Neither of them did. Instead, the other one took a step closer, his gaze dragging over me in a way that made my skin crawl.
“You don’t look like you should be walking around without company,” he drawled out. “Who would let their woman walk around like this alone?”
My stomach dropped. This was all wrong.
“I said move,” I repeated, sharper this time, even as my fingers curled at my sides. “Now. Before my husband sees you.”
The first man laughed under his breath. “Husband?”
My pulse pounded in my ears. I took a step back, but they followed, closing the distance just enough to make it clear I wasn’t getting past them easily.
“Don’t touch me,” I warned.
“Relax,” the second one said, reaching out like he intended to prove he could. “We’re just talking.”
His hand brushed my arm.
Everything in me went still. Not fear. Something colder. If Leo found me now, he’d kill them both. I knew that with a deep certainty.
He grabbed my left arm and inspected it. I tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let me, chuckling darkly.
“No wedding ring,” he told the first guy. “She doesn’t have a husband. Lying little slut.”
“No husband, huh?” the other one said with a smirk. “So you’re looking for some fun. We can give you that. Make you feelreal good.”
The man who was holding my hand twisted my arm behind my back and I cried out in pain while they laughed at me.
“You shouldn’t have done that.” The voice came from behind us. Calm. Controlled.Lethal.
The men froze, just for a second, before turning.
Leo stood a few steps away, his expression unreadable, his gaze fixed entirely on the stranger’s touch still hovering on my wrist. In one hand, he held a smoking cigarette. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes weren’t.
“Back off,” the first man said, trying for confidence and missing it. He let go of me. “We’re not looking for trouble.”
Leo didn’t even acknowledge him. His attention stayed on me. “Did you like it when he touched you, Chiara?”
My throat felt tight. “No.”
That was all it took. The shift was immediate. Leo flicked the cigarette away and sighed. Then, he moved without warning, closing the distance in a few long strides. The man barely had time to react before Leo’s hand caught him by the throat, slamming him back hard enough that the sound echoed.
“Hey man, we’re just looking for some fun,” the guy choked out, hands clawing at Leo’s firm grip. “She looked lonely.”
“Wrong answer,” Leo said quietly.
The second man lunged forward, but it didn’t matter. It was already over. There was a flash of movement, something cold and precise, and then…
Blood. Running out of the first man’s stomach, making him gurgle his now incoherent words.
The man choked on the blood, his body jerking as Leo drove the blade in with brutal efficiency, not once, not twice, but enough times to make it final.
The world went quiet. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
The first man collapsed to the ground, the sound heavy and wrong against the pavement. The other one staggered back, pale, shaking, his bravado gone. He turned on his heels and ran.
Leo let the body fall like it meant nothing. Then he turned, slowly.
His gaze found me again, dark and steady, like nothing about what just happened had unsettled him in the slightest.
