99. Mae

Leo dragged me into the mansion and his chamber and then he lodged me against the wall. Crowding in on me, he fixed his eyes on my face like he was trying to steal my soul through my eyes.

I got cowed by his eyes pretty quick and looked away but he held my chin to bring my eyes back to his.

"..." He opened his mouth to speak after but no words came, so he just moved back away from me, allowing me some breathing space.

"Give it to me," he came back in front of me after a minute and spread his palm. I didn't need to be told what he was asking for. Without hesitation, I placed the gun in his hand and let him take it.

"Where did you get it from?" He asked the second I gave the gun to him.

"Pete... he gave the gun to me... he gave it to me the day we sat either Lade at that bar," I swallowed. Forced to look in Leo's eyes, I thought they hid something I couldn't describe because he seemed to be angry at me but his eyes didn't reflect that anger.

"And you didn't think to return it?"

"..." I didn't answer.

"When he decides he wants to kill you, Lade will take you to a cabin on his favorite island, there will be no one else there but you and him, he thinks you're helpless so he'll take you there without security. There's a frame of a fisherman holding a hook right above the bedstand at the head of the bed. Bend it to the left and you'll find a small safe there."

"The codes to open the safe are R-H-X-6," Leo paused to check if I was listening so I nodded to let him know I was."You'll find a gun there, find the right time to take and use it."

"Okay," I said through my fading voice.

"He might go have fun shooting birds before wanting to kill you there, he loves to do that... if he does, it should be good enough time to possess the gun. And whatever you do, do your best to appear helpless in front of him."

"Okay," I nodded again.

"What are the codes?" He asked me, pulling right out of the distraction of watching his Adam's apple go up and down as he talked.

"Uhm... R-H-X-6?" I surprised myself by getting it correct.

"Good girl," he praised, "Go to your room, Anita should be waiting in your room to help you get ready."

After Leo dismissed me and asked meto go to my room, I realized what it was that I had noticed in his eyes when he crowded me in on the wall in his chamber. Fear. Leo was scared. Was he scared I'd die too soon without killing Lade and render all my training these past weeks with him and Pete and the others useless?

Or maybe not. I didn't want to think about it. It'd only make me too mentally and emotionally weak to face Lade after I'm sold to him.

***

Two hours later the sky had started to darken after the sunset. I was sitting on one of the double sofas opposite each other in Leo's chamber, trying to make my posture right when Leo walked in on me.

He was in the chamber with me a few minutes ago till Pete called his attention and he left. Now, he was back and had caught me doing what I was doing. I uncrossed my legs when he returned.

"Don't pressure yourself much," he sighed to my hearing before going to pour himself a drink from the mini bar in the chamber.

"If I kill Lade and you let me go..." I started with a new question that was on my mind and watched him retreat the glass from his lips while bringing his eyes to where I sat.

"... And I come back to kill you," I paused when he smiled; he hadn't smiled since I had been in the chamber with him. Ignoring his smile, I continued," And I don't succeed... will you kill me?"

"What exactly are you asking?"

"If I kill Lade and you don't need me for anything anymore and I come back to kill you but fail at it, will you kill me?"

A laugh. That was all, no answer to my question.

"Miss Yrote, when I said you had till Lade arrived to ask me things you think you need to know, I meant THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW."

"I need to know this..."

"You do not." He cut me short.

"I do," I argued.

"You're telling me you're going to come back to kill me, huh?"

"Yes. If I get a chance, I will." I decided to be honest. He snickered at my response before putting the glass in his handn.

"Fuck that. Don't you want to know more about your father? You might die and never get any more chance to know what you want to."

"I don't plan on dying..." I murmured, dreading that I could die at Lade's hands.

"Good for you..." He swallowed. "And good for me too. Don't die." Leo said his two last words with so much seriousness like he was giving me an order.

It went quiet between us for a short while before I spoke again. "I think I've known all I could want to know about my father."

Leo finished the alcohol in his glass and started to pour himself another one. He's been drinking more than he usually did.

"I know he was ric, and powerful, and feared when he was alive. I also know that Lade's father killed him. If there's anything I want to know, it's why you're becoming him. It's almost like you're obsessed with him."

"I watched him do a lot of the things he did while growing up."

"And you chose to be like him when you grew up?" I asked mockingly.

"No. I hated the things he did a lot. Then I grew up and discovered he wasn't as horrible as everyone thought him to be. He was horrible, but not as horrible."

"Sir, he's here." Pete poked his head through the door to tell Leo, then he disappeared as he came. Leo heaved out a final sigh before walking to where I still sat.

"Here we go," he bit his lips and gave me this lasting smile that I had to say something to stop himsoe I'd fall for him and forget what a monster he was.

"Won't you wish me luck?" I asked and successfully stopped his smile, but that was only for a second.

"You don't need luck, balls are in your court, just play them well." His smile was back but lighter this time.

I inhaled the moment Pete returned, but he wasn't alone this time. He came in and held the door for Lade to go through. Lade stopped halfway through his steps when he noticed me sitting. With a smile almost as malicious as Leo's, he went and took a seat on the couch opposite to me.