7.Fear

" Where is she?!"

The voice of Leonardo boomed, and silence fell upon the room when the door burst open, and his long legs strode in; my breath hitched when his eyes scanned the room and fell upon me.

My heart skipped a beat as he marched towards me, each footstep he took sent fear down my spine.

His eyes blazed with fury, and his hands twisted into knots, veins popping out of his forehead.

"Did you plan with Marco to take Sophia away?" He asked, veins popping out of his forehead, my forehead contorted with confusion.

I know Marco is Leonardo's blood-bound enemy, and I won't dare to have anything to do with him while under Leonardo. I can't even contact him since I haven't set my eyes on any phone since my caption.

"No, I ......" My words were silenced when he gripped my neck, squeezing it tightly; his eyes were bloodshot, just like that day at the club when he murdered my fellow worker.

My eyes widened with fear as I hit his arm repeatedly but the strength increased instead.

He looked so fearsome right now, my eyes brimmed with tears, blurring my view.

"Daddy," the soft voice of Sophia seemed to bring back the human in him and his grip loosened. I lost my balance, falling limply to the floor.

I coughed while catching my breath. My breath came in short pants now.

Sophia stood at the accompanied by a blonde lady on corporate, probably a teacher. I rushed to her, checking her out before attempting to pull her into my embrace, which she evaded as fast as lightning, and ran into her dad's outstretched arms.

I panicked when I couldn't find her. It reminded me of the day, we lost my elder brother Alex at the train station.

Tears streamed down my face, as I started sobbing, cleaning my soot with the back of my hands.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, she rolled her eyes while Leonardo nodded.

"She requested to go to the bathroom and we got caught up when she slipped. I'm sorry sir." The lady apologized, her head bowed.

"It's okay, thank you," Leonardo said, throwing Sophia up his shoulders and pulling me with his other arm while he walked out of the room in long strides as I struggled to keep up with his pace.

Embarrassment flushed my cheeks when I noticed the gazes from the security, they must've been startled by my tears. I hurriedly wiped my tears while avoiding their eyes.

******

I was brought out of my trance when Leonardo slammed the door shut after we got into the car.

"Home," he said to the driver before moving his gaze to me, "someone needs to be punished." He continued before shutting his eyes and holding Sophia against his chest.

My breath hitched, and my eyes watered, "Please, I would never do anything to hurt Sophia." I pleaded, holding his arms which he swung off, and his eyes wanted to bury me six feet away.

" Stop the car," he thundered, my eyes danced with confusion between him and the driver.

"Get out," he said, his eyes still shut. I hesitated, but the driver opened the door by my side, and I stepped down.

"I better not wait for you at home," he said while Sophia stuck out her tongue at me before the door was shut and the driver pulled away.

I stood transfixed; there was no car in sight, as expected in a high-profile environment.

I knew the only option was walking home. I had already covered a long distance, and my legs were aching badly when I heard my name; I turned to see Sophia's driver gesturing me to get in.

"What did you do to boss? " He asked, keeping his gaze on me as I settled beside him.

" I have to drop you near home in order not to fall into the boss's bad book. You know he's a good man, just be good."

"I wish," I said and he chuckled.

I didn't know the distance from the estate gate to the house was quite far until Jude, the driver, dropped me off.

I was sweating and thirsty by the time I got to the house, I ignored the looks from the workers and pushed the door open.

The rich sounds of laughter of men welcomed me.

"You can't be serious that you are bringing that girl to the party. You know how explosive she can be." A familiar voice said.

" I have never been serious with anything in my life, I'm gonna keep her around until I can push Olivia off my back," Leonardo said.

" How do you keep her in check then? You know how unpredictable she can be."

Leonardo laughed pouring a wine into his bottle before bringing it to his lips. "Not when I have her in my thumbs. Don't worry your little brains."

" I can't wait to see the look on Olivia and your dad's face." Inovan said. I can recognize Inovan's voice from anywhere. It has this richness and sexiness that always made me happy.

I wished I had let things work between us when he asked me out then I won't have been in this mess.

"You know you are calling for trouble? Olivia won't let you be if she finds out that you came to the party with Emma, of all people, a bartender, she would definitely flip."

" Exactly why I'm bringing her, I want her to feel threatened by someone that is way below her," Leonardo continued, "someone classless. You know she'd always say that I cheated on her with Emma."

I gulped nervously. 'Where's is he taking me to?' I asked myself before coming out of the corner.

They became quiet and fixed their scrutinizing looks on me.

Especially Inovan who has that look like he wants to strip me of my clothes.

I kept my face down and made to walk the stairs when Leonardo stopped me.

"This isn't the time I told you to get back to this house." He stated, staring into my eyes and I held his gaze.

"How did you expect me to get back home when you left me at such place?" I retorted, anger took over my nerves with my eyes blazing.

The fear I had previously was totally gone.

He dropped the glasses with a loud thud and took quick steps towards me before Inovan held him.

"Just let her be," he said to him before gesturing me to go away.

The rest of the guys burst into laughter.

"So much for someone you can control, told you she's explosive." One of the guys said.

Leonardo's next words stopped me in my track and my body started to shake profusely before I turned to them again.

"What do you mean?" I asked, my voice shaking.