FURY OF THE HEART

Elara's POV

My hand still on the handle, I stood transfixed in front of the door and felt my heart hammer in my chest. The last person I ever would have expected to see again was the man just entering the room.

Leo Voltov.

The one man I had attempted to ignore but had never really succeeded—the one who had tormented my thoughts and nightmares for years. His presence seemed to me as a sudden, piercing punch to my gut. His dark eyes, still bursting with the same intensity, latched onto mine and I felt my breath stop. His lips closed into a half-smirk, the same one that had once caused my heart to skip in an incomprehensible manner.

"You're looking as gorgeous as ever, Elara," Leo's voice was low and carried the deadly undertone I had grown too familiar with.

Though my pulse accelerated, I suppressed any feeling. I wasn't ready to let him know how much he still impacted me.

" What are you doing here?" My speech came out frigid, betraying none of the emotions running inside me. I wanted to ignore how much I had missed him, how much I had prayed our paths would never meet once more.

Leo answered, "I was just looking for you," advancing forward and his big, thick frame towers over me. "You have been hard to locate."

My back straight, I kept my ground while the air around us seemed to thicken. "Leaving nothing to do with you, Leo, is unacceptable. Not following all that has happened."

His smile never wavered even while his eyes clouded. "You believe you could walk away from everything, Elara? From my vantage point? From inside the family? You are not able to decide that.

Though I refused to let him see it, the words stung more than I would confess. I refused to fall for him once more. Not following all through.

"I chose," I responded, my voice harsh. And it's not you as well. You are not going to be it.

Leo's eyes blazed with something—anger, regret, maybe even a sliver of pain—but it vanished as soon as it started. He advanced another step forward, without turning away from me. "You think you have it all figured out, but not so sure?" Now his voice was a whisper, but it had underlying strength that made my skin prickle. "You believe that in all of this your family is innocent? You believe they have never misled you? You have barely touched the tip of what is actually happening, Elara."

I swallowed, resisting the need to grab the revolver stashed beneath my coat. But I could not afford to exhibit any anxiety. not now. not alongside him.

"I object to your lies, Leo. Not now, not ever again," I said, cutting and merciless.

Still, he wasn't determined. He only grinned, that same knowing, perilous smile that constantly made me feel as though I was over my head. Elara, you will have to listen. Given you are already in this. Whether or whether you find it appealing.

Trying to ignore the way his words set something deep inside me, I tightened my hands. I had to keep my strength. For me personally. For every creation I have produced.

"What do you want from me?" I asked, my voice a little quieter than I meant, but I couldn't help it. Leo had a knack of getting under my skin in ways nobody else could and of undermining my barriers.

He moved still another step forward, a dark and focused gaze. "I want you to quit acting as though you could leave this behind. Elara, you can't Not when you are as much a part of this earth as I am. Your family already assures that.

Shaking my head, I couldn believe him. "Numer. I refuse to let them run my life. Not right now. Never once more."

Leo's voice dropped to a whisper and his eyes softened momentarily. You actually believe you could battle them by yourself? You already find yourself imprisoned, Elara. Always you have been. But right here right now is me. And I will assist you as well. If you allow me.

His words seemed to me as heat, penetrating the most recessive areas of my soul where the suffering and uncertainty I had buried for years lived. Right was what he said. I found myself caught. I would never tell him though.

"No," I responded, my voice stronger than I felt. "I need your help not here."

Leo's smile wavered somewhat, but he did not back down. "You are not free to choose." He moved forward still another step, his face inches from mine now. "You never did."

There was obvious conflict between us; the air was dense with unspoken words and feelings neither of which we ventured to express. His presence overwhelmed me in ways I never knew how to manage; I could feel the heat emanating off him.

I murmured, trying to pass him, "You're wrong," but he reached out and grasped my wrist, halting me squarely.

His hold was strong, relentless, and for a brief instant I sensed something perilous pass between us. Then he let go, his eyes never straying from mine.

"I doubt you grasp what you are dealing with," Leo murmured softly, his voice tinged with a grim passion. "This relates not just to us. It relates to your family. And every action they have done. The lies. The allegiance betrayed. From your perspective, Dmitri is on your side? You believe Mara worries about you? The first chance they get will send you to the wolves.

Though I attempted to swallow the knot in my throat, I failed. My thoughts whirled while my heart hammered. Leo's comments were breaking through the barriers I had erected around myself, and for the first time in a long time I was beginning to question all I knew.

"I don't believe you," I murmured, but even as the words came out of my mouth, a part of me questioned if I should.

Leo stretched out his fingers gently, almost compassionate, touching my cheek. "You are not obliged to believe me, Elara. you will, though. At last. Given that the truth is unavoidable."

I found myself unable to breathe. I stopped thinking. I was losing control as the world whirled about me.

"Leo...," I began, but before I could say anything more the room's door sprang open and a man entered.

I froze, my pulse missing a beat.

It was Dmitri.

His icy wrath directed on Leo chilled me down from the spine. "What the heavens is going on here?"

The room went quiet for a minute; the tension was so strong you could slice it with a knife.

Leo's voice was calm and consistent; he hardly glanced at Dmitri as he spoke. "Just catching up"

Dmitri said nothing, but his jaw tightened and I could see the wrath building inside him. Rather, he fixed his frigid attention on me. "Elara, we really ought to chat. now."

My head whirled while my heart accelerated. The game was changing, and I wasn't sure I could handle what followed. But I had no choice. I was already delving too deeply.

I back off, staring between Leo and Dmitri. I felt everything was going to change; the tension hovered in the air like a dense cloud.

And I wondered whether I was ready for it.

Dmitri's hand rushed out before I could talk, snatching my wrist with a grasp that burned my skin. "You are joining me. Currently.

Leo muttered nothing yet his eyes flashed with something primordial. He was not obliged of course. Unspoken tension permeated the room, and at that instant I realized I would not be able to leave whatever transpired. Not from either of their respective companies.

No more.