, but feared Leona would hear it and he would scare her. When he’d arrived at the house, he’d been thankful to see two of the family cars near the house. That at least meant Leona had been protected while she was here. When he’d come around the corner of the house toward the back when she didn’t respond to his knocking, he’d hesitated when he’d first laid eyes on her. He stood for a moment, looking at her in the late afternoon light, thinking how beautiful she looked sitting on the deck enjoying the solitude of the lake house.
He frowned when he realized he’d been standing there for a long while, and she hadn’t moved. Tony walked quickly to the deck, taking the stairs two at a time, and went straight to her. He called her name twice, not wanting to scare her with his sudden appearance, but she didn’t respond. When he dropped to his knees in front of her, his heart broke. Her beautiful blue eyes were vacant, and she was just not there. He’d cursed when he felt how cold she was and had to stop himself from shaking her too hard, desperate for her to come back to him. Those moments before she registered he was there had been the longest of his life. He’d been so damn scared, even more so than the night Angelo took his father from him, and he’d had to say goodbye to his dad over the damn phone.
He hadn’t been lying when he told her what he thought about her scars. She’d always been beautiful, but knowing how strong she was and seeing the scars that represented it made her even more so. Make no mistake, if he could go back and take his time with Angelo, he would. He would make Angelo pay for everything he’d done to Leona and more. He would’ve revisited the pain he wrought on her tenfold before Tony killed the bastard.
Taking a deep breath and praying for the calm he desperately needed, he walked into the kitchen and began to pull things together to make something for her to eat. Leona had lost weight. A lot of it, and he intended to ensure she got every pound back and more. It was clear to him that she had been neglecting her health, not eating, and he wondered if she’d fallen into that strange vacantness before. Despite her weight loss, she was still gorgeous. There was no denying that, or his reaction to her.
Even now, with nothing but the memory of how she looked standing naked before him, his cock thickened quickly behind the zipper of his trousers. With a shake of his head and cursing his lack of control when it came to his Leona, he reached down to adjust himself. He needed to stop thinking about her long enough to get dinner cooked and the table set. He wanted to impress her and standing here with a hard-on wasn’t going to do that. At least not yet.
With a short laugh at his own stupid joke, he got busy. He was going to feed his woman, and the thought of it played to some deep-seated need he had to provide for her. He could see himself cooking for her a lot in the future and loving every minute of it. He just had to convince her to let him.
