Young Queen

FORTY SEVEN

Leo didn't sleep much that night, the anxiety he was feeling from the events of the day before plaguing his mind. Aria was fast asleep, and he watched her as small snores left her pouty lips. He held her tighter than he ever had before, scared that he would lose her either by death or by his own mistakes of hiding things from her.

He wanted to tell her, now more than ever. However, he swore he wouldn't, he couldn't. The consequence of breaking a sworn oath was death, and that was nonnegotiable, even if he was the Don. It was how they kept secrets in the family, it was how they kept loyalty.

But what did loyalty matter if he couldn't be loyal and truthful with Aria; the person he gave his heart, mind, body, and soul to. What did any of this matter, if he ended up losing her in the end?

She had forgiven him for everything he had done, even if his mistakes weren't intentional. Truthfully, he didn't know how to do normal. He didn't know how to have a normal relationship, how to love someone normally, he didn't know how to act like a normal eighteen-year-old man. He could blame all of the mistakes he had made with Aria on that idea alone, but he didn't. She deserved more than the excuse that he wasn't normal, that he had so much unresolved fucking trauma and that was why he did some of the things that he did.

But he was working on himself, and he thanked everything that Aria was stubborn as hell and had no problem putting him in his place. He was also so grateful that she was so forgiving, and held a heart full of love. Even after everything she had gone through, she managed to love him, her family and friends, and hold a smile on her face. She was still able to enjoy the small, normal things in life and he admired her for that so much.

She was stronger than she would ever know, and he only wished he could be as strong as her. He was raised this way. His whole life was surrounded by the idea that he had to fit the role of Don, of being a fear-inducing leader. She didn't though. She was thrown into everything, even by the hands of his father, and she adapted. Leo would never forget just how powerful she was, and he was damn lucky to have her in his life.

He wished he could tell her that his father planned for her to take the life of Dimitri in exchange for her protection from the family. However, he couldn't. She had just managed to get over what had happened that night, he couldn't possibly tell her that he had known about it way before it happened. He couldn't tell her that when he tried to fight his father on it, Steven had pulled a gun on his own son, threatening to end him and her if Leo so much as uttered a word of it to Aria.

Leo's relationship with Steven was ... complicated, to say the least. He just had to remind himself that everything Steven did was to train Leo to be the best leader he could be. He couldn't let himself believe that Steven would've taken his son's life and Aria's life if he told. However, deep down, Leo knew his father was ruthless, unforgiving, and a snake. But Aria had a great relationship with Steven, so Leo allowed him to stick around. There were also times when Leo found himself truly enjoying his father's presence and appreciated being able to confide in things with him. As he said, the relationship was complicated.

She murmured something in her sleep, pushing her head deeper into his chest. He smiled at her actions, just holding her in his arms bringing him unmeasurable amounts of joy. She was so peaceful while she slept.

He also knew that she deserved to know the truth, and it was just a matter of time until the Russian's leaked the information to her. Leo just had to find a way to tell Aria without raising suspicions of the council and his father in the process.

It seemed Leo had just barely closed his eyes when his alarm went blaring through the quiet room. He groaned, feeling no motivation to go to his workout this morning.