Forever, Amore

5.

Leo's P.O.V

Seven years ago...

I was packing up the last of my things before Roe got here. I surprised her with a trip to Hawaii as a birthday gift seems though she'd spoke about it all the time. Checking my bag, I made sure I had everything. This trip has to be perfect. I was planning on asking that beautiful brunette to be mine; finally!

Carrying my suitcase downstairs, my father bust through the door, sweat dripping from his face as his eyes were flooded with panic. I instantly knew what he was about to say, silently praying I was wrong.

But I wasn't.

We were too late.

"I'm sorry son. The mission backfired. There was no way we could've taken down Hans like that. You know the only other option we have now."

Anger fuelled my body at the thought of leaving her behind. My amore.

"We can't just run! We can't leave her! She has no one dad, no one without us. It'll break her heart.." i pleaded him to stay and fight but deep down I knew it was for the best.

Although it was honestly the most soul crushing moment, I knew that I was being selfish by staying. I knew she would die. And I would rather leave than watch that. If it meant my amore was safe, that she could grow old, then that's what we had to do.

"Can I at least say goodbye?" I enquired, my voice breaking as we loaded up the car. This earned a sad look from my father. "Trust me, son, I would love nothing more than to say goodbye to her. She's like a daughter to me. But I know that if anyone saw us near her, she'd be dead instantly."

A single tear rolled down my cheek, knowing that last night, when I held her in my arms and kissed her goodnight, was the last time. I was grieving her already. I was grieving for the love we could've shared. But I was truly broken at the thought that she would turn up to see we were gone.

"Now do you understand?" I spoke quietly to her after retelling that event to her as tears welled in her eyes before finally cascading down her face. "You could've returned. Seven years and you couldn't spare a single minute?" She murmured.

I leaned back in my seat, feeling pained by the sight of her crying. "I knew that making contact with you would be me signing your death sentence. It wasn't fair to you.."

She slammed her hands down on my desk in pain and frustration. "No! The moment you left me all alone, my life was nothing anymore! I would have rather been killed happy then to have lived all these years in pain!" She yelled, the tears flooding from her eyes now. "But of course you wouldn't have seen how much I was suffering, because you weren't there!!"

I looked down at the ground at that last sentence. The truth was I never let her out of my sight. I always kept up with what she was doing. And I knew exactly how much she was hurting.

That broke me. That sight changed me from the gentle kid to the ruthless leader. That sight broke my soul.

Monroe had always been intelligent, been able to read me like an open book. So my reaction made her chuckle in disbelief. "Only, you did know. Didn't you?"

I watched as she pieced it all together. "Is that why I met Kat? Did you send her to babysit me!?" She yelled even louder. "No! I sent her to protect you, to support you when I couldn't." I responded but she was too angry to believe me.

"Why am I here!?" She repeated again. "Why am I leverage if you fought so hard to keep me in the shadows? Because it sounds to me like that was a whole waste of fucking time!"

She was mad. No, she was hurt. Monroe kept reading through the file until her eyes widened even more. I knew what she had seen just answered her questions.

Her eyes connected with mine as the file dropped out of her hands. "Why him?" Was all she could stutter out as she sat back down.

I just shook my head at her. "I don't know why. All I know is that he's Hans' right hand man, his second in command, his deputy. It makes no sense to any of us. But I guess that explains how they knew where you were and your connection to me and my family."

She staggered out of her chair and walked towards the door before muttering "I need some air." And left. After calling for one of my men to keep an eye on her, I picked up the file off the floor to see his photo.

Thomas Winter.