Sorry it was such a long wait for this chapter. A lot has happened since the last update and I've just gotten my life back in the direction I needed it to.
Regular updates from now on, just like the good old days!
Thank you all for being patient and continuing to support me.
With that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Love,
Gennie xx
*********************
CHAPTER 14
My cheeks were red from embarrassment as his mother invited us inside. The smell of freshly baked bread was in the air and my mouth watered. I was so hungry.
The decorations inside, and the house itself looked to belong to someone who was quite wealthy, and I guessed that Leonardo was probably the sole provider for his family until he had to leave. He would have been quite well off considering he was a guard for the pope himself.
It was strange to think, because Leonardo never talked about whether or not he had a faith.
The orphanage I was brought up in was strictly against Catholicism, so to a certain degree, I was brought up as a protestant, although as you can tell, I don't really follow the rules of the Bible.
However, I never questioned whether there was a god, I had just always known it in my mind. Even though I had been through extremely difficult times that did make me question his existence, I never gave up on praying, and I always got an answer when I did.
Leonardo and I had never talked about this, and I wondered all of a sudden what he believed in.
His mother showed us to her kitchen, and she happily pulled out two seats from the big wooden table in the middle of the room.
"Grazie," Leonardo said, making himself comfortable at the table.
She put a plate of steamy fresh bread rolls in front of us and a slab of butter. I anxiously waited for Leonardo to take one first, before joining him and cramming down one after the other to subside the hunger that lurked in my stomach.
Once we'd finished, the two of them began talking amongst themselves in Italian. I sipped quietly on the cup of tea she had placed in front of me while they talked. It was annoying that I couldn't understand, but I knew they had a lot of catching up to do, and no doubt she wanted to know what he'd been up to while he was away.
I waited patiently until eventually, his mother turned to me and said something in Italian.
"She said she wants to thank you for helping me get back safely," he told me.
"It was the best time of my life," I said honestly. "It's my pleasure."
He translated what I said, and she brought me into a hug.
"She also said that I have good taste in women, even if you do look a little anaemic."
I smiled wryly. "Lovely," I said.
"Have you told her about what I used to do?" I asked worriedly. I didn't want her to know about that.
"Of course not," he responded, as if I had hurt his feelings by asking. "That's not who you were then, and it's not who you are now. I would never tell anyone about it."
"Thank you," I breathed in relief. "By the way, what is your mother's name?"
"Aurelia," he said.
"Aurelia," I asked, grinning at the question I was about to ask. "What made you decide to call your son Leonardo Leonard Leo Lee De Leonardis?"
Leonardo rolled his eyes as I cackled.
He translated her reply.
"She said she and my father did it to win a bet."
I laughed even louder as I saw the grin appear on his mother's face. "I always thought so!"
***
It wasn't that late, but after we'd had dinner, his mother insisted that we go to bed to get some rest. I wasn't really that tired, which was probably a good thing if I was going to bed early with Leonardo. I smirked at my dirty thoughts.
His mother showed us to the room. There was a double bed and I looked to Leonardo with a sly smirk.
He gave his mother a kiss on either cheek before stepping into the room and I was about to follow him until his Aurelia steered me around by my shoulders and closed Leo's bedroom door behind him.
She tutted at me and shook her head with a knowing smile across her lips. She tugged me by the arm and showed me to another room across the hallway.
I pouted a little in disappointment but thanked her, leaning in to give her a kiss on her cheek before entering 'my' room.
Bless her, she seemed like a lovely lady but I wanted so badly to be with Leonardo that night, not only for the sex, but we'd been on such a journey, I wanted finally to fall asleep in his arms next to him, breathing in his scent, knowing that everything was behind us now.
Or so I thought...
*****
After spending hours tossing and turning, unable to sleep with all the thoughts bouncing around in my head about Cherry being my mother, I'd finally managed to get to sleep for a short while before I woke to the mattress dipping as someone climbed in next to me.
I turned over and instantly recognised Leonardo's form in the bed next to me. I could see him hold his finger to his lips in the light that the moon cast in through the small gap in the curtains.
He leaned in and cupped my face, stroking my cheek with his thumb as he kissed my lips.
I turned over completely so his face was above mine and reached for his hair, tangling my fingers into it.
He kissed down the side of my neck, sending shivers all over my body and sucked hard on the skin.
I dragged my nails along the back of his neck, enjoying the sweet pain that he was inflicting before he moved back to my lips, teasing my tongue with his and gently biting and sucking on my lip.
His hand moved from my face to my breasts where he squeezed and massaged, making both him and I hot.
I let out a breath as he pinched my nipple through my nightgown gently between his fingers, sending a thrill through my entire body.
He seemed to enjoy this and deepened the kiss, being a little more rough in the way he bit my lips and rubbed my breast.
I moaned quietly, it was almost unfair how easily he could turn me on, and before I had chance to say anything, his hands were at my thighs, squeezing and rubbing them at the insides, his knuckles grazing against my pussy with each movement.
I could feel his hardness against my leg and instantly wanted it inside me.
My hands involuntarily pulled him closer to me, nails grazing his bare back as he continued his torture.
He placed small kisses along my neck, his breath tickling my skin. "I love you," he whispered at my ear.
"I love you too," I whispered back, smiling through our kiss.
He climbed on top of me, straddling my hips and began slowly unbuttoning my nightdress.
I wanted him so badly at this point, it was unbelievable, but the fact that we were under his mother's roof, who clearly did not approve of us doing this kind of thing niggled at me. I didn't want to disrespect her in any way.
I stopped his fingers from unbuttoning me any further. "Not yet," I whispered. "I want you so badly, but not here, not in your mother's house."
His boner against my pussy was distracting and made it even harder to say those words.
"You're a good girl," he told me. "I'm lucky to have you." He kissed me once more before climbing off me and rolling me over so I was on my side with him at my back.
He wrapped his arms around my body and pulled me in close as I nuzzled into him as well.
I could feel his boner pressed against my bum, and grinded playfully into him.
He groaned in my ear. "Don't do that," he whispered.
I did it again. "Why not?" I teased.
"Because it makes me want to be deep inside you, that's why," he said, grabbing my hips and grinding his dick into my arse.
My eyes nearly rolled into the back of my skull at the sexiness of his words. I pressed my arse into him again, smiling as I did it, knowing that it was driving him crazy.
He groaned in annoyance. "Such a cock tease."
I grinned and turned my head at an awkward angle to kiss him. "Goodnight," I said, purposely leaving my bum pressed firmly against him.
"Goodnight, beautiful."
I fell asleep easily, completely content and wrapped in Leonardo's arms, breathing in his scent and absorbing his warmth. I went to sleep knowing for the first time in my life that I was wanted and loved. I would do anything for this man, and I knew that he would do anything for me.
***
I woke up to Leonardo roughly shaking me and whisper-shouting in my ear.
"Wake up, we have to go. Now!"
I sat up immediately, eyes still blurry and confused as to where I was.
I could hear men's voices coming up the stairs in what sounded like heavy boots and metal clanging against metal.
"The guards have come looking for me. Someone must have suspected us yesterday!"
I looked around the room. "Quickly, climb out the window!" I got out of bed and ran to the window. "You go first, you're the one they're after."
Leonardo followed and began climbing onto the ledge beneath. I could hear the guards checking every room upstairs and Aurelia's panicked voice as they reached the room next to ours.
"They're next door, hurry up!" I snapped.
As soon as Leonardo had safely dropped onto the ledge beneath and began climbing down the stones on the side of the house, I dangled my legs over the windowsill, my elbows stopping me from dropping all the way as I tried to reach the ledge with my tip toes.
I was about to drop when I heard the door the other end of the room crash open and three guards swarm into the room.
One of them locked eyes with me and shouted something, but it was too late, I had miscalculated the drop and let go, losing balance and falling to the ground beside the house.
I groaned in agony as I hit the bottom, an almost unbearable pain shooting through my ankle all the way up my leg.
Leonardo grabbed me around the waist and hoisted me off the floor, pulling me with him as he made a run for it.
I bit back the pain and tried my best to keep up with him, limping along on my bad foot.
"You can do it Bess, just keep going," Leonardo said breathlessly.
I looked behind us. The guards were on our tails immediately on horseback.
"Leonardo, you need to go! Leave me here, I'm slowing you down!"
"No, we can make it! It will be hard for them to catch us in the village, it's so busy and so many little streets."
I continued on, but eventually my ankle gave in completely and I fell to the ground, taking Leonardo with me.
"Get up, you bitch and run! If they catch you, they're going to kill you. Fucking leave me here, I'll be fine!" I screamed.
The guards were there immediately, hovering above us on their great horses.
I reached for a stone on the ground and threw it at one of their heads, knocking him off his horse before he had chance to climb down. Leonardo sprinted off, one remaining guard going off to chase after him, the other staying with me to make sure I didn't run off too.
He crouched down and grabbed my arms, pulling them behind my back, lifting me up off the floor. I used all my force and pushed him back, catching him off balance, causing him to fall to the floor too.
"Pussy bitch," I spat, and kicked him hard in the balls. I could have sworn his face turned blue.
Without wasting any time, I hobbled over to his horse and climbed up, forcing the creature to run in Leonardo's direction. I couldn't see him anymore, he must have disappeared in the village, but I searched the streets looking for him.
Everybody watched me as I galloped past them, trying my best to not trample any kids with the giant horse.
I was still in my half-unbuttoned nightgown, tits flapping about with every stride the horse took. Women covered their husband's eyes as I passed.
Just then, I spotted Leonardo pretending to look at something on someone's market stall.
I galloped over to him. "Get on!" I yelled.
He clambered up the horse but he was only half on before I locked eyes with the other guard and ordered the horse to move.
"Fuck sake!" he cursed, struggling to hold on.
I steered the horse down a narrow alleyway where people's washing got tangled around my head as we passed through.
I couldn't see where I was going, I just hoped that the horse would get us out of this mess alive.
I pulled the clothes off of my head and pushed my tangled hair out of my eyes just in time as the horse reared up on its hind feet in terror. We were surrounded by guards, and Leonardo and I both fell off the horse in a heap on the floor.
Immediately, guards were restraining us. There was no use in fighting, there were too many of them.
I spat in one of their faces, and as a result I was punched hard in the side of my head, knocking me unconscious.
***
Cold. Dark. Damp.
Pain shot through my injured leg as I regained consciousness and my bruised head began to throb. My mouth was dryer than a nun's flange.
I clutched at my head and tried to stand up but my ankle couldn't take the weight. I fell to the cold stone floor.
There was a little square of light the other end of the room, and with bleary eyes, I crawled over, peeping through what seemed to be a vent in the door. There were guards out there.
"Why am I here?" I tried to say, but my voice came out in a raspy, barely audible whisper and my head throbbed as a result.
I heard a rustle at the other end of the dark room. "You're English too?"
I turned around, trying to search through the darkness for the owner of the voice. "Yes. Who are you?"
"My name is Kathleen."
"How long have I been in here?" I asked.
"About a day. What did you do?"
I could tell that she'd lived in Italy for quite a long time by her accent.
"My boyfriend and I were being chased by the guards and the next thing I knew, I was punched in the side of my head and I woke up in here."
"Well these cells are only temporary. Anyone who gets put in here gets let out within a couple of days. Where is your boyfriend now?"
That's what was worrying me. I knew that if he had been recognised then he was in danger. I needed to get out of this stupid place and try and help him escape.
"I don't know," I said. I didn't want her to know too much information because we'd only just met.
There was a loud banging at the door and one of the guards shouted something at us in Italian.
"He told us to be quiet," Kathleen whispered.
"Wait," I yelled through the gap in the door. "Where is Leonardo?"
"Leonardo De Leonardis?" She said his name as a question.
"Yes, how did you know?" I demanded. My eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness and I could faintly make out the features on the woman's face. She looked around the same age as me.
"Your boyfriend is Leonardo De Leonardis? He's the most evil, wanted man in Rome!"
I could have slapped her. "He is not evil. Whatever you think you know about him are lies. He was set up and wrongly accused," I snapped.
"He's the most wanted man in Rome. In Italy for that matter!"
"Whatever you've heard are lies. He's innocent."
I heard a key turning in the lock of the door and suddenly, light flooded in the dark room.
A guard said something.
"They're letting us go," Kathleen told me.
We walked towards the open door, squinting because of the brightness.
I was still in my nightgown which was now dirty and stained. The guard quickly looked away as he saw me and I pulled the open front together to cover up my cleavage.
"Here, wear this," Kathleen offered, taking off her shawl and wrapping it around my shoulders to cover me up.
We followed the guard down the corridor and outside. "Wait, can you ask him if I can see Leonardo?"
Kathleen looked hesitant, but she asked for me anyway.
The guard spat at the floor in disgust as he heard Leonardo's name. "Bastardo traditore," he grunted.
"He said Leonardo's a—"
"Yes, yes, I can guess what he said," I snapped, cutting Kathleen off.
We followed the guard as he led the way to where I assumed Leonardo was being held.
"This is where they keep people who are going to be executed," Kathleen told me.
I tried not to think about that. I couldn't lose him now.
The guard stopped outside one of the cells which was marked with the number thirty three and banged loudly, peering through the metal grate. "Scumbag, hai visitatori," he shouted.
The guard looked to us both and flicked his head for us to speak with the prisoner.
"Leo," I called, trying to see him through the door. "Are you alright?"
He came to the door and I gasped as I saw his beautiful face bruised and bloody. "Fucking hell, what have those bastards done to you?! I'll kill them!"
"Bessie, shh I'm alright. I'm so sorry I brought you here, I don't know what I was thinking."
"It's okay, I'll get you out of here, I promise." The words sounded hopeless, even to me.
"They're going to execute me tomorrow publically," he said. "Promise me you won't be there. I don't want you to see me like that."
"You're not going to die!" I snapped. "I'm going to get you out. You can't leave me, not now, not ever. I won't let it happen! Promise me you won't give up!"
"Bessie, it's too late." He sighed. "Everyone believes that I did those things. Everybody wants me dead. I don't know why I ever thought I could clear my name."
"Because you're innocent. You will not die for something you didn't do!"
Tears were now pouring down my face as I looked into his eyes, realising that this might be the last time I ever saw him alive.
"I love you, darling. Don't ever forget that." He poked his hand through the metal grate in the door and pulled my face close, kissing me gently on the lips.
I could taste his blood on his mouth. Surely life couldn't be so cruel that it would take from me the only person I have ever loved.
"I love you so much," I sobbed.
The guard pulled me away from the door and batted Leonardo's hand away with a wooden stick. He ushered us out of the building and left us to go on our way.
"Is he really innocent?" Kathleen asked me.
"Yes, of course he is. I'm going to find the bitch that did this to him and I'll fucking kill her!"
"I-I know where she is."
I looked at Kathleen. "You what?"
"Maria Caruso, right?"
"Yeah, that's her." I wiped away the tears on my face. "Will you help me find her? You can speak Italian, I can't. You're my only hope at helping Leonardo escape."
"If he really is innocent, then you need to get her to admit what she did in front of reliable witnesses."
"Like who? And how would I get her to admit that with people around?"
"You'll have to trick her."
"How?"
"I have a plan."
***
I'd only just met Kathleen and I didn't know how much I could trust her, but at that point, what did I have to lose?
I had less than 24 hours before Leonardo's execution. She was my only hope.
She was taking me to the police station, or the guard station, whatever it was they had in this country.
"You need to tell me everything you know about Leonardo's situation so that I can tell the authorities. I'm hoping that they will hear us out and attempt to do something considering the seriousness of the allegations you're making and the fact that he's on death's row because of it."
I nodded my head and she looked over at me.
"You really need to put something on first though. Nobody in their right mind will take you seriously dressed like that," she said, looking me up and down. "You look like you got dragged out of a brothel mid-shift."
"Well so-rry! I couldn't exactly tell the guards to please wait five minutes while I get dressed before they start to chase after us, could I?"
"Chill out, I'll take you to my place first. I have a sister who's fatter than me, she'll probably have something that will fit you."
This girl was lucky I needed her, otherwise I would have beaten that smirk off her face by now.
"Thank you," I managed to grind out through clenched teeth.
We arrived outside a small house just minutes later and she invited me inside.
"Aunty, aunty!" three little kids cheered, running up and swarming around her.
She knelt down and hugged all three of them. "Have you all eaten today?"
"Ma made us bread but I'm still hungry!" one of them said.
Kathleen frowned. "I'll be back later with food, okay? I have something else to take care of first."
"Yay!" they all shouted.
"Good girls and boy." She smiled. "Now go help your ma by sweeping the floor and getting water before she comes home."
"Yes, aunty!"
They all ran off and Kathleen motioned for me to follow her up the stairs.
The house was pretty bare and I suspected that they were quite a poor family. I wondered where the children's mother was and why they were at home alone but I didn't like to ask too many questions.
"This is my sister and brother-in-law's bedroom," she informed me, opening the doors to a wardrobe. She picked out a plain looking dress and tossed it to me. "Here, put this on."
I tried to fit myself into the dress she'd given me, but much to my embarrassment, it was too tight. The corseted front to the dress was left gaping open revealing what I had on underneath.
"Ugh, you're even fatter than my sister. Right, take it off. You're going to have to wear men's clothes."
"I'm not fat, I just obviously have bigger boobs than your sister," I defended myself, feeling a little like an ogre squished into this dress. I wasn't fat, these people were just tiny.
She went back into the wardrobe and picked out a white cotton shirt and a pair of brown breeches. "At least you won't look indecent anymore I guess," she said.
Why was everything she said an insult?
I tried my best to ignore her and slipped into the clothes she'd given me. I looked like a man, but fuck I was comfortable.
"Right, let's go!"
"Oh my god," she said.
"What?"
"You do actually look pretty badass dressed like that."
Wow. Something nice actually fell out of her mouth for once.
"Here put this hat on."
She handed me a brown cavalier hat with one side pinned up, and a white ostrich feather tucked into the side.
"So cool," she said.
"For fuck sake, this isn't a fashion show. I need to save my boyfriend from being killed!"
"Calm down, woman. We're going to rescue him, and you're going to look awesome while we do it. Just like in the books, the lady has to look the dog's bollocks too."
"Okay, but please let's get a move on."
I didn't care what I looked like, I just wanted to get my man.
She led the way to the guard station.
"You walk so slowly," she complained.
"I have a broken ankle!" I seethed.
"No you don't, it's just sprained. You wouldn't be able to walk on it at all if it was broken."
"Either way it fucking hurts so just give me a break, will you?!"
She closed her mouth and didn't say another word until we arrived at the station. She was talking to a guard and suddenly turned to me. "You say that Leonardo is innocent, and Maria Caruso made up all of those things about him as revenge for her father being executed, right?"
"Yes. He never raped a woman in his life, and he loved being a guard of the Vatican. He would never want to have the pope killed."
Kathleen looked a little confused, but translated what I said into Italian so the guard could understand.
The dark skinned, rather big man just began laughing and said something to another guard behind him, who then also began laughing.
"Why are they laughing?!" I demanded.
Kathleen spoke for me, and then translated their reply.
"They said Maria Caruso went mad after her father's death. She made dozens of identical allegations against numerous men and nobody even takes any notice of her anymore."
"So why is Leonardo locked up and awaiting his execution tomorrow?"
She translated for me again, "It wasn't Maria who told the authorities about him trying to have the pope killed. He was found holding the pope at gunpoint in the Vatican treasury while trying to make a getaway with several accomplices and a sack filled with priceless artefacts. He managed to escape with his accomplices that night, and the artefacts to this day are still missing."
I just stared into space for a long while as the reality of what I'd just been told sunk in. I'd been lied to this whole time by someone who I thought loved me and would never hurt me.
He'd brought me all the way out here to this foreign land, knowing that I couldn't survive here on my own. I'd even met his mother, for fuck sakes!
I loved him with all my heart. I would have laid down my life to save his.
And all for nothing.
The love I had for him quickly turned to dust like charcoal in a fire, and now all I felt when I thought of him was a deep, burning hatred, more passionate than my love for him ever was.
I'd be there tomorrow. I'd watch the life slowly drain from his eyes and cheer as he drew his final mortal breath.
*******