My heart pounds in my chest. There’s no way Luca would have sent him to kill me, he’ll want that for himself. It doesn’t mean he won’t beat me and prime me up for his brother.
He sets his sights on Victoria and goes over to her. Rudi moves to her side and Leo kneels in front of her. He gently grips her chin and assesses her injuries. Her eye has nearly swollen shut and the bruise is an angry purple. I didn’t notice before but her lip has been split open too.
She blinks. It’s like she has finally noticed who is in front of her.
“Leo? What are you doing here?” Her voice trembles and makes me feel a shit ton worse.
“Luca called. He’s still a day out, I’m only a few hours away, shorter when I break all the speed limits.” He smiles and she begins to relax. It’s short lived when she tells him, “I killed her, Leo.”
“Self-defence, sweetheart. You did what you had to do.” He cups her cheek. “How much of this blood is yours?”
River’s cries float down to the bar. Leo tells Rudi, “Can you go get my nephew?”
She disappears upstairs and Leo asks Victoria, “Are you hurt anywhere we can’t see?”
She shakes her head and asks, “When will Luca be home?”
“If he’s riding like I did, he’ll be here soon. I’ll stay with you until he gets back.”
Rudi comes down with River and Leo stands and takes him from her. “Can you help her get showered. She needs to scrub her hands, cut her nails as short as you can. Yeah?”
Rudi nods and takes hold of Victoria’s hand. Once they’re up the stairs, Leo turns to me. He can’t do much with his nephew in his arms.
“I’m telling you now, when Luca takes one look at her, he’s going to lose his shit.”
“I know, fuck, do I know. She was in Willow’s Peak. It was only crazy tits and me here. How was I meant to know she’d come back during the night?”
“That’s the thing with my brother, he expects you to know everything.”
Don’t I know it.
“Tell me what you know,” Leo orders.
It doesn’t take long since I don’t know much. “So my brother gave you one order to keep the Mayor’s daughter away from his old lady and tonight my sister-in-law had to kill her in self-defence?”
“That’s about it, yeah. Fuck! Luca’s gonna kill me.”
“Nah, he won’t, but he’s gonna hurt you and you’re gonna wish he would.”
Again, Fuck!
Leo slumps down on a chair and takes out his phone while keeping River in one arm. No guesses as to who he is calling.
As Luca’s riding, it takes him a beat to answer.
“Yeah, I’m here. Keep your head on the road,” Leo says.
He glances at me, no doubt Luca asking shit I’ll have to pay for later. “I won’t play it down, she’s a little banged up. Her eye’s swollen, busted lip, a couple of bruises, and the bitch bit her on the shoulder.”
Even I hear Luca’s rage from Leo’s end of the call.
“She’s alive, I’m here, she’ll be okay.”
Leo’s encouragement to calm him down goes unheard and he turns his back on me, lowering his voice as he speaks.
Warren looks at me like I’m already dead and the prospect shrugs it off like he couldn’t give a shit.
The call ends and Leo ignores me as he walks around the bar and grabs himself a bottle of beer.
