“When Seppi went to the Bellomo mansion and killed Leo’s mother and his unborn sister, he was
supposed to kill Leo, too, but Leo was out with his father that day. Tino and Leo Bellomo lived, but
something changed in Leo that day. I could see it in his eyes. Darkness. But, for whatever reason, it didn’t scare me back then. I fell for him and his darkness hard, and I thought he loved me, too.
Everything proved he did.
“His father had taken him to San Francisco for a while after the murder, but when they returned and
Tino burned the Seppis and the Romanovs alive, Leo saved me and helped me escape. And even
though his father had given another Mafia family in San Francisco his word that Leo would have
married one of their girls, Leo told me he’d have never married anyone but me. He defied his family
for me, saved my life, took care of me and chose to stay with me. How could I not have loved him?”
“Why did he shoot you?”
I wiped my eyes with the heels of my palms. “For four years, everything was fine. Even when Tino
Bellomo found out about me, surprisingly, he didn’t kill me. He said killing little girls wasn’t
something he did. He actually commended Leo for saving me and even helped us with his money.
“As Gloria Morelli, I was safe, living with the boy I loved, away from all the Bratva and Mafia
crap. I got a fake family that worked for the Bellomos for all intents and purposes so social services wouldn’t suspect anything. I was getting the best teachers at home. Leo split his time between Chicago and San Francisco to be with me. I even had a Tumblr account to secretly talk to him or ask him to
come over whenever I missed him. He always showed up. I’d never been happier…or so I’d
thought.”
“What happened?”
“College happened.”
“What do you mean?”
“Leo is…intense. Jealous, possessive… He didn’t like that I was out in the world again,
surrounded by boys of all kinds. . I used to like how protective he was of me, his jealousy and
possessiveness, too, but I was too young, and I guess as I grew up, I started to notice things about him.
Things that aren’t…” I sighed. “His behavior changed, and we fought a lot. Until one day, he got
violent.”
“He beat you?”
Fresh tears burned my eyes. “Yes. Over my Psychology professor who kept warning me about Leo
manifesting abnormal psychotic behavior. Leo held me at our place for days, tying me, beating me,
raping me, and he threatened to kill anybody I’d tell, especially the professor.”
“Son of a bitch.”
