His Revenge (Smoke & Mirrors Duet #1)

Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

ELLA

“Marriage traditionally is about money and surrendering power but mine gives me my freedom.”

T he only sound reverberating around us in the room was our combined heavy breathing as we both float down from the bliss of our orgasms. He pulls me onto his lap and lays me against his chest. My heart rate is erratic but I feel myself relax into his arms. He is nothing like I expected. I thought he would be rough and heartless like his father and all the stories I heard about the Angel of Death but he is his own man. Now that I think about it, I have never heard a story about him that involves a woman or a child.

We lay in the water with our heartbeats synchronizing, just enjoying the company. I could sit in his lap for the rest of time without a second thought because I am safe. For the first time in my life I am actually able to relax. Trust will take time to build but with everything he has opened up about today, we have an amazing start. The water is losing its heat when one of his arms slides under my knees. Before I can fully register what is happening around me he is stepping out of the bathtub. I release an involuntary shiver from the temperature change.

He sets me on the bathroom counter before wrapping me in a towel. This is the most gentle that anyone on this earth has ever been to me. When I was a child the nannies were there but they had strict instructions not to hold or provide comfort to me. I grew up rocking myself to sleep at night until the monsters started to visit. The first night, I screamed and cried until he covered my face with a pillow and only let me breathe enough to live. When I finally came to, I ran to my nanny and my dad in the kitchen. He excused my caretaker and sat calmly at the table. I hung my head with my tears falling to the table below. He told me that it was my duty to our family and I was required as part of a deal. I was eight but I learned that there was no screaming, hiding or getting away because I had nowhere to go and no one to protect me.

This is different; Leo is less like our fathers and more like the men from my books. The man that makes me shiver in anticipation instead of fear. While I may see the good in him, I feel the darkness just below the surface of those blue eyes and it scares me. There is no way to know if that darkness is contained or if he will one day wrap me in his violence until I cannot breathe to get a reprieve from the violence my life is made of. Then I feel the caress of a towel across my arm and I blink back to the present.

“What thoughts have my Butterfly so lost in her own world?” he inquires gently, treating me like the timid deer I am. Tugging my lower lip into my mouth, I contemplate how to answer that without scaring him away. He may not admit that he thinks that I am damaged but he only knows a fraction of what my history is as the heiress of my fathers empire.

“I am too damaged to be your queen, Leo. I am a broken branch in the forest; you should marry someone better than me,” I say, avoiding his eyes. He won’t like what I have said, but it's the truth. Plain and simple, if he plans to take down our fathers then he needs someone less broken than me. He needs to have a fighter by his side, not a used and abused shell of a woman. I close my eyes and brace for the rejection I have become so accustomed to when I feel him slip away from me.

“Open those eyes, beautiful,” He says in a gentle but firm tone. Three…. Breath… Two… Breath… One… I open my eyes and see the expansive bathroom before I look down. Leo, the fucking Angel of Death is on his fucking knees in the bathroom in front of me.

“You may not feel like it, but you are my queen. You have surprised me time and time again with every conversation. You are resilient and earth-shatteringly beautiful. Each of your scars tells me a new story. I am sorry that I waited to claim you as mine. There are no words to encompass the guilt I bear for your pain, but I can promise you that even with my dying breath, you will be protected.” As the last word leaves his lips the tears spill over.

“You’re on your knees for me,” I utter in disbelief that the strong man I know him to be is currently looking up at me from his knees.

“Every king worth his salt kneels before his queen, and if he is really good, he does it in more than one way,” He says with a smirk as I feel the blush creep up my cheeks.

He rises from the floor placing kisses on my body as he works his way up to my forehead. Leo picks me up bridal-style and carries me to his bed. The room is dark when he sets me down. I squirm under the covers when he turns toward the dresser. Wiggling my way down into his bed I am enveloped in his scent. Typically, I would fight sleep to cover my scars with at least a shirt, but I can't find the will to sit up and lose this feeling. My eyes begin to flutter as I feel the dip next to me. He scoots in closer, pulling me onto his chest and I drift to sleep.

—

The ringing of a phone invades my peaceful sleep. The sound won’t shut up, so I stir. Leo stands up from the bed and walks to the dresser. He grabs a black t-shirt and throws it on while he answers the call.

“Hello,” He says in an emotionless voice. The dark emptiness of his tone has me burrowing into the bed. I can only hear his side of the conversation but he isn’t hiding the call from me which has to be a good sign.

“Understood,” Is the last word he says before he puts the phone down. He turns toward the bed and walks to my side. Turning toward me, I see the fear in his eyes. You could hear both of our shallow breaths, each afraid for our own reasons.

“That was a work call, I'm going away for a day or two. I have to leave within the hour,” He speaks with fear leaking into his voice as I sit up in bed.

“I didn't think that the Angel of Death got scared,” I say in an attempt to lighten the mood plaguing the room. At my words his muscles tense and then his shoulders fall. Finding my way to the edge of the bed sitting right below him, I find his eyes.

“The idea of leaving you unprotected terrifies me. I'm scared that you won't be here to come home to,” His hushed whisper is enough for me to know how raw this is for him.

“I might not feel fit to be your queen but I am not so cowardly that I would run away while you are working. You have given me no reason to fear you. How am I going to leave the house without you when someone clearly wants me dead?” I respond to the question he was afraid to ask. The look in his eyes sends my heart skittering to the altar, ready to be his.

“I know it hasn’t been long but this house feels like a home with you in it. Our journey has just started and even though I’m scared, I am trusting that you will be here when I get back. You are my queen even without marriage. There is nothing in this world that I wouldn’t give to you.” The conviction in his tone sends gooseflesh across my body. Leaning down, he cups my chin bringing our lips together. I lean into the kiss deepening it which causes us both to groan.

The sound of a message coming through on his normal phone interrupts the trajectory of where that kiss was leading. Even if he does have to rush off for the job, there is no reason we couldn’t have made great use of a short amount of time. He reaches for his phone on the dresser and smiles.

“Today I have a surprise for you. Rome is taking you and my sister wedding dress shopping. Maybe he can live up to his romanticized predecessor while keeping you both safe,” His words are almost wistful, matching the mischievous smirk on his face.

“How long do I have to be ready and do I get to carry anything to defend myself considering I have been shot at recently?” I inquire with more bravado than I am feeling. I force my shoulders to keep from swaying. Breathe. In. One. Out. One. His hands find mine, snapping my focus.

“Rome is on his way and will be here in around 30 minutes,” He addresses my first question before crossing the room to his side of the bed. Shuffling the items in the end table, he pulls out a black velvet box. I don’t understand what jewelry he could have that would answer my second question. Wordlessly, he strides back to my side and sits down. Setting the box in my open hands, he watches expectantly. Nothing to lose, I apply resistance to the hinge to open the box. Inside is a stunning blue butterfly knife with Ella inscribed on the side.

“Wow,” is the only phrase my mind can conjure looking at this incredible custom weapon. Tears pricking the corners of my eyes, I remove the knife to see the black material behind it. Unfolding in front of my eyes was a gorgeous knife sheath. Absolutely stunned, every muscle in my body becomes tense unsure how to channel the way this makes me feel. This is not a normal emotion that I have dealt with throughout my life.

“It’s a butterfly for my Butterfly,” he chuckles, wrapping me in his arms. “I had this piece custom ordered for you after our first date. I knew with your smart mouth that you would need a way to defend yourself when I wasn’t there. Rome is going to take you to the range while I am gone. We are sharing a space, and you need to know how to use every weapon that I keep on hand in case you need to. While I will defend you to my dying breath, it is important to me that you can handle your own if the circumstance requires it.”

“I don’t know how to thank you for this,” I squeak, losing my conviction.

“Don’t leave me while I am gone,” He speaks softly, his vulnerability shining through.